I like that somebody finally pointed out the glaring tracking issues with this pedal. It definitely could be improved and be a really great circuit, but as it is, it's just okay. The tracking on the Boss SY-1 seems better, but again limits the parameters of what you can dial in. The Meris Enzo seems to fulfill all the checkboxes for a good versatile synth pedal, but it's pricey. Having ordered the Bass Mono Synth the day it was first shown at NAMM, I can say it left me wanting more, so while the price is good, you may find yourself wanting something like the Meris Enzo after playing.
Own it. Love it. Having an expression pedal hooked up to it opens up so many more sounds, tames some of the more extreme sounds. Tracking issues = clean up your technique.
Not sure there is anything better after a day of randomly listening to demos. Tracking is the most important factor of course, yet the hardest to really know without playing. I will definitely be trying this one first.
I know this is an older comment but I'm the same. I play in a doom metal band and i think I can make some interesting sounds with this while playing some Sabbathy riffs!
I've just bought one of these and I absolutely love it! Some of the presets need getting used to as it gives the impression that the device is faulty with the sound cutting out, but once you suss it out it's brilliant. I set it to Acid and started jamming along to Jamaican Funk within minutes. This to me is a far more suitable pedal than my Boss SY-1 which lives in its box most of the time. I am going to be making a few bass videos with me playing along to some of my favourite funk tracks.
I appreciate you going through the more extreme and gnarly examples of achievable synth sounds, but I was hoping for some subtle examples of bass synth such as those featured in Cherrelle's "Saturday Love" and Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls"-
I actually got one of these (the joke being to annoy your mates at rehearsals and jams) I must say I’ve found it rather good especially with expression pedal - better than I thought from the promo videos. The tracking isn’t too bad. The one I got rid of was the original ehx bass micro synth - which of course tracks very well being mainly a filter device - very handy for fine tuning your bass sound though.
It’s worth pointing out there is a delay when switching the synth on and off. I don’t know if that’s normal for synth pedals, but something to think about it you’re considering buying it.
To be honest, apart from the barely usable pedal, that fact is one of the big reasons why I'm thinking of returning/selling mine. Piss poor tracking too.
Torben Scharling I found a way around it by using the preset. No delay there which is useful. I’ve not had the chance to use it at volume, and yeah, I’m worried about the tracking too - but having not used it in a gig setting...or even Rehersal (damned COVID!) I’m not yet fully decided. TBH I can’t blame you!
labgnat yeah this one works best as an underlying effect mixed under your fundamental tone, because you can’t trust the tracking completely. I definitely found uses, but not as many as I had hoped.
It totally depends on the creativity of the bassist and the type of things he do with it. In this video they do not show all the possibilities that each of the sounds has with an expression pedal (it's basic to get the full potential of the pedal). I agree that it is not the most suitable for very fast picking, but for example I use it to make suboctave pads with my bass and it works perfectly there. Also indicate that with a little dry signal the tracking feels much better and you gain more and more sounds changing the dry/wet relation, the control knob position and the expresion pedal position.
Excellent demo and nice review at the end. I play in a bar/dance band and it looks like this pedal would work well in that setting. Not pricey and easy to use. I would want some different if I was recording or playing original music, where tracking and tweakability are important.
I know this is a year old but; I think it's worth having both micro synth and mono synth. Nothing will ever be able to replace my micro but there's things that it can't do being analog. I say have both an analog synth and a digital
I've had no tracking issues on my micro synth I'm not sure if maybe it was the older model or people aren't turning the eternal pot for their bass but it's tracked great for me.
Yep, a little disappointed with the Mono synth's tracking and latency, so have a Digitech digi wah which seems to perform considerably better. Thanks for the Honesty about tracking as not many reviews really address this.
Thanks guys, Im thinking about putting this into my signal chain for the next xoth album. Knowing you guys and we know eachother, is this a good idea? There are some epic parts on the new album where i just want single phat ominous synths to back up the leads. Anyways, ima shoot you guys an email soon! Thanks for everything!! - ben
Source Audio C4 is very good but very complex. Might be easier to use the old-school method of an octaver, fuzz, filter and modulation all together - easier to experiment with, but more real estate and expense.
Is there a delay between the pressing a note vs when the pedal plays it? I noticed at 2:25 Jayme Lewis playing quick short runs and I'm not sure if the audio isn't synced or the pedal is slow.
