source audio c4

[rsmith601]

Because no one listened to me! :-D

Naughty!!

 

[Quatschmacher]

Ooh, don’t know why I have only just thought of this but I’m going to map a CC to filter cutoff and use the ADSR envelopes in the MORTRIX controller to show what C4 could sound like with full ADSR control. It’ll be a bit of a fudge as I’ll have to manually trigger the envelopes with my foot or from the MIDI clock but I’ll see how it goes and will report back/post clips. Might be able to combine clocked envelopes with the C4’s own sequencer as C4 cannot be driven from a MIDI note sequencer.

OK here’s a couple of rough and ready examples. You’ll hear here that the cutoff starts at minimum, rises to maximum then decays to a point about halfway open. When the envelope is released, it decays back to the cutoff value. In the second clip I’ve played the note with the filter static at first so you can hear how it sounds closed to hear the contrast.

The beauty of having separate stages is that you can sculpt the sound precisely to taste, setting exactly how fast the envelope opens filter, how fast it closes it and to what degree it holds it open during the sustain stage. (Mortrix even allows the curve of the stages to be set anywhere from log-lin-exp. I used a fairly exponential attack with a moderately logarithmic decay and slightly logarithmic release.)

 

[ShoesMagoo]

Hello, TB. Been popping in here for the occasional lurk since...20 years ago or something? Finally created an account to join in. I purchased a C4 (and an Aftershock, and a Gemini) more than a year ago after at long last getting into gear, and following an extensive amount of research on pedals. Source Audio won. Recently I've read through the entire C4 and SASS threads attempting to bring myself up to speed on everything. It seems most of my questions, comments, and concerns have already been posted and addressed, so thanks to this community for being so forthcoming with information and assistance.

I've been stoked to dive into the C4, kind of been busy finishing school though which is why it's taken me this long since purchase. Upon unboxing it when I made the purchase, I had some general difficulties in understanding how to get it to sound anywhere remotely like it is shown in demos (Zach Rizer, Nate Navarro, etc.). Thought I might have damaged it by under-powering it, reached out to SA and was informed that such a thing could not be the case. I read through the manual and looked around online, but could not get the calibration function to work. After sampling and saving many community presets and getting fed up with not being able to get it to work properly and consistently, I boxed it up and stuffed it in the closet. Until now. After combing through both TB threads and googling hard, It seemed my woes were likely due to lack of calibration. Easy enough to remedy, right? I bought a DMC Micro Pro and got it set up and talking with the C4, which is really slick. Finally, today I resolved to get the calibration function figured out.
No dice.
No. Stupid. Dice.

Neuro Editor is up to date, and I did another factory reset on the C4 and updated the firmware through the editor. I've got a Sire P7 2nd gen with an active/passive preamp running into the C4 and straight into a Hartke TX300 with an HL210 cab. Cables are all very new and very functional otherwise. Pedal on, volume on the bass and amp are up, turn the input knob on the C4 all the way to the left, then pluck steadily while turning the input knob to the right. I've yet to see a single red flash of the LED attempting across the 6 factory presets, a couple dozen community patches, variable knob-turning speeds, trying active and passive mode on the bass, and adjusting other EQ parameters on the bass and amp, open strings and all over the fret board. There is occasionally some indistinct and faint flickering of the green LED, but not what I would call 'flashing', nor does it follow a pattern, and it definitely never turns red. Turning the knob does affect the output of the sound, but not in a way that allows an unusable/non-calibrated patch to be adjusted to being usable/calibrated. Same for adjusting the sensitivity setting in alt mode; it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference to matter. Some patches work better than others, to the point that they sound fairly close to what I've heard presented in demos, but even the ones that sound better will not prompt the pedal to calibrate when I attempt to do so. Many patches cause volume spikes and other peculiar sounds which, outside the context of using a synth pedal at least, would have me at great cause for concern for the health of my speakers, and those are mostly unchanged with my failed attempts at calibration. Am I missing something here? I don't see anything about it in the manual, but does the mode (Standard, Preset, WYSIWYG) matter in relation to calibration? Help would be most appreciated, I'm at full standstill with what I was hoping to be a glorious sound-making machine.

