Source Audio Nemesis Delay

[Blix]

FWIW it works perfectly with the Roland EV-5.

 

[Nocd]

FWIW it works perfectly with the Roland EV-5.

And the moog ep-3...

 

[dickjonesify]

Used it live for three different things this weekend. I'm really impressed.

I barely had time to really set it up so I only have a couple general presets so far. I love how thick the Analog is. I also have a nice Noise Tape setting for big ambience and my main setting at the moment is with Diffuse. I dig the smooth repeats.

Still trying to decide on either a MIDI footswitch or just make another 2-button aux switch...

 

[Gibs210]

Would any little cheap expression pedal work with the Nemesis. Like the cheap little Moog pedal, or that tiny little AMT pedal? I need to mostly save space and my small pedalboard.

As long as power is on the tip, and expression on the ring, any expression pedal will work with the TRS jack. I built my own and it works with the one series pedals when usin a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter and an 1/8" cable, all it is, is potentiometer wired to a TRS jack.

The source audio pedals will adapt to any expression pedal when you calibrate it. That's why they have the calibration mode in the pedals, just make sure tip is power and ring is expression.

EDIT: the one series will work with any expression with the TRS setup correctly, the older pedals I believe require the SA expression pedals to work properly.

 

[dickjonesify]

If this says anything about the sound quality, even in a busy mix...
A guitar player came up to me afterwards just to find out what delay pedal I had.
That was a new one for me

 

[sstweed]

There is a setting in the complex rhythms patch in the nuero app that I just love. It's not exactly the echorec, but it's very very good. Just lightly season your tone with it and it really is musical and natural sounding. It's been my favorite setting for a week now (that's a long time for me).

 

[thesleeve]

Is there a reason or has it been mentioned why SA don't use USB/lightning cable and instead opted for the input jack to update the pedal. It's a bit odd! I mean, how's it going to work when the PC app comes out? I can't wait for the PC app, btw, i feel like it have huge fingers and can't quite get the exact dial I need for some of the controls on the iPhone app. But it's a good app to be fair!

The main motivation here is broad compatibility. While it's true that most mobile devices can connect to a computer via USB, they are not USB master devices. In order to use USB from a mobile device and control a slave device (in this case, the Nemesis), it needs to be able to act as a USB master (or OTG "on-the-go"). A majority of phones and tablets currently on the market do not support USB master operation, so choosing this interface for Neuro would severely limit the number of devices our app could run on.

With proprietary connectors (like the lightning cable), there are two major downsides: (1) you need to pay a licensing fee and also pay for proprietary hardware, and (2) those standards come and go every few years, and before long, are obsolete. An audio output is about as universal as it gets, which is why we went with that approach.

When PC/Mac editing tools are made available, they will use USB. This is because all desktop/laptop computers (unlike mobile devices) are USB masters, and no proprietary hardware is required.

 

[earwax]

Bump for my pal Dustin's segment at the end. He did some really amazing stuff with the Helix/reverse.

2:42 digital (adjusting modulation)
3:14 diffuse
3:23 analog
3:47 tape
4:01 noise tape
4:22 degrade
4:51 shifter
5:23 helix
6:07 reverse
7:33 rhythmic

Thanks for the great demo! The recording is superb and the delay sounds great.

Anyone know where we can hear the other 12 delay engines?

 

[Prymaxe]

Y'all got some coming in anytime soon?

I think we are expecting them in 2-3 weeks

 

[thesleeve]

@thesleeve @rsmith601 Here is a clip showing the effect engagement bug that happens when not in trails mode. As you see when you select a new engine while in bypass what is played is still entered into the delayline before the effect is engaged. This only happens between selecting the engine and the first time the effect is engaged. I also show the new trails light behavior in the beginning of the clip to show I am running the latest firmware.

Thanks for the report and video. Investigating now...

@thesleeve @rsmith601 im still getting trouble switching pedal on and off. Sometimes too light a touch, sometimes too hard. Sometimes it stays on after pressing, sometimes it won't turn on. There's no reason or pattern to it, just intermittently decides how it wants to work. Takes a bit of perseverance. Is this an issue you know of or a software thing? Or is it my unit?

Many thanks for your time

This sounds like a problem with the switch itself. Please contact us at contact@sourceaudio.net and we will work with you to resolve the problem.

Hi @dickjonesify I think we've had the (almost) definitive answer from @thesleeve on which app sliders are universally applicable...

