This video is absolut gold, i was thinking to get this plethorax3 to create a hybrid pedalbord paired with analog distortion wah and volume expression, i needed exactly to know what to do to change bank on the fly with the plethora and this video saved my ass, thankyou so much
Thank you for this video - your highlighting of the need for delays between CCs helped me discover the intermittent problems I was having with MIDI messages. Your videos are fabulous for illuminating product useability - keep up the amazing work!
2 cups with cream and sugar heading your way!!, I strongly urge everyone to support this channel! I hope to see more Plethora tips and tricks in the future these tutorials are by far the best way to get started and learn how to configure your devices for maximum usability. Thank you again!!
If not for this video, I might have returned my X5. I'm putting the X5 in the effects loop of an HX Stomp XL. I encountered what I can only call "an oddity of defaults". Prior to today, my Stomp XL contained no MIDI programming at all. Yet, everytime I changed patches on Stompl XL, the X5 would change to board 14. Changing the X5 to use a specific MISI channel instead of 'OMNI' eliminated this. Now, I have set my Stomp XL patches to call up and a specific X5 board. Just like I intended it. Thanks again for all of your important work.
Good job Clooney, it is a really tough one to introduce, but once you dig in, the possibilities are so endless. A good simplification for exp and hotknobs is to leave the limits open on the midi controller end, and just shift what the plethora does by dragging lines around in the TonePrint. None of the basic maths , just listen and move the curves.
Thanks mate, that means a lot coming from you. 🙏🏻 Yup, you can absolutely do curves from the TonePrint Editor, but I've covered that to death in other videos and decided to show the other way of doing it - while removing that other layer of complexity from this video. Mash everything together (no pun intended...), and as you just said, the possibilities are endless!
I use 2 midi controllers with Plethora X5: M-VAVE Chocolate & Ampero Control. They're connected via Ampero's midi through. The major difference bethween the controllers is that M-wave doesn't let you save your settings (no banks) + it has less intuitive app. So, I programmed m-wave to do "static" things like changing pedalboards and turning on/off the tuner while Ampero is mostly about turning on/off several effects at once. However, there are some limitations to this scheme: 1) turning on/off several effects at once brings ~1 second lag which is rather anoying (similar lag occurs when you change the boards); 2) Ampero requires external power supply (standard 9v from pedalbord power supply will do); 3) the 2 units combined will take almost the same space on your pedalboard as Plethora X5
A really interesting and illuminating video. I’m going to connect the Plethora 5 to a Boss ES8, and a Tone X pedal, and swop between banks on the Tone X and effects on the Plethora. I’m hoping I live long enough to work out all the MIDI programming….. Thanks for a great insight to using midi 👍
Another great tutorial!, I love the versitility of the Plethora X5 2 cons I have discovered are: #1 the awkward tripple-tap to change boards, when playing a live show your taps have to be an exact speed to activate the command, I just ordered the Ampero to solve this issue. The other con is- I would like to see my board NAMES in large bold font rather than the board NUMBER, right now I need to have a cheat-sheet to remember my board order, some of my boards are visually identical other than a few tweaks to delay times and/or effects levels etc.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, they're very appreciated 🙏🏻I agree with both your remarks, and I'd even love to see the board name as a permanent feature on the screen, not just at switching time. Let's see where TC decide to take this 😄
Absolutely brilliant video. Extremely well done on several different levels. For one, you are an excellent teacher. You are also very well spoken and super organized in how you break it all down and build it all up. One other thing, how many takes did you do this entire video? Two....most guys cut and chop their videos into hundreds but this video is almost continuous. Impressive dude!!!
Thank you for the extremely kind comments, Adam. 🙏🏻 I'm still trying to get this thing right, but it's great to see that the effort on this side is translating on camera. As for the takes, there were a bit more than two... I just try to hide them better! 😁
Awesome content. I own two of the Ampero Controls & they are fantastic, especially for the price. I have been learning Midi for my guitar rig - and really enjoying it, I have to say, and your video is just ahead of my current knowledge, so perfect!! I have just bought the Plethora x3 and will be using it to replace a handful of old stompboxes. Thank you so much & good luck with your channel.