 

[sunbeast]

Hello, TB. Been popping in here for the occasional lurk since...20 years ago or something? Finally created an account to join in. I purchased a C4 (and an Aftershock, and a Gemini) more than a year ago after at long last getting into gear, and following an extensive amount of research on pedals. Source Audio won. Recently I've read through the entire C4 and SASS threads attempting to bring myself up to speed on everything. It seems most of my questions, comments, and concerns have already been posted and addressed, so thanks to this community for being so forthcoming with information and assistance.

I've been stoked to dive into the C4, kind of been busy finishing school though which is why it's taken me this long since purchase. Upon unboxing it when I made the purchase, I had some general difficulties in understanding how to get it to sound anywhere remotely like it is shown in demos (Zach Rizer, Nate Navarro, etc.). Thought I might have damaged it by under-powering it, reached out to SA and was informed that such a thing could not be the case. I read through the manual and looked around online, but could not get the calibration function to work. After sampling and saving many community presets and getting fed up with not being able to get it to work properly and consistently, I boxed it up and stuffed it in the closet. Until now. After combing through both TB threads and googling hard, It seemed my woes were likely due to lack of calibration. Easy enough to remedy, right? I bought a DMC Micro Pro and got it set up and talking with the C4, which is really slick. Finally, today I resolved to get the calibration function figured out.
No dice.
No. Stupid. Dice.

Neuro Editor is up to date, and I did another factory reset on the C4 and updated the firmware through the editor. I've got a Sire P7 2nd gen with an active/passive preamp running into the C4 and straight into a Hartke TX300 with an HL210 cab. Cables are all very new and very functional otherwise. Pedal on, volume on the bass and amp are up, turn the input knob on the C4 all the way to the left, then pluck steadily while turning the input knob to the right. I've yet to see a single red flash of the LED attempting across the 6 factory presets, a couple dozen community patches, variable knob-turning speeds, trying active and passive mode on the bass, and adjusting other EQ parameters on the bass and amp, open strings and all over the fret board. There is occasionally some indistinct and faint flickering of the green LED, but not what I would call 'flashing', nor does it follow a pattern, and it definitely never turns red. Turning the knob does affect the output of the sound, but not in a way that allows an unusable/non-calibrated patch to be adjusted to being usable/calibrated. Same for adjusting the sensitivity setting in alt mode; it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference to matter. Some patches work better than others, to the point that they sound fairly close to what I've heard presented in demos, but even the ones that sound better will not prompt the pedal to calibrate when I attempt to do so. Many patches cause volume spikes and other peculiar sounds which, outside the context of using a synth pedal at least, would have me at great cause for concern for the health of my speakers, and those are mostly unchanged with my failed attempts at calibration. Am I missing something here? I don't see anything about it in the manual, but does the mode (Standard, Preset, WYSIWYG) matter in relation to calibration? Help would be most appreciated, I'm at full standstill with what I was hoping to be a glorious sound-making machine.

The bypass LED only gives you calibrate signals (flashing in response to your playing in green or red) just as you are adjusting the Input Gain knob on the pedal and slightly after moving the M knob OR right after you switch to a new preset, then it reverts to its normal state and no longer responds to your playing til you move that knob again or change presets again. I'm guessing the flickering you mention is in response to your playing either just after moving the knob or just after switching presets. I have some very low output passive instruments and can trigger red lights on the calibration light when digging in hard on even the quietest of them with the Gain up all the way (particularly the low notes, not always high ones). Most of my basses can trigger the red with the knob below 3/4 of the way.

A potentially unfortunate thing is that Input Gain, Sensitivity, and Output Volume settings are all saved on a per-patch basis, so they will almost certainly need to be adjusted to your setup every time you load a new community patch (of course once you find the adjusted settings you need you can resave the new settings to your rig and save either into the pedal or onto the Cloud). I like to scroll community presets in WYSIWYG mode, as only in WYSIWYG mode will the knob positions actually represent the settings when you switch to a new preset (but NOT the secondary settings, so unfortunately the Output Volume spikes can still be an issue til you’ve changed those to suit your rig). This is a useful mode to use once you've found a good Input Gain setting so you can demo new presets without having to reset that setting every time you move to a new preset (but keep in mind the other 3 knobs then will also affect the sound you hear when you pull up new patches too, and sometimes the assignable knobs might be assigned to something strange!).

