Source Audio Collider // Long term review // Is it still relevant?

[@randomdude6361]

That's a nice review! The timbre of your voice and the music are so relaxing

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks a lot! I appreciate your comment 🙂

[@lowercasepeople49]

This is a great review. Thank you.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thank you! 🙏🏻 let me know if you have any questions

[@Dr.TeaseMedia]

Very usefull and explanatory intro that helps understanding the review approach. Maybe you can help me out with a remaining question: Can I connect two different synths and use delay on one (the left input and output), and reverb on the other (the right input and output) with full seperation of the effect? In other words does this collider truely provide two effect pedals in one?

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! No, the input is never 2x mono (from 2 sources) You can split the delay and reverb in 2x mono out, but only use one source. (Either mono or stereo, both will be treated as 1 mono signal going to both engines) If you use 2 sources, they get summed and send to both engines

[@MikeSingSing]

I think a point you forget to mention is that you can setup presets that run two delays or two reverbs at the same time instead of the standart delay/reverb setup. If you haven't tried it before you should totally try running an dotted 8th with a 1/4 delay or the swell reverb combined with the dome or shimmer. Put the dome/shimmer on the regular reverb side so you can actually freeze that and still be able to swell in notes with the swell-side is glorious. But there is loads of room for experimentation. Regarding bang for buck this also means it's a dual delay pedal or a dual reverb pedal, able to run in parallel or cascade. Pretty much unheard of for that money.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Yeah, that is a nice feature, although I don't use it too often, since I really use it as my only reverb + delay pedal. I'm thinking about getting 2 separate pedals, but not right now as my interface is full, so .... yeah, I either need a bigger interface or I have remove gear.... My guess is that I'll go for the first option 🤑

[@richwood6193]

​@@tricks-and-tipsadd a patch bay for ease and flexibility.

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@richwood6193 but that does not give me new inputs and sends right? Just a way to connect everything more easy. I'm thinking about getting something with more send busses, so I can create more send-fx loops. I like the flexibility of that, so I can use the controlling app to send stuff to some places .

[@thomaschilds8781]

Love this pedal, but my biggest gripes are the mystery control 1 and control 2 knobs, plus the "war and peace" user manual.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Yeah, you really need the cheatsheet they provided. I always have that around when changing something. Even after so many years. That is the downside of a pedal with presets and multiple algorithms. The knobs have different functions depending on the algorithm.

[@michaelanthony9068]

I agree ! I prefer a stomp-and-go pedal. That’s my dislike about all Source Audio pedals, they are TOO adjustable. I’m an analog man. Although I have the Collider and I love it. Mostly.

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@michaelanthony9068 Yeah, can't have it all I guess :) Flexibility vs simplicity

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Agreed. Owned this for 2+ years. I looove the sound, oil can delay is killer. Reverbs are great for ambient stuff. Like you, the one thing that drives me nuts is keeping track of which one I’m editing. It takes you out of flow. But honestly, i usually set-and-forget the reverb… leaving the controls on delay. It’s not a huge problem, it’s a minor annoyance. I can understand why they set it up as they did. It is nice to have nice big knobs instead of a ton of little tiny ones.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Yeah indeed.

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

Nice review. I wish I had bought this instead of the Nemesis. The Nemesis is awesome, but I only use about three delays on it. It would have been nice to have a reverb and delay in one pedal. I was unaware about the quarter note limitation. Thanks!

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks. Yeah, they put the most useful selection in the Collider for sure. I sometimes wish it had more experimental delays / reverbs but it’s a great 2 in 1 pedal!

[@andybungert]

Well said on all your points. I agree that this is the amazing workhorse live pedal, BUT if you want to get crazier weirder options/algorithms, definitely get one of the big brothers or something wilder. I want a second one :)

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks 🙏🏻 And I fully agree. I’m tempted to buy something more extreme (microcosm) but for now I bought the Deco for chorus and saturation, so I want to focus on that first. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHzbn6CIqteoopY

[@UncleMilty]

Had the Zoom CDR70 wasn’t happy with the sound or way it worked bought a tc plethora x3. Like night and day. Probably has less control than the Collider but enough for what l use it for plus more effects.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Yeah, there are so many good options out there

[@tobiaslindseth3867]

Hi, i cant decide between Strymon big sky and the Source audio collider. does anyone have any recomendations on what to choose ?

