Sound Sculpture - Switchblade 8F & 8B Floor System

Started by admin, October 31, 2015, 07:57:51 AM

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Sound Sculpture - Switchblade 8F & 8B Floor System

http://www.soundsculpture.com/

Switchblade 8F Floor System


Manual
http://www.soundsculpture.com/support/files/SB8F_user_guide.pdf


The new Switchblade 8F is the perfect system for musicians that use floor effects. This unit is our Switchblade-8 rackmount system reduced in size to a compact package without any sacrifice in audio quality or features. In addition, the 8F has some remarkable new features making it perfect for floorboard use. Be sure to check out the 8F owner's manual on our download page for more insights.
Switchblade 8F
FEATURES COMMON TO THE 8F AND SWITCHBLADE-8.   NEW FEATURES IN THE SWITCHBLADE-8F.
• All analog audio path with superb audio quality and silent preset changes

• Top quality buffers on each input and each output to overcome cable and effect deficiencies.

• Route effects in series (in any order), in parallel, or in complex series/parallel combinations on a preset by preset basis.

• Select combinations of instruments and amps and select among them, combine them, or separate them into independent systems on a preset by preset basis.

• Program fixed gain levels from -48dB to 0dB at every input to output connection (not just the inputs or outputs) for complete control over effect level ratios and overall gains on a preset by preset basis.

• Control the switching of the channel and reverb on your amp either on a preset by preset basis or directly using MIDI using the 2 internal contact closure relays.

• Use Control Change on/off messages (instant access switches) to intelligently remove and re-inset effects, instruments, and amps within a preset using our "Smart Insert" feature.

• Monitor each input level using the VU meter function.

• Easily copy presets to other preset locations



• 2 expression pedal ports allow pedals to be used as controllers to add volume, crossfades, and panning to connections.

• 3 fully independent Autosweep (LFO) controllers to add tremolos, crossfades, and panning to connections.

• 8 MIDI controllers can be used to add volume, crossfades, and panning to connections.

• Any 8 of the above 13 controllers can assigned to individual or groups of input-output connections on a preset by preset basis and scaled to each individual connection.

• FootSwitch jack allows connection of a triple momentary footswitch to scroll through presets, select presets randomly using a Preset Manager function, boost/cut gains, tap tempo any or all of the 3 Autosweeps, toggle relay functions, transmit up to 4 on/off Control Change messages to external effects, or normalize preset levels.

• Use the Switchblade as a MIDI controller to transmit Program Change, on/off Control Change, and continuous Control Change messages to additional MIDI devices.
• USB port for programming and remote control using our WinBlade editor.




shawnb

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

GuitarBuilder

Very nice!  The Switchblade GL system is definitely the pinnacle (Bugatti Veyron?) of audio effects switchers.  It is also as expensive as a Bugatti ($1955).  It's great to see a smaller version at $799 for pedalboards.  With awesome flexibility comes the risk of mis-configuration by the less technical - this is not a system for the meek!

What I like about this is that it can easily replicate (and outperform) the cool dual signal path and effects order changes that the digital modelers (Axe FX, Helix, BIAS) can do; without Switchblade it is close to impossible to hard wire a pedalboard in that fashion.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

scratch17

A note about the 8 and 8f. They are not balanced in and out, so ground loops can be an issue. The 8B does have balanced input and output, and could be placed near a pedal board so that pedals can remain on the floor. I recently saw a custom board on Ebay with an 8B and a bunch of boutique pedals. The 8B was in the back of the board. It did, of course make the board deeper than it would have been with just pedals and a power supply.

I spoke to Sound Sculpture's lead guy a few weeks ago. We discussed configurations for my studio. I need a lot of inputs and outputs to fully automate the equipment I have.

I want to be able to place my various devices anywhere in custom routing chains. So the GL model (16 x 16) won't have enough ins and outs.

However a you can use two GLs, or a GL and an 8, 8B, or 8F. To do so, you would connect 1 to 4 sets of inputs and outputs between the two units to allow bidirectional signal flow between them. Unfortunately, the more ins and outs you use to connect the two units, the more you cannibalize inputs and outputs for use with pedals, amps, etc.

Also, each unit would have to use its own instance of the editor. You won't see both unit's routing map at the same time. An update is being worked on to provide tabs, so you could switch between units.

We talked about the editing software on the Mac and the PC. The Mac version (called Javablade) is done. It still works with older Mac OSX versions (sort of). However, Sound Sculpture recognizes that OS X support is imperative. They have ported the Winblade version to native Mac code. Everything works, except the communication between the app and the Mac's MIDI ports. They're working on that, but are not sure what the issue is, so they can't give a time frame for release.

In the meantime, you can use Parallels on the Mac with a 32 bit version of Win 8 to run the Winblade editor app. The guy also said that a new version of Winblade was coming in "about three weeks". I read that as Win 10 64 bit version support, but I could be wrong.



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Elantric

Scratch17,

Thanks for posting the detailed info on the Sound Sculpture Switchblade Floor System