Future Impact v3 and now V4

[Quatschmacher]

16 minutes ago, LawrenceH said:

Hmm I had no idea about that! A strange and annoying quirk that seems like it would cause all sorts of problems. Can't remember if it has been open or not tbh. Will have another go, thanks for flagging that!

It’s a really annoying Windows limitation - it only allows a single USB-MIDI device to be active at a time. 

[LawrenceH]

Boring midi problems aside, I'm interested to know the current progress on implementing portamento/glide on audio trigger. For me that is still the number one feature limitation (as opposed to quality of life issue) of the FI4.

[Quatschmacher]

6 minutes ago, LawrenceH said:

Boring midi problems aside, I'm interested to know the current progress on implementing portamento/glide on audio trigger. For me that is still the number one feature limitation (as opposed to quality of life issue) of the FI4.

Already done and working. 

[MacDaddy]

5 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

On a pedal that can do a billion different things - What’s “that” sound? 

 

The first preset. There are demos of it in the MXR synth pedal thread.

[LawrenceH]

32 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Already done and working. 

Brilliant! Can't wait to give it a go.

 

Amidst all the focus on preset management, I hope the idea of changing a subset of the default presets (ideally the first bank) to some of your more 'classic' bass sounds hasn't fallen by the wayside for any upcoming release. For obvious reasons I'd think it a particular selling point if one of these was a sound with e.g. square/pulse and saw layered. 

[LawrenceH]

I also have a more general question about tracking and strings/instrument EQ. Are spanking new roundwounds likely to track better than older? How about flats? What about the effect of tone controls on the instrument itself? Or pickup position? Any safe generalisations?

 

It's possible I've asked something similar before, in which case forgive me.

[Quatschmacher]

7 hours ago, LawrenceH said:

Brilliant! Can't wait to give it a go.

 

Amidst all the focus on preset management, I hope the idea of changing a subset of the default presets (ideally the first bank) to some of your more 'classic' bass sounds hasn't fallen by the wayside for any upcoming release. For obvious reasons I'd think it a particular selling point if one of these was a sound with e.g. square/pulse and saw layered. 

Yep, that suggestion was taken on board. Since parameters can’t be edited from the panel, I’ve also suggested creating some basic presets which use common combinations of waves which would be suited to get the maximum variation from the onboard parameters. 

[Quatschmacher]

6 hours ago, LawrenceH said:

I also have a more general question about tracking and strings/instrument EQ. Are spanking new roundwounds likely to track better than older? How about flats? What about the effect of tone controls on the instrument itself? Or pickup position? Any safe generalisations?

 

It's possible I've asked something similar before, in which case forgive me.

Strings with a strong fundamental are preferable, so flats and broken-in strings. New roundwounds have a lot of high end which, depending on how you play, could cause strong overtones that might confuse the tracking.

 

As for pickups, I use only P basses now, but have used it with PJ and JJ configurations. Neck pickups give better fundamental but bridge pickups seem good for ever so slightly faster note-on triggering. I used to play dual pickups and favour the neck for the fundamental but dial in a bit of the bridge to help the note-on triggering. Mostly using flatwounds. 

[LawrenceH]

3 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Strings with a strong fundamental are preferable, so flats and broken-in strings. New roundwounds have a lot of high end which, depending on how you play, could cause strong overtones that might confuse the tracking.

 

As for pickups, I use only P basses now, but have used it with PJ and JJ configurations. Neck pickups give better fundamental but bridge pickups seem good for ever so slightly faster note-on triggering. I used to play dual pickups and favour the neck for the fundamental but dial in a bit of the bridge to help the note-on triggering. Mostly using flatwounds. 

Excellent, that suits me as though I use rounds I'm a very reluctant string changer! I was concerned that fast mode might use more of the overtones to make a guess at the note and old strings can be a bit dicey there.

 

Thanks as always for the sage advice and keeping us in the loop. Looking forward to the new update!

