New MXR bass synth pedal released

[mattpbass]

5 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I don't get the preset moaning thing.

 

If you use synth bass a lot, you're probably not the intended audience - FI4 or an actual key bass would make more sense....
If you're in a band where  the whole band being on midi controlled effects sequenced to the click and needing midi control, it's probably not for you... 

 

Occasional synth parts, and any band where there's a second between songs (when the guitarist is tuning?) to reach down and click onto your next preset...  surely you'll be fine?

 

 

I really don't get the whole "Oh if only it had X" thing you see on here, and a lot on talk bass... "oh if it had X Y and Z I'ld be buying it" - well there are already products that do that get that instead. Most companies look to slim down the UX into something that is simple and usable. If you look at Source Audio for instance who tend to get lots of opinions and try and do them, they get criticised as they are too complex... 

Thinking the preset switching could be better is hardly asking for a completely different feature. 

[Quatschmacher]

31 minutes ago, tayste_2000 said:

 

You can add a small switch to cycle presets, I don’t really see the issue here.

The only potential thing I see is that after cycling through the 8 presets, it always goes back to panel mode so you’d have to make sure nothing crazy was dialled up there to avoid a nasty surprise. 

[Musicman20]

Regardless of the features, I must admit, the sounds hit me straight away.....they nailed it.

[mattpbass]

4 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

The only potential thing I see is that after cycling through the 8 presets, it always goes back to panel mode so you’d have to make sure nothing crazy was dialled up there to avoid a nasty surprise. 

Yeah, it just staying in preset mode until you do a long press would make more sense to me. 

[krispn]

I recently bought a couple of pedals to do exactly what this pedal does. 
 

They are now for sale and if I had been paying more attention that this was due to be released then it would have saved me some minor hassle. 
 

In context we do a pretty fun set where something like the MXR is perfect. Save some presets which won’t need to be scrolled through mid song. The idea of the mini expression pedal expands the versatility but is not super necessary and  an additional cost. The mini preset switch is handy and could be mounted on top of another pedal or closer to most accessible area of the pedal board. 
 

Like I mentioned I think a whole lot of people are gonna find this very handy. 

[Quatschmacher]

Don’t forget that with an expression pedal you can effectively have two different presets built into one at extreme ends of the pedal travel, but also all the points in between. 

[Linus27]

My mind is made up, this will suit my band no end and allow for more creativity. I can get rid of my Octave pedal and use this as well as some of the other presets and features. I'm sold, take my money 😆

[HoorayForAnonyms]

13 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Don’t forget that with an expression pedal you can effectively have two different presets built into one at extreme ends of the pedal travel, but also all the points in between. 

@Quatschmacher dropping the sagely synth knowledge as always.
 

You can effectively double the number of presets with this approach.
 

Really helpful if needing to change sounds for different sections of a song.

 

Madonna’s Like Prayer would be a good example of morphing between a Moogish sound for the chorus and a OC-2 sound for the verse.

 

@Quatschmacher’s approach using an expression pedal would work well for this sort of application. 

[ardi100]

Does the external switch to change presets only go one way? I know it's only 8, but up and down would be much easier live.

[Quatschmacher]

32 minutes ago, HoorayForAnonyms said:

@Quatschmacher dropping the sagely synth knowledge as always.
 

You can effectively double the number of presets with this approach.
 

Really helpful if needing to change sounds for different sections of a song.

 

Madonna’s Like Prayer would be a good example of morphing between a Moogish sound for the chorus and a OC-2 sound for the verse.

 

@Quatschmacher’s approach using an expression pedal would work well for this sort of application. 

You could probably even use a latching TRS switch in place of the expression pedal to immediately jump between two values, or use the expression pedal trimmer to get the full output range over a shorter travel to effectively mimic a switch. 

[Greg Edwards69]

I wonder if there's a midi to TRS adaptor to control the CTR jack via midi? I'm sure some clever, enterprising so-and-so will figure it out in time.

[HoorayForAnonyms]

Just now, Quatschmacher said:

You could probably even use a latching TRS switch in place of the expression pedal to immediately jump between two values, or use the expression pedal trimmer to get the full output range over a shorter travel to effectively mimic a switch. 

Great point. The Old Blood Noise Expression Ramper would work perfectly for this application.

 

 

 

It has a one shot mode to instantly jump between values and stay there. I don’t use mine in this way but should work well for this kind of application. I use it for big slow filter sweeps that aren’t possible using a manual expression pedal.
 

My MXR Synth should be arriving today. I can post a clip of it using the OBN Ramper to demo both of the above if there is interest. 

[HoorayForAnonyms]

48 minutes ago, ardi100 said:

Does the external switch to change presets only go one way? I know it's only 8, but up and down would be much easier live.

I think it is just one way on the actual pedal itself but I’m not certain!
 

It does seem like an external switcher can bank up and down between presets. It’s like the C4 in that respect. 
 