I have this pedal and hated it. It's pretty tough to get any consistency out of it. Messed around with it for about two weeks before I had enough and threw it in the parts bin🤷♂️
This isn’t a professional synth people, if you want to sound like Stevie wonder, but a keyboard. But for what it does and with the price, it’s a decent piece of kit. Two things to add 1. Having an expression pedal is almost a must as half the setting require the use of one to really dial in the settings 2. In my experience it works better with passive basses
Spectrum is just a filter pedal. Not a synth. Maybe you meant the C4, wich is a synth. But actually it's monophonic as well. But it has the ability to detune the OSCs so you can create chords (you can use a specific scale so the pedal will automatically chose the notes corresponding to the scale).
@@johanneschristopherstahle3395 the spectrum and c4 are the same engine ... I have both and use them for their primary purposes but was told the spectrum could load c4 programs too
hmmm...in some of the demos, the bassists don't seem to have a solution for dealing with the tracking, and in some cases it doesn't sound musical. it leads me to question the musical competence of the bassists (and I don't mean technique, i mean artistry and conceptualization prior to playing a sound) and/or the capabilities of this pedal. it is like it can be overplayed to the point of incoherence, and these bassists seem to find that point all too often with their wonderful displays of playing technique. In other words, they don't know this pedal well enough to competently demo it, or it just plain sucks. :/
I dont know for sure but i believe they always play the licks clean and run the signal later through the pedal/reamp it. That means of course the Player cannot react to the pedal when e.g. Tracking badly because of fast picking or too low
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
Guys! Showing the pedal in BAND CONTEXT was the best thing ever!
Yeah but it’s a bit better than that!😆
I like that somebody finally pointed out the glaring tracking issues with this pedal. It definitely could be improved and be a really great circuit, but as it is, it's just okay. The tracking on the Boss SY-1 seems better, but again limits the parameters of what you can dial in. The Meris Enzo seems to fulfill all the checkboxes for a good versatile synth pedal, but it's pricey. Having ordered the Bass Mono Synth the day it was first shown at NAMM, I can say it left me wanting more, so while the price is good, you may find yourself wanting something like the Meris Enzo after playing.
Try the C4, it's quite affordable and tracks very well. And if it lets you wanting more with all the stuff it can do, I guess it's your fault :)
Ugh, this pedal just isn’t worth it to me. I feel the same about Boss’s Synth pedal. I love Boss pedals too. I feel the Synth 9 sounds better on bass.
1 or 2 useable settings and 15 variants of 'Inspector Gadget'!
Not my experience, but even so hours often, live, are you knob twiddling on your board?
I guess that why it's 120 when most synth pedals are in the 200$ range
First off your comment is hilarious
hahahahahahaha you made my day
Own it. Love it. Having an expression pedal hooked up to it opens up so many more sounds, tames some of the more extreme sounds. Tracking issues = clean up your technique.
Not sure there is anything better after a day of randomly listening to demos. Tracking is the most important factor of course, yet the hardest to really know without playing. I will definitely be trying this one first.
Even as a metalhead, I want to buy it !
I know this is an older comment but I'm the same. I play in a doom metal band and i think I can make some interesting sounds with this while playing some Sabbathy riffs!
I've just bought one of these and I absolutely love it! Some of the presets need getting used to as it gives the impression that the device is faulty with the sound cutting out, but once you suss it out it's brilliant. I set it to Acid and started jamming along to Jamaican Funk within minutes. This to me is a far more suitable pedal than my Boss SY-1 which lives in its box most of the time. I am going to be making a few bass videos with me playing along to some of my favourite funk tracks.
What does “suss it out” mean?
I would have liked to hear the sounds of the pedal with the filter sweeps disengaged competely.
Great review. Thanks guys. The tracking really did sound rough. The band sounded great.
th-cam.com/video/-GoPwzXtV2w/w-d-xo.html That actually sounds hilarious, like a "... Shreds" video. Love it.
Been wanting one of these since they first came out. About to pull the trigger on one.
Great review! Thank you, I definitely want one of these!
Thanks for giving this one a look. I have it, and you helped me understand it better. Good function for the price.
I was definitely hoping for some tracks using the expression pedal on some of the settings.
Me too
I appreciate you going through the more extreme and gnarly examples of achievable synth sounds, but I was hoping for some subtle examples of bass synth such as those featured in Cherrelle's "Saturday Love" and Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls"-
Thank you for another awesome video. Well done.