[@tricks-and-tips]

Both are great pedals, the Collider has less reverb algorithms but instead a set of delays, which the Big Sky does not have. The closest contender to the Big Sky would be the Source Audio Dual Ventris. I personally wanted a 2 in 1 pedal (both reverb and delay) so I got the Collider, but for reverbs only, I'm not sure what I would have bought (Big Sky or Dual Ventris) 😆 Good news is that both are great pedals, you can't go wrong here.

[@AmaNotaGogo]

nice one Peter, more please

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! I will try to 😁

[@Ebusje]

Another good contender in this category is the UAFX Del-Verb. It does offer most of what I need, and I bought it second hand for € 250. The collider also crossed my mind, but I went for the delverb.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! Never heard of it so far, but I will check it out!

[@Nick-Nasty]

Is there a way to get an infinite hold on the reverb with an expression pedal?

[@tricks-and-tips]

If you hold the right stomp knob it will freeze the buffer. And you can do that with an expression pedal too: www.sourceaudio.net/uploads/1/1/5/1/115104065/collider_external_switch_guide2.0.pdf

[@vladaface1]

pls help, just got my collider and there is a lot of hiss. can i reduce it ? thanks if you turn your amp loud you must notice it

[@tricks-and-tips]

No hiss here. It’s super quiet. What is your setup?

[@vladaface1]

@@tricks-and-tips just from guitars directly to an amp with it`s power suply....i don`t know . my amp is turned up but it`s dead quiat with other stuff like keeley halo etc...will try other things too .. thank you

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@vladaface1 I’m only using synths so they have a line level signal (less noise) Not sure if that makes a difference. I did notice with my new Strymon Deco V2 that I had a lot of noise, but with a ground lifting thing between the power supply and the Deco it was ok. But my Collider never gave noise or hiss.

[@vladaface1]

@@tricks-and-tips thanks man apriciate it

[@martinaleksandrov7080]

nice review man! can it do ping-pong delays if you mess with the app maybe?

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! You can set stereo delay options in the Neuro app indeed. It has a (for example) 1/2 ping pong option. I usually use it in cascade mode, so the delay is fed into the reverb. This will make the stereo delay effect less noticeable. (As the reverb will add its own stereo effect) In parallel mode it is way more obvious.

[@LuctaeMusic]

Awsome vid and a great review! I totally agree on every point as I have this pedal too. There is no real alternative for this pedal other than the Eventide H9... Sure there's the zoom... although it sounds good, it's come's nowhere near the collider in terms of sound quality.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! Yeah, that H9 is another alternative indeed. Although I don’t know if it can do 2 engines at once. I think they are combinations per algorithm, but I never dove that deep into the H9 I want to do some more spoken videos and see how they perform. It’s a nice format for ‘non jam’ videos, but a lot of preparation and work to make.

[@alvilagialvilagi6098]

It cannot run multiple algorithms. The H9. Mooer Ocean Machine does dual delay, reverb and has a looper also.

[@richardmorris363]

BOSS RV-500

[@andrewmaher8409]

Thanks for the review. The Collider is a great, high quality work horse. As you said it offers bang for buck. It teams up really well with an Eventide H9. The two pedals compliment each other and offer massive versatility for small footprint on the pedalboard. My only gripe is really a superficial aesthetic/ergonomic one… I wish they put the delay on the right and the reverb on the left.

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks man! Yeah, I agree! BTW, you can change the reverb to the left and delay to the right, hold the control input button on the back and rotate the algorithm selector to the 'other' side of the engines. That way, you can change them around (make the left engine be a reverb and vice versa). I'm not sure if the on/off stomp switches also behave differently (tap tempo for example)

[@redwood-in-stereo]

@@tricks-and-tipsI think he’s just talking about aesthetically, the control layout, not the effect itself.

