You’re right, I forgot that so that’s the first thing I’ll adjust when I get home
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Mxr bass synth sb301
- Thread starter drewphishesp
- Start date
- Oct 29, 2012
- 264
- 683
- Disclosures
- Mesa, Darkglass, EQD, Mantic, Source Audio, Yamaha, Delano, Hamstead Soundworks, Jad Freer Audio
Are you able to speak more to how the MXR compares to the other synth pedals you have?
I have both the Future Impact v4 and Source Audio C4, which I use heavily both live and in the studio. The C4 is likely to remain my primary live pedal, as I just know it so well at this point, and have so many go-to presets programmed, and it's "secret" multi-fx uses as octaver/fuzz/filter are massively helpful for my uses.
However, I am super intrigued by the MXR pedal for studio use, where I can immediately dial in and tweak sounds on the pedal, and keep away from additional software/screens.
In particular:
- how is the sound quality of the oscillator waveforms without any filtering...etc?
- what range does the filter have? Can it fully close to no audio output? Does it fully open?
- does the voice button work similarly across oscillators? I am assuming it essentially cycles between various oscillator stacks: octaves, fifths, unison...etc? Would love to understand/know better what this is doing?
- is the sub a preset oscillator? Assuming Triangle or Sine?
- does the envelope control feel broad and intuitive enough? can it get super tight/plucky sounds, and do these feel snappy and consistent? Is it possible to get sounds with a slow attack but quick decay?
Did some more in depth tweaking of the parameters and used the presets (mainly the first 2) as a starting point and got a much better result.
I'm still along way from being ready to take this thing on the road, but who knows where it'll end up
I'm still along way from being ready to take this thing on the road, but who knows where it'll end up
Took mine to a rehearsal and discovered one thing to watch out for. The preset button being right below the on/off foot switch means you can end up accidentally changing your preset if you aren't pressing down perfectly flat on the foot switch.
I think I'm going to put one of those big caps on this one.
I think I'm going to put one of those big caps on this one.
Needed to get some more time with it to try to answer as best I could! I don't currently have the best computer setup in my home space to deep-dive test all my current synth pedals directly against each-other since most of the other options will require computer editing to try to match directly, so currently mostly comparing on simple feel/response.
I did just pull out the FI V4 for a bit deeper direct comparison today (the FI V4 is definitely my current baseline as it just tracks/sounds so solidly to me) and I have to amend my tracking comparison vs the MXR- I'd have to say the v4 Future Impact has a more significant tracking accuracy advantage vs the MXR than I had first imagined though the MXR still has no noticeable latency to my ears in 4-string mode. This became more clear with a particularly difficult bass (a 6-string with rounds that has issues with ringing strings if I'm not very careful with muting), the Future Impact v4 is much more forgiving to a sloppier input signal (the v3 Future Impact was definitely much less forgiving, the v4 improvements are significant!) while the MXR can get glitchier/choppier without the Gate turned down (which then cuts the sustain of notes). My main basses are 4-strings with flatwounds, and with those the MXR is much less touchy- it actually tracks phenomenally with my NS upright too! With this tricky bass I need to be much more careful with the MXR than the Future Impact, though the speed of tracking on the MXR is still right up there when in 4-string mode (which is fine for my uses) and still pretty impressive in 5-string mode though it does feel little looser to me.
I'll have to dust off the C4 as it hasn't really gotten much mileage since the Future Impact update as well as the Neuro 3 software update nightmares (which I think are finally sorted out?). For me, I've preferred the feel of the Future Impact v4 to the C4 for most of the synth sounds though the octaver tones of the C4 are great and the filter can be easier to set up.
There is a punch/immediacy to the MXR that isn't as easily felt with either the Future Impact or C4 for me- particularly felt with some of the snappier envelope sounds that feel more like my analog pedal chains. For that reason (at least for me) and for the ease of tweaking, it will probably be a keeper as a "leave it in the pedalboard case" synth option. Both the C4 and Future Impact are of course much more tweakable, and both do a lot of things the MXR can't touch.
Answers for your questions to the best of my current ability:
-The Osc waveforms sound solid to me when soloed (I'll have to get my other pedals hooked up to a computer to directly compare, but they sound basically like my digital synths when I turn off the filter and put cutoff on max)
-The filter can completely close to silence, and at least to my ears the top end seems to open to the point that I hear no obvious treble filtering- I'd have to setup Room EQ Wizard to test on the computer to be sure of the high-end frequency response.