What power supply are you using? Fresh battery in your bass?

 

[odarellmc]

Hello, TB. Been popping in here for the occasional lurk since...20 years ago or something? Finally created an account to join in. I purchased a C4 (and an Aftershock, and a Gemini) more than a year ago after at long last getting into gear, and following an extensive amount of research on pedals. Source Audio won. Recently I've read through the entire C4 and SASS threads attempting to bring myself up to speed on everything. It seems most of my questions, comments, and concerns have already been posted and addressed, so thanks to this community for being so forthcoming with information and assistance.

I've been stoked to dive into the C4, kind of been busy finishing school though which is why it's taken me this long since purchase. Upon unboxing it when I made the purchase, I had some general difficulties in understanding how to get it to sound anywhere remotely like it is shown in demos (Zach Rizer, Nate Navarro, etc.). Thought I might have damaged it by under-powering it, reached out to SA and was informed that such a thing could not be the case. I read through the manual and looked around online, but could not get the calibration function to work. After sampling and saving many community presets and getting fed up with not being able to get it to work properly and consistently, I boxed it up and stuffed it in the closet. Until now. After combing through both TB threads and googling hard, It seemed my woes were likely due to lack of calibration. Easy enough to remedy, right? I bought a DMC Micro Pro and got it set up and talking with the C4, which is really slick. Finally, today I resolved to get the calibration function figured out.
No dice.
No. Stupid. Dice.

Neuro Editor is up to date, and I did another factory reset on the C4 and updated the firmware through the editor. I've got a Sire P7 2nd gen with an active/passive preamp running into the C4 and straight into a Hartke TX300 with an HL210 cab. Cables are all very new and very functional otherwise. Pedal on, volume on the bass and amp are up, turn the input knob on the C4 all the way to the left, then pluck steadily while turning the input knob to the right. I've yet to see a single red flash of the LED attempting across the 6 factory presets, a couple dozen community patches, variable knob-turning speeds, trying active and passive mode on the bass, and adjusting other EQ parameters on the bass and amp, open strings and all over the fret board. There is occasionally some indistinct and faint flickering of the green LED, but not what I would call 'flashing', nor does it follow a pattern, and it definitely never turns red. Turning the knob does affect the output of the sound, but not in a way that allows an unusable/non-calibrated patch to be adjusted to being usable/calibrated. Same for adjusting the sensitivity setting in alt mode; it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference to matter. Some patches work better than others, to the point that they sound fairly close to what I've heard presented in demos, but even the ones that sound better will not prompt the pedal to calibrate when I attempt to do so. Many patches cause volume spikes and other peculiar sounds which, outside the context of using a synth pedal at least, would have me at great cause for concern for the health of my speakers, and those are mostly unchanged with my failed attempts at calibration. Am I missing something here? I don't see anything about it in the manual, but does the mode (Standard, Preset, WYSIWYG) matter in relation to calibration? Help would be most appreciated, I'm at full standstill with what I was hoping to be a glorious sound-making machine.

This best way to help is to be straight forward, seeing that you asked about standard, preset and wysiwig in regards to calibration means you haven't read the source material. Please read through all of the documentation then read it again. Trust it will clarify next steps for you

 

[ShoesMagoo]

The bypass LED only gives you calibrate signals (flashing in response to your playing in green or red) just as you are adjusting the Input Gain knob on the pedal and slightly after moving the M knob OR right after you switch to a new preset, then it reverts to its normal state and no longer responds to your playing til you move that knob again or change presets again. I'm guessing the flickering you mention is in response to your playing either just after moving the knob or just after switching presets. I have some very low output passive instruments and can trigger red lights on the calibration light when digging in hard on even the quietest of them with the Gain up all the way (particularly the low notes, not always high ones). Most of my basses can trigger the red with the knob below 3/4 of the way.

