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Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter PRO (pics and clips)

#101
I've had time to spend with this beast this evening and am VERY impressed. I now have a phaser patch, a great Tremolo (thanks Gastric!), and some other nifty sounds, including synched (via midi) and manual (via the Hot Hand) wobbles.

I have the Hot Hand plugged into the BEF Pro, daisy-chained with a 4 conductor cable (right angle one from the 'bay) to my MWBDP for Hot Hand control of that. Also, I have a midi cable from my Eventide Timefactor to synch the BEF Pro LFO to the clock from the TF. WOW! I used the Tremolo-like sound described on Gastric's site, fed with the WMD Geiger Counter and add the delay near the end of a each phrase....So good! The delay is perfectly synched to the trem and when it kicks in, it adds another dimension to the sound.

Just a heads up if your powering this unit from a power source other than the supplied wall wart - I had to use one of the 9v 400mA outlets on (one of) my Cioks DC10. Earlier tonight, I was powering the unit from a 200mA outlet, and during the midi-synched tremolo, the unit crapped out. I noticed the EQ lights flickering to the tempo of the LFO after about 30 seconds of playing. It then reset the unit and when I went back to the patch, I got a high-pitched ring at the top of each cycle of the LFO. Turned it off, plugged into one of the higher powered outlets and no problems. Tested it for about 5 minutes and not one hiccup :D Just want everyone to be aware that if you are using this unit with a HH, midi and daisy chaining it out, you're going to need lots of juice!
 
#102
I had a similar power issue last night. I had a B3K, Oxide and BEF Pro powered from a 1Spot, and had power fluctuations when switching pedals on/off or changing patches. I wasn't using the HH or LFO.
The BEF Pro draws 110mA and B3K draws 25mA. I don't know what the Oxide pulls but the 1Spot is supposed to provide 1700mA.
 
#103
alec said:
I had a similar power issue last night. I had a B3K, Oxide and BEF Pro powered from a 1Spot, and had power fluctuations when switching pedals on/off or changing patches. I wasn't using the HH or LFO.
The BEF Pro draws 110mA and B3K draws 25mA. I don't know what the Oxide pulls but the 1Spot is supposed to provide 1700mA.
Click to expand...

I've run The MWD Pro and the BEF Pro, plus the Line 6 M5 and 5 other analog pedals at the same time off a one spot with not trouble. Sometimes I wonder if the QC on the onespot is iffy. There are people that have issues with running a couple of pedals off one and then people like me who run a whole pedalboard off it with no issue.
 
#108
wolffman said:
So the BEFpro can be used with an expression pedal to control the filter sweep, and you can control the cutoff (lowest) frequency like you can with the moog mf-101. Can you get it low enough so barely any sound is coming out- almost inaudible?

Also I think the ability to set the highest frequency cutoff could also be beneficial, so there is a defined frequency band that the filter sweeps through with highest and lowest values set instead of only the lowest frequency. Just a thought…
Click to expand...

although not a clone or copy of the mf-101 I'm pretty sure i was able to coax a static, (no envelope) expression pedal controlled, LPF that can get DEEP like the moog or xero and gradulally cuts highs as the expression pedal is rolled back from heel to toe similar to the mf-101.

IIRC settings were:
Filter #8
Sweep range at 12:00, min, no down or up sweep
Speed 12:00 fast
Frequency to taste
Mix 100% wet
Expression pedal to frequency
Q set as low as possible

I'll experiment some more to see what other tweaks can be done to get it really really low
 
#110
wolffman said:
although not a clone or copy of the mf-101 I'm pretty sure i was able to coax a static, (no envelope) expression pedal controlled, LPF that can get DEEP like the moog or xero and gradulally cuts highs as the expression pedal is rolled back from heel to toe similar to the mf-101.

I'll experiment some more to see what other tweaks can be done to get it really really low
Click to expand...


I don't currently have a Moog LPF to directly compare against, but I've never gotten the BEF Pro to sound as thick, driven, low, and as focused at the cutoff as what I recall the Moog to sound like.

I have some old, and not particularly good, sound clips of the Moog and Electrix Filter Factory on my general clips page.

I also just added a quick clip of your setting VS the Roland GR-55 Super Filter for comparison on my BEF Pro page.

I'm certainly NOT knocking the BEF Pro by any means. I still really like the box, it has a LOT to offer and so many unique sounds other boxes cannot provide. I'm just noting that it always sounds very mid-range or high-range focused to my ears. I've never fleshed out a seriously deep and focused sub-low out of the pedal. Though I've never tried to apply judicious EQ to help sculpt it, either.

As a related note, you can set SPEED to noon (off) and still use RANGE to help further control the FREQUENCY. For example, set RANGE=Noon (off), Frequency=Noon. Now play while rolling RANGE slowly counterclockwise and note it drives the FREQUENCY lower.

I recall someone at Source Audio mentioning that RANGE also imparts some amount of gain structure changes to the filter as well, though don't quote me on that. But I'd suggest experimenting with RANGE controls with your static filter sweeps to see if it can help impart some additional tones to them.
 
#111
gastric said:
I'm certainly NOT knocking the BEF Pro by any means. I still really like the box, it has a LOT to offer and so many unique sounds other boxes cannot provide. I'm just noting that it always sounds very mid-range or high-range focused to my ears. I've never fleshed out a seriously deep and focused sub-low out of the pedal. Though I've never tried to apply judicious EQ to help sculpt it, either.
Click to expand...

Sort of like not using all the gears of your car and wondering why it runs like sh*t...isn't it?
 
