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

#13,001
Played my first gig since Covid this afternoon. The band before us was a bunch of hired guns backing up vocal students and then the teacher. They were all great including the bass player.

As we were sound checking, he heard my spectrum with a mutron patch and had to come over to check it out. He was super impressed by it. He’s endorsed my MXR and said that every time he goes to play his envelope, he has to change the settings. It’s never the same and always hard to get the sound he’s looking for. That’s been my experience with most other filters.

Anyway, he’d never heard of the SA and liked it so much he took a picture of it.
 
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#13,002
I installed an RJM PBC/6X pedalboard controller on my Source Audio board today. It really ties the room together.

Sadly, there's no room for my Aftershock, Ultrawave or Spectrum. I think I can get one of them back in there if I ditch the looper that I rarely use outside of creating new presets.

I'm not using any of the audio routing and loop switching capabilities of the RJM yet, simply due to lack of appropriate patch cables. Good thing all SA pedals can do MIDI!

I've been working on a rack shelf and am considering moving all the pedals there, and swapping the RJM PBC/6X with with a combination of one of their MIDI controllable loop switcher "gizmos" and one of their pure MIDI foot controllers. The only thing on the floor in that setup would be the MIDI controller. I suppose you could say I'm at a crossroads.

PXL_20220516_054529726.jpg
 
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#13,003
GMC said:
The only brand I’ve had trouble with is Strymon. But that’s Strymon’s midi issues.
Click to expand...
On my guitar pedalboard I control a Strymon Mobius from a Boss ES-8. I didn't have any issues getting it to work, include patch changes via PC, and bypass state and expression control via CC. (The Strymon menu system is rather fiddly and unintuitive when compared to Boss, but not difficult.)
 
#13,004
nnnnnn said:
On my guitar pedalboard I control a Strymon Mobius from a Boss ES-8. I didn't have any issues getting it to work, include patch changes via PC, and bypass state and expression control via CC. (The Strymon menu system is rather fiddly and unintuitive when compared to Boss, but not difficult.)
Click to expand...
I get the Mobius love, it's a great pedal. I had a Strymon Mobius for a number of years, like you I used a Boss ES-5 to control it. I found that it often passed on unwanted Midi artefacts to other Midi devices when connected via daisy chain (which is the common Midi standard). It could randomly cause pedals later in the chain to lock up or become non responsive to midi signals. I only discovered what was going on when my Mobius re-set itself to factory default settings, loosing all of my presets. I took it off my board to plug it into Nixie and noticed that all my other Midi glitches had gone. I thought those issues were with other pedals, I though my SA, EHX and Eventide pedals were being flaky. Once I realised what was going on, I re-fitted my Mobius onto my board using a Quadra thru to isolate the Mobius' midi output, so that it had it's own Midi feed. This resolved all of my Midi gremlins across entire board. All my other midi devices daisy chain fine and play well with each other...all except the Mobius. My EHX Hog2 is precluded from this because it's only got a Midi in. The Hog2 can be a PITA to control over midi too, but that's a different story.
As I said before, in sending patch commands from the ES-5, I don't like having to set a LSB on each patch and I certainly don't like having to remember to double the patch number for patch changing. It's needlessly complicated and un-intuitive. I found that at a 2 hour gig, the more patches I switched through via midi, the more likely the pedal would freeze or add extra patch numbers to my recalled patch. If I jumped from patch 22 to 38 and then jumped back to the previous patch using Midi PC commands from my ES-5, the Mobius sometimes would jump back to 24 and not 22, with no reason. Contrary to what my ES-5 was telling it to do. The Mobius then needed a re-boot to clear.
I found Midi CC Expression really poor with the Mobius. It could be intermittent and difficult to navigate the bizarrely cryptic global menu settings. When configured I found there was a lot of latency. Sometimes it just would not apply the expression at all. It often blocked midi CC expression on later pedals in the chain too. I love the sounds I got from it and for a while it was the best "all in one" modulation pedal / panel available. However, it's big, expensive and cumbersome. It's desktop interface that can only be connected via a USB to Midi (UM-One) device is very poor in the modern world. The pedal is riddled with cryptic menu settings, menu issues and the Midi implementation is poor compared to other brands. Sure you work with what you've got...but there's a lot more choice in the market these days and the Mobius is looking quite old in comparison. I ditched my Mobius early last year and chose a Source Audio Lunar as it's replacement and I've not looked back. I think the only thing I miss is the vintage tremolo (which I have a great C4 patch for) and the single button press speed up / slow down for the Rotary sim. However, I've mapped my Midi CC expression to the Speed control of my Lunar and I'm pretty much set. I could map a midi CC to the Lunar's speed and set an assign toggle CC message to toggle between max and min if I wanted too. But the expression pedal option is a bit more controllable.
So as much as I like the sound I got from the Mobius, there are areas that it is quite is poor in my opinion. Strymon seems to like to make things overly complicated with their big three panels, so the end user thinks that this complexity is how Midi works. But it's not...it's just the "Strymon world or weirdness". I haven't yet tried Midi with their newer Volante, maybe that's different.
 
#13,005
GMC said:
I certainly don't like having to remember to double the patch number for patch changing
Click to expand...
I don't remember having to do that. But then, I programmed what I wanted a few years ago and haven't changed it since.

Regarding the MIDI chain glitches you mentioned, I guess I got lucky that I just happened to put the Mobius last in the chain (not for any MIDI programming reasons, just for convenience of board layout with the length of MIDI cables I had available at the time and wanting my DD-500 in the front row), so I have been blissfully unaware of any issues with it passing MIDI messages through.