I'm not sure how I missed this when you originally posted it. I'm subscribed to your channel and RUclips never showed it to me. I'm glad I came across it with a quick search though. Short of the clock sync function the X5 pretty much does everything I need it too. Now with the use of midi recording a loop is so much easier. Thanks 👍
I use MIDI to control the Plethora, a Boss OD-200 and a Line 6 Catalyst amp (amp model only, I use the PLethora for all downstream effects). I also have a Marshall Anniversary 3-channel valve amp which also has a crude but working form of channel selection. Takes time to set it all up but provides a versatile, effective lightweight effects rig for gigs or studio.👍
On some midi controllers you can add a Pause command which can give Plethora "time to think". I use that when controlling my X3 from MobileSheets on a iPad. When a new song loads in my playlist it will make the X3 change to the associated board, turn the relevant pedals on/off and possibly set tempo or delay time (which I have added to hotknobz). Inbetween these commands I add a Pause command of length 1 second (I never change boards inside a song)
Hi Felipe! Such a excelente job on this video man! I really appreciate it! Thank you so much! Unfortunately I ordered Plethora x5 without washing this video before.. My problem is: I had a big pedal board with many TC pedal on it, so I thought: I'll sell them all and get a x5, this way I'II have all TC pedals, not only the ones I already have! On my board, just because of the amount of pedals I had, I was forced to have a loop switcher and, as I have a flashback x4, this switcher needed to have a midi control to change it board. So I bought an expencive one, that gives me 8 loops, one extra, only for a four cable conection, also alows me to change the amp chanel.... Very good ah???? nope.. on the other hand, its midi out only sends PCs commands by it foot...In short... I only ordered the x5 because I believed that I would not have any latency beetwin changing boards... So, in all my songs, I change at least three times all modelation pedals, clean, drive and lead and latency, makes it impossible..So.. After all this been said, he it goes my question, actually two..When you say: " if you turn the efct level down to zero, it works as a "turn off", you mean that, even with the x5 showing me pedal lights on, it efects wount interfer on the sounds? Because, if not, I can use my express pedal on that..My second question is: Do you know on the market if we have like a midi slave? Where I send PCs comands and this divice sends CCs to Plethora? I found something close on Morning star and Disaster Area but, they have losts of others fonctions that increses the prices too much..Once again I really appreciate your help..All the best!
Thank you for making this video, I'm planning on getting a Hotone Ampero control to use with a Plethora X3 and with a Blackstar Amped 1 amplifier, can I send multiple CC messages accross multiple channels? (one channel for the Plethora and another for the Amped 1).
What an excellent review! Thanks a lot for scratching the surface of Plethora MIDI capabilities. Main takeaway: the lack of dedicated expression input is no longer an issue at all! :))) Side question: how did you like the Ampero switch?
Hi Philip, I just wanted to drop a message to say how much I appreciate your videos-they have been a tremendous help! I've been using the BandHelper app on my iPad which selects the correct preset of the Plethora (and pedal settings) for each song. It's a great workflow and it really saves my back! ;-) However, I have a quick question: It seems I can't send MIDI commands (like program changes) to the Plethora X3 over its Bluetooth connection. Instead I have to use an external Bluetooth-MIDI dongle. Can you confirm this for me? What a shame if that's the case! Thanks again for all your great work! Best, Mark
Hi Mark, thank you for the kind comment! 🙏🏻 And yes, I can confirm that the Plethora at this point doesn't do MIDI over Bluetooth. I'm not sure if that's on the roadmap for eventual future updates, but it would be a lovely addition to the feature arsenal :)
Hey Felipe, I am from the future and I came here first to say thank for your vídeos about Plethora.. I Just orered one and noticed that the changing board on x5 is still with a big latency... if TC would make this improvment, most of your work on controlling knobs, sending a lot off comands, etc.. wouldn't be needed..
The TC Flashback delay 2X4 (the model with 5 pin midi jacks) can use midi clock messages as source for the delay time. This is super useful when playing with a sequencer, arpeggiator or drum computer. Is this not available in the Plethora's? Seems like a oversight to me. Extend the clock sync to the LFOs of the modulation effects and you really have a winner.