I actually got one of these (the joke being to annoy your mates at rehearsals and jams) I must say I’ve found it rather good especially with expression pedal - better than I thought from the promo videos. The tracking isn’t too bad. The one I got rid of was the original ehx bass micro synth - which of course tracks very well being mainly a filter device - very handy for fine tuning your bass sound though.
It’s worth pointing out there is a delay when switching the synth on and off. I don’t know if that’s normal for synth pedals, but something to think about it you’re considering buying it.
To be honest, apart from the barely usable pedal, that fact is one of the big reasons why I'm thinking of returning/selling mine. Piss poor tracking too.
Torben Scharling I found a way around it by using the preset. No delay there which is useful. I’ve not had the chance to use it at volume, and yeah, I’m worried about the tracking too - but having not used it in a gig setting...or even Rehersal (damned COVID!) I’m not yet fully decided. TBH I can’t blame you!
These kind of effects are fun at first because of their novelty, then you realize there are barely any useable tones
labgnat yeah this one works best as an underlying effect mixed under your fundamental tone, because you can’t trust the tracking completely. I definitely found uses, but not as many as I had hoped.
Exactly. Had one but it didn't spend a day in my place before I returned it
Try telling that to muse!
G Muse doesn’t use this pedal, and there’s plenty of reasons why. Yes, you can get some good sounds from it, but the tracking is pretty poor.
skyviewdesign It’s cool, I’m just joking with you!!
Where before have we seen the bass Nick is using at 3:22 ?
It totally depends on the creativity of the bassist and the type of things he do with it. In this video they do not show all the possibilities that each of the sounds has with an expression pedal (it's basic to get the full potential of the pedal).
I agree that it is not the most suitable for very fast picking, but for example I use it to make suboctave pads with my bass and it works perfectly there. Also indicate that with a little dry signal the tracking feels much better and you gain more and more sounds changing the dry/wet relation, the control knob position and the expresion pedal position.
Just traded my Synth9 for one of these.
Much better designed for bass.
I add a bit of delay or reverb after this to give it a bigger sound.
I got the C4 from Source Audio and it kicks this pedals ass, it even works for guitar.
This^^^
Definitely does
C4 is not available in Argentina.
Panda Midi Future Impact would be my suggestion.
Excellent demo and nice review at the end. I play in a bar/dance band and it looks like this pedal would work well in that setting. Not pricey and easy to use. I would want some different if I was recording or playing original music, where tracking and tweakability are important.
Good demo, thanks! It remarkable though that almost everyone plays typical bass stuff which is probably not what you would use it for musically
It's not bad but I prefer the old school polyphonic Bass Micro Synth with the slider controls.
That wasn't a real synth pedal but a filtered fuz with pitch shifting.
I was happy w the tracking until I adjusted the blend and my playing a bit. Blending helped a ton
Bought it to play some retro video games loops and some 80's retrowave, would not use it in a band setting though unless we play hip hop or something.
Great demo and better final conclusion. A real good job.
I think this pedal is a good & cheap option if you do not reach the ehx micro synth
I know this is a year old but; I think it's worth having both micro synth and mono synth. Nothing will ever be able to replace my micro but there's things that it can't do being analog. I say have both an analog synth and a digital
Could totally drive my wife crazy with that thing......muhahahahahaaaaa
Yes, I do :)))
Kevin Stallings Chris drove me crazy making this video haha
The tracking sounds fine in this video idk what everyone’s bitching about. Tracks a fuck ton better than a micro synth
I've had no tracking issues on my micro synth I'm not sure if maybe it was the older model or people aren't turning the eternal pot for their bass but it's tracked great for me.
Wich pedal is better, Mono Synth or Micro Synth?
New suscriber here! Great reviews guys, greetings from Chile ;)
Yep, a little disappointed with the Mono synth's tracking and latency, so have a Digitech digi wah which seems to perform considerably better. Thanks for the Honesty about tracking as not many reviews really address this.
How's the tracking if you're slapping the bass? I've been looking for a synth pedal to throw fat synth tones underneath slap lines.
Its decent but not perfect. Keep in mind it only tracks one note at a time
Thanks guys, Im thinking about putting this into my signal chain for the next xoth album. Knowing you guys and we know eachother, is this a good idea? There are some epic parts on the new album where i just want single phat ominous synths to back up the leads. Anyways, ima shoot you guys an email soon! Thanks for everything!!