[Kiwi]

19 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

As for pickups, I use only P basses now, but have used it with PJ and JJ configurations. Neck pickups give better fundamental but bridge pickups seem good for ever so slightly faster note-on triggering. I used to play dual pickups and favour the neck for the fundamental but dial in a bit of the bridge to help the note-on triggering. Mostly using flatwounds. 

I agree with everything, have also found single pickup basses generally track better and Stingrays too but with the bass dialled back a little.

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, LawrenceH said:

I was concerned that fast mode might use more of the overtones to make a guess at the note

No guesswork involved; fast mode simply spits out the previously-detected note until it fully reads the new one. It’s the same underlying detection routine in both modes though.

[Quatschmacher]

Panda were scheduled to exhibit at Guitar Summit last week but had to cancel at the last minute due to two of the team being ill. Here’s one of the demos they’d prepared:

 

[Al Krow]

Sounds good! Is that what the new VIP model looks like with a light shone on it?

[Quatschmacher]

44 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Sounds good! Is that what the new VIP model looks like with a light shone on it?

Why? Are you looking for another excuse to not buy it?😂

[LawrenceH]

I do really like the last voice, sounds sexily expensive - can see that being v useful. Is that off the FI or the Moog?

 

I guess robotic Kraftwerk emulation probably has a bigger market segment in Germany/EU, but I'd still like a demo with a more funk-oriented player, focusing on playability and expression. I know I should be the change I want to see, but the learning curve seems steep in terms of learning the pedal itself alongside video production and YouTube publishing.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

Why? Are you looking for another excuse to not buy it?😂

 

I'll take that as a "yes" then? 😅

 

I think I'm maybe excused from needing excuses, having bought (and subsequently moved on) 5 of these FIs over several years (starting way back in 2018)?  You know, a bit like getting lifelong immunity from having had a course of vaccines? Risk is that HMRC will come after me for trading in FIs...

[LukeFRC]

13 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

I'll take that as a "yes" then? 😅

 

I think I'm maybe excused from needing excuses, having bought (and subsequently moved on) 5 of these FIs over several years (starting way back in 2018)?  You know, a bit like getting lifelong immunity from having had a course of vaccines? Risk is that HMRC will come after me for trading in FIs...

should I send you a PM to work out how much you would sell a secondhand FI5 vip to me for? I won't tell HMRC. 

[Al Krow]

May be a while off, we're still at F1-4 VIP methinks? 😅

[LukeFRC]

Just now, Al Krow said:

May be a while off, we're still at F1-4 VIP methinks? 😅

oh yeah.... oops

[Quatschmacher]

56 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

I'll take that as a "yes" then? 😅

I think that may be down to poor camera resolution in low artificial lighting; some of the other gear looks a bit washed out too (Mavis). That aside, what’s the issue exactly? The display is perfectly legible and you can see the foot switches to press them; what more do you need?

[pantherairsoft]

1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

I think that may be down to poor camera resolution in low artificial lighting; some of the other gear looks a bit washed out too (Mavis). That aside, what’s the issue exactly? The display is perfectly legible and you can see the foot switches to press them; what more do you need?

 

(withdrawn, sorry, bad day)

Edited 1 hour ago by pantherairsoft
Withdrawn comment

[Quatschmacher]

In fairness, most pedals would look crap/unreadable under strong enough direct lighting. Here’s my high-powered torch pointing at a few. One shown not shining directly.

 

Not sure what I am missing here.

[LawrenceH]

The brushed metal case of the VIP looks a lot nicer in-person than these photos and videos. It's a high quality tooling and finish. But ultimately who cares, as long as it's sturdy (which it definitely is).

 

No-one in the audience will pay it any attention and even if they do, most pedalboards look like a crappy mishmash unless you happen to have complementary visual designs across the board - or choose your pedals based on fitting a visual aesthetic over sound.