Love your videos, they definitely put me over the edge of buying the Plethora after over a year of having it on my wishlist but being afraid to jump in fully... Do you think they are planning to implement a way to set tempo via MIDI? I'm currently having to do a board per song for mostly the same things (a reverb with mash/expression pedal to get huge, usually 2 delays, then maybe an octave effect and a modulation effect for the last two) and would much rather just have a default starting board that changes the delay time based on my MIDI Controller and not have to both lose the mash AND have to manually tap in the tempo if I'm using the same board for multiple songs...
Thank you Daniel! As far as I know, the MIDI tempo is still top of the requests for the next firmware version, but we'll have to wait and see... it would certainly plug a hole in the feature set! 🙏🏻
Hi Philip, just got the X5 some days I go. Honestly, you have the best video on how to use MIDI with it! Thanks! So, I could sucessfully make the Morninstar MC8 to control the X5, but one thing I could not make it work: I tried to send two CC messages to turn ON/OFF two pedals, but just the first CC message is read by the X5. Why is that? Any work around?
That's because the X5 isn't always great at catching up with sequential CC messages. I'm not familiar with the MC8, but if you can setup a delay time between messages, try to add a few ms between your CCs until the X5 behaves. If the MC8 can't do this, try inserting any CC message to any unused channel between your "good" CCs to the X5. The idea is to "slow down" the MC8 to give the X5 time between acting on the first message it receives, and be ready for the second one, so if it doesn't work with one "empty" CC, add a few more until it does. Thank you for the kind words 🙏🏻
Love the video!!! Really useful and helpful :)) Do you know if a midi controller can switch switch sounds within the plethora along with normal stomboxes (such as distortion pedals etc)! I presume a boss ES 8 can do this but not too sure?? Thanks :)
Thank you @Jacob! 🙏🏻There certainly are some loop switchers that include MIDI switching capabilities, and both the Boss ES-5 and ES-8 do it. I just checked the Rolandcorp.com.au website and this is what they say: "...plus adding in the factor that the ES-5 can send up to 16 unique MIDI messages simultaneously, you can simultaneously change patches on as many devices as you could ever feasibly string together - all with a single footswitch tap." So yeah, this will do it :) Link here: rolandcorp.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-boss-es-5-effects-switching-system#ES5-47
Just to be clear, if I want to control the pitch shifter (like a whammy) with an expression pedal, it can be one but I'll need a midi capable expression pedal? I also want to slave the Plethora x3 to my Boss RC500 clock.
Hello, could you help in my case? Is it possible to set button 1 in boss es-5 to turn on the delay in plethora x3 and then clicking the same module to turn off this effect and enable another effect in plethora x3?
I appreciate your video, this is hard to understand for me because English is not my native language. But is it possible to use a Midi pedal to control the Tap tempo of the device? I appreciate it!
Very thorough video Filipe. While I am fairly experienced when it comes to midi, this video would have saved me countless hours when I first got into midi. This will really help out newcomers. Hope you can answer this question as I can't find any information. I currently have a TC Nova system that is over 10 years old and starting to do some strange things and the X3 looks to be perfect for my board, however because of previous issues with multi-effects units, I always do a full backup via midi dump whenever I make substantial changes. Does the Plethora allow for midi dumps or backup via the USB connection? Thanks again for all your efforts. Liked & Subscribed.
Thank you so much for the kind words, they are really appreciated! 🙏🏻 As for your question: there isn't currently an option to midi dump the Plethora's contents. There is an export function on the Global Settings menu (it creates a system image on the internal drive, which you can access when you plug it into a computer), but unfortunately there isn't a way of restoring it into the Plethora at this time, being mostly used for debugging purposes by the TC people. I don't know at this point if the full export / restore function will appear in the future, but I definitely hope so.
@@PedalPlatform Thanks for the prompt reply Filipe. I have placed an order for an X3 anyway as it is the ideal design for my needs. While we all want everything for next to no money when it comes to multi-effects units, we need to be realistic, however I hope TC includes these 2 must have options for working musicians in a future update. 1. A way to backup and restore boards. We invest so many many hours creating presets for our repertoires. 2. Show the current board name somewhere on one of the screens or if this is not possible, a way to use midi via a switcher to quickly show the board name similar to when you use the toggle switch on the unit, but without having to actually go out of and back into the current board to see that. Anyway, it's a great start for now.
