Source Audio UltraWave ~ Catch the Wave

[thisisswanbon]

Agreed. I haven't done much with the compressor yet. And the fully assignable 3 band eq is my first stop to dialing in sounds, long before I get into the multiband settings and graphic eq.

One question I do have is how the first drive control interacts with the multiband distortion controls. They seem somewhat redundant in single band mode, but I don't think that's actually the case.

I'd have to check, but in single band I remember using the "top" (drive knob assigned as standard) drive control to control the amount of drive exclusively. I'll plug in and have a look tonight for reference, as my presets are set and forget by design

 

[HelpImaRock]

I'd have to check, but in single band I remember using the "top" (drive knob assigned as standard) drive control to control the amount of drive exclusively. I'll plug in and have a look tonight for reference, as my presets are set and forget by design

After last night's rehearsal, laptop in tow, I can't really think of the "Drive" control as it's named. Because if you turn down the distortion sliders, it's just an Input Gain control. So I found the unity gain setting with my bass and that made everything sound a lot better.

Now that I have the pedal, I rewatched the Ultrawave University video on YouTube. It's boring but well worth the time.

 

[HelpImaRock]

I spent a whole lotta time today scrolling through presets and scaring the crap out of the dog.

Getting closer to the octave and fold sounds I'm looking for. It's interesting how just changing the EQ bands and leaving the sliders flat changes the sound. Honestly, I think I can get closest just using the main EQ and HPF/LPF.

Next up is using the Multiwave to start making real comparisons between pedals. This has all been nice, and the Ultrawave sounds are good in their own right, but it's time to head down the rabbit hole.

 

[rsmith601]

I spent a whole lotta time today scrolling through presets and scaring the crap out of the dog.

Getting closer to the octave and fold sounds I'm looking for. It's interesting how just changing the EQ bands and leaving the sliders flat changes the sound. Honestly, I think I can get closest just using the main EQ and HPF/LPF.

Next up is using the Multiwave to start making real comparisons between pedals. This has all been nice, and the Ultrawave sounds are good in their own right, but it's time to head down the rabbit hole.

The Ultrawave is one of the best rabbit holes in the history of effects pedals.

 

[HelpImaRock]

The Ultrawave is one of the best rabbit holes in the history of effects pedals.

It is, which is what makes it complicated for a non-programmer like myself. Especially when it comes to midi control, which I don't understand at all. Scrolling through presets is cool. But I need to learn how to use the multijack on the DMC Micro. That will open up a lot more of the Ultrawave than I'm using now.

 

[bassbrad]

Hey @rsmith601 I keep meaning to ask where the line graph on the Compressor module has gone, I really miss it when tuning the compressor, spoiled from using those in my DAWs.

That is all.

 

[jam.majors]

Hey @rsmith601 I keep meaning to ask where the line graph on the Compressor module has gone, I really miss it when tuning the compressor, spoiled from using those in my DAWs.

That is all.

I believe there was a firmware update that fixed that. At one point it would disappear very often. It works for me on UW fw 1.10, using Neuro Desktop 0.8.60. If I remember correctly, you need to have the most up-to-date version of the Neuro (at least 0.86.0) to download that newer firmware.

(edited a grammatical error)

 

[joshofbass]

Question for those who use multiple basses with this. Do you make different versions of the same patch for different basses or am I being weird.

 

[mikeynets]

I have an UW incoming in a few days and I'm curious how people are using it while gigging. I don't plan on using a ton of effects live, but I envision wanting at least a clean signal (with always on compression) a dirt patch of some kind and then maybe something with tremolo.

To change between patches, I could just toggle the three way switch, correct? That works easy enough for one sound per song. But how are people using multiple effects within a single song w/o using the knobs or switches? Assuming expression pedals, which leads to my next question:

Can the UW take any TRS expression pedal w/o using the hub or MIDI or does it need to be the SA Dual Expression pedal? And can you use an expression pedal to go between two patches, or two channels per patch i.e. changing all the settings, not just some of the settings w/in one patch?

I read this whole thread but a lot of it is above my pay grade, especially regarding MIDI controls and also w/o having the pedal in hand.

Thanks in advance for answering any of my questions even if it they were already covered previously!

 

[_Tay_]

I have an UW incoming in a few days and I'm curious how people are using it while gigging. I don't plan on using a ton of effects live, but I envision wanting at least a clean signal (with always on compression) a dirt patch of some kind and then maybe something with tremolo.

