Source Audio Sorcerers Society (S.A.S.S) Part 3

[LowWay]

The PowerMax/DC7 are modern switch-mode power supplies vs the old standard transformer design of the DC10 (and the AC10, which I also own), so you get a lot more juice in a significantly smaller/lighter/quieter package. There is also the Cioks 8 (not the DC-8), which is a modern switch-mode supply with 8 outputs and all the same configurable stuff as the DC-7- just a bit larger (I think it wouldn’t quite fit my pedalboard). The Cioks 8 was actually designed to be an extension off of a DC7, but pretty sure you could run it on its own as well with the right adaptor (don’t quote me on that!).

The DC7, the Cioks 8 and the newer V2 PowerMax have an additional 24V port that can power either an entire other DC7/PM or one of their smaller expansion boards (like the PowerMini). The main difference between the Cioks and Eventide-branded one is that the PowerMax V2 is only 9V on the first three ports, while the DC7 has the switchable voltage on all seven outputs. The V1 PowerMax was basically identical to the DC7, except that it doesn’t have an expansion port (however you can actually power the smaller expansion boxes off of one of the 9V outputs if you are only looking for additional isolated outputs and not additional power/current).

I use a V1 PowerMax with a large pedalboard right now, and just put a number of pedals on splitter daisy-chains (I have one 3-output chain and 3 dual-output, and leave 3 pedals on their own outputs). I know which pedals I have that don’t like to be chained, so this works well for me powering 10-12 pedals/devices without noise or other issues. If you only have 8 pedals, I would recommend one of these newer ones and just putting two of the pedals on an included splitter cable (if you notice noise issues, you can just experiment with which pedals don’t mind sharing power- most likely multiple Source Audio pedals will work fine daisy-chained for example).
I still have a Cioks AC10, and while it’s a great supply it’s also incredibly heavy and bulky and offers less overall output by far (the DC-10 is basically the same size/weight as my AC-10 with only a few more DC outputs). Depending on your board, mounting one of those older CIoks supplies underneath could require modification (as my Pedaltrain JR did), while the newer ones fit without issue.

So the v2 eventide seems to provide 660ma at 9 volts. The source audio pedals draw a max of 180ma at 9v. Is there cabling to run 3 of these SA pedals off one port? Will they play nice together? If so then my problem is totally solved. I really like the eventide from a form factor perspective, and the price is right.

 

[sunbeast]

So the v2 eventide seems to provide 660ma at 9 volts. The source audio pedals draw a max of 180ma at 9v. Is there cabling to run 3 of these SA pedals off one port? Will they play nice together? If so then my problem is totally solved. I really like the eventide from a form factor perspective, and the price is right.

All of the 3 iterations come with one splitter cable to allow you to use two pedals off one output. You can also buy more of those plus 3-way splitters from Cioks or Eventide (or from online sellers), or you can plug more common 1-spot style daisy-chains directly off any of the included standard cables. One annoying thing with the Eventide versions of the DC7 is that they come with a couple cables that are designed for Eventide pedals that you may not be able to utilize in lieu of a couple extra “standard” cables. I think the price savings over the DC7 still makes it worthwhile if you don’t need those extra voltage options on the first three outputs, as it still comes with enough standard cables to power your board.

I only have one SA pedal, so can’t comment on daisy-chaining but expect them to play well together.

 

[Gibs210]

All of the 3 iterations come with one splitter cable to allow you to use two pedals off one output. You can also buy more of those plus 3-way splitters from Cioks or Eventide (or from online sellers), or you can plug more common 1-spot style daisy-chains directly off any of the included standard cables. One annoying thing with the Eventide versions of the DC7 is that they come with a couple cables that are designed for Eventide pedals that you may not be able to utilize in lieu of a couple extra “standard” cables. I think the price savings over the DC7 still makes it worthwhile if you don’t need those extra voltage options on the first three outputs, as it still comes with enough standard cables to power your board.

I only have one SA pedal, so can’t comment on daisy-chaining but expect them to play well together.

Sa pedal’s share power together nicely, so long as there’s enough current. Really, the SA stuff shares power well with anything that’s digital. Just don’t share power between analog and digital pedals.

my board has a powermax, using 6 taps for 16 pedals.

A 5way one spot for 2 hubs, 2 solemans, and the reflex.

A 3way for C4, Gemini, and la lady

A 3 way for the EQ2, POG2, and a smartswitch2.

A 2 way for the collider and nemesis

A 2 way for the ventris and vertigo

and 1 line for the only analog pedal on my board a compressor.

spare tap for a tuner, or looper, however I decide to round out the board.

all running whisper quiet.

yes, I’m a guitar player

 

[LowWay]

Sa pedal’s share power together nicely, so long as there’s enough current. Really, the SA stuff shares power well with anything that’s digital. Just don’t share power between analog and digital pedals.

my board has a powermax, using 6 taps for 16 pedals.

A 5way one spot for 2 hubs, 2 solemans, and the reflex.