The MXR video manual demos up and down banking pretty well. The manual also says that any open (momentary) switch will work so I wonder if a two button switcher will allow up and down preset changes without having to long press like in the video. 
 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by HoorayForAnonyms

[stewblack]

Oh how I wish every manufacturer could produce instruction videos as good as this.

[Quatschmacher]

5 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Oh how I wish every manufacturer could produce instruction videos as good as this.

Slightly easier when the options are more restricted, but very good point. 

[dudewheresmybass]

there is also the ehx Cntl knob pedal will do the two values of an exp pedal thing 

[Quatschmacher]

40 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I wonder if there's a midi to TRS adaptor to control the CTR jack via midi? I'm sure some clever, enterprising so-and-so will figure it out in time.

There are some things out there that will convert MIDI to passive expression signals:

https://oldbloodnoise.com/pedals/p/mtet-midi-to-expression-translator

[SumOne]

23 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Sorry I won't be able to help you out on that dear chap this time around...but I'll happily join you on the 2nd hand waiting list!

 

(And I've got first dibs on any kit coming onto the market from @SumOne under our long term 'gear' supply arrangements 😅).

 

Wow! This thing is already shaking up the market - just checked what's been recently listed in the FS section and quite a few synth pedals! Clearly a lot of folk (understandably IMO given how good this thing appears to be!) seem to be wanting to make the switch.

You're right - I am keen on this pedal!

 

I'll try to have a bit of self control though (both for buying, and for selling once something else shiny and new gets my attention). That restraint probably won't last long though!

 

Like others have said, this looks like MXR have hit quite a sweet spot gap in the market of useful bass synth sounds, tracking (hopefully), functionality, hands-on editing, presets, size.

 

Feels a bit pricey, but I must be getting old as I think everything is pricey nowadays!

[LukeFRC]

2 hours ago, AinsleyWalker said:

 

I don't think that's really what anybody said. A few people have simply noted that the preset switching seems to be a weaker aspect of the pedal. Not a showstopper by any means. 
 

I was reading the Talkbass version of this thread!

[Al Krow]

30 minutes ago, SumOne said:

You're right - I am keen on this pedal!

 

I'll try to have a bit of self control though (both for buying, and for selling once something else shiny and new gets my attention). That restraint probably won't last long though!

 

Like others have said, this looks like MXR have hit quite a sweet spot gap in the market of useful bass synth sounds, tracking (hopefully), functionality, hands-on editing, presets, size.

 

Feels a bit pricey, but I must be getting old as I think everything is pricey nowadays!

 

That's 'cos everything IS pricey these days! 

[tayste_2000]

29 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I was reading the Talkbass version of this thread!

Yeah this one is mental, examples like “I can’t see a way when using the jack for expression that the same jack could be stereo….. what a failure, I 100% need all these features all the time.”

 

“Bought the pedal this morning, it arrived, it makes a terrible coffee, it’s going back. It’s basically ruined my life.”

 

I’m exaggerating but I’m also not 😂 it’s a pedal, useful maybe, fun sure, necessary 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

[Quatschmacher]

3 minutes ago, tayste_2000 said:

Yeah this one is mental, examples like “I can’t see a way when using the jack for expression that the same jack could be stereo….. what a failure, I 100% need all these features all the time.”

 

“Bought the pedal this morning, it arrived, it makes a terrible coffee, it’s going back. It’s basically ruined my life.”

 

I’m exaggerating but I’m also not 😂 it’s a pedal, useful maybe, fun sure, necessary 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

I can see why folks might be irked by having to choose between stereo and expression. Shame they couldn’t have made the normal audio output into a TRS socket for the stereo option.

 

Compromises always have to be made somewhere; like in the C4, you can either have stereo output or an external loop function but not both. 

Edited 15 hours ago by Quatschmacher

[tayste_2000]

2 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

I can see why folks might be irked by having to choose between stereo and expression. Shame they couldn’t have made the normal audio output into a TRS socket for the stereo option.

 

Compromises always have to be made somewhere; like in the C4, you can either have stereo output or an external loop function but not both. 

I don’t, I barely get enough channels to play mono live let alone stereo.

 

 

[LukeFRC]

8 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

I can see why folks might be irked by having to choose between stereo and expression. Shame they couldn’t have made the normal audio output into a TRS socket for the stereo option.

 

Compromises always have to be made somewhere; like in the C4, you can either have stereo output or an external loop function but not both. 

I don't even thing you do  even - main jack TRS is stereo .... 
You can use the expression for stereo if you want to use a pair of TS cables or something.  

Is it just me, but I don't get the stereo thing, I'm guessing it makes more sense for recording and non live stuff? 

[SumOne]

15 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Is it just me, but I don't get the stereo thing, I'm guessing it makes more sense for recording and non live stuff? 

 

 I suppose for more atmospheric pad type sounds it can be useful. But bass (synth or otherwise ) is best in mono as far as I'm concerned, and that's the general rule in music production as well as live. Stereo bass can cause phase issues, and it just looses some of the impact. e.g. on a reggae soundsystem all the bass is mono.

Edited 14 hours ago by SumOne