Hello, friend, would you help me connect the plethora x5 via midi to a neuron gain intelligence from the neunaber brand. The idea is to call the neuron presets from the plerhora. Thank you so much. 🙏🏼
So, I ordered a Plethora X5, to pair with my Hotone Ampero 2 Stomp. I decided to check for some midi commands to see what will be possible with my new toy. I was amazed that I can't find anywhere a simple CC table, listing all of the commands. Both the Ampero and Ampero 2 have pages in their manual dedicated to midi commands. Why does TC Electronics not publish such a table....I really need to check the on screen midi commands to program my controler(s)? Do you know of a resource like this, anywhere?
Yeah, it would be nice to have that as a table somewhere. Some people think it's just more convenient to have it on the device itself, to avoid having to carry a paper copy / pdf, but it can also be a royal pain if you're doing other stuff or have it in a rack, etc. Clearly a case where both would be better.
@@PedalPlatform yea....I'm planning on using midi to create "scenes" with the Hotone Ampero 2. I'll be programming the midi controller using my PC, and will have several commands for each switch...it would just be nice to quick reference a piece of paper or even an online manual so that I don't have to keep dialing through menus just to learn a command.
Hello..subcribed to your channel..planning on getting one ..does plethora affect the tone of your drive if put in front of it? Is there any volume drop? Appreciate the answer ..thanks
Thank you for the sub, appreciated! With the Plethora, the tone of the drive being affected depends more on the drive than the Plethora itself. The Plethora buffers / converters are really clean, so it all depends on the drive preferring to be the first in the chain, or being fine when placed after a buffer. 👍🏻
@@PedalPlatform yeah.planning on getting one..and my chain signal would be dunlop dime wah-boss sd1-wampler pantheon deluxe-tc spark boost-plethora and inserting the mxr analog delay to the loop of plethora.. what is that is there enough buffer for this kind of set up? I mean there is a buffered bypass setting on plethora right? Hope it wont affect the tone of the pantheons tone..thinking the that wahs input buffer and making the plethora the output buffer would be enough i guess.. thanks for the answer... Really appreciate you videos ..this will be my guide when i finally get plethora
Hi, just wondering if the X5 can be controlled particularly well with something like Maschine, so that changes determined in the composition/recording process can be reproduced live? I've looked for videos, asked in the Plethora FB group, and in a FB Maschine group, but still haven't found any examples of people doing this - only midi control pedals. Seems like an obvious use for the pedal, so I was surprised to not find any examples.
Hi Gill, I also don't have any first hand experience with the Maschine, but I have been able to control the Plethora relatively easily with a DAW. As long as you are able to time the messages so that the Plethora has time to process the board changes, and send the CC's with enough separation between them when turning multiple effects on/off, I'm guessing it should be fine.
@@PedalPlatform I did have it working fine a few nights ago, then it didn't - new midi usb cable just arrived. Since the lack of clock sync is so annoying I was wondering if there is a method to calculate the time setting by knowing the BPM and then using the app to set one of the hot knobs to control time and use a cc to set the BPM. I find your videos to be very informative and easy to follow, the sort of video I struggle to find is anyone showing the features working together. I look at the X5 as an opportunity for me to not even touch the pedal and just concentrate on the playing, having effects and hot knobs automated, expression pedal occasionally, drive pedal changes. When it comes to the electro side it almost works the opposite way, finding a maschine tutorial after seeing someone do something interesting in a performance vid, that's what I can't find for the X5. Sorry for rambling, I perhaps see more potential in the X5 than there is in actuality - limitations that I haven't considered or are unaware of. My hope would be that I can play a 5 minute track with several effect changes, one looped section captured, paused and brought back in, possibly hot knob automation and potentially set at the correct BPM, but with an empty bar at the start where CCs essentially load and reset the board, that way when I put all of that together in the composition and recording process it works the same live by just importing the midi to something like Reaper with the backing/click track. I even looked up "plethora x5 performance" and the closest I got was Chords of Orion, which is always interesting, but didn't deal with midi. That's all I'm missing from this guide, an example of how it can be used in a live situation without even touching it. Maybe TC would recognise the midi potential of their products if more people showed it off.
