Quatschmacher

Interested to see who’s bought one already.

32 minutes ago, Kiwi said:

The idea is to arpeggiate without need for MIDI or extra stuff.  

Are you using a Morningstar controller? There is functionality built into that that could do the job. Same goes for Mortrix.

1 hour ago, Kev said:

All very exciting stuff!  I haven't tried a FI since the initial launch version/firmware, couldn't get on with the tracking and found it quite difficult to use, I wonder if this is the time to revisit...

 

I have to ask though, when the opportunity to put the device in a fresh new smaller case arose with the new hardware, whyyyyyy wasn't it taken???

 

*Edit, I read a few posts up  Still such a shame though, that and the lack of a USB option.

The time to revisit was a few years back. The v3.60 update was when the drag-and-drop interface was finally implemented. Tracking was improved greatly over the initial release quite early on.

The lack of USB isn’t such a big deal but I can see that it would be more convenient. The bonus is that there are no USB ground loop problems on the FI because DIN MIDI ports have proper shielding. 

Preordering is open!

8 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

No. As with all previous versions, the firmware and editor need to match. 

Everything you need for v3 is contained in the v3.60 editor. 
 

I’m going to ask if they’ll do a v3.61 editor to add the 4Control integration code as that works well. 

2 hours ago, lidl e said:

@Quatschmacher i assume the new editor interface will work with legacy pedals?

 

No. As with all previous versions, the firmware and editor need to match. 

18 minutes ago, lidl e said:

You should probably get ready to answer questions that are clearly answered in the manual for the next few years then.

 

 

90% of the time i stumble upon a Quatschmacher post, it's usually a pleasant answer followed by some variation of "RTFM"

 

Must drive you mental!

 

Personally,.i wpuld have liked to have seen a form factor change. 

 

And for 359 euro, i feel like the midibeam 4control should have been integrated.

 

I'd guess @GisserD will be making at least a few more sales! 

 

It’s been like this since 2019!
 

Yes, I agree on the form factor and integration. However, this was a redesign that was due to a component being unexpectedly discontinued and so there was still housing stock to use up and other stuff so a full redesign wasn’t an option.

Personally I want to see a proper redesign down the line that has stereo outs and a USB C port. These are both things I suggested for this release. USB wasn’t possible. They looked into stereo out but all the hardware VCAs were in use. Next time hopefully, though that’s probably years away. 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

Good point re midi and arp sequencers.

 

"More than half the space left" = the V4 has more than double the memory capacity of the V3? Nice one!

There’s a caveat. As I said, it’s split into 4 apps internally and two of these are taken up with the current implementation. The other two apps won’t be extensions to the current VA engine but will be different things (such as an FM synth, effects (I’ve suggested a simple-architecture polysynth too (obviously MIDI-only))).

Yes, in the same way that the FI was developed over 6 years, V4 has space to be developed over the next few years. 

1 hour ago, Kiwi said:

I'm glad Andras is going from strength to strength in the FI story. 

FWIW is all I would like in ANY bass synth pedal is a 16 step arpeggiator with ADSR control and mute for each step.  Source Audio thought it was a good idea but had already hit the limits of their hardware.  Obviously Andras is taking things in a different direction too which is disappointing for me but no doubt the bulk of users out there don't need it.
 

 

Which bass are you using for this clip, Peter?  I found even with the Akai SB1 that single pickup basses tended to track best.  I'm wondering if that might have changed.

The fact that the FI responds to MIDI means you can use any other bit of sequencer/arp hardware to trigger it. Korg make some cheap sequencers.

This clip is a Precision bass but I’ve had plenty of success using Jazz basses with it in the past.

Also, as there’s still more than half the space left in the new pedal there are some things we’re developing that will take this even further. (Technically there are 4 separate apps and only two are in use with the current implementation.)

10 minutes ago, lidl e said:

If you find the time and it isnt too much effort.

 

Thanks, QM!

 

 

Will do my best but I have a lot of very pressing life stuff going on at the moment so it might have to wait a bit. (Need to finish up the manual before everything at home kicks off too.)

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

If we select ACCURACY priority, how much latency in terms of ms should we be expecting?

I don’t know, I have no means of measuring it. It’s dependent on the note played too. There is some more optimisation work going on at the moment before release so I can’t give a final figure until that work is fully implemented. 

Just now, lidl e said:

That sounds killer for sure!

 

Is that a patch that will wotk om v4 only?

 

Any chance you have a patch that works on both that might give an audible difference you can post?

Yes, that’s a sync patch so V4 only.

You mean a sound comparison of the same patch on v3 and V4 to hear the audio quality differences? I can probably manage that at some point. Could trigger it via MIDI too so that the input is exactly the same for both. 

1 minute ago, lidl e said:

That was to Al Krow!

My sincere apologies, I clearly didn’t read that properly! (Too much testing and not enough sleep.)

33 minutes ago, lidl e said:

So there's a lot to take in there

 

In layman's terms, as someone who loves my FI but really only use other peoples patches with slight tweaks, what am i missing out as far as new sounds? 

 

Are there going to be some new crazy patches that sre just not possible with the v3?

 

Is this really only exciting for heavy duty deep divers, or is there something that would immediately jump out to a casual user just plugging a v3 and v4 in side by side?

Sound quality is noticeably better. Oscillator sync patches are cool. (I can now share a clip; excuse the background noise as I had a ground loop as I was daisy-chaining.)

If you do on-pedal tweaks there’s MUCH more variation available without ever having to load any patches on and you can save them permanently to the patch data. Sensitivity improvements are very welcome.