To change between patches, I could just toggle the three way switch, correct? That works easy enough for one sound per song. But how are people using multiple effects within a single song w/o using the knobs or switches? Assuming expression pedals, which leads to my next question:

Can the UW take any TRS expression pedal w/o using the hub or MIDI or does it need to be the SA Dual Expression pedal? And can you use an expression pedal to go between two patches, or two channels per patch i.e. changing all the settings, not just some of the settings w/in one patch?

I read this whole thread but a lot of it is above my pay grade, especially regarding MIDI controls and also w/o having the pedal in hand.

Thanks in advance for answering any of my questions even if it they were already covered previously!

I'm using mine mainly as a compressor (double) so one compressor driving into another compressor albeit lightly and not super squished. Like you say you can toggle the switches in-between songs so I have 4 other drive sounds that I use and one bit crusher crazy sound. So when using drive on/off I just switch the pedal off and not use compression which isn't a big deal.

You can set up the pedal to switch between banks by holding the footswitch down. I have used this to some success but you have to do it a few seconds before you want it to come in so that takes a bit of getting used to but it is possible.

As for the expression pedal I have only got the SA one so wouldn't know about others. Using the morph feature it is possible to switch between 2 different patches in one for sure though using the expression pedal.

One thing I would say is after using the Ultrawave for a while now one of the keys to making nice distorted/fuzzy sounds is to keep the EQ minimal and have it transparent. With such a powerful EQ in this thing it's easy to over-do it. Though you might be different and find a new way if getting great sounds with the EQ so experiment and enjoy!

 

[mikeynets]

I'm using mine mainly as a compressor (double) so one compressor driving into another compressor albeit lightly and not super squished. Like you say you can toggle the switches in-between songs so I have 4 other drive sounds that I use and one bit crusher crazy sound. So when using drive on/off I just switch the pedal off and not use compression which isn't a big deal.

You can set up the pedal to switch between banks by holding the footswitch down. I have used this to some success but you have to do it a few seconds before you want it to come in so that takes a bit of getting used to but it is possible.

As for the expression pedal I have only got the SA one so wouldn't know about others. Using the morph feature it is possible to switch between 2 different patches in one for sure though using the expression pedal.

One thing I would say is after using the Ultrawave for a while now one of the keys to making nice distorted/fuzzy sounds is to keep the EQ minimal and have it transparent. With such a powerful EQ in this thing it's easy to over-do it. Though you might be different and find a new way if getting great sounds with the EQ so experiment and enjoy!

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to messing around with it once it arrives.

Any suggestions on compression patches — I'm looking for kinda what you described above. Not super squished, more of a utility than an effect. Something to just even everything out and you know when it's missing, but not when it's there kind of compression. And with that in mind, when you find or build a comp patch like that, would it make sense to copy that when building new patches and have it running under/above/with whatever other dirt/modulation you add in?

 

[bassbrad]

I have an UW incoming in a few days and I'm curious how people are using it while gigging. I don't plan on using a ton of effects live, but I envision wanting at least a clean signal (with always on compression) a dirt patch of some kind and then maybe something with tremolo.

To change between patches, I could just toggle the three way switch, correct? That works easy enough for one sound per song. But how are people using multiple effects within a single song w/o using the knobs or switches? Assuming expression pedals, which leads to my next question:

Can the UW take any TRS expression pedal w/o using the hub or MIDI or does it need to be the SA Dual Expression pedal? And can you use an expression pedal to go between two patches, or two channels per patch i.e. changing all the settings, not just some of the settings w/in one patch?

I read this whole thread but a lot of it is above my pay grade, especially regarding MIDI controls and also w/o having the pedal in hand.

Thanks in advance for answering any of my questions even if it they were already covered previously!

As @_Tay_ mentions you can save 6 sounds without going to a midi system of some sort. I have about 50 sounds saved so far. I use a Zoom FP02M expression pedal but I am using a Neuro Hub to send that to my other SA pedals, it did take some trial and error to get it working.
Take some time with the manual and device as SA makes very deep products with lots of options. There are still a few things on mine that are just beyond my grasp.

@rsmith601 I still wish someone would do a @Proton Lenny style deep dive on the Ultrawave especially for the Tremolo.

 

[rsmith601]

As @_Tay_ mentions you can save 6 sounds without going to a midi system of some sort. I have about 50 sounds saved so far. I use a Zoom FP02M expression pedal but I am using a Neuro Hub to send that to my other SA pedals, it did take some trial and error to get it working.
Take some time with the manual and device as SA makes very deep products with lots of options. There are still a few things on mine that are just beyond my grasp.