A potentially unfortunate thing is that Input Gain, Sensitivity, and Output Volume settings are all saved on a per-patch basis, so they will almost certainly need to be adjusted to your setup every time you load a new community patch (of course once you find the adjusted settings you need you can resave the new settings to your rig and save either into the pedal or onto the Cloud). I like to scroll community presets in WYSIWYG mode, as only in WYSIWYG mode will the knob positions actually represent the settings when you switch to a new preset (but NOT the secondary settings, so unfortunately the Output Volume spikes can still be an issue til you’ve changed those to suit your rig). This is a useful mode to use once you've found a good Input Gain setting so you can demo new presets without having to reset that setting every time you move to a new preset (but keep in mind the other 3 knobs then will also affect the sound you hear when you pull up new patches too, and sometimes the assignable knobs might be assigned to something strange!).

What power supply are you using? Fresh battery in your bass?

The flickering happens as I turn the knob continuously while playing, and the flickering sometimes does not happen while doing this, on the same patch. Digging in with active pickups and gain turned up has never once produced a red light. I agree that the per-patch situation is a potentially unfortunate thing, although I understand that it's part of the deal with this kind of pedal (not that there are many others like it) in that the creation of some kind of automatically adjusted global settings for these parameters is an untenable ask, at least outside the realm of the current tech. Making these adjustments oneself seems to be a straightforward process on paper, but alas... Nothing is happening that is perceptible as any kind of gauge for determining a setting. I get that these need to be adjusted on a per-patch basis, but I'm not able to even get a single calibration response on any patch, and am subsequently unable to identify a good input gain setting as a reference point.

Yes, thank you, I forgot to mention that I am using the included SourceAudio power supply for the C4 and I have fresh 9V batteries in the bass, each tested on a multimeter at ~10.2V output. This is a newer home with a modern electrical system, the outlet tests fine, and I'm plugged into a Furman SS-6B-PRO surge suppressor. I got the same results with an old Ampeg BA-115 combo, and with a Cort Action Bass, FWIW.

 

[ShoesMagoo]

This best way to help is to be straight forward, seeing that you asked about standard, preset and wysiwig in regards to calibration means you haven't read the source material. Please read through all of the documentation then read it again. Trust it will clarify next steps for you

Wow. I certainly didn't expect to be challenged for dishonesty right out of the gate here. I tried to include everything I could think of to present the most workable case for troubleshooting, and I think I was pretty forthcoming with the info that I provided. I have read through the documentation, more than a few times. Have you considered that, just perhaps, I might have made an honest mistake in my efforts to assimilate this info and achieve my task? That I missed or didn't fully understand something in the documentation and am here asking for help because I've at least seemingly exhausted my own capacities for troubleshooting? Do you honestly think that telling me to do something that I've already done is helpful? If you have the answer and genuinely want to help, why spend your energy berating me instead of just explaining it to me? JFC, man.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Hello, TB. Been popping in here for the occasional lurk since...20 years ago or something? Finally created an account to join in. I purchased a C4 (and an Aftershock, and a Gemini) more than a year ago after at long last getting into gear, and following an extensive amount of research on pedals. Source Audio won. Recently I've read through the entire C4 and SASS threads attempting to bring myself up to speed on everything. It seems most of my questions, comments, and concerns have already been posted and addressed, so thanks to this community for being so forthcoming with information and assistance.

I've been stoked to dive into the C4, kind of been busy finishing school though which is why it's taken me this long since purchase. Upon unboxing it when I made the purchase, I had some general difficulties in understanding how to get it to sound anywhere remotely like it is shown in demos (Zach Rizer, Nate Navarro, etc.). Thought I might have damaged it by under-powering it, reached out to SA and was informed that such a thing could not be the case. I read through the manual and looked around online, but could not get the calibration function to work. After sampling and saving many community presets and getting fed up with not being able to get it to work properly and consistently, I boxed it up and stuffed it in the closet. Until now. After combing through both TB threads and googling hard, It seemed my woes were likely due to lack of calibration. Easy enough to remedy, right? I bought a DMC Micro Pro and got it set up and talking with the C4, which is really slick. Finally, today I resolved to get the calibration function figured out.
No dice.
No. Stupid. Dice.