I'm sorry for the late reply, but my youtube seems to be eating notifications for dinner and I just stumbled upon your answer... 🤦🏻♂️ no worries about the rambling, it's good to hear from different types of users what their frustrations are, not only from my video creator point of view, but also from the developers perspective, as that can help them direct their efforts. I think you're not wrong, the potential is there, as long as you can live with the quirks, e.g. don't try to do board changes during a performance because it goes into bypass for half a second or so. The CC to bpm thing might actually be easy to do with a bit of number crunching and toneprint editing. As an example, say you have a song at 90 bpm, and you know the longest delay you want is quarter note, but also want the option to have eight and dotted eight. Create a toneprint and map the delay pot curve 0% point to give you the eight note (60,000 / 90 / 2 = 333 ms); map the 100% point for the quarter note (60,000 / 90 = 667 ms). Do a linear mapping for the other points such that the 50% point lands on 500 ms (dotted eight). Now if you get the hotknob to control the delay, you can send the corresponding CC value 00 for eight notes, 64 for dotted eights, 127 for quarter notes. If you don't want to create a toneprint per song / bpm, it should still be relatively easy to map the CC's to the response curve to get more precise values, but I'd definitely recommend creating your own toneprints to make sure the mappings are what you expect, as the factory toneprints will vary (off the top of my head, the tape delay goes from 60ms to 800ms, whereas the 2290 does 0 ms to 7000 ms, etc). You'll also want to keep the min-max range as tight as possible, otherwise you'll be trying to map 7000 ms into 128 values, which will create massive jumps between steps. Who's rambling now?? 🤣😉 Hope this helps, and please let me know how it's going for you.
It doesn't look like you can use the expression pedal instead of the MASH function in the foot switch. Hopefully a future firmware update will include the MASH control in the CC table.
Thanks for the video. I have a maybee stupid question.. do you think the Harley Benton FXL8 Pro would be OK to control correctly th Plethora ? Thanks again !
Hi Claude! It's not stupid :) I've never used the FXL8 Pro, but from what I can see in the manual it seems to only be able to send one MIDI command per patch; if that's the case, it *should* be okay to change patches, or turn one effect on / off, but I don't think you can chain commands like I'm doing in this video.
Theoretically yes, 100%, just daisy chain out of the X3's MIDI Thru port into the Kernom Ridge, keep the Plethora and Ridge in different MIDI channels so they don't get their comms all mixed up, and it should work just fine. In practice, your mileage may vary as some devices are pickier than others, but in principle you *should* be just fine.
Hi there, just got my plethora X3 and your videos have been really helpful. QQ) How do you rename a board - cant find anything in pedal settings - thanks
Hey there! If you swipe toward the left on the board from the app on your phone you can rename the boards. On a computer just click the dots on the right hand side. I just found this out today haha!
Thank you for your video! Unfortunately, I understand few ways because I have always had multi-effects where it is easy to save presets. Now I bought Iridium and I would like the plethora to pair with it. Is it difficult to create presets with Iridium and plethora x and drive them with midi pedals?
Hi Mauro, Unfortunately I don't have an Iridium that I can use to demo the process (my Christmas list keeps getting bigger...), but from what I can see in the Iridium's user manual it should be almost as simple as what I did in this video with the Plethora, along these lines: - Plug the MIDI out from the controller to the Plethora MIDI in; - Plug the MIDI thru from the Plethora to the Iridium's EXP port (you will need Strymon's MIDI EXP cable, or an equivalent cable - be careful, as they're not the same as the older audio cables with DIN plugs); - Follow the Iridium's user manual steps to configure the EXP jack to use MIDI, set the MIDI output mode (you'll want it in OFF mode), and the channel. All other concepts in this guide should then apply almost directly to both devices: send Program Change (PC) messages to both devices to switch presets, or Continuous Controller (CC) messages to update parameters, etc, according to their respective implementation. You can find the table with the values for the Iridium in their user manual, and the Plethora's is in the menu, as I showed here. It all looks a lot more complex than it is, but once you start messing with it, it'll start making sense. :)
@@PedalPlatform Thank you! I've always wondered how two different devices fuse via midi and create a preset that can be called up by the controller. As you say, it's easier to do it than to say it. And since they have been doing it since the 80s, there is obviously a way to do it and even in a simple way. In a multi effect device is simple , you made a preset and push save, but with midi is different.