-Setting up the filter envelope for the desired response can be a bit tricky- there is a lot happening between two knob parameters (and the Gate seems to affect envelope response as well): the Envelope parameter sweeps between a range of fast attack/decay at the first half and slower attack/decay at the second half, then the Filter Envelope Amount (secondary) parameter sweeps between downward sweep - amount in the first half and upward sweep + amount in the second half. The downward sweep in the slower attack settings swells back to the highs more than I'd like and with lower Gate settings (like needed with my 6-string bass) getting a full sweep can require really digging in. My favorite sounds are on the first half of the Envelope sweep where all the punchy/snappy settings are- and where I think this pedal shines (the Chameleon preset in videos is a great example of one of these snappy envelope sounds).
-I assume your envelope question is regarding the filter envelope, and yes those snappy settings (using either upward or downward sweep) are my favorites so far and reminiscent of my Chunk Agent 00 Funk filter in response (a great thing!).
-the "Shape" selector chooses the waveform for all oscillators, so the Sub, Unison, and Voice will always share the same type of waveform.
-the "Voice" is just an on/off button and has the same function regardless of waveform, and turns on (to my ears, and according to a few videos) an octave up and an octave+5th up oscillator. You can't blend between those two high voices, but there is a secondary function that blends between these two combined voices on one side and the unison voice on the other (when the "Voice" button is engaged- when it is turned off you only have the unison voice regardless of this mix setting). Then the Sub Mix blends between the combined (Unison/octave up/octave+5th up) signal and the Sub oscillator signal. I think the voice is most useful for me for just adding a bit of upper harmonic signal, really nice for sub-octave filtered sounds.
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Quick note, in the middle of back to back 14 hour days so not much time until Thursday, but initial impressions... yeah, this thing has got it. Easy replacement for the C4, for me. First preset no fiddling, immediately usable, will get better with tweaking. And also does a better/more consistent 808 than the C4, one of my primary uses for the pedal. I shipped my C4 yesterday, no regrets at all.
...mine just shipped this afternoon from Phoenix...
I have my four string, a baby dipper, with the kickstarter oiled on my electron microscope and these...
I'll let ya know how it jams...
I have my four string, a baby dipper, with the kickstarter oiled on my electron microscope and these...
I'll let ya know how it jams...
There are some 808 presets that were among my favorite presets I found for the C4. I haven't tried to match that yet with the MXR. Unfortunately neither pedal can assign an envelope to the pitch like an 808 where it gets that little pitch drop after the attack. I bet the MXR can do similar or better to the punch of the C4 808. Will be curious to hear the recipe you figured out!
I'll expand once I have it dialed in and get back to you, but I use a square wave tuned almost all the way to the sub oscillator but I leave some mid range in it to cut live, take the envelope so that it's letting a small peak through (kick drum) tuned to taste with the resonance, for me initially about 1/3, add in some noise, compress it, some wobble to taste if you want it via the mod knob. I'm planning on experimenting with the glide setting as well. There's not much to them.
I'll reply back with what I've figured out once I have a chance tomorrow to sit down and really tune it. I also used some of those presets and fine tuned them to my bass and preferences, and they were usable for sure. One of them I had hitting real hard. I do miss the pitch filtering envelope that isn't present on these pedals. I'm going to be messing around with the glide setting on the MXR to see what I can do with it. I'm wondering if setting the glide and dropping down a fret or bending into it will do some magic. The fact that the MXR can accurately catch all of the inbetween-y notes has me hopeful that similar effects can be had with the hands with bends and what not.
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Alright, my guys. It pitch drops like classic 808. The secret sauce is in the glide. I'm happy as a pig in filth about it.
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Based on all the threads here on TB that I've been following, I assume "No".
However, on a whim I stopped into my local Guitar Center yesterday. They did not have one in stock either, but the sales guy was curious so he searched Guitar Center's nationwide inventory. None in stock anywhere! But, lots 'on order'.
His next comment though struck me as fascinating: He said "So with all these units 'on order' that probably means we'll get a couple new units in the store in about a month. Your best bet though is to wait for someone who bought one already to decide they hate it and sell it back into GC's used inventory. Wouldn't be surprised if we get one in the next couple weeks...although you'd still have to wait another 3 weeks before it's available to purchase since we do a hold on used gear while checking serial #s."
I hate to be Captain Obvious but keep an eye on Reverb. There were a couple used units earlier today but it looks like they’ve been sold. I see one available right now, but I doubt it’ll last long.
- May 16, 2007
- 3,395
- 4,869
- Disclosures
- Volunteer developer/beta tester with Source Audio, Morningstar Engineering & MORTRIX
I made and shared some FI 808 patches using the filter envelope to make the pitch blip.
Cool- I just messed with it and found that as well! What other settings are you using?
I'm using it with a Stomp. I run my compressor before the Stomp, and a preamp after it. All the other pedals on my board are in a loop on the Stomp. I set up a Mono Send L block with Dry Thru set to -120dB and a Mono Return L block with Mix set to 100%. I can move those blocks around to put blocks on the Stomp before or after the rest of my board. I'm still working on my board, but this setup seems to work well so far.