A 3way for C4, Gemini, and la lady

A 3 way for the EQ2, POG2, and a smartswitch2.

A 2 way for the collider and nemesis

A 2 way for the ventris and vertigo

and 1 line for the only analog pedal on my board a compressor.

spare tap for a tuner, or looper, however I decide to round out the board.

all running whisper quiet.

yes, I’m a guitar player

This sounds like it’ll more than meet my needs then.

 

[4Mal]

dang I've been cabling 1 pedal per output on my dc10. Maybe I need to investigate a multi headed cable for a couple...

 

[LowWay]

I decided to go DC7, and a new pedaltrain and soft case. Thanks for the pointers and feedback everyone.

 

[sunbeast]

dang I've been cabling 1 pedal per output on my dc10. Maybe I need to investigate a multi headed cable for a couple...

No point in doing that if ya don’t need to.

 

[N4860]

I decided to go DC7, and a new pedaltrain and soft case. Thanks for the pointers and feedback everyone.

I recently went from a voodoo labs powerplus 2 to the DC7 and couldn't be happier. I was running mostly analog at first so the voodoo labs was fine, but as I converted to SA pedals I needed more power for each output and the DC7 is much more sufficient for that.

 

[Quatschmacher]

I recently went from a voodoo labs powerplus 2 to the DC7 and couldn't be happier. I was running mostly analog at first so the voodoo labs was fine, but as I converted to SA pedals I needed more power for each output and the DC7 is much more sufficient for that.

Almost in the same boat; been using a PP2 for years but just got word that my Strymon Zuma is ready to collect. 500mA on all every output will see me right.

 

[LowWay]

I recently went from a voodoo labs powerplus 2 to the DC7 and couldn't be happier. I was running mostly analog at first so the voodoo labs was fine, but as I converted to SA pedals I needed more power for each output and the DC7 is much more sufficient for that.

this is exactly what I have, and what I’m doing. Couldn’t be more excited. 4SA pedals. May add a 5th. Plus a Soleman, Neuro hub, wireless receiver and possibly tuner. Can’t wait to get all the stuff here. Oh yeah, and the bergantino footswith for the HP.

 

[aguacateojos]

Question for y'all - I'm doing a revamp of my board and want to utilize the second in / outs on my Aftershock and C4. The idea is to split the signal from my Meatbox and send the clean through

tuner -> Aftershock in 1 -> out 1-> Iron Ether Subterranea -> C4 in 1

And the octave sub signal through

Aftershock in 2 -> out 2-> Iron Ether Dubterranea -> C4 in 2

Then C4 out 1 and through to the rest of my board. The clean signal path is working just fine but I'm not having any luck sending the octave sub chain through the SA pedals. Does anyone have tips for achieving this goal?

 

[N4860]

Almost in the same boat; been using a PP2 for years but just got word that my Strymon Zuma is ready to collect. 500mA on all every output will see me right.

Yeah the PP2 was great for me for a long time, but now, the DC7 is just so much better in terms of flexibility and not having to worry about how to sufficiently power all of my pedals.

 

[sunbeast]

Question for y'all - I'm doing a revamp of my board and want to utilize the second in / outs on my Aftershock and C4. The idea is to split the signal from my Meatbox and send the clean through

tuner -> Aftershock in 1 -> out 1-> Iron Ether Subterranea -> C4 in 1

And the octave sub signal through

Aftershock in 2 -> out 2-> Iron Ether Dubterranea -> C4 in 2

Then C4 out 1 and through to the rest of my board. The clean signal path is working just fine but I'm not having any luck sending the octave sub chain through the SA pedals. Does anyone have tips for achieving this goal?

I can only speak to the C4 routing, hopefully I don’t miss anything (it does require a bit of work):

-First go into the Routing menu and select Dual Input (though auto-detect should pick this up anyway)
-Then go into Mixes and split the two mixes so that Mix 1 destination is Out 1 and Mix 2 is Out 2. This is what creates separate stereo signal chains and allows us to use both inputs/outputs independently.
-Then go into voices and choose your octave voice (Source: most likely Mono pitch 1: -1 octave), Destination: either direct output or into the filter/distortion section (you have dual processors available so can tweak your octave voice with filter here if you’d like, though the Distortion section only allows one choice/same settings for both processors so probably best used after the 2nd input).
-Then make sure the Processor Pan is all the way off (zero)- this control chooses where to send this voice in the stereo scheme we just set up.
-Set up Volume and any other Voice settings to taste.
-If you want any other voices, set them up the same way, ensuring they are panned to go to Processor 1, including a Clean signal voice if you want to blend (Source: Mono Input 1). Just make sure to leave one free voice for routing the 2nd Input.
-If you are using any filtering on your Octave and have selected “Filter“ as the destination, adjust filter settings to taste using Filter 1.

You should now have your octave voice going through Out 1.