I think there are a couple of principles related to midi that I didn't explicitly cover in this video but might be helpful to always keep in mind: - in a midi chain, nothing happens until *you* make it happen; - all the devices that you are controlling are independent *of each other*, and there is no pairing process per se (some devices can be made to send a MIDI command whenever they change preset, etc, but that's a different, more complex situation). Putting both of these concepts together: - Say you have a Plethora and the Iridium plugged in to a controller, both on different MIDI channels, and you send a PC message #0 on the Plethora's channel. That will cause the Plethora to load board #1, but the Iridium will stay exactly as it was before. It will ignore any message that's not sent on its own channel. Same for the Plethora: if you send a PC #0 on the Iridium channel, the Iridium will load preset #1, but the Plethora won't do anything about it. If you want both devices to react to the message, you have to send the message on both their channels; - Both devices can load different presets at the same time: if you keep the devices on their own channels (which you should), you can load different presets on the devices with the same controller press. For example, you can send PC #0 to the Plethora and PC#1 to the Iridium in the same controller press. This will load Board 1 on the Plethora, and preset #2 on the Iridium. - Always be explicit: never rely on things being the way they were when you programmed your controller. Say you want to create 3 presets that involve 1 - Plethora Board 1 | Iridium Preset 1 2 - Plethora Board 2 | Iridium Preset 1 3 - Plethora Board 3 | Iridium Preset 3 As you're programming your controller's presets, you'll create the first one where you send PC#0 to the Plethora, and PC#0 to the Iridium; when you move on to preset 2, you might be tempted to just send the PC#1 to the Plethora, since the Iridium is already on Preset 1; then you create preset 3, in which you send PC#2 to the Plethora, and PC#2 to the Iridium. When you now tap back to the preset 2 on the controller, the Iridium will stay on whatever preset it was before you tapped it - because you didn't explicitly tell it to move back to 1. I will be doing more videos on MIDI in the future, where I hope I can explain these concepts in more / clearer detail - not necessarily with the Iridium, but most concepts are transversal to every MIDI controlled device, which should allow you to start seeing the patterns that govern the fantastic and sometimes confusing world of MIDI control 😁
@@PedalPlatform thank you Very much…you are beautiful person! I didn ‘t expect this kind of answer. Like you said, midi is fantastic world but at the beginning a few “nerd” 😉 I wouldn’t wrong buying a midi controller and so i’m wondering this kind of question because i don’t know this world. Anyway you was Very helpful!!!!
@@PedalPlatform thank you! So I guess all the effects don’t sync with midi clock. That’s a bummer, at least for me. I own Flashback x4 and Ditto x4 for this precise reason: they sync with dm, synth and Ableton. Thank you again, have a nice day
Trying to get midi working with a rjm pbc 6x. Pc board changes are working easily. But I can’t get cc commands to work at all for turning pedals on and off? Any hints?
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
Kind of - the maximum number of "heads" per delay is two, but you can load up 3 different (serial) delays on the available slots, for a total of 6 "heads". Will need some tweaking, but it can be done :)
Useful???? Well, it seems I will see this video so many times. I'm one of those for whom midi is black magic 🤐 Thank you for this awesome lesson and for your great job. 👌👌👌
We might still get the midi clock sync, but I agree with you on the encoders. Any multi function potentiometer nowadays should absolutely be an encoder 👍🏻
@@PedalPlatform I briefly had the X5 when it was released. I promptly discovered it didn’t clock sync. I use it for synths, so you can imagine my chagrin about that. I sent it back and bought a GFI Specular Tempus instead (no regrets there, these guys still update regularly and improve/expand the algorithms to boot). Seeing TC still hasn’t updated the firmware to support clock sync tells me something is amiss. A bit like what happened with Mooer’s Ocean Machine, which has midi but no clock sync and never was updated even when many people hoped they would add it. It’s a bit too weird TC can’t make a midi clock sync happen within a year or two. Apart from the missed opportunity to put endless encoders on this (the design just screams for it) this pedal could have been fantastic, but now it’s just a bit too clunky. I guess TC didn’t want to undercut their pedal business too much? If it had midi clock sync I think I maybe could live with the lack of endless encoders. The X3 would make a very fine triple delay :)
IMHO the Ocean Machine has some bigger issues than just the lack of MIDI clock... I love the routing capabilities, and it has some really cool sounds in it, but it's unusable in stereo as the channel levels are all over the place. I still have mine in the box for the occasional fun stuff, but it's no longer a pedalboard permanent occupant. As for the Plethora, we'll really have to wait and see what happens with it. I hope it'll carry on being developed, as I believe there's still a lot of untapped potential in it.