Every parameter except Pitch Shift Interval can be used with every engine. Pitch Shift Interval is limited to: Shifter, Helix, Reverse, Double Helix, Compound Shifter. As a side note, try some other intervals with the Helix... you can get some really cool sounds! I personally like doing a shift of a reverse perfect 11th or a reverse perfect 12th. I'll do a demo video of these soon.

Some sliders behave a bit differently depending on which base engine is selected. Distortion, for example, varies quite a bit between the engines. Some engines will produce some pretty strong distortion with the slider set to max, while other engines will have very subtle distortion even when maxed out. This is due to the fact that each engine has distortion configured with a different character. The Diffusion parameter and also the parameters related to filtering will behave slightly differently on each engine. I suggest you use your ears when tweaking these values!

Anyone know where we can hear the other 12 delay engines?

I have made some demo videos of the back 12 engines. I'm not completely done with those yet, but here are the videos I've made so far:

 

[JerEvil]

Thanks for the report and video. Investigating now...



This sounds like a problem with the switch itself. Please contact us at contact@sourceaudio.net and we will work with you to resolve the problem.



Every parameter except Pitch Shift Interval can be used with every engine. Pitch Shift Interval is limited to: Shifter, Helix, Reverse, Double Helix, Compound Shifter. As a side note, try some other intervals with the Helix... you can get some really cool sounds! I personally like doing a shift of a reverse perfect 11th or a reverse perfect 12th. I'll do a demo video of these soon.

Some sliders behave a bit differently depending on which base engine is selected. Distortion, for example, varies quite a bit between the engines. Some engines will produce some pretty strong distortion with the slider set to max, while other engines will have very subtle distortion even when maxed out. This is due to the fact that each engine has distortion configured with a different character. The Diffusion parameter and also the parameters related to filtering will behave slightly differently on each engine. I suggest you use your ears when tweaking these values!



I have made some demo videos of the back 12 engines. I'm not completely done with those yet, but here are the videos I've made so far:

Man these sound so damn good! Makes me actually want to play clean guitar parts...

 

[ssonar]

Very interested in this one, but on page 27 of the manual it says:
"Stereo In, Stereo Out: The inputs are mixed and sent to a delay line containing stereo-panned taps. The input dry signal stays true stereo all the way to the output, and the stereo delayed signal is mixed back in just prior to the output."

Does this mean that the stereo inputs are summed to mono for processing and only my dry signal remains true stereo?

 

[rsmith601]

Very interested in this one, but on page 27 of the manual it says:
"Stereo In, Stereo Out: The inputs are mixed and sent to a delay line containing stereo-panned taps. The input dry signal stays true stereo all the way to the output, and the stereo delayed signal is mixed back in just prior to the output."

Does this mean that the stereo inputs are summed to mono for processing and only my dry signal remains true stereo?

Correct, and this is a very important design decision on our part. Brett will create a video tonight to explain why we did it this way.

 

[ssonar]

Thanks for clarifying, but the potential phase issues from preceding stereo pedals and general loss of stereo detail is going to be a deal-breaker for me.

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I'm still looking at picking up the Vertigo trem and Mercury flanger unless they share this issue. Do they have a true stereo signal path?

Thanks again.

 

[dickjonesify]

I don't play live in stereo so I won't let this bother me because the Nemesis is amazing.

If I did, I would be concerned that there are many cool stereo "tricks" you can do with delay and the Nemesis seems to only do a 2-tap ping pong.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't been able to experiment in stereo very much at all.

 

[deadlands]

Thanks for clarifying, but the potential phase issues from preceding stereo pedals and general loss of stereo detail is going to be a deal-breaker for me.

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I'm still looking at picking up the Vertigo trem and Mercury flanger unless they share this issue. Do they have a true stereo signal path?

Thanks again.

Excuse my ignorance, but don't most all stereo pedals sum the wet path to mono and then output a stereo image? Thinking about it from a technical angle, you would need two separate DSP's or two seperate pedals, one for Left and one for Right, processing each side individually in order to maintain the stereo image that is coming from the inputs. Or you would need the DSP to process each side separately. In a pedal like the Nemesis, that means reducing the sound quality of an algorithm so you can run two side-by-side on the same DSP.

 

[MHermans]

I'm using the Nemesis for this whole clip of my band trying out a new tune. I's on the Tape mode with some modulation. I turn it off for a couple of the heavier parts... Not using it high in the mix, but it's great for more subtle applications as well. Just thought I'd share...