@rsmith601 I still wish someone would do a @Proton Lenny style deep dive on the Ultrawave especially for the Tremolo.

Me too!!!!!

 

[joshofbass]

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to messing around with it once it arrives.

Any suggestions on compression patches — I'm looking for kinda what you described above. Not super squished, more of a utility than an effect. Something to just even everything out and you know when it's missing, but not when it's there kind of compression. And with that in mind, when you find or build a comp patch like that, would it make sense to copy that when building new patches and have it running under/above/with whatever other dirt/modulation you add in?

The first thing I added to mine was an expression pedal solely for using as a way to switch quickly between a compressed clean sound and a dirty sound. Patch switching with midi does work but there are times where the slight delay switching between sounds can be annoying so in these cases I try to use the morph functions

 

[mikeynets]

The first thing I added to mine was an expression pedal solely for using as a way to switch quickly between a compressed clean sound and a dirty sound. Patch switching with midi does work but there are times where the slight delay switching between sounds can be annoying so in these cases I try to use the morph functions

What expression pedal are you using?

 

[joshofbass]

What expression pedal are you using?

I have a zoom one. Looks the same as the one built into the bn3 or similar. Its polarity is backwards which helps in a way as up is clean and I can go dirty by stomping the bottom of it.

 

[Billyears IV]

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to messing around with it once it arrives.

Any suggestions on compression patches — I'm looking for kinda what you described above. Not super squished, more of a utility than an effect. Something to just even everything out and you know when it's missing, but not when it's there kind of compression. And with that in mind, when you find or build a comp patch like that, would it make sense to copy that when building new patches and have it running under/above/with whatever other dirt/modulation you add in?

As well as saving up to 128 patches on the pedal itself, you can export to a folder on your pc/laptop, AND upload /download from the cloud within the software.
If you search here, you can see other users shared patches - plenty of comp ones.
Then the 4 control knobs on the pedal are assignable to nearly all parameters, so you can have a comp patch and be able to adjust comp settings to suit different requirements.

I happily gigged for a couple of years, with 6 patches. Mostly comp /eq, using exp pedal to roll in some OD. So I used to flick the switch between songs or long press on pedal switch to access the 'red light' patches.

It's a hugely versatile bit of kit, so be prepared to take time, rather than suck it all up at once.
Personally I find the different distortions are subtlety different, each affected by comp & eq in individual ways. Takes me time to get to know them & see a way to use them best. Mixing the UW with funky synth octave sounds on the C4 has been my obsession over last few months. I've recently gone down the midi route and after some initial frustrations, not regretted the additional purchase/ investment of time. A lot of experimentation!!

Also shared patches can sound different between user's rigs & set ups, so be prepared to adjust to suit your own.

Have fun!

 

[_Tay_]

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to messing around with it once it arrives.

Any suggestions on compression patches — I'm looking for kinda what you described above. Not super squished, more of a utility than an effect. Something to just even everything out and you know when it's missing, but not when it's there kind of compression. And with that in mind, when you find or build a comp patch like that, would it make sense to copy that when building new patches and have it running under/above/with whatever other dirt/modulation you add in?

You can although the dirt patches have their own compression from the drive so I tend to avoid having compression with them. For adding light compression it's great as you can see in the graph what is happening and you can choose to have your clean blended in too. Mines set up so my normal playing is lightly compressed but if I gently hit the strings I get a quiet compressed signal that's all the same level and then when in dig in it's louder but only so much louder as it's pushing the compressors. It's really cool to mess about with.

The other thing is the pre/post drive option on the compressor is useful too.

 

[bassbrad]

Hey @rsmith601 I keep meaning to ask where the line graph on the Compressor module has gone, I really miss it when tuning the compressor, spoiled from using those in my DAWs.

That is all.

I believe there was a firmware update that fixed that. At one point it would disappear very often. It works for me on UW fw 1.10, using Neuro Desktop 0.8.60. If I remember correctly, you need to have the most up-to-date version of the Neuro (at least 0.86.0) to download that newer firmware.

(edited a grammatical error)

Finally got Neuro updated, was way behind. Thanks

Question for those who use multiple basses with this. Do you make different versions of the same patch for different basses or am I being weird.

Weiird maybe but not wrong. I do this occasionally as many of my basses vary quite a lot from my main basses.

 

[bassbrad]

Heads up SA fans, there might be a scam connected to the Ultrawave Giveaway from September 2023. Please don't give up your CC# or info until this is confirmed here by @rsmith601.
I have sent info to SA about this suspected phishing scam.