Hey,
Is anyone using the Bitmap 2 with synths ? It seems to be a pretty solid digital sound mangler 
I bought a particle which I regret. What I wanted apparently was a āparticle 2ā, with its stereo input/outputs
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Plus presets. Handy for the depth of the Particle. Send your v1 to me and Iāll dispose of it responsibly.
Iām firmly in the honeymoon period but the Context 2 is the reverb I always wished Elektron boxes had. Some of the sounds remind me of my old Earthquaker Ghost Echo. The delay is pretty excellent too. Red Pandaās other pedals seem to firmly veer into that super weird glitchy world of pedals but this is just a fantastic reverb.
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V1 is excellent too. Slightly less features but still great. Love that pedal.
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using a tensor with my modular, often end of chain. very hands on, beautiful case, easy to use and to make transitions with it (100% wet) or just to add texture. itās a friend that sounds very good and with whom I like to play along.
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Scored a used Radius recently. I havenāt had time to get the muscle memory down yet but Iām definitely enjoying it. Itās my first experience with Red Panda. I want to delve into the midi side of it more.
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Please tell us more about Radius. Ring Modulation is an interesting fx that I regrettably find on very few pedals
I donāt feel like Iāve put in the time with it yet for a proper measured review or anything. Summer is my busiest work season so my time has been limited.
I like it so far though. Iāve mostly been using it with guitar but Iāve also run the rytm through it both as an aux send effect (with a mixer) and running individual outs directly into it. I currently have six standalone dedicated ring modulators unless Iām forgetting something (not counting multi fx units that include them or synths with that capability) and Iāve owned many more in the past. As Iāve mentioned in other threads Iām a bit of a ring mod nut.
Iād say it has an unusually clean character to it, itās not as nasty as many Iāve used. In fact Iāve found myself having to work to get those pseudo distortion type of sounds that come easily from something like the moogerfooger. Even cleaner than the ring thing which is pretty clean. Iād guess this is about red panda having the option to sculpt the tone more deliberately since itās digital and doing so to make the pitch effects work better but I canāt say for sure.
The pitch tracking feature is great. Itās not the first ring mod to do that but itās better implemented than the others Iāve used that have it. The only examples I can think of that do it are; the Radius, the EHX Ring Thing, the Pigtronix Mothership (original large version), and the Pigtronix Ringmaster. The radius is of roughly equal convenience to the two pigtronix offerings but it tracks way better. The ring thing tracks about as well as the radius but itās an awkward feature to use.
I donāt know how I feel about the stepping feature. In the highest register the carrier is stepped in half step intervals. This aids in turning which is nice but I wish it could be switched off. Maybe it can be, I havenāt plugged it into a computer yet and thereās an editor for it. I generally dislike having to use a computer to program a piece of gear so it might take me a while. That being said the source audio true spring warmed me to the idea a bit.
I still havenāt gotten into the midi implementation but Iām excited for the possibilities. Thereās a lot you could do even just with that many presets (I think 128 via midi vs 4 onboard) not to mention things like externally controlling parameters.
The carrierās sweep/ range is broken up into different selectable registers which is unusual (but not completely unheard of). Like the stepping feature, it makes it easier to tune as the effect of knob movement is reduced. The downside is if youāre āplayingā the pedal it limits your potential sweeps and forces a switch into the equation when on most ring mods thatās done with a knob alone. Not a big deal and probably not even applicable to some users. Iām of two minds on that feature.
I havenāt explored the pitch effects in any real depth yet (I obviously got this for the ring modulation) but they sound pretty cool.
If I were to liken it to another ring mod it would probably be the ring thing. They both have excellent pitch tracking, both are on the clean end of the spectrum, both will do pitch shifting, both have memory slots, both have a degree of manipulation of the individual sidebands, etc. It almost feels like a deluxe ring thing actually.
The radius seems well suited for someone who is comfortable with these hyper modern effect units that maybe do a little too much but isnāt necessarily an old hand at ring modulation specifically. At times it can feel like it has kid gloves on/ guard rails up/ etc insofar as it guides you toward more āmusicalā sounds than most ring mods but itās just a matter of finding ways around that.
Iām sure Iāll have a lot more to contribute before too long but thatās what I have from a little messing around here and there.
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Check out Stefanās demo of the Radius for some good user examples. I love this comment from the official Red Panda account:
0:36 is one of those wonderful moments when someone uses a pedal I designed in a way I never imagined.
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Good video. I canāt believe I didnāt mention the lfo section (which he makes use of in most of his examples). It has the most advanced and expansive lfo section of any ring mod Iāve used in a standalone unit, obviously some synths with ring modulation can go further. Some donāt have an lfo at all (frequency analyzer, gonkulator, etc) most that do usually just have one or two wave forms plus rate and depth controls.
While the tremolo and phaser stuff sound great Iād advise caution for anyone thinking of buying it because of those capabilities. Theyāre pretty limited compared to what dedicated pedals offer and there are even several examples of both that have envelope control. That being said, while almost all ring mods can be pretty good tremolos and quite a few can be good phasers the radius seems to do it better than most.
Thanks for sharing the video.
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I wish they did a firmware update for the tensor so it could be used like a whammy
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Thinking about picking up a Tensor as a lil bday gift to myself. Had a Particle for a couple years and loved it, but sold it to fund other stuff. Looking for a new Pedal that can mangle samples and generate ideas.
How do people like the Tensor? Iāve been inches from pulling the trigger on a Mood for ages, but Tensor seems like a different version of the same concept, and more up my alley.
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So Iāve had the Radius for almost a year now and I just canāt seem to bond with it. Here are a few thoughts though.
Itās a great pedal that I think a lot of people would absolutely love, my issues are all subjective/ taste based/ use case related/ etc. Iām considering selling it but Iām not sure as itās a handy utility item for me, just not an inspiring effect.
First off, Iāve decided itās not well suited for guitar for me (and I always have a ring mod on my board). This isnāt because of functionality but rather itās tonality, which is disappointing because thatās why I bought it. Presently I have the WA moog clone on my main board because it sounds amazing in every conceivable setting even though you have to manually manipulate it to keep it dynamic as where the Radius can be set up beforehand to act dynamically but just canāt sound as āaliveā. Again, this is a matter of taste and I expect that plenty of people would happily trade some tonality for the incredible feature set or would even just prefer the more reigned in sound full stop. To each their own.
I find it much more useful with electronic instruments, drum machines and samplers in particular. I donāt have it permanently hooked up anywhere in my routing but it gets used as an extra effect as needed and it will do an impressive amount of things. If I have an elaborate routing going and want some part to have pitch shifting/ ring mod/ tremolo/ vibrato/ phasing/ etc and all of my other units that do those are in use the Radius will always be able to step in. Itās like a pseudo multi effect in the way that itās so open to manipulation. Iāve found that making some generic presets for different types of effects that can be tweaked to fit whatever specific need arises has been the best workflow for me. The thing is, for every effect it does I have another pedal or two that does it better, this one just does them all.
Again, pretty subjective but I just thought Iād share. Iād be curious to hear from others how theyāre getting along with it and how theyāre using it.
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I have a Tensor and I tried the Mood and also made a DIY maxmsp clone of the CBA. I think they are pretty different, the mood is incredibile for Ambient and Delay/Reverb duties, instead the Tensor is a Sttuter/Glitcher, the alternative to Onward.