DX7 in a Guitar Pedal

DX7 in a Guitar Pedal, who would have thought it possible?! The Future Impact from Panda Audio has had a firmware upgrade to v4.5. While each version has added features over the years (see below), this one is a real milestone  - offering a DX7 compatible 6 operator FM Synth inside the pedal, allowing for playback of some iconic 80s FM sounds. Upload patches into the pedal using the 4.50 Editor software for Windows or Mac. More detail on the pedal, and info from the video below...

How it began
The Future Impact is the subject of one of those heartwarming stories of the internet as a force for good. It began life back in late 2014 when an enthusiastic member of the Talkbass forum tracked down Andras Szalay to ask him if he'd be able to reissue the discontinued Deep Impact, which he had designed for Akai. However, Andras had much more ambitious plans: the Future Impact was conceived of not as a reissue, but as an entirely new and vastly-improved pedal.

From grassroots support to global recognition
The project garnered tremendous support from forum members who funded the first batch of 100 pedals in late 2015. From there, the FI's popularity and reputation grew; ever more people clamoured to own one, including notable players such as Chris Wolstenholme (Muse), Doug Wimbish (Living Colour, The Rolling Stones), Mohini Dey and Bootsy Collins. Thanks to the generous input of members of the online bass-playing community, the FI continued to go from strength to strength.

Pushing the limits: transitioning to the FI4 for future growth
With each successive update, we gradually added more and more features and refinements. With the v3.60 update of June 2021, we had to admit that we had finally squeezed every last drop of juice out of the pedal: we had completely exhausted the available code space. In order to continue developing our ideas further, we have thus had to move to new hardware and implement a new firmware structure. While the FI4 can load patches from all the previous versions of the FI, unfortunately v3 users cannot run the V4 firmware or V4 patches on their device. However, the good news is that our new platform gives us the breathing space to develop well into the future. We already have big plans, so stay tuned!

New Features for V4

• CV/Gate output - Simultaneously play a 1V/octave analog synth using the pedal
• Detented Parameter dial with extended range - More variations on each sound
• Sturdier knobs - The potentiometer shafts are now made from solid metal
• Long Release - Audio-triggered sounds now use the full release time of the ADSR
• Oscillator sync - VCO2 can sync to VCO1 for more harmonically complex sounds
• Improved audio fidelity - Via an ultra-low-noise CoDec and noise-reduction coding
• Overwrite programs - On-pedal edits can be saved to patch data before uploading
• Superior pitch tracking - Greatly reduced latency and increased sensitivity to input instrument dynamics. Pitch detection can now be set to prioritize speed or accuracy
• Octave transposition - Two new MIDI CCs to transpose the pitch by ±2 octaves
• 63 new Flexi curves - Create a split point between any two adjacent semitones
• Robust firmware update process - Now any MIDI interface can be used
• Alternative quick access to Global Menu - Enter/exit menu without power cycling
• Better Global Menu layout - Items are repositioned and more meaningfully labelled
• Fresh Editor look - An updated color scheme with a clearer and more logical layout
• Onscreen Mod Wheel - Send out MIDI CCs or Aftertouch directly from the Editor
• midiBeam 4Control integration - MIDI signals from expression pedals and switches are automatically passed to the FI4 when connected to the Editor

And some info from the video: 

Enjoy a historical approach of our 30+legacy years in making the world's greatest bass guitar synths and see where we are heading the direction of developing this market! 

Check here our greatest-ever firmware update: yes, you can have all the famous digital basses of the 1980s for your guitar using our world's fastest and most reliable tracking algorithm.

From now, all the users of our Future Impact V4 platform now get doubled value: our well-known virtual analog sound is still there but besides it, an additional 99 slots of patches contains 99 DX7-compatible FM sounds.

We created a great selection of FM presets but if you have a favourite one downloaded from the infinite FM resources all over the world, you can easily upload it into the pedal using the 4.50 Editor software for Windows or Mac. Be careful, there are ten thousands of FM patches out there so you can be easily lost! 

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