- ben
Excellent
Happy 4 20 2020
Also I appreciate that y’all play ‘wicks so I know for sure what the pedal will sound like when I get it.
Got one recently. I'm new to synth pedals but seems to track really badly. What are better synth pedals?
Source Audio C4 is very good but very complex. Might be easier to use the old-school method of an octaver, fuzz, filter and modulation all together - easier to experiment with, but more real estate and expense.
@@TheBassChannel Love this! Thank you
Is there a delay between the pressing a note vs when the pedal plays it? I noticed at 2:25 Jayme Lewis playing quick short runs and I'm not sure if the audio isn't synced or the pedal is slow.
Pretty sure the intention was to demonstrate the limitations of the tracking when playing fast or chords. :/
I just bought this pedal, but when i activate the footswitch it cuts the signal, so i have to stop playing when i push the switch :/ kinda annoying
Would this replicate the synth bass part of u2 streets have no name
There seems to be a lot of "cutting" in the signal, which is a shame, because some of these sounds are pretty interesting
Throw in a line selector and you can have the best of both worlds
Thanks
is that a PRS bass?!
Cool demo, buy definitely not my thing. What happened to the pre-amp shootout?
Waiting on the DI-2112 to become available
The only pedal I’ve ever returned. The tracking made it unusable. And I love EHX pedals. The Boss SY-1 works better.
Did you try the syb5?
Syb5 tracking is trash
Could you cover number of the beast by iron maiden? The bassline is so sick
I have this pedal and hated it. It's pretty tough to get any consistency out of it. Messed around with it for about two weeks before I had enough and threw it in the parts bin🤷♂️
Just try the Source Audio C4
This isn’t a professional synth people, if you want to sound like Stevie wonder, but a keyboard. But for what it does and with the price, it’s a decent piece of kit.
Two things to add
1. Having an expression pedal is almost a must as half the setting require the use of one to really dial in the settings
2. In my experience it works better with passive basses
Is it possible to make the pedal handle more than just one note?
No, its explicitly a "mono" synth pedal. It's made to emulate sounds from synths that can only play one note at a time.
Poor tracking….the best synth pedal is still the AKAI Deep Impact. Keeps the low end!
But nothing can replace a real synth.
I've eard that George Lucas used this pedal to get the sound of R2D2 farting in a cut scene
Wha wha ah wha wah wah wah wha ah ahh ahh whaaa
if you're in an inspector gadget theme song cover band this pedal was made 4 u
Jesus Loves You
The SourceAudio Spectrum can do most of this, is polyphonic, and sounds better.
Spectrum is just a filter pedal. Not a synth. Maybe you meant the C4, wich is a synth. But actually it's monophonic as well. But it has the ability to detune the OSCs so you can create chords (you can use a specific scale so the pedal will automatically chose the notes corresponding to the scale).
@@johanneschristopherstahle3395 the spectrum and c4 are the same engine ... I have both and use them for their primary purposes but was told the spectrum could load c4 programs too
Half the things Jamie is playing aren’t coming out
With a pedal like this, it would have been better not to use reamped players. You really need to play to the pedal with a synth.
what the fuck is this thumb 7 string fretless 3:23
It almost a crime to use synth with some of the basses used here.
It would better if you played "synth-like" lines instead of noodling.
hmmm...in some of the demos, the bassists don't seem to have a solution for dealing with the tracking, and in some cases it doesn't sound musical. it leads me to question the musical competence of the bassists (and I don't mean technique, i mean artistry and conceptualization prior to playing a sound) and/or the capabilities of this pedal. it is like it can be overplayed to the point of incoherence, and these bassists seem to find that point all too often with their wonderful displays of playing technique. In other words, they don't know this pedal well enough to competently demo it, or it just plain sucks. :/
I dont know for sure but i believe they always play the licks clean and run the signal later through the pedal/reamp it. That means of course the Player cannot react to the pedal when e.g. Tracking badly because of fast picking or too low
first
Horrible IMHO
I liked everything that I heard, except for that awful band. Growl and Wub were definitely the two best settings.
Wasted money! Who needs such a thing?
Thanks for demo. I confirmed that I need that pedal.
In my opinion Nick Maffei has no groove to play and their expressions are unpleasant x( sorry