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Source Audio UltraWave ~ Catch the Wave
- Thread starter bassbrad
- Start date
I was thinking of getting rid of my ultrawave despite its awesome capability and great sound just because changing patches doesn't.
I then hooked up my iphone --> apple usb adapter --> usb cable --> ultrawave and its pretty easy to just select the preset you want, and i dont have to get 2-3 more MIDI pedals to be able to select patches (I'm really trying to stay away from using MIDI on my pedalboard). cons include using your pointy finger instead of a footswitch (so only really 1 patch per song unless you have time or are fast) and your band seeing that your mom called reminding you to wear your retainer at practice.
@rsmith601 - does the iphone app support a bluetooth pedal, like IK Multimedia's iRig?
I then hooked up my iphone --> apple usb adapter --> usb cable --> ultrawave and its pretty easy to just select the preset you want, and i dont have to get 2-3 more MIDI pedals to be able to select patches (I'm really trying to stay away from using MIDI on my pedalboard). cons include using your pointy finger instead of a footswitch (so only really 1 patch per song unless you have time or are fast) and your band seeing that your mom called reminding you to wear your retainer at practice.
@rsmith601 - does the iphone app support a bluetooth pedal, like IK Multimedia's iRig?
So if you're a simple cover band bass player, at the most basic level, you could use this always on for compressing and EQ and then bring in five other patches for special songs. At least it would replace compressor and HPF. I'm impressed with the demos.
I never hooked it up to my IPhone. So you always have to use it with a cable? You cannot run the app for preset switching on Bluetooth (without cable)?
But I'm also
Check out this video of Roger showing how to use a Bluetooth receiver for a wireless connection between a phone with the Neuro app and SA pedals
Indeed the Bass Ultrawave would be an excellent preamp, compressor, EQ, hpf/lpf and noise gate if used just for that and a great bang for the buck considering the sound quality.
Thanks for the video. So the only thing you have to buy is a Bluetooth receiver? And can you also use your own preset list? I guess so but the video only shows sounds from other people in the cloud. Would be nice if it could run Bluetooth without any receiver or cable like the Eventide H9 does. But that’s not possible.
All you need is a $20 Bluetooth receiver and the trs cable that SA supplies and you can most certainly load your presets if they are in the Neuro cloud. Remember that the communication is only one way phone to pedal.
Can any of you tell me why one would want to get the After Shock, when the Ultra Wave, as far as I understand, offers all the same distortion models, plus even more distortion models, plus just about an infinite amount of more options of how to tailor your distortion, plus all kind of extra additional features, in comparison?
On the surface it may appear that way and you can include the C4 Synth pedal and the Spectrum as well, but they are all really a bit different once you get under the hood and dig in as well as sound wise.
The Aftershock, LA Lady and Kingmaker all start with 'engines' or models of various vintage, popular brands and models and boutique distortion and include a virtual toolbox to shape those sounds by varying the input gain structure, saturation profiles and the tone by various EQs and gates to your needs or desires. In a way of thinking Source Audio has given the user the ability to Virtually Circuit Bend your own selection of boutique dirt pedals. There are some more complex or exotic circuits that because of limitations that this group of pedals and sounds cannot emulate. These tools are easy to understand not much more complex than a guitar amp but still very powerful tone wise. For myself I have tweaked a selection of tones I'm not really sure i could get on the Ultrawave and don't relish even trying.
The C4 Synth and Spectrum do offer some of those exotic sounds, fold over for example, often found in synthesizers and electronic music and more common sounds but the selection is hardly as comprehensive as the Aftershock but still lots of fun.
The Ultrawave pedals offer a more scientific approach to distortion, a laboratory of distorted sound but lacks the popular engines as starting places but instead gives us all the scientific subcategories to sculpt and explore. That complexity while a wonderland for explorers is a jungle for many and a reason that the Aftershock might still be a more fun and accessible pedal for many.
Thanks for clarifying, also I just checked the price and the Ultra Wave is almost double as expensive, which I guess is another good reason to get the After Shock instead, beside from what you say that the latter seems to be more attractive for experimenting in depth with classic dirt models, which I actually thought was included in the Ultra Wave too.
That said the Ultra Wave seems like it have huge potential to be used as just an always on tone shaper/enhancer, if one knows how to tweak all the different parameters just right (how I basically use my TC Electronic SpectraComp, even if that is just 3 bands and only compression), and even if I guess that might be waste of it's huge potential as a completely wacked out synthy distortion machine and it's wide variety of other potential functionalities as well.