Neuro Editor is up to date, and I did another factory reset on the C4 and updated the firmware through the editor. I've got a Sire P7 2nd gen with an active/passive preamp running into the C4 and straight into a Hartke TX300 with an HL210 cab. Cables are all very new and very functional otherwise. Pedal on, volume on the bass and amp are up, turn the input knob on the C4 all the way to the left, then pluck steadily while turning the input knob to the right. I've yet to see a single red flash of the LED attempting across the 6 factory presets, a couple dozen community patches, variable knob-turning speeds, trying active and passive mode on the bass, and adjusting other EQ parameters on the bass and amp, open strings and all over the fret board. There is occasionally some indistinct and faint flickering of the green LED, but not what I would call 'flashing', nor does it follow a pattern, and it definitely never turns red. Turning the knob does affect the output of the sound, but not in a way that allows an unusable/non-calibrated patch to be adjusted to being usable/calibrated. Same for adjusting the sensitivity setting in alt mode; it doesn't seem to make enough of a difference to matter. Some patches work better than others, to the point that they sound fairly close to what I've heard presented in demos, but even the ones that sound better will not prompt the pedal to calibrate when I attempt to do so. Many patches cause volume spikes and other peculiar sounds which, outside the context of using a synth pedal at least, would have me at great cause for concern for the health of my speakers, and those are mostly unchanged with my failed attempts at calibration. Am I missing something here? I don't see anything about it in the manual, but does the mode (Standard, Preset, WYSIWYG) matter in relation to calibration? Help would be most appreciated, I'm at full standstill with what I was hoping to be a glorious sound-making machine.

Did you perform a factory reset after the last firmware update? Worth trying that to flush any gremlins out.

I’d try in “default” mode. There may well be an issue in the other modes that I’m unaware of. Calibration has always worked fine for me in default mode.

Do you have another sound source you can try? (A different bass, or different instrument entirely.)

I’m presuming the pedal is in the engaged state when you’re attempting input calibration and plugged into input 1 of the C4.

I have heard of a few people having issues with active basses. Wonder if the inherently have a lower pickup output to account for the fact the preamp will add gain. If so, this would also affect passive operation.

 

[odarellmc]

Wow. I certainly didn't expect to be challenged for dishonesty right out of the gate here. I tried to include everything I could think of to present the most workable case for troubleshooting, and I think I was pretty forthcoming with the info that I provided. I have read through the documentation, more than a few times. Have you considered that, just perhaps, I might have made an honest mistake in my efforts to assimilate this info and achieve my task? That I missed or didn't fully understand something in the documentation and am here asking for help because I've at least seemingly exhausted my own capacities for troubleshooting? Do you honestly think that telling me to do something that I've already done is helpful? If you have the answer and genuinely want to help, why spend your energy berating me instead of just explaining it to me? JFC, man.

No one said you where being dishonest. It's that you haven't read the manual.... other wise you would know none of those things have anything to do with calibration.

 

[Derek Williams]

The Source Audio manuals are far from complete, and asking questions here is a good source of support. Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of us are happy to help when we can.

 

[ShoesMagoo]

No one said you where being dishonest. It's that you haven't read the manual.... other wise you would know none of those things have anything to do with calibration.

I said that I read the source material, you said that I didn't. That's calling me dishonest, and you persist. I have read the source material more than a few times. I seem to be doing all the things I need to do for this, but it still isn't working, so I provided all the info that might have relevance, even though some or all of it might not, but that's the point of why I'm here, to ask for help. That's how you go about opening a help case. Again, if I made an honest mistake or didn't get something, I'm here to have it explained to me. That's what 50% of the purpose of this thread is for, reaching out to the community for help. And again, if you know the answer, feel free to explain it. Or actually, don't even bother. I'm not interested in any further dialogue with you.