#112
it's fairly plausible that it isn’t as deep or as focused… I was playing at pretty low volumes through a 112 cab I use at home… when I take it to the studio and put it through the 3015LF I’ll get a clearer picture of how it sounds against the Xero. The one very noticeable difference it is how the BEFPro it uses the full range of the expression pedal- it seems as though the slightest movement had an audible change, the moog did as well but to a smaller degree, and I find to Xero to be the most sensitive with an expression pedal. The reason I think I really liked the BEF’s response is probably in part due to the mid/high focused filter… once you get out of the lows with no attack it becomes throaty and really accents different overtones and frequencies of the octave/fuzz combo I had before it. If you’re not planning on spending a lot of time in the low low low end of the spectrum- and don't want tight lows like a dub or hip hop group might it’s definitely a solution.

The xero also seems to get the lowest and have the tightest crispiest sound down at the bottom frequencies filtering out all of the highs… and it can get even crunchier with some of the clean tone blended in, but I have never been able to get the expression pedal to get a really nice smooth taper from lowest point is just a deep bass with no attack and the highest point is a nasal mid rangey type sound. Dan Kurtz from the new deal uses this sound a lot playing 1/8 notes- it’s a great way to build tension/build up in a live/jam/electronica group. I will note this is a VERY specific sound I'm trying to cop... you'll here it on a lot of trance/techno tracks.

The moog seems to be a compromise of the 2 offering nice tight lows yet really responding nice and evenly to the expression pedal.

yes speed was off... I'll try messing with the range some more... I don't think those were my exact settings I recalled them from memory a few hours later- but it's a starting point.
 
#113
The EQ in static against a moving filter in this case. You can use it to sculpt the overall tone but it doesn't actually change the filter performance - it's just a general mask over the tone. But it doesn't give the filter any more focus or drive.

Anyway, I took your challenge and added a quick demo using the same BEF Pro filter voice but with a couple EQ schemes applied for comparison. Tell me what you think.
 
#114
Yeah, again I'm not bashing one product or promoting another. I still like the BEF Pro. So many options and sounds available. Built-in LFO with excellent MIDI Clock sync. And super affordable.

Wolffman - don't forget you can adjust the XD backpage parameter to control the range and direction of expression pedal control. So more options to explore there. :)
 
#115
gastric said:
The EQ in static against a moving filter in this case. You can use it to sculpt the overall tone but it doesn't actually change the filter performance - it's just a general mask over the tone. But it doesn't give the filter any more focus or drive.

Anyway, I took your challenge and added a quick demo using the same BEF Pro filter voice but with a couple EQ schemes applied for comparison. Tell me what you think.
Click to expand...

Cool...me checks out.
 
#116
gastric said:
Yeah, again I'm not bashing one product or promoting another. I still like the BEF Pro. So many options and sounds available. Built-in LFO with excellent MIDI Clock sync. And super affordable.

Wolffman - don't forget you can adjust the XD backpage parameter to control the range and direction of expression pedal control. So more options to explore there. :)
Click to expand...

YEP I undertsand completely, just giving my experiences with 3 very popular filters preforming a very specific function.
 
#117
gastric said:
The EQ in static against a moving filter in this case. You can use it to sculpt the overall tone but it doesn't actually change the filter performance - it's just a general mask over the tone. But it doesn't give the filter any more focus or drive.

Anyway, I took your challenge and added a quick demo using the same BEF Pro filter voice but with a couple EQ schemes applied for comparison. Tell me what you think.
Click to expand...

Would sending the filter a deep initial tone help?

Just ordered the Pro from 8thstreet! I better start reading the manual so it's nothing but educated mad scientist when it gets here!:hyper:
 
#118
To some degree, but not a lot. I'm sending a fairly bass laden gated fuzz to the filter in the demos. Put a DOD FX25 filter set to dub tones in front and it cuts too much highs and you lose most of the filtering. Though it's more bassy sounding. But probably not much more bassy sounding than just applying the EQ.

But I'm certainly not a professional nor an expert. But you're generally at the mercy of the native filter voice. Yes, you can help shape the overall tone by massaging the signal input to the filter, and by applying EQ, etc. after. But you're usually not going to make one filter sound like another using those methods.
 
#119
gastric said:
To some degree, but not a lot. I'm sending a fairly bass laden gated fuzz to the filter in the demos. Put a DOD FX25 filter set to dub tones in front and it cuts too much highs and you lose most of the filtering. Though it's more bassy sounding. But probably not much more bassy sounding than just applying the EQ.

But I'm certainly not a professional nor an expert. But you're generally at the mercy of the native filter voice. Yes, you can help shape the overall tone by massaging the signal input to the filter, and by applying EQ, etc. after. But you're usually not going to make one filter sound like another using those methods.
Click to expand...

Bummer, maybe that particular tone will come to someone on this forum. If not, I am sure one of your several filters gets it done which is the positive side of being a filter addict.

What is your expression pedal of choice for this unit? I have never used one before.
 
#120
gastric said:
The EQ in static against a moving filter in this case. You can use it to sculpt the overall tone but it doesn't actually change the filter performance - it's just a general mask over the tone. But it doesn't give the filter any more focus or drive.

Anyway, I took your challenge and added a quick demo using the same BEF Pro filter voice but with a couple EQ schemes applied for comparison. Tell me what you think.
Click to expand...


Gastric, finally got a chance to listen to those samples....you proved your point.


OhulahanBass said:
Just ordered the Pro from 8thstreet! I better start reading the manual so it's nothing but educated mad scientist when it gets here!:hyper:
Click to expand...

It should arrive like, real soon? You and I have identical filter tastes....so I know you'll dig it. But, will it be our end all, be all? Of course not, we've got the sickness.

We're proud, we're Filter Addicts.
 

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