From your description and after actually having looked at the price for the two units respectively I think the After Shock will be the one to get for me if I ever need another dirt pedal.
I know what my first Source Audio pedal is going to be though, even if I don't know when that will be, and it is neither of those 2 pedals, but the EQ2.
That is unless they put out a pedal in this series with pitch shifting as it's primary function (don't know if there is any truth to it, but I've heard the pitch shifting function of the C4 has a painfully slow latency, that practically makes it unusable as a dedicated octaver/pitchshifter effect).
Source Audio sure put out some amazing stuff, makes TC Electronic's Toneprint pedals look like toys in comparison (even if I think TC Electronic were the once who actually really started this sort of thing), and actually most other pedals like outdated as well, at least all other digital pedals.
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I'm using my UWB as a top shelf compressor. So many parameters to choose from, and I'm only scratching the surface. Maybe too many options, which is why I have it up for trade at the moment. That being said, I may change my mind, as I've gotten a really nice comp setting for my fretless, and I've assigned the two parameters I need most to knobs, so I can adjust on the fly. And in reality, it is no more expensive then most comps, and far cheaper than some.
And I highly recommend the EQ2!
Ain't no wrong answers and it's up to you to decide what offers you the best features for your needs. I do beg to differ on the latency issue some report as myth. Humans, especially musicians who all experience altered levels of consciousness, are not the best to judge such things that engineers can measure in thousands of a second, sorry.
Technology marches on but as musicians and artists we remain tied to arcane mechanisms of the past in so many ways both for the good and bad. Wood, strings, tubes, amplifiers, 12 tone scale, tempo, ....
monkey see, monkey do, monkey clap or throw food, please no feces
I have both the Aftershock and Ultrawave. They are both great pedals and very usable in their right context. The aftershock has a number of folder over models. It's a fast dial in dirt modeller pedal. The Ultrawave is more of a "build it from adjustable component blocks" pedal and I really like them both.
I've not really delved in to the C4's pitch shifting abilities. I have both a EHX Hog2 and Eventide H9's for that...so I don't tend to play with the C4 in that regard. However, as an analogue sounding octaver, the C4 is the ebst there is in the digital realm.
Latency...If I can't hear it, I can't feel it...then it's irrelevant. If a patch is playable and works then that's my frame of reference. If a bloke in a white coat says a pedal has 300ms of latency...well...so what? Cry me a river...it's a bass for crying out loud.
I think there are two elements at play with pitch / harmonist latency. The ability to track a note and the ability to add a synthesized pitch note(s). Source Audio's decision to mono track the lowest fundamental note is a wise one. It's faster and more reliable than polyphonic tracking. The C4's DSP is fast and powerful, so it's well placed to be able to generate the synth tone fast too. However, if I want pitching / harmonist features...I got to my EHX Hog2 or Eventide H9. They have been the gold standard for pitching / harmonist sounds for a long time and I can't see that changing any time soon.
In terms of pitch latency, as I said before, I've not delved into the C4's harmonist options much, purely because my H9 and Hog2 pedals are a lot easer to manage in this regard. However, I do have a lot of C4 patches and It's been rare when I've noticed any real world latency issues. These can usually be tweaked using the editor to the point that it's a non-issue. One of my favourite C4 patches is a double bass patch made by Quatsmacher. It adds an FM Synthesised note at the same pitch as my bass dry. It adds a thump noise that really makes a great fake Double Bass sound...but I've not noticed any latency that causes me any playing issues or annoyances. It's a very playable patch.
The C4's dedicated octaver, up / down don't seem to have any detectable latency that I have experienced. It track better than any analogue octaver I've ever tried and it sound just like one. In my playing, I've never had to adjust to any latency or tracking issues with it. I've A/B tested my C4 patches against analogue pedals like the MXR BOD, Boss OC-2 and the Meridian Funkulator. The C4 seems to play and feel the same as my analogue pedals in regards to it's responsiveness. It' sa bit like my Aftershock...it sounds and plays like an analogue pedal.
For tweaking pitched patches, the Hog2 has a sweet trick to hide latency issues, by dialling out the original dry signal and and synth-ing a new wet bass note. That way the non octave and pitched notes all generate witht he same latency and there's no obvious delay between the low note and the pitch ones. It's a neat trick and it works most of the time, although the pure wet bass note does sound different on it's own, in a harmony it sounds better in my opinion. It also makes the patch less bass tone dependant.