To route the return from In 2 into Distortion/Filter:

-Choose one of the remaining voices, turn it on, and select Source: Mono Input 2.
-Turn the Processor Pan all the way up (so it is routed only to Processor 2).
-Set Destination to Distortion + Filter (or just Filter/Distortion depending on what you want, or just Direct Out if you only want that original octave/sub signal).
-If you are using Distortion or Filter, adjust those parameters to taste using the Processor 2 controls. Also check the Envelope 2 settings, and most likely ensure that the Input for Env 2 is set to Input 1 (the default setting)- this will ensure that you non-mangled/non-pitchshifted signal is the one triggering the Envelope, which will give you the most dynamic control.

This should give you everything you need. Make sure to adjust the two separate Input Gain controls at the top of the app to compensate for added volume from everything in the loop you just created, and these Gain settings will be patch-dependent so you can set different Gain patches depending on what you are doing with the other pedals feeding the C4.

 

[Melvin7822]

Does anyone know of a Bluetooth audio receiver that could be powered by 9V and can fit underneath a pedalboard? I’d like to be able to use the Neuro app in a pinch without having to remember to bring or have charged one.

 

[sunbeast]

Does anyone know of a Bluetooth audio receiver that could be powered by 9V and can fit underneath a pedalboard? I’d like to be able to use the Neuro app in a pinch without having to remember to bring or have charged one.

Assuming you are using a modern iPhone, you could always just have a lightning to headphone (or to 1/8” ) cable plus 1/4” adaptor on the end. If I’m running a mono signal I pretty much always have a cable attached to my C4 for editing purposes. Of course Bluetooth is convenient, but can also be an added liability!

 

[Melvin7822]

Assuming you are using a modern iPhone, you could always just have a lightning to headphone (or to 1/8” ) cable plus 1/4” adaptor on the end. If I’m running a mono signal I pretty much always have a cable attached to my C4 for editing purposes. Of course Bluetooth is convenient, but can also be an added liability!

Yeah, I’m trying to go the Bluetooth direction because I don’t want the hassle of having to remember a dongle or cable. Basically looking for the least amount of effort.

 

[fivestringgecko]

Yeah, I’m trying to go the Bluetooth direction because I don’t want the hassle of having to remember a dongle or cable. Basically looking for the least amount of effort.

You could just keep one (or an extra) in your pedalboard case... I use my iPad to control my board via USB, so that's what I do. No hassle because that's the only thing I use it for, so it's always there.

5sg.

 

[Emanuel]

want to utilize the second in / outs on my Aftershock and C4. The idea is to split the signal from my Meatbox and send the clean through

This is a brilliant idea (and when asked about it I will take full credit)!

hopefully I don’t miss anything (it does require a bit of work):

Thank you SunBeast/all the Wizards here! My Dubterranea is on the way. The SubT has a permanent place on my board, I picked up the FMeron that was at a GC close and the C4 in there position based routing experiments!

 

[sunbeast]

Question for y'all - I'm doing a revamp of my board and want to utilize the second in / outs on my Aftershock and C4. The idea is to split the signal from my Meatbox and send the clean through

tuner -> Aftershock in 1 -> out 1-> Iron Ether Subterranea -> C4 in 1

And the octave sub signal through

Aftershock in 2 -> out 2-> Iron Ether Dubterranea -> C4 in 2

Then C4 out 1 and through to the rest of my board. The clean signal path is working just fine but I'm not having any luck sending the octave sub chain through the SA pedals. Does anyone have tips for achieving this goal?

Ah I just realized I misunderstood your plan. I read it as using your Aftershock/DubT chain in a loop between C4’s Out 1 and In 2 (I read it as using the C4 to create an Octave sub to send through those pedals and back into the C4 filter). In the case of using the C4 as a completely Stereo chain using the split outputs from your Meatbox you have a few different options. You could even use the C4 to blend the 2 chains back to one output.
As far as the steps I laid out, the fundamentals should basically be the same. Just use separate voices panned hard to left or right to split the two stereo chains. I’m guessing you will want to use the Meatbox sub-octave as its own synth voice on channel 2, so just keep the Voice going panned hard-right to processor 2 as “Mono Input 2”. You could still blend in other voices to this using the main input signal as well. The Distortion engine is the only one that is very limited in stereo mode- you can only choose 1 distortion type between the two processors and the controls for it are tied between the channels. Using the Aftershock before helps here, except that it will come before the C4 voices (useful on the Sub channel anyway).

 

[aguacateojos]

Here's a cable-spaghetti heavy picture of what's going on on that half of the board. And yeah, Aftershock is placed before the C4, then the C4 will send mono out to the rest of the board... I'll investigate the whole situation today or tomorrow. I think one big thing I was hoping for, which might not be possible, is for the second signal path to work without the SA pedals engaged - so right now, I can just turn the SubT on and use it alone... hopefully there's a way to do the same with the DubT in the #2 chain.

EDIT - ahh I see why that final thought probably won't work... chain #1 with the SubT works just fine because I'm sending the clean signal there already but I'd have to be able to send that clean signal into #2 as well. The MB is sending it's octave sub signal to #2 though... I guess I could make a patch with super light distortion that send "activates" that functionality for the DubT?