Source Audio UltraWave ~ Catch the Wave

[Gibs210]

I was messing around with my ultrawave last night and I realized how much I missed the multiwave distortion I unloaded a few years ago. But this pedal can do so much more. Well done Source Audio and the community who have provided the sounds!
Can someone explain to me the deal with the ultrawave and Hub? Not sure if I understand what gets saved in a scene and what doesn't....

Too much stuff in the ultrawave for the hub to handle. So as a compromise, we made it so the hub can recall one of the 128 presets on the hub (not quite sure how jesse did this, I think he set it up to send a small message to point the ultrawave at the right location). Then in addition to that, the hub will save the settings of the 6 surface controls for the ultrawave, so for the veteran hub users, this is the equivalent of taking a preset that you built on say, the aftershock, made all your adjustments, including those requiring the neuro app, then saved to the pedal. Then plugged in your hub, flipped the toggle switch on your aftershock to that preset you just made, make a few changes to the hardware knobs on the pedal only, and then held the save button on the hub. Make sense?

 

[rsmith601]

Daniel Fisher covers lots of ground.

 

[bassbrad]

The Wave has arrived let the explosions begin.

 

[thumbslapper]

I got mine the other day - it is def a unique pedal! don't think there is anything similar to it out there.

not being able to change patches without a attached mac/pc/iOS device or using the Neuro hub is kind of a bummer, but if you had more on-pedal editing/patching options the pedal would be much bigger and more expensive, so i get why they did it. the mac editor is pretty intuitive and its great that auditioning patches is pretty painless.

I went thru the factory patches and most of the user patches - there are some really good sounds out there for it, and some of the synth sounds it can get are great because they aren't trying to match an oscillator to a existing pitch (like most synth pedals out there) but are manipulating existing audio, so there are no tracking issues or requirement that you play in monophonic. you can get pretty crazy pretty fast, but some of the best sounding patches are the ones that do simple distortion on a few bands. having input trigger morphing makes it a pretty similiar but not really to a filter pedal. The built in compressor seems pretty clean and is easy to use - its not going to replace my LA1 or Cali76 but is a good option to have (even if you have an existing compressor).

Question for the source-audio folk - if i get a soleman foot controller do i still need a Neuro hub? i see the soleman's have that 1/8" jack, but not sure if it replaces what the Nuero does. I have a old Source Audio Reflex that i haven't tried with it yet but it looks like i should be able to use it as an expression pedal if i connect the 2 1/8" jacks.. (btw where do we find those 1/8" 4 connector cables?)

-ts

 

[Derek Williams]

The built in compressor seems pretty clean and is easy to use - its not going to replace my LA1 or Cali76 but is a good option to have (even if you have an existing compressor).

Any reason in particular you wouldn’t want to replace your compressors with the Ultrawave? Or do you just have no need to do so? I’m hoping the Ultrawave will be able to replace my dual band compression setup (KMA Tyler with Hyper Luminal and Cali76).

 

[thumbslapper]

I'd want to check if it does dual band compression, i know it has 2-10 band distortion but not sure it can split bands into diff compressors.. you can have once compressor chain to the next one, but i'd want Source Audio to confirm the dual band compressor ability ( @rsmith601 )

And while its a pretty transparent compressor it doesn't have the character of the LA1 or Cali76 each of which imparts a definite sound. I know FEA has a dual band compressor (FEA DB-CL) that's well reviewed (if you can find one) - i have the FEA Opti-FET and it is excellent...

 

[rsmith601]

I'd want to check if it does dual band compression, i know it has 2-10 band distortion but not sure it can split bands into diff compressors.. you can have once compressor chain to the next one, but i'd want Source Audio to confirm the dual band compressor ability ( @rsmith601 )

And while its a pretty transparent compressor it doesn't have the character of the LA1 or Cali76 each of which imparts a definite sound. I know FEA has a dual band compressor (FEA DB-CL) that's well reviewed (if you can find one) - i have the FEA Opti-FET and it is excellent...

Yup. Dual band compressor was something I insisted on. I forget how to set it up. Is there a template in Neuro?

 

[Pedalnetics]

Anyone have an Aftershock and this new Ultrawave? Can the UW mostly replace the Aftershock with additional features?

I don't hate my AS, but I do like new shiny stuff

 

[AlvarHanso]

Anyone have an Aftershock and this new Ultrawave? Can the UW mostly replace the Aftershock with additional features?

I don't hate my AS, but I do like new shiny stuff

It can replace the Aftershock, but if you really wanted an AS for a tube overdrive, the UW is not the weapon I'd choose for that. I just got an AS a few weeks before the Beta UWs were announced. I have yet to really experiment with overdriving the UW with the AS, and I've basically stopped experimenting with the AS for a while, but I really like the incredible array of "normal" distortions it does, and retaining the lows at the same time. The UW would be really hard to pin down as a distortion pedal given all that it does. Definitely different categories of animal.

 

[Pedalnetics]

if you really wanted an AS for a tube overdrive, the UW is not the weapon I'd choose for that

That's interesting, as Tube overdrive is one of the functions mentioned for the UW; I figured they'd be the same-ish algorithms

 

[Gibs210]

Yup. Dual band compressor was something I insisted on. I forget how to set it up. Is there a template in Neuro?

I think Nathan has a preset for it, I saved it a long time ago, the moment jesse added cloud support for the ultrawave. It’s really good. Even on guitar.

