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

[MattFoes]

You’re welcome, Matt. Glad to hear you like them.

I’m actually now experimenting with using a MIDI loop switcher that I’m beta testing to select what gets placed inside my Spectrum’s loop per preset. I have the send/return of loop A going into input 1/output 2. Loop B’s send/return goes to input 2/output 1. I then run A into B in series if I am just using Spectrum alone, but if I want something in the Spectrum’s loop, I simply set up a preset on the switcher that inserts something between loops A and B.

Woah!!!
Hopefully you'll post some of the findings from your beta test somewhere. I'd love to see/hear what you're playing around with.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Woah!!!
Hopefully you'll post some of the findings from your beta test somewhere. I'd love to see/hear what you're playing around with.

At the moment it’s the same patches I’ve posted. Using the switcher just means I don’t have to bury everything in internal loops. I previously had loads of stuff running in my Chromatron’s loop, within that was my C4 and within its loop I had various octaver and dirt combos and they were running in channels of my Boss LS-2! This gave some flexibility but meant that I had to have specific patches set up on the C4 in order to use the loop contents. All very convoluted. With the loop switcher I can run those things in any order, series/parallel, whatever I fancy. The main bonus is that it’ll free up my Lunar; it was previously running after my dirt/octave combos to double the sound but now I’ll be free to have it do that, be at the end of my chain for standard chorus duties or be a phaser anywhere in the chain.

The only downside of the loop switcher is having to do a bit more programming thought. Just wish it were bigger so I could put more pedals through it. I’d it sells well, there may well be a bigger version made.

 

[yberwaffe]

At the moment it’s the same patches I’ve posted. Using the switcher just means I don’t have to bury everything in internal loops. I previously had loads of stuff running in my Chromatron’s loop, within that was my C4 and within its loop I had various octaver and dirt combos and they were running in channels of my Boss LS-2! This gave some flexibility but meant that I had to have specific patches set up on the C4 in order to use the loop contents. All very convoluted. With the loop switcher I can run those things in any order, series/parallel, whatever I fancy. The main bonus is that it’ll free up my Lunar; it was previously running after my dirt/octave combos to double the sound but now I’ll be free to have it do that, be at the end of my chain for standard chorus duties or be a phaser anywhere in the chain.

The only downside of the loop switcher is having to do a bit more programming thought. Just wish it were bigger so I could put more pedals through it. I’d it sells well, there may well be a bigger version made.

I hope it's a stereo looper.
I mean it will work is full stereo mode with stereo pedals.

 

[Quatschmacher]

I hope it's a stereo looper.

It is. The stereo capability means I can use a single loop for both ins and outs of an SA pedal.

 

[Quatschmacher]

I happened to buy a second MXR BEF simply because it was the older purple sparkle one. The idea was to sell my other one. Had some doubts as I was having loads of fun running them in parallel.

Inspired by that, I decided to make some parallel versions of my Spectrum preset that was based on the BEF.

One is just straight. The other one has some sample-rate reduction. This came about because when I recorded the first clip, my sound card did a weird thing and messed up the sample rate. Annoying but it sounded cool so I decided to replicate that in my patch. Here are the results:

QM Balls In The Purple Vice 1

QM Crushed Balls In The Purple Vice 1

These are available in Neuro, as are two more which add a sub octave.

 

[WaveyDavey]

… The other one has some sample-rate reduction. This came about because when I recorded the first clip, my sound card did a weird thing and messed up the sample rate. Annoying but it sounded cool so I decided to replicate that in my patch.

Although the name makes me wince a bit, “Crushed Balls” has a killer Clavinet-like quality that I really like. I sense some Stevie Wonder-inspired noodling in my future.

Kudos once again, QM. Thank you!

 

[Quatschmacher]

Although the name makes me wince a bit, “Crushed Balls” has a killer Clavinet-like quality that I really like. I sense some Stevie Wonder-inspired noodling in my future.

Kudos once again, QM. Thank you!

It’s a contraction of “bit-crushed bassballs”. Glad you like the sound, if not the name.

 

[GMC]

At the moment it’s the same patches I’ve posted. Using the switcher just means I don’t have to bury everything in internal loops. I previously had loads of stuff running in my Chromatron’s loop, within that was my C4 and within its loop I had various octaver and dirt combos and they were running in channels of my Boss LS-2! This gave some flexibility but meant that I had to have specific patches set up on the C4 in order to use the loop contents. All very convoluted. With the loop switcher I can run those things in any order, series/parallel, whatever I fancy. The main bonus is that it’ll free up my Lunar; it was previously running after my dirt/octave combos to double the sound but now I’ll be free to have it do that, be at the end of my chain for standard chorus duties or be a phaser anywhere in the chain.

The only downside of the loop switcher is having to do a bit more programming thought. Just wish it were bigger so I could put more pedals through it. I’d it sells well, there may well be a bigger version made.

Loop Switchers have less of a spike when switching loops compared to midi sends to turn off / on an effect. Most bypass circuits use some kind of reed switch and they generally make quite a thump.

I've been using a Boss ES-5 for nearly 4 years now. The ability to swap the loops around was initially quite call and it's a major feature. I tend to use the loop on/off feature a lot for my 5 mono loops. Plus I use addional assigns to switch other pedals on / off that are after my 5 loops. Those post ES-5 pedals are all wired stereo. Things like verbs, EQ's and delays don't really need to be in a loop or moved about in the chain. I think the ES-5's biggest features are that it's also a really good Midi controller & switcher & loop arranger. Plus it's not too big or heavy.
It's good to hear some competition is coming, it's been a 2 horse race for some time. I'm assuming this is a stand alone unit, ie not part of a midi controller. Which is nice If one wants to add loops to an existing array.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Loop Switchers have less of a spike when switching loops compared to midi sends to turn off / on an effect. Most bypass circuits use some kind of reed switch and they generally make quite a thump.