@@PedalPlatform The OM indeed feels unfinished imho. Here it’s collecting dust, so I probably will make someone else happy with it. TC has all the knowledge and with Behringer’s production capabilities they are entirely capable to create the X3 we all want for a terrific price as icing on the cake. So why didn’t they? It’s almost there but not quite. It feels like life itself, lol! Meanwhile I caved and finally ordered a Volante. Although not perfect (I wish its sound was slightly more like the El Cap, but I understand it wasn’t modelled after the same tape delay) it very nearly is, and that is quite rare. I’ll be eying what TC comes up with regarding the X3/5 and midi clock. For what good it will do, I’ll cross my fingers. :)
@@PedalPlatform Unlucky it's not true. It's a shame that X5/X3 is the only FX device can not take multi CC# from the BOSS ES5/8 inside one CH#, it means you can only turn on/off one slot inside the board via midi CC# message. TC Electronic do not fix this bug even in the lastest firmware .
Have you tried slowing down the rate of CCs by inserting "blanks" in between the real ones? Check this time stamp for an example: ruclips.net/video/NrsOYkBgfXg/видео.html.
@@PedalPlatform The simple answer is "no", X5/X3 will not responce any CC# commands come after the PC# message. And even you do not use PC# message(specify the board), X5 will igore all the CC# messages except the first one when you are using BOSS ES8 assigning function. If you do not use PC# message,and insert one blank midi map between every two midi maps, X5 will response only two CC# message successfully. becuase ES8 have only 8 midi maps,so that is means X5 can only response 4 CC# message. The only way X5 take multi CC# message and PC# is to set X5 MIDI channal to OMNI,and use each CC# come with different CH#
Yup, ignoring the CC#s after a PC# is a known issue, and is caused by the board reloading. The Plethora "resets" and goes into a temporary bypass while changing boards (even the IRs are bypassed for a moment), and basically ignores everything while it does so. As for the CC# not registering, it's also a massive annoyance, especially as you say in a situation where you are limited in the number of CC# you can send with a single tap. All I can say is TC are aware of these issues, but until they find a way of not having to reset the whole unit when changing boards, I'm not sure we can expect many changes in the PC# followed by CC# behaviour... I hope the CC# buffer can be an easier fix, but we'll have to wait and see. 🤷🏻♂️
Is there any way to have an expression pedal plugged into our midi controller instead of the plethora's expression pedal input control volume instead of expression via midi using the X5? Much appreciated!
since it is easy to put stuff like drive and distortion into digital modelers, why didn't they? one and done would be way cooler. basically it's just a big pricey modulation reverby spacey sounds pedal
Gear used in the video:
TC Electronic Plethora X3: redir.love/sYpGIUd3
Hotone Ampero Control: redir.love/cSlINI7C
(Affiliate links)
This video is absolut gold, i was thinking to get this plethorax3 to create a hybrid pedalbord paired with analog distortion wah and volume expression, i needed exactly to know what to do to change bank on the fly with the plethora and this video saved my ass, thankyou so much
Thank you for this video - your highlighting of the need for delays between CCs helped me discover the intermittent problems I was having with MIDI messages. Your videos are fabulous for illuminating product useability - keep up the amazing work!
Great help video thanks , just got my Ampero and your video got me going fast and easy, thanks
2 cups with cream and sugar heading your way!!, I strongly urge everyone to support this channel! I hope to see more Plethora tips and tricks in the future these tutorials are by far the best way to get started and learn how to configure your devices for maximum usability. Thank you again!!
Best Plethora MIDI information I have found so far....very easy to understand...thank you.
Literally the first midi instruction video that hasn't sent me running for the dark room while frothing at the mouth. Thank you so much.
Glad to be of service! 😁
If not for this video, I might have returned my X5. I'm putting the X5 in the effects loop of an HX Stomp XL. I encountered what I can only call "an oddity of defaults". Prior to today, my Stomp XL contained no MIDI programming at all. Yet, everytime I changed patches on Stompl XL, the X5 would change to board 14. Changing the X5 to use a specific MISI channel instead of 'OMNI' eