Meris Enzo Synth Pedal

[_Angelo_]

I get it, I really do. Just keep up with releasing killer sounding pedals, and then listen to your users for polishing the bumps is something I'm looking forward too! Your experience shows in the sounds in each of these boxes, and I'm hoping Meris continues to succeed so we can have more toys!

Will do! And I truly appreciate it. Making pedals that stray from the norm is a deep seated passion for me, and we are definitely listening to every piece of feedback.

 

[_Angelo_]

Is it possible to use an expression pedal to modulate an LFO and get a vibrato effect like a synth mod wheel does? That would be incredibly awesome.

You can use a expression pedal to control any knob on the pedal. There is not a hidden LFO directly available for what you want in the Poly, Arp, and Mono modes, but you can use an expression pedal to modulate the pitch by controlling the Pitch knob. In the Enzo's Dry mode, the Modulation can be used as a vibrato (which can be controlled by the expression pedal) if the delay time is set to zero.

 

[David Jayne]

After messing with synth pedals for a long time that's the conclusion I came to. I get the whole "But I play bass!" rhetoric people use to justify pedals but at the end of the day a keys based synth is simply better in every way.

Sure, if you have room for it. My gigs are so tight i have to place my pedal board on top of my amp.

 

[_Angelo_]

So the Enzo can store 16 presets? Where did you find this information? I don't see anything about that online.
Is there a way to store/recall these 16 presets without external hardware?

Yes, 16 internal presets. And yes some form of external hardware is required. Since the Enzo supports both MIDI In and MIDI Out, you can send and receive an unlimited number of presets externally using MIDI Sysex.

For our current line of pedals including the Enzo, the focus was on being both compact and flexible. By having the hardware external, you have the choice to use the pedal in several different ways, all the while keeping the pedal itself compact, with all jacks up top to make the most of every square inch of pedalboard real estate.

 

[Al Krow]

It is a pretty frustrating implementation for presets on a pedal that 100% absolutely needs presets.

+1^^

Just seen a fellow bassist abandon their Squaver "'cos the lack of presets made it a non starter for live use".

FI got there with presets in 2016, Markbass in 2011. So it's definitely not impossible.

Onboard presets which you can scroll through would turn a pedal like this into a no-brainer for many gigging bassists (me included).

Maybe something for v2?

 

[jwr]

Yes, 16 internal presets. And yes some form of external hardware is required. Since the Enzo supports both MIDI In and MIDI Out, you can send and receive an unlimited number of presets externally using MIDI Sysex.

For our current line of pedals including the Enzo, the focus was on being both compact and flexible. By having the hardware external, you have the choice to use the pedal in several different ways, all the while keeping the pedal itself compact, with all jacks up top to make the most of every square inch of pedalboard real estate.

I love the pedals you guys create and I have owned all of them more than once. Ultimately I sold them though because I don't use midi, I don't want to use midi, and I'd just as soon have some smaller box to cycle through presets. I do think that it ought to be given to the customer or figured into the cost though. All the extra purchasing is a turn off for me and the way I had to try and do it before you all released your own midi box frustrated the hell out of me.

Good sounding products though, I'll give you that. I want an Enzo bad, but I don't want to have to buy 3 or 4 other things just to use it.

 

[jwr]

That being said, it's a good tool for recording.

 

[smeet]

Yes, 16 internal presets. And yes some form of external hardware is required. Since the Enzo supports both MIDI In and MIDI Out, you can send and receive an unlimited number of presets externally using MIDI Sysex.

For our current line of pedals including the Enzo, the focus was on being both compact and flexible. By having the hardware external, you have the choice to use the pedal in several different ways, all the while keeping the pedal itself compact, with all jacks up top to make the most of every square inch of pedalboard real estate.