 

[Gibs210]

I got mine the other day - it is def a unique pedal! don't think there is anything similar to it out there.

not being able to change patches without a attached mac/pc/iOS device or using the Neuro hub is kind of a bummer, but if you had more on-pedal editing/patching options the pedal would be much bigger and more expensive, so i get why they did it. the mac editor is pretty intuitive and its great that auditioning patches is pretty painless.

I went thru the factory patches and most of the user patches - there are some really good sounds out there for it, and some of the synth sounds it can get are great because they aren't trying to match an oscillator to a existing pitch (like most synth pedals out there) but are manipulating existing audio, so there are no tracking issues or requirement that you play in monophonic. you can get pretty crazy pretty fast, but some of the best sounding patches are the ones that do simple distortion on a few bands. having input trigger morphing makes it a pretty similiar but not really to a filter pedal. The built in compressor seems pretty clean and is easy to use - its not going to replace my LA1 or Cali76 but is a good option to have (even if you have an existing compressor).

Question for the source-audio folk - if i get a soleman foot controller do i still need a Neuro hub? i see the soleman's have that 1/8" jack, but not sure if it replaces what the Nuero does. I have a old Source Audio Reflex that i haven't tried with it yet but it looks like i should be able to use it as an expression pedal if i connect the 2 1/8" jacks.. (btw where do we find those 1/8" 4 connector cables?)

-ts

No, those are for external switch connections. Not for hub support of a single pedal, you’d still need the hub, or midi usb host to control it with the soleman.

 

[bassbrad]

@Sonicblaze @Annette The BassUltraWave can do some textured sounds better than the Aftershock but I do not see it replacing the Aftershock for genuine overdrive, fuzz and distortion tones. For example I got a really good sound that mimics my Fuzzrocious BDPG with the BUW that the AS never really quite copped. The Ultrawave can get very generic dirt tones but even with the additional tools they do not have the rich character of the engines that the Aftershock builds its tones from.

 

[bassbrad]

Today was my first chance to really play with the Bass Ultrawave and I can see lots of possibilities as well as a lot of homework for me to grok this beast. Looking forward to creating some new sounds soon.

 

[AlvarHanso]

That's interesting, as Tube overdrive is one of the functions mentioned for the UW; I figured they'd be the same-ish algorithms

It does it well in the Basic Overdrive, and I loved that sound in the old Multiwave. Ironically, the main way I used the Multiwave for years was as an always on clean boost, and it could morph into the Classic Overdrive, if ever I needed that. What I mean about not wanting to use the UW specifically just for the Tube Overdrive is that makes a good starting point in the UW. The temptation is to go Hunter S Thompson-style and push it to the limit of what kind of sounds you can get, so it can do that job, too, just think most presets will end up being more exotic than basic overdrives that don't do anything else, simply because you can make them so much more so easily.

 

[rsmith601]

I'd want to check if it does dual band compression, i know it has 2-10 band distortion but not sure it can split bands into diff compressors.. you can have once compressor chain to the next one, but i'd want Source Audio to confirm the dual band compressor ability ( @rsmith601 )

And while its a pretty transparent compressor it doesn't have the character of the LA1 or Cali76 each of which imparts a definite sound. I know FEA has a dual band compressor (FEA DB-CL) that's well reviewed (if you can find one) - i have the FEA Opti-FET and it is excellent...

Here it is. Yes, Nathan did it. I think the approach is mono>stereo>mono processing, putting the compressor after the distortion, and then setting up 2 channels of EQ and compression. Make sense?
Neuro Community by Source Audio

 

[bassbrad]

It does it well in the Basic Overdrive, and I loved that sound in the old Multiwave. Ironically, the main way I used the Multiwave for years was as an always on clean boost, and it could morph into the Classic Overdrive, if ever I needed that. What I mean about not wanting to use the UW specifically just for the Tube Overdrive is that makes a good starting point in the UW. The temptation is to go Hunter S Thompson-style and push it to the limit of what kind of sounds you can get, so it can do that job, too, just think most presets will end up being more exotic than basic overdrives that don't do anything else, simply because you can make them so much more so easily.

Agreed it is a good basic overdrive sound, very basic that can morph into galactic black hole illuminating fuzztastic Ultrawaves of sonic nearly phonic iconic sounds abounding with ooey gooey gobs of glorious mayhem. YMMV

 

[Basehead]

BTW, I'm loving the Ultrawave. Spent a few nights downloading some amazing sounds and tweaking to my liking. Tonight Ill be incorporating in onto the board and seeing what sounds I can stack (Aftershock > Ultrawave > C4).

Anyone interfacing with their Source Audio pedals via bluetooth. I was searching for a USB mini B to bluetooth but nothing has come up...

 

[Z3P0]

When switching community presets that I’ve burned to the pedal thru Neuro, I’m getting blasted by really hot volume/levels on some of the presets. In some cases, the knobs don’t change the level at all. Curious how you guys deal with changing volume levels between presets. To troubleshoot, I’ve tried the volume calibration instructions in Neuro IOS app and nothing changed. Checked for new firmware and did a factory reset.

 

[bassbrad]

Neuro running the Ultrawave has finally put the death throes on my ancient Gateway hand me down net book so while waiting for my brand new laptop, second computer this year ( yeah stimulus) have been playing with loaded sounds and effect combinations. Love Ultrawave into BassBalls, BSW and of course C4.

I looked into foot switching options and decided to stay with using a laptop in my setup for the time being.