I've just heard some Boss GT-1000 Core's pitch and harmonist patches...and there's an obvious delay between the bass note and the pitched ones. I'm not dissing the Boss unit, it's just a common issue with non pitched / harmonist focussed pedals. It's a very versatile "one box" effects solution. I don't think you can add a synth-ed bass note to the pitched patches.
In terms of pitch latency, as I said before, I've not delved into the C4's harmonist options much, purely because my H9 and Hog2 pedals are a lot easer to manage in this regard. However, I do have a lot of C4 patches and It's been rare when I've noticed any real world latency issues. These can usually be tweaked using the editor to the point that it's a non-issue. One of my favourite C4 patches is a double bass patch made by Quatsmacher. It adds an FM Synthesised note at the same pitch as my bass dry. It adds a thump noise that really makes a great fake Double Bass sound...but I've not noticed any latency that causes me any playing issues or annoyances. It's a very playable patch.
The C4's dedicated octaver, up / down don't seem to have any detectable latency that I have experienced. It track better than any analogue octaver I've ever tried and it sound just like one. In my playing, I've never had to adjust to any latency or tracking issues with it. I've A/B tested my C4 patches against analogue pedals like the MXR BOD, Boss OC-2 and the Meridian Funkulator. The C4 seems to play and feel the same as my analogue pedals in regards to it's responsiveness. It' sa bit like my Aftershock...it sounds and plays like an analogue pedal.
For tweaking pitched patches, the Hog2 has a sweet trick to hide latency issues, by dialling out the original dry signal and and synth-ing a new wet bass note. That way the non octave and pitched notes all generate witht he same latency and there's no obvious delay between the low note and the pitch ones. It's a neat trick and it works most of the time, although the pure wet bass note does sound different on it's own, in a harmony it sounds better in my opinion. It also makes the patch less bass tone dependant.
I've just heard some Boss GT-1000 Core's pitch and harmonist patches...and there's an obvious delay between the bass note and the pitched ones. I'm not dissing the Boss unit, it's just a common issue with non pitched / harmonist focussed pedals. It's a very versatile "one box" effects solution. I don't think you can add a synth-ed bass note to the pitched patches.
I took the plunge and got the Ultrawave, and first reaction is that this thing is every bit as awesome as I hoped - I love the way Source Audio have gravitated towards creating toolboxes/parts bins. Ironically, I already had a lot of this functionality in my Amplifire, but its UI has discouraging shortcomings that the Neuro editor doesn't.
I've run into an issue with the compressor, though.
Firstly, a question: do the attack and release controls manage time or speed? I know they're two sides of the same coin, but I'm still not sure whether rotating the dial clockwise increases the time or makes it respond faster, and the manual is ambiguous on this point.
The issue, which made it hard to figure that out empirically: if I turn both attack and release up to high values, it starts clipping. Is this expected behaviour, and thus user error?
I've already confirmed that it's on the latest firmware version, as of yesterday.
To answer the obvious questions: yes, the distortion section is disabled in this preset, along with everything else, and the drive control is at minimum. I was exploring the compression section (and compression in general) in isolation. I've also confirmed that it's independent of output level, and it's not overdriving anything downstream in the signal chain. It's also not accidentally overdriving anything in engine 2 - I already ruled that out, too.
I've run into an issue with the compressor, though.
Firstly, a question: do the attack and release controls manage time or speed? I know they're two sides of the same coin, but I'm still not sure whether rotating the dial clockwise increases the time or makes it respond faster, and the manual is ambiguous on this point.
The issue, which made it hard to figure that out empirically: if I turn both attack and release up to high values, it starts clipping. Is this expected behaviour, and thus user error?
I've already confirmed that it's on the latest firmware version, as of yesterday.
To answer the obvious questions: yes, the distortion section is disabled in this preset, along with everything else, and the drive control is at minimum. I was exploring the compression section (and compression in general) in isolation. I've also confirmed that it's independent of output level, and it's not overdriving anything downstream in the signal chain. It's also not accidentally overdriving anything in engine 2 - I already ruled that out, too.
Question answered about the issue, for anybody who's searching: it's expected behaviour. Apparently it can be used to simulate sag in an overdriven amp.
To be fair to them, I did get a prompt response when I used their contact form after the weekend, and this isn't actually their tech-support forum.
rsmith601
Commercial User
- Apr 14, 2009
- 4,461
- 8,356
- Disclosures
- CEO and Co-Founder, Source Audio
Dont worry. I was following this. Its something that Bob Chidlaw will need to answer. I will ask.