Thanks @_Angelo_ .
Would it be possible at some point to change the firmware so that we could switch between or cycle through the existing presets with some currently unused control combo (like both footswitches together or something)? I don't how difficult that is to change, but it would make the pedal HUGELY more attractive to most users.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I love the pedals you guys create and I have owned all of them more than once. Ultimately I sold them though because I don't use midi, I don't want to use midi, and I'd just as soon have some smaller box to cycle through presets. I do think that it ought to be given to the customer or figured into the cost though. All the extra purchasing is a turn off for me and the way I had to try and do it before you all released your own midi box frustrated the hell out of me.

Good sounding products though, I'll give you that. I want an Enzo bad, but I don't want to have to buy 3 or 4 other things just to use it.

Its a fair point. I had to make a sizable investment in this pedal just on speculation that it will work for me. Meris gear sells so if it does not i will not eat a huge loss or anything, but it still sucks. Its also not clear what the optimal software setup is, plus you need to program templates until others put some out on the web.

But i will say that i cant see any synth solutions coming soon that will not need midi. Midi is at the core of controlling about every synth out there in some way. One no midi option would be to make a synth pedal that does one core sound really damn well. Give it some parameters to tweak and keep it in a small case. Then players can buy the boxes with the sounds they want and just switch around. It would be less flexible and end up costing a lot though.

16 legit presets with the meris is a lot. Thats 16 different sounds in one box. To me i should be able to cover a ton of ground with that. I guess i will find out this weekend.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

You can your plug your bass into that and get it to track notes? Cool, how do you do that!?

No, it's a synth. I was simply commenting on the type of MIDI connector it uses. Well, I could use one of the pitch-to-midi options I have available (Yamaha G50 if I ever get reliable string-to-string balance, or the Sonuus) to do it, but haven't tried it with the Novation, as I tend to use the E-MU Proteus as I prefer the bass sounds out of that.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Yes, 16 internal presets. And yes some form of external hardware is required. Since the Enzo supports both MIDI In and MIDI Out, you can send and receive an unlimited number of presets externally using MIDI Sysex.

For our current line of pedals including the Enzo, the focus was on being both compact and flexible. By having the hardware external, you have the choice to use the pedal in several different ways, all the while keeping the pedal itself compact, with all jacks up top to make the most of every square inch of pedalboard real estate.

It must have a MIDI implementation, so I don't see how responding to patch change information would add much in the way of space. Adding a unit to allow me to connect the pedal to something like a Zoom B9 rather than using it directly with the Zoom B9 costs me more real estate, not less.

 

[_Angelo_]

It must have a MIDI implementation, so I don't see how responding to patch change information would add much in the way of space. Adding a unit to allow me to connect the pedal to something like a Zoom B9 rather than using it directly with the Zoom B9 costs me more real estate, not less.

Adding 5-pin din MIDI jacks for MIDI In and MIDI Out would grow the size of the pedal. Our MIDI I/O can easily be installed underneath a pedalboard, and having In and Out on the same cable means less connections.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Adding 5-pin din MIDI jacks for MIDI In and MIDI Out would grow the size of the pedal. Our MIDI I/O can easily be installed underneath a pedalboard, and having In and Out on the same cable means less connections.

Why not use a mini DIN and a mini-to-full DIN breakout cable, or 3.5mm jacks and breakout cables to full-sized DIN. I have gear with those. I don't have the Novation in front of me, so I can't remember if it's stereo or mono 3.5mm, but if the latter, then a quad connector 3.5mm would allow the required electrical options to be presented internally. The issue I am having, though, is not the form of connection, but not being able to respond to patch changes natively. Patch (and CC) as well as SysEx would seem a reasonable option and not require greater connection real estate, and I am not sure it would need much more internally, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[_Angelo_]

Why not use a mini DIN and a mini-to-full DIN breakout cable, or 3.5mm jacks and breakout cables to full-sized DIN. I have gear with those. I don't have the Novation in front of me, so I can't remember if it's stereo or mono 3.5mm, but if the latter, then a quad connector 3.5mm would allow the required electrical options to be presented internally. The issue I am having, though, is not the form of connection, but not being able to respond to patch changes natively. Patch (and CC) as well as SysEx would seem a reasonable option and not require greater connection real estate, and I am not sure it would need much more internally, but maybe I am wrong.

