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Meris Enzo X
- Thread starter bass.slinger
- Start date
I looked into returning mine as well. Tracking wasn’t my concern, i just found the interface to be more difficult than id like to deal with. Rather than bail- its not the arrow, its the Indian- i spent more time familiarizing myself with the thing. I still have a long way to go, but was able to get a really nice synth toan that i couldn’t get before just a few simple adjustments. I think the thing to do for what im looking to achieve is to use the blank 99 preset and spend some time toggling around, rather than using any of the other 98 presets. This is a deep dive, but it should get easier with every successive session. Im definitely keeping this thing.
I haven’t had any major issues with tracking either. A little bit of a setting good habits for myself has been an adjustment to my normal playing style depending on oscillator, attack, release, decay, sustain settings, etc. To me, the issues I have at that point are self created from not playing in way to get the best result.
At unison, I’ve been able to easily hit some huge mono synth sounds down to a low D. I can’t recall if I have tried much lower than that. I also prefer -12 and play higher; or +12 or even +24 higher.
It tracks better than my Octabvre, but I love that pedal for what it is anyway.
I play passive basses. When I’m using any pitch effects, I solo the neck pickup and attack notes a little harder with intent.
I’m still enjoying the EnzoX a lot and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. I guess that makes me a fanboy…
This is basically my experience with regular Enzo. You kinda have to learn what kind of player input is needed for each setting. It is both annoying at first, but rewarding when you figure it out.I haven’t had any major issues with tracking either. A little bit of a setting good habits for myself has been an adjustment to my normal playing style depending on oscillator, attack, release, decay, sustain settings, etc. To me, the issues I have at that point are self created from not playing in way to get the best result.
At unison, I’ve been able to easily hit some huge mono synth sounds down to a low D. I can’t recall if I have tried much lower than that. I also prefer -12 and play higher; or +12 or even +24 higher.
It tracks better than my Octabvre, but I love that pedal for what it is anyway.
I play passive basses. When I’m using any pitch effects, I solo the neck pickup and attack notes a little harder with intent.
I’m still enjoying the EnzoX a lot and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. I guess that makes me a fanboy…
However, I have not had great luck with the arpeggiators, but… I also have done zero research or even looked at the manual on them.
I was wondering if the X handles arpeggios different than the regular. Seems like it's more customizable based on demos but I know demos can be very misleading.However, I have not had great luck with the arpeggiators, but… I also have done zero research or even looked at the manual on them.
A big complaint of the original was the arpeggiator played in 7 if you didn't constantly strum a chord. It is finicky too. My best use for it was layering it under a pad playing the same chord for both. Kinda hide the imperfections a bit.
Really depends on what you are used to for tracking being good or bad. I have had several bass synths (starting with the Roland GR-77B and several GK 13 pin systems), the Jam Origin soft synth, and too many to think about synth pedals (Deep Impact, Korg G5, TWA Great Divide, etc.). I still have the Future Impact v4 and the Korg G5 which to me have acceptable tracking (with the mono caveat). The Enzo X did not have the worst tracking I have seen, but is definitely on that end of the spectrum. The Future Impact tracks much better all the way down to E (four stringer here) where the Enzo struggled below the twelfth fret on the D string on mono patches for me. The v4 version of the Future Impact tracks better than the 13 pin Roland / Boss GK systems (I have not tried the new serial GK which looks pretty good from Nate Navarro’s video of the GM-800). The main difference to me is that the Future Impact could take most anything I threw at (including slides, wobbles, hammer-ons, harmonics) where I had to simplify and play slowly for the Enzo X. That said, if you need polyphony the Enzo X is not a bad choice.
For me, I decided several years ago that I was done with the special pickup systems and would use a dedicated synth (hardware or software) which sound better and have a lot more options for most stuff. The Future Impact fills in the void when I am just playing bass and want some synth sounds.
If you want Blade Runner-esque synth pad washes and want to control them using a bass or guitar then the Enzo X is awesome. If you want to play some Bernie Worrell funk or just want to add some synth without having to change technique or lines, look elsewhere.
For me, I decided several years ago that I was done with the special pickup systems and would use a dedicated synth (hardware or software) which sound better and have a lot more options for most stuff. The Future Impact fills in the void when I am just playing bass and want some synth sounds.
If you want Blade Runner-esque synth pad washes and want to control them using a bass or guitar then the Enzo X is awesome. If you want to play some Bernie Worrell funk or just want to add some synth without having to change technique or lines, look elsewhere.
Appreciate the write up. This last paragraph resonates with me.
Curious what you think the Bernie from a bass folks should look for if that’s the goal.
I’m yet to be convinced such exists.