If I had known at the time I bought the Mobius that Boss was going to release the MD-500 only a few months later I would have waited and bought that, but I've been happy enough with the Mobius not to want to bother swapping it out. The Strymon big three have always been way overhyped, but still this one does the job I bought it for.
 
#13,006
aglide said:
I installed an RJM PBC/6X pedalboard controller on my Source Audio board today. It really ties the room together.

Sadly, there's no room for my Aftershock, Ultrawave or Spectrum. I think I can get one of them back in there if I ditch the looper that I rarely use outside of creating new presets.

I'm not using any of the audio routing and loop switching capabilities of the RJM yet, simply due to lack of appropriate patch cables. Good thing all SA pedals can do MIDI!

I've been working on a rack shelf and am considering moving all the pedals there, and swapping the RJM PBC/6X with with a combination of one of their MIDI controllable loop switcher "gizmos" and one of their pure MIDI foot controllers. The only thing on the floor in that setup would be the MIDI controller. I suppose you could say I'm at a crossroads.

View attachment 4692115
Click to expand...
That's a nice looking board. Funnily enough I used to have the same board until I built my own bespoke board. My one had a weird capacitor filter cutting some of the top end on the input jack. I had to take that apart and solder in a non filtered jack.
You could try and see if your power module can fit on the main PSU and still get the case closed. You could them place your hub in that vacant space. You might be able to squeeze a pedal in that hole.
If you swap out your Ventris and Nemesis for a Collider, you will gain a big lump of space. Then there's the Looper too. You could get two to three your pedals in there...or you could use it as an excuse to build a new board. Putting power and the hub under the main board helps with pedal space a lot.
 
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#13,007
The Source Audio Ultrawave and C4 Synth/Spectrum combination are giving me a lot of phun theze daze creating sounds in my head as well as taking abstract ideas and creating those sounds, just look at some of my shared sounds of late for that sort of madness, just today I created and shared Fifty Foot Woman's Flute (Never Satisfied) for the C4. That is all.
 
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#13,008
GMC said:
That's a nice looking board. Funnily enough I used to have the same board until I built my own bespoke board. My one had a weird capacitor filter cutting some of the top end on the input jack. I had to take that apart and solder in a non filtered jack.
You could try and see if your power module can fit on the main PSU and still get the case closed. You could them place your hub in that vacant space. You might be able to squeeze a pedal in that hole.
If you swap out your Ventris and Nemesis for a Collider, you will gain a big lump of space. Then there's the Looper too. You could get two to three your pedals in there...or you could use it as an excuse to build a new board. Putting power and the hub under the main board helps with pedal space a lot.
Click to expand...

Thanks! It's been fun pulling this old Boss board into the modern era. I think you're on to something with stacking the smaller Cioks 4 on top of the DC7 to free up some space. Their low profiles are an advantage. I don't think the various power, MIDI and patch cables I have on hand will allow that right now, but I'd like to eventually get the Ultrawave back on the board. I've actually only used it as a compressor in the pre-Atlas era. But I'm going to start digging into the multiband stuff now.
 
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#13,009
aglide said:
Thanks! It's been fun pulling this old Boss board into the modern era. I think you're on to something with stacking the smaller Cioks 4 on top of the DC7 to free up some space. Their low profiles are an advantage. I don't think the various power, MIDI and patch cables I have on hand will allow that right now, but I'd like to eventually get the Ultrawave back on the board. I've actually only used it as a compressor in the pre-Atlas era. But I'm going to start digging into the multiband stuff now.
Click to expand...
The Source Audio is easy to plumb in midi wise, it just needs the tiny 1/8th TRRS cable, which are quite easy to source via Amazon. Getting small 5 pin Midi is more of a challenge. The lowest profile by far are the Rockboard cables. The problem is that you can't change the head's orientation. I ended up buying a few extra long ones and cut and soldered a straight 5 pin socket on the end. The EBS Blue Dot midi cables are the lowest profile cables with adjustable head orientation but these had a bad manufacturing run (they won't fit Eventide H9's) and have been out of stock for well over a year.
The Ultrawave is a very versatile and capable pedal. The Multiband / folder over options are great for synth and weird. Prunes and Custard, You're the Doom type of sounds are very easily dialled in. However, the single band (no split) has all those amazing 45 distortion types and it can re-create nearly any dirt. The 3 band and 8 band Graphic is great too. The morphing and channel blending options expand it in patch capability massively too. The multi band tremolo is great for Murph / step sequencer type of sounds, although I've not delved into that area too much. I'm a big fan of the Ultrawave. I've often pondered trying to recreate my fav Aftershock patches on the Ultrawave and having just the one dirt pedal.
 
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#13,010
On the topic of low-profile MIDI cables, you could look at Rockboard. They are cheaper than some of the other brands. Their "flat" cables are VERY low profile albeit with some significant strain relief that lays flat against your pedal. This will work for some pedals and not others, and the up/down direction of your MIDI jack on the pedal may matter. The strain relief in this case is typically horizontal with the pedal.

Rockboard also has "flax" MIDI cables, which are very low-profile with a strain relief mechanism that can be pretty easily removed (permanently). If left in place, the mechanism goes up or down relative to most MIDI jack orientations, and it's reversible if you don't choose to remove it. So if you remove it you lose strain relief but you have some of the lowest-profile and relatively low-cost MIDI cables out there.
 
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#13,014
El Spearo said:
I called the NZ distributor for Source Audio yesterday, I got an email confirming my order for an Atlas today! Can't wait, I'm going to list my MXR comp tomorrow. Now, these Hub cables, are they generic or are they proprietary? I can't remember how any came with my hub, I am using only two at the moment.
Click to expand...
You get three but can contact SA for more if needed.
 
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