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@redwood-in-stereo yeah indeed

[@originalsynth]

Hello, thanks for doing these videos, lots of useful info 🙂 Just thought I'd mention MIDI control of the Source Audio pedals as I have a Ventris, and use the Faderfox PC4 mapped to as many CCs as I could to really dive in to the 'one knob per function' thing. Sadly I'm poor or I'd buy another PC4 (or EC4) for it but the bank switching on the PC4 is a bit awkward. I did map the functions for availability rather than common usage though, which I might have squeezed onto one bank on the PC4 if were to be more selective with functions. It would also fit nicely on your shelf without moving anything, between the Collider and ART box as it has an L-shaped body, so your cables would be under it and its little base pads would butt up against the lip of the shelf stopping it from slipping down. It has USB-B MIDI/power but also MIDI in/out on 3.5mm minijacks and I use a right-angled 5-pin DIN to 3.5mm cable plus right-angle adapter for low profile use. The Faderfox EC4 is the same size but has less knobs, although they are endless encoders (with click button on each encoder) and the display would be very helpful. Plus you would not have value jumping when changing banks with the EC4. Sometimes the value jumping on the PC4 does add some interesting sounds to the signal though! I hope this helps as these effects pedals are amazing. Keep on jammin' 😃

[@tricks-and-tips]

Thanks! Yeah, that is a good way to avoid the knob positions I guess. Does the faderfox retrieve the current value of the mapped knob? (so you can see what the value is when you start both up)

[@originalsynth]

@@tricks-and-tips I think the EC4's screen lets you know the values, as they're encoders, but I've had problems getting the PC4 potentiometers to 'pickup' the last known CC value when returning to a previously selected bank (which Faderfox claims it does). I think it does it if you exit the bank-change mode first (by pressing the two buttons simultaneously) but I've mainly used it whilst still in 'bank mode' as it removes extra steps. But it is like trying to get the special moves in a video game sometimes! I'm actually looking to start getting some Intech MIDI controllers instead as they're also small, but fully programmable and snap together with magnets.

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@originalsynth yeah, I wonder if it actually reads the Colliders values like the app (neuro) does. It is possible (as the app can do this) but I wonder if these midi controllers are programmed to do this. I remember my (sold) BCR2000 did this with Reason (my daw)

[@originalsynth]

@@tricks-and-tips Heh I've been on a mission to find the perfect MIDI CC feedback setup, including LEDs! I used to do a live downtempo radio show with an hour's mix using DJay Pro on an ipad and it has amazing MIDI programming, including MIDI CC feedback (not the kind that messes up everything!). I even got a Blokas MIDIHub recently to try and program stuff myself, but it's a slow road... usually it's just a case of sending the same CC value back to the device. I do know that the Neuro app does *not* feed back the MIDI data on the ios app. Source Audio have said this in the documentation. I just checked the Ventris USB MIDI by plugging it in to my macbook pro (2012) and it's MIDI Class Compliant! I checked with a MIDI monitor app and unfortunately it's one-way; the Ventris does NOT transmit any kind of MIDI (USB and DIN) but the Neuro app still responds to pedal tweaks. This explains the lack of feedback with the iOS app, perhaps. It probably just needs a firmware update. At least a mini-USB cable (plus USB Host) can be used from the back of the pedals instead of the DIN plugs if need be. Oh well, hope this helps a bit more in unleashing the sonic power of these little wonders

[@tricks-and-tips]

@@originalsynth I am under the assumption that it does show knob positions live from the pedal on my laptop, but I could be very wrong. I don’t use it a lot. I’ll check later.

[@iansmirna5183]

The lack of time subdivisions is quite laughable for a delay pedal. Big no go for me.

[@tricks-and-tips]

It has subdivisions, but only up to quarter notes, which is often too fast for me. So now I just tab what I want.