The Enzo does respond to patch changes natively. It features MIDI In and MIDI out, it can respond to PCs, features comprehensive control via CCs, sends and receives MIDI Sysex, and responds to MIDI Beat Clock.

We didn't use mini DIN because the EXP/MIDI TRS jack can be configured to work in several different ways, expression pedal, 4 button preset, tap switch, and MIDI in and out. Moving to a mini DIN would've meant a non standard cable for expression pedal connection.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

The Enzo does respond to patch changes natively.

Ok, I misunderstood then. That's good.

Moving to a mini DIN would've meant a non standard cable for expression pedal connection.

A full MIDI DIN isn't required, though, surely? You could then have the expression pedal connection, and at most two additional 3.5mm jacks and a jack to DIN cable on each. The Novation Circuit uses 3.5mm TRS, but I expect that's ground and + and -, so I would presume a quad 3.5mm jack, and I've had gear that uses it, could then be broken out to two 3.5mm TRS sockets, and then standard 3.5mm TRS to MIDI DIN cables used, so only one more 3.5mm connector on the box.

 

[Alien8]

Ok, I misunderstood then. That's good.



A full MIDI DIN isn't required, though, surely? You could then have the expression pedal connection, and at most two additional 3.5mm jacks and a jack to DIN cable on each. The Novation Circuit uses 3.5mm TRS, but I expect that's ground and + and -, so I would presume a quad 3.5mm jack, and I've had gear that uses it, could then be broken out to two 3.5mm TRS sockets, and then standard 3.5mm TRS to MIDI DIN cables used, so only one more 3.5mm connector on the box.

You lost me at non standard TRRS cables.

I would rather take what we've got at now 5 top pedal producing companies all using the same method. It's actually a great way to beat MIDI cables on a pedalboard. If my Strymon, and EHX has this implementation, I would have saved $25 in MIDI cables, and used $6 in TRS cables. Rather than spend money on MIDI cables, we could buy MIDIboxes...

Anyway, got my shipping notice, can't wait to hook it all up!

 

[-Asdfgh-]

You lost me at non standard TRRS cables.

TRS Midi is now common. Meris suggested a need to minimise footprint. They could have an in and an out, both on TRS, or combine on a TRRS is space is that tight, then break out to two TRS. It then allows TRS to DIN. I don't know, but if TRS-TRS MIDI is possible, then there's no reason not to support the TRS-TRS, and allow TRS-DIN without requiring an additional box. If TRS MIDI is what you are alluding to on the EHX, etc., yes it's already being done.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Hi! We do not have firmware updates planned. I designed the settings for the Triggered Envelope and Envelope Follower to have a broad range of response times, but you can always control the Filter cutoff (and every parameter) externally with the Expression pedal of MIDI. Additionally, the expression pedal works by using a control voltage, we have had adventurous users control our pedals with the control voltage signals generated by their modular synths.

Thanks for the reply, Angelo. I realise you’re very busy so appreciate your taking the time to respond. I’m very much looking forward to the Enzo arriving here in the UK soon.

 

[jwr]

Ok, let me ask this since my comment wasn't addressed. I get it though, I'm probably in the minority here. Can I connect my Meris pedals and have them interact in Ableton with my Akai MPK249? It has midi in and out but not through.

I've been a LOT of money on these pedals too. I thought about it and I've owned the Ottobit Jr 3 times and the same with the Mercury 7. So, I need to be able to access things intelligently. My Akai has the ability to pull pre-sets, that's why I'm mainly asking. It's a solution that means I don't have to spend anymore money that I honestly don't have right now.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Woohoo! I’ve just seen that my lovely local music shop has listed the Enzo and has 2 on preorder.