 

[dickjonesify]

Excuse my ignorance, but don't most all stereo pedals sum the wet path to mono and then output a stereo image? Thinking about it from a technical angle, you would need two separate DSP's or two seperate pedals, one for Left and one for Right, processing each side individually in order to maintain the stereo image that is coming from the inputs. Or you would need the DSP to process each side separately. In a pedal like the Nemesis, that means reducing the sound quality of an algorithm so you can run two side-by-side on the same DSP.

No. That completely nullifies having two inputs. Any stereo effects you have prior are now mono.

If you make a pedal with stereo ins and outs, it should be stereo. If you fall short on DSP, you didn't put enough DSP in it.

Not knocking the quality of the Nemesis. Just seems like a bizarre decision.

 

[vbrans]

No. That completely nullifies having two inputs. Any stereo effects you have prior are now mono.

If you make a pedal with stereo ins and outs, it should be stereo. If you fall short on DSP, you didn't put enough DSP in it.

Not knocking the quality of the Nemesis. Just seems like a bizarre decision.

But if it keeps your dry signal stereo everything will remain stereo except for the delays which are ping ponged right???

 

[thesleeve]

Thanks for clarifying, but the potential phase issues from preceding stereo pedals and general loss of stereo detail is going to be a deal-breaker for me.

I'll make a video tonight demonstrating why we do it this way, with a full stereo signal path and stereo effects (chorus/phaser/tremolo with clearly audible LFO offsets between the two channels) preceding the delay. I will A/B the Nemesis in this setup along with a true stereo delay. Please listen to the video before making up your mind. Our approach allows for a lot of cool stereo sounds that actually wouldn't work as well with a true stereo delay path.

During the early planning phases of the Nemesis design, we gave a lot of thought to the signal path and how we wanted to handle stereo delay engines. We investigated many other stereo delay pedals and weighed the pros and cons of each approach. We reached the conclusion that a sum-to-mono delay line with independently panned taps was the way to go on the Nemesis. This approach allows the input signal to maintain stereo separation on the dry path while creating distinct, multi-tap repeats that jump across the stereo field with a strong sense of spatial placement. It allows for the creation of more interesting multi-tap panned delays than the true stereo approach.

[EDIT: I do concede, however, that doing a simple single tap delay does not sound as good with the sum-to-mono approach as it would with true stereo. The sum-to-mono approach really shines in more complex stereo-panned multi-tap effects like ping pong delays and rhythmic delays.]

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I'm still looking at picking up the Vertigo trem and Mercury flanger unless they share this issue. Do they have a true stereo signal path?

Thanks again.

Yes, the Vertigo Tremolo, Gemini Chorus, Lunar Phaser, Mercury Flanger (and upcoming Aftershock Distortion, Kingmaker Fuzz, and L.A. Lady Overdrive) all have true stereo signal paths.

That is... unless you want to configure them to do something other than true stereo! Some available options are mono-to-stereo, stereo-to-mono, mono-to-dual-mono, mono-in-mono-out with dry thru, sidechain envelope, effects loop, parallel, stacking... But yes, they are true stereo when you take them out of the box. The bypass path includes true stereo relay-based true bypass (or active analog buffered bypass, if you prefer).

I don't play live in stereo so I won't let this bother me because the Nemesis is amazing.

If I did, I would be concerned that there are many cool stereo "tricks" you can do with delay and the Nemesis seems to only do a 2-tap ping pong.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't been able to experiment in stereo very much at all.

Indeed, most of the Nemesis engines use the two primary taps to do stereo ping pong. However, many of the engines also use the 3rd, 4th, and 5th taps panned in the stereo field to create subtle stereo effects. Only 6 engines restrict themselves to 2 taps. The remaining 18 engines use 3, 4, or 5 taps.

• 3 taps: Rhythmic
  
• 4 taps: Helix, Chorus, Flanger, Reverse, Shifter, Compound Shifter, Sequenced Filters, Complex Rhythmic, and Oil Can.
• 5 taps: Diffuse, Tape, Noise Tape, Slapback, Dub, Double Helix.

You can refer to my demo videos to hear how the 4 and 5 tap engines utilize the stereo field in interesting ways.

Listen to these videos with headphones on to get a good sense of how this works:

No. That completely nullifies having two inputs. Any stereo effects you have prior are now mono..

The non-delayed signal will actually pass right through maintaining its original stereo image, so this approach does not negate stereo effects in the signal chain prior to the Nemesis. The video I make tonight hopefully will demonstrate this clearly.