 

[odarellmc]

I said that I read the source material, you said that I didn't. That's calling me dishonest, and you persist. I have read the source material more than a few times. I seem to be doing all the things I need to do for this, but it still isn't working, so I provided all the info that might have relevance, even though some or all of it might not, but that's the point of why I'm here, to ask for help. That's how you go about opening a help case. Again, if I made an honest mistake or didn't get something, I'm here to have it explained to me. That's what 50% of the purpose of this thread is for, reaching out to the community for help. And again, if you know the answer, feel free to explain it. Or actually, don't even bother. I'm not interested in any further dialogue with you.

I don't know if you made a mistake, I just read what YOU wrote... nevermind dude...

 

[sunbeast]

The flickering happens as I turn the knob continuously while playing, and the flickering sometimes does not happen while doing this, on the same patch. Digging in with active pickups and gain turned up has never once produced a red light. I agree that the per-patch situation is a potentially unfortunate thing, although I understand that it's part of the deal with this kind of pedal (not that there are many others like it) in that the creation of some kind of automatically adjusted global settings for these parameters is an untenable ask, at least outside the realm of the current tech. Making these adjustments oneself seems to be a straightforward process on paper, but alas... Nothing is happening that is perceptible as any kind of gauge for determining a setting. I get that these need to be adjusted on a per-patch basis, but I'm not able to even get a single calibration response on any patch, and am subsequently unable to identify a good input gain setting as a reference point.

Yes, thank you, I forgot to mention that I am using the included SourceAudio power supply for the C4 and I have fresh 9V batteries in the bass, each tested on a multimeter at ~10.2V output. This is a newer home with a modern electrical system, the outlet tests fine, and I'm plugged into a Furman SS-6B-PRO surge suppressor. I got the same results with an old Ampeg BA-115 combo, and with a Cort Action Bass, FWIW.

If turning the Input Gain all the way up still can’t give you any red on the calibration light it suggests indeed there is either something wrong with your pedal or your bass has quite low output available. I think a firmware reset would probably be the right first move as suggested by @Quatschmacher . I’m sure someone from Source Audio will chime in before long as well

 

[ShoesMagoo]

Did you perform a factory reset after the last firmware update? Worth trying that to flush any gremlins out.

I’d try in “default” mode. There may well be an issue in the other modes that I’m unaware of. Calibration has always worked fine for me in default mode.

Do you have another sound source you can try? (A different bass, or different instrument entirely.)

I’m presuming the pedal is in the engaged state when you’re attempting input calibration and plugged into input 1 of the C4.

I have heard of a few people having issues with active basses. Wonder if the inherently have a lower pickup output to account for the fact the preamp will add gain. If so, this would also affect passive operation.

Thank you for your suggestions. Hmmm I'd have thought that a firmware update would be necessary after the factory reset, but I guess that means that a factory reset doesn't touch the firmware. I've tried both ways now at your suggestion - reset then fw update, fw update then reset - with no change.

I've definitely been trying primarily in 'default' mode.

Tried also with a Cort Action Bass and a Shane Targa (yeah...) guitar. Same result.

The pedal is definitely engaged and I've only been using the input/output 1 ports.

I've tried several other featured user presets, also tried with each pickup full on and then blended. Some of the patches put out zero sound and then spike randomly or break up into noise, all while adjusting the Input and Sense functions. Edit: And some patches seem to sound fine but still won't calibrate.

 

[Monster_Engine]

I have a passive Fender Precision which tracks fine, but I have a very similar problem to what the OP is describing with very low output from my passive Fender Jazz. I found that putting a cheap booster pedal in front of the C4 and engaging it when I use the Jazz but not the P works well for me.

 

[AlexanderB]

I will just chime in to say, that with my Danrlectro Longhorn, I am just barely getting the filters in factory preset Funk Dragon (?) to open properly, even when digging in. My other basses with higher output can trigger the calibration light.
Good luck!

 

[MrFunk]

In my past posts I explain the whole process. Good luck!

 

[PaulS]

Has anyone tried the new midi adapter with the C4?

 

[MascisMan]

Has anyone tried the new midi adapter with the C4?

I haven't, but, it works great with the Kingmaker fuzz. Should work even better with the C4 considering it has the more traditional 128 presets MIDI capability.

 

[rsmith601]

Has anyone tried the new midi adapter with the C4?

@Quatschmacher ?