Future Impact v3 and now V4

[Quatschmacher]

17 minutes ago, SumOne said:

Is the FI v4 always monophonic - or can it do polyphonic when controlled via midi?

It’s strictly monophonic at the moment. We have had some in-depth discussions and serious proposals for polyphony/paraphony on the VA but not sure if that’ll happen now. 

[LukeFRC]

19 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Here’s a video demo of some of the forthcoming v4.5 features:

25 Years History of Bass Guitar Synths:
From the Past to the Future Impact V4.5

That looks excellent!!

[Quatschmacher]

23 minutes ago, SumOne said:

I got a FI V4 but had hours of hassles trying to get it to connect to my Laptop but no luck

Pretty certain that was either related to Mac MIDI studio (or whatever it’s called) or your interface settings. I seem to recall someone else using the same interface had some issues with other devices.

 

The new firmware will let you do loads without ever needing the computer. 

Edited yesterday at 17:53 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

What about seeing if eg Charles Berthoud will give the updated VIP an IMA style review? Could be a game changer in terms of sales?

 

Even better, get him to A/B it with the MXR in a leading bass synth pedal shootout?

[MacDaddy]

2 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

 

 

Thing is, after watching Danny Sapko, I'm not convinced everything Mohini does isn't A.I. 😸

[jh0]

On 28/01/2026 at 23:00, Quatschmacher said:

Back by popular demand is the ability for the pedal to automatically switch between audio and MIDI triggering, depending on which input signal is detected.

That's amazing! Great news! Thank you very much!

[Al Krow]

Got a wee confession to make: I had a twinge of regret on missing out on that MXR synth pedal in the FS a couple of days back, which was snapped up before I'd even seen it listed!

 

Having now seen what the v4.5 FI is capable of, that regret has been replaced with relief! Seems to me the updated FI can do everything the MXR can, and then some? 

Edited 10 hours ago by Al Krow

[Quatschmacher]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Got a wee confession to make: I had a twinge of regret on missing out on that MXR synth pedal in the FS a couple of days back, which was snapped up before I'd even seen it listed!

 

Having now seen what the v4.5 FI is capable of, that regret has been replaced with relief! Seems to me the the updated FI can do everything the MXR can, and then some? 

Easily. The only thing is the MXR has a few on-panel controls that the FI needs the editor or a MIDI controller to access (eg portamento time, waveform mixer levels and waveform shape, LFO speed). We could have added onboard controls for all parameters but it would’ve required a crib sheet or, if we’d added a naming system, it would have eaten up too much memory space. 

[Al Krow]

I bought my first Panda FI Mk1 off a fellow BC'er back in 2018 - he and I have stayed mates ever since meeting up at a service station in time honoured fashion to buy/sell the goods! 

 

But I never quite gelled with that or the subsequent several later versions I bought and gave up on! 

 

I always thought that this could be a great product (and fed my thoughts back to Peter) as and when:

- they improved the tracking (done - v4)

- came out with a more compact pedalboard friendly model (done - v4 VIP)

- made this user friendly for bassists who wanted some great usable sounds out of the box and allowed for better on-board editing - looks they've cracked that with v4.5

 

The MXR Synth provides much of that too (albeit 8 out of the box 'song' presets, vs 22 'song' on the FI) and has demonstrated the level of demand for the above features.

 

Why choose the FI v4 over the MXR bass synth?

 

Well for an extra £20 the FI v4 provides:

• a more capable synth engine (including FM synthesis);
• a better display; 
• many more presets;
• midi capability; and
• the ability to deep dive with a bespoke computer editor for those who would like to have that option.

 

Feels like a no-brainer to me! And it's great to be able to support a home-grown product championed by one of our own.

 

VIP just ordered 😊

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Al Krow

[SumOne]

6 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I bought my first Panda FI Mk1 off a fellow BC'er back in 2018 - he and I have stayed mates ever since meeting up at a service station in time honoured fashion to buy/sell the goods! 

 

But I never quite gelled with that or the subsequent several I bought and gave up on! 

 

I always thought that this could be a great product (and fed my thoughts back to Peter) as and when:

- they improved the tracking (done - v4)

- came out with a more compact pedalboard friendly model (done - v4 VIP)

- made this user friendly for bassists who wanted some great usable sounds out of the box and allowed for better on-board editing - looks they've cracked that with v4.5

 

The MXR Synth provides all that too and has demonstrated the level of demand for the above.

 

But for an extra £20 the FIv4 provides a more capable synth engine (including FM synthesis), a better display, many more presets, and the ability to deep dive with a bespoke computer editor for those who would like to have that option. Feels like a no-brainer to me, and it's great to be able to support a home-grown product championed by one of our own.

 

VIP just ordered 😊

 

 

I've been eyeing it up too (helps that it has just been payday!). Did you order it from Music Store or direct? 

 

I basically have no pedalboard at them moment (well, just a tuner), so if wearing my sensible hat I should probably get a couple of things like compressor and overdrive before the next gig....my amp can do each of those things and it can't make FI type noises (unless something is giong quite wrong!) so I think I might take off my sensible hat and put on this one to get a FI v4

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by SumOne

[Al Krow]

Music Store, and ordered the £12 midi cable at the same time to take advantage of the free delivery when bought with the pedal so £317 all in.

 

Oooh speaking of which, that's another extra for £20 that the FI has over the MXR, I'll update my list!

[Al Krow]

15 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

I've been eyeing it up too (helps that it has just been payday!). Did you order it from Music Store or direct? 

 

I basically have no pedalboard at them moment (well, just a tuner), so if wearing my sensible hat I should probably get a couple of things like compressor and overdrive before the next gig....my amp can do each of those things and it can't make FI type noises (unless something is giong quite wrong!) so I think I might take off my sensible hat and put on this one to get a FI v4

 

 

 

 

 

There's also a used GT1000 Core with your name on it (kinda literally, if you registered it 😅) to consider? 😊

[SumOne]

35 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

There's also a used GT1000 Core with your name on it (kinda literally, if you registered it 😅) to consider? 😊

The Core would be the more sensible option, not leasst as I'm always considering how useful pedals can also be with my keyboard (Core for stereo effects etc will be useful for both Keys and Bass). ...but I'm not a particularly sensible person!

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

 

I've been eyeing it up too (helps that it has just been payday!). Did you order it from Music Store or direct? 

 

I basically have no pedalboard at them moment (well, just a tuner), so if wearing my sensible hat I should probably get a couple of things like compressor and overdrive before the next gig....my amp can do each of those things and it can't make FI type noises (unless something is giong quite wrong!) so I think I might take off my sensible hat and put on this one to get a FI v4

 

 

 

 

Definitely go via music store as you won’t get any nasty tax surprises.