Having release on the ADSR even when using a bass is a massive difference. You can pluck and stop a note but have the synth note ring out for ages. 

6 minutes ago, lidl e said:

Ya, thats the one for sure.

 

Let us know how dramatic the difference is when you get the v4!

The ACCURACY priority setting does get rid of the pitch blip entirely.

Was it not clear from the picture I posted and the fact that I have been one of the primary contributors to the development that I already have the pedal? I’ve been testing and developing it for months. 

10 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

tight tracking of the Boss SY1 / SY-200

Just to avoid perpetuating a falsehood, these Boss pedals do not track anything at all, they simply overlay the existing audio with a signal that makes it sound like a synth. 

1 hour ago, lidl e said:

Answered...

 

Gotta feel for the person who bought the last V3.

There were no surprises. V4 was talked about publicly on Talkbass in March 2023.

v3 is still the great pedal it always was and was heavily discounted over the last year. 

The manual should hopefully be available relatively soon. I just have one small part left to integrate and then some finessing to do.

Important points:

All existing v1 and v3 patches can be loaded onto a V4 pedal.

V4 is new hardware, firmware structure and patch file structure. This means that:
 

V4 firmware cannot be loaded onto earlier pedals;

Patches created in V4 cannot be loaded onto earlier pedals.

Guessing I can finally post this family shot:

Quoted post:

Dear Friends,

I am happy to announce the most important step in the history of Future Impact, the FI4, with very significant changes in both hardware and software. While the production of FI3 has come to an end with all devices sold out, the new FI4 will be available at end of March. It comes with an optional cable set to connect to 1V/octave CV-Gate synthesizers, to benefit from the simultaneous sounds of the FI4’s virtual analog sounds and real analog synthesizers. We had to stop development of the FI3 software more than two years ago, as the processor had no more memory available for further enhancements. The new hardware and software structure of FI4 will allow the implementation of new synthesis models, effects and many more features, that we are already working on. Here is a preliminary leaflet about the advantages of FI4 at its release.

I would like to thank you all for the support and wholehearted enthusiasm during all the years of the existence of FI, and hope you will be just as enthusiastic in the future with FI4.

In particular, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Peter Kenney, who provided irreplaceable help to the whole community by writing manuals, testing new features, creating sounds, and helping all of you with his advice.


The Evolution of the Future Impact 

The Future Impact is the subject of one of those heartwarming stories of the internet as a force for good. It began life back in late 2014 when an enthusiastic member of the Talkbass forum tracked down Andras Szalay to ask him if he’d be able to reissue the discontinued Deep Impact, which he had designed for Akai. However, Andras had much more ambitious plans: the Future Impact was conceived of not as a reissue, but as an entirely new and vastly-improved pedal. The project garnered tremendous support from forum members who funded the first batch of 100 pedals in late 2015. From there, the FI’s popularity and reputation grew; ever more people clamoured to own one, including notable players such as Chris Wolstenholme (Muse), Doug Wimbish (Living Colour, The Rolling Stones) and Bootsy Collins. Thanks to the generous input of members of the online bass-playing community, the FI continued to go from strength to strength. 

With each successive update, we gradually added more and more features and refinements. With the v3.60 update of June 2021, we had to admit that we had finally squeezed every last drop of juice out of the pedal: we had completely exhausted the available code space. 

In order to continue developing our ideas further, we have thus had to move to new hardware and implement a new firmware structure. While the FI4 can load patches from all the previous versions of the FI, unfortunately v3 users cannot run the V4 firmware or V4 patches on their device. However, the good news is that our new platform gives us the breathing space to develop well into the future. We already have big plans, so stay tuned! 

New Features for V4 

● CV/Gate output - Simultaneously play a 1V/octave analog synth using the pedal; 
● Detented Parameter dial with extended range - More variations on each sound; 
● Sturdier knobs - The potentiometer shafts are now made from solid metal; 
● Long Release - Audio-triggered sounds now use the full release time of the ADSR; 
● Oscillator sync - VCO2 can sync to VCO1 for more harmonically complex sounds; 
● Improved audio fidelity - Via an ultra-low-noise CoDec and noise-reduction coding; 
● Overwrite programs - On-pedal edits can be saved to patch data before uploading; 
● Superior pitch tracking - Greatly reduced latency and increased sensitivity to input instrument dynamics. Pitch detection can now be set to prioritize speed or accuracy; 
● Octave transposition - Two new MIDI CCs to transpose the pitch by ±2 octaves; 
● 63 new Flexi curves - Create a split point between any two adjacent semitones; 
● Robust firmware update process - Now any MIDI interface can be used; 
● Alternative quick access to Global Menu - Enter/exit menu without power cycling; 
● Better Global Menu layout - Items are repositioned and more meaningfully labelled; 
● Fresh Editor look - An updated color scheme with a clearer and more logical layout; 
● Onscreen Mod Wheel - Send out MIDI CCs or Aftertouch directly from the Editor; 
● midiBeam 4Control integration - MIDI signals from expression pedals and switches are automatically passed to the FI4 when connected to the Editor.

Andras Szalay

Well, here’s the exciting news I can finally talk about:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/future-impact-now-available-was-deep-impact-reissue-interested.1115025/page-389#post-28252259

I’ll copy the text into a post. Just wondering whether I should start a new dedicated thread. 

56 minutes ago, itu said:

The first one was in line with the graphics.

Do you mean the colour of the knobs better matches the colour of the lettering? If so, I agree, though those knobs are really tall. The height of the newest ones are best, shame I couldn’t find these ones in purple.