I've been using a Boss ES-5 for nearly 4 years now. The ability to swap the loops around was initially quite call and it's a major feature. I tend to use the loop on/off feature a lot for my 5 mono loops. Plus I use addional assigns to switch other pedals on / off that are after my 5 loops. Those post ES-5 pedals are all wired stereo. Things like verbs, EQ's and delays don't really need to be in a loop or moved about in the chain. I think the ES-5's biggest features are that it's also a really good Midi controller & switcher & loop arranger. Plus it's not too big or heavy.
It's good to hear some competition is coming, it's been a 2 horse race for some time. I'm assuming this is a stand alone unit, ie not part of a midi controller. Which is nice If one wants to add loops to an existing array.

It’s the new Morningstar ML5X which pairs very nicely with the MC8.

 

[Derek Williams]

It’s the new Morningstar ML5X which pairs very nicely with the MC8.

Wooo! Looking forward to the release of that one, even if I don’t need it. It looks great!

 

[Quatschmacher]

Wooo! Looking forward to the release of that one, even if I don’t need it. It looks great!

Yep, it is very cool. Great to finally have MIDI control over my analogue pedals. Just ironing out a few small bugs and suggesting a few more tweaks to make it nicer/easier to use (though it’s already nice and easy to use). I’ve already had a good number of my improvement suggestions implemented.

 

[Derek Williams]

Yep, it is very cool. Great to finally have MIDI control over my analogue pedals. Just ironing out a few small bugs and suggesting a few more tweaks to make it nicer/easier to use (though it’s already nice and easy to use). I’ve already had a good number of my improvement suggestions implemented.

If I can find a bigger board I like, I'd want one of those for my stereo pedals for sure. I don't really need to reorder them, but I'd do it if I could.

Can you give any details on what the size of the unit is? I have an ML5, and it's already quite big. is it around the same size, but using TRS instead?

 

[Quatschmacher]

If I can find a bigger board I like, I'd want one of those for my stereo pedals for sure. I don't really need to reorder them, but I'd do it if I could.

Can you give any details on what the size of the unit is? I have an ML5, and it's already quite big. is it around the same size, but using TRS instead?

I’ll measure it when I’m back home. Yes, TRS ports.

 

[Discount Bassy]

I happened to buy a second MXR BEF simply because it was the older purple sparkle one. The idea was to sell my other one. Had some doubts as I was having loads of fun running them in parallel.

Inspired by that, I decided to make some parallel versions of my Spectrum preset that was based on the BEF.

One is just straight. The other one has some sample-rate reduction. This came about because when I recorded the first clip, my sound card did a weird thing and messed up the sample rate. Annoying but it sounded cool so I decided to replicate that in my patch. Here are the results:

QM Balls In The Purple Vice 1

QM Crushed Balls In The Purple Vice 1

These are available in Neuro, as are two more which add a sub octave.

Those are both really sweet. The second one, especially. I had and loved an MXR BEF that was destroyed by a lightning strike power surge. I ended up replacing all of the other pedals with SA stuff over time, but the BEF was one that I strongly considered replacing with the same. I guess I just need to spend more time with my C4, starting with loading your presets and tweaking as required. You've shared some really good stuff. Thank you.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Those are both really sweet. The second one, especially. I had and loved an MXR BEF that was destroyed by a lightning strike power surge. I ended up replacing all of the other pedals with SA stuff over time, but the BEF was one that I strongly considered replacing with the same. I guess I just need to spend more time with my C4, starting with loading your presets and tweaking as required. You've shared some really good stuff. Thank you.

Thanks.

Yep, the BEF is great. One of only two pedals that I’ve sold and then re-bought.

 

[GMC]

I’ll measure it when I’m back home. Yes, TRS ports.

The Stereo option does make it very attractive proposition. I'm thinking that a MC-6 and ML5X would take up roughly the same space as my current Boss ES-5. meaning i don't have to cut up my board to make it all fit. Because it's stereo, I get to run several pedals in a single loop. I can switch individual pedals on/off via midi cc.
I could run my Aftershock and Ultrawave in a single stereo Loop. I could put one of my H9's and my Lunar in a single stereo loop too. I could in theory put a pair of mono pedals in parallel in a single loop and use midi to switch between them. It's certainly food for thought.

 

[GMC]

I’ll measure it when I’m back home. Yes, TRS ports.

It's probably wise starting a new thread for this new looper / switcher.

 

[Discount Bassy]

Thanks.

Yep, the BEF is great. One of only two pedals that I’ve sold and then re-bought.View attachment 4498000

Correction to my previous post: I sent my two MXR Bass Compressors back to the factory for repairs, well past warranty and no obvious "on fire" damage internally, and they swapped out the PCB's in a timely manner for a reasonable price vs. re-purchasing.

 

[Quatschmacher]

I get to run several pedals in a single loop. I can switch individual pedals on/off via midi cc.

OMG, I never even thought about this! Given that all SA stuff is switchable separately I could run stuff in a mini chain in a single loop, provided it’s stuff whose internal order I never need to change, or which I’ll never likely run together. A good candidate might be Aftershock and Ultrawave as I’m unlikely to run both together.

 

[Quatschmacher]

It's probably wise starting a new thread for this new looper / switcher.

Not sure how much I can say about it, but its existence has certainly been announced through the official channels so it’s probably fair game to start a thread.