IMO/IME, the best approaches for the punchy Worrell Moog mono-synth sounds I've found are either the immediacy of analog pedal options (octave/fuzz/modulation/filter) or the Future Impact v4 in the digital pedal form. FI v4 not only does a great VA emulation of a Moog-like sound architecture, but the newest tracking algorithm is both as clean/accurate and as fast as I've heard for bass from any of these types of pedals. Part of that is an optional sort-of "trick" that you can turn on (I think its actually the default) wherein the pedal separates the pitch-tracking from the dynamic tracking- it'll trigger the note attack immediately at the previous note played then the pitch will correct when it has been identified. This sounds problematic on paper, but with as fast as the current algorithm tracks it is barely perceptible when playing most techniques (and it sounds like there are upcoming tracking updates in the pipeline using predictive modeling to decrease tracking latency even more, which is pretty exciting!). This type of approach is particularly great when playing faster lines like a lot of Worrell stuff IME where the delayed attack of other pedals really kills the funk/drive of a line. The problem with the more common approach used in every other pitch-tracker that I'm aware of as far as latency is that your attack is always delayed until the pitch is detected and processed, and a delayed attack is very easy to hear/feel whereas the pitch delay is not nearly as apparent (even with the previous Future Impact iteration that had noticeably laggier tracking it took comments on TB about this "trick" to even recognize that was what was happening). You can select in the Future Impact editor which type of response you want- the classic delayed attack/pitch type, or their default that gives an immediate attack with slightly delayed pitch.
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I think your two current choices are the Future Impact or Source Audio C4 (which I don’t have - just because I already have the Future Impact). The editing on the C4 is much easier than the Future Impact (still need to try the new editor). I do have a Source Audio Artifakt that I like a lot (same editor app as C4). However, Eventide has everyone beat with the H90 app via Bluetooth.
Makes sense.
I’m thinking of how on an OC2 (or clone) a little bit of clean makes all the difference in tracking and really hides glitches because you’re not hearing holes in tracking.
Instead, a note rings and then the pitch follows.
Unless I'm playing too low for the OC2 to track cleanly (I usually stick above the 7th fret or so) or not playing cleanly enough for the pedal I don't really find its tracking to be problematic for me at all- I guess that is just from years of practice and developing good muting techniques though. That said, I do tend to prefer the timbre of the OC-2 with some clean blended in to fill it out. An OC-2 by nature has no real latency because of the way it produces its sounds, but it does need to be able to identify the first harmonic (the fundamental frequency) vs the second harmonic (the octave up from the fundamental) which sometimes requires some adjustment of your playing or you get that common octave-hopping issue. Digital synth pedals have to do this too, but it's even more potentially complicated in a digital pedal since it is outputting a signal created independently from your input signal. The OC-2 also uses some gating in its process so you do have to give it a strong enough input to not get sputtering (but not too strong that it will clip, which is another weakness of that pedal).
I also have a C4, and while it is a great pedal I don't think its tracking nor synth architecture can compete with the Future Impact v4 for Moog-like bass sounds in particular. I do agree that the phone editor option is a huge plus from the C4 though (having to use a MIDI interface and computer to edit the Future Impact is a no-go from me in an experimental jam setting when trying to create new sounds, though someone with a laptop might be fine with it), and there are some sounds the C4 does well that the Future Impact doesn't do as well (or at least as easily, like OC-2 type octaves or sequenced sounds).
100% the issue is me and my technique, not the OC2. lol.
however, I’d expect if I don’t have great discipline with my OC2 I’d be struggling with these digital solutions.
That may well be true unfortunately- especially with any mono-tracking digital pedal you do tend to need to adjust your playing to keep the response clean and even. Some benefits with the digital pedals for tracking over the OC-2 is that at least the digital pedals offer some input calibration options to optimize your signal level for tracking, better overall headroom for hotter signals, and they are generally more consistent than analog pedals (parts tolerances between OC-2s and similar analogs can make them all behave a bit differently with both tracking and tone in my experience- for example, I had an MXR BOD that would try to track any brush of a string or bump on the bass body which made it unusable and I've owned multiple OC-2s that sounded and behaved a bit different even among the same build-era).
My order arrived today and I have to concur that the tracking for most of these presets is not bass friendly. Anyone know if Meris is on TB? Are they good about making improvements via SW updates, or is this an exercise in DIY deep diving?
One of the founders, Angelo, is a TB member and was pretty active when the original Enzo was released. Might be helpful tagging him in this thread?
I haven’t gotten the new Enzo yet but in the manual there is a section that talks about adjusting the Note Persist level which it says will help with tighter tracking when playing shorter more staccato notes.
It says, ‘For bass players, a handful of Enzo presets are designed and included to get you up and running as good starting points for exploration.
Each of these presets begin with the prefix “BASS” in the title. When designing your own bass presets, it is important to experiment with the Note Persist parameter (within Amp Env).
The Note Persist parameter is a fine adjustment for the way Enzo X listens to your incoming signal and translates the natural volume of your playing to a synthesized note.
In general, higher values equate to longer, sustained notes and shorter values correspond to tight tracking of the incoming volume of your playing.’
Along with adjusting the Note Persist parameter, also adjusting ADSR parameters might also yield better results?
Yeah, I read that when I was waiting on delivery. Just echoing some of the other concerns on this thread on the poor tracking and missed notes right out of the box on the ‘BASS’ prefix presets. Not an encouraging start on a $600 pedal with a bit of a learning curve.
If anyone is deciding to let theirs go, I would be interested. I play a little guitar so I think I can use it even if the tracking isn’t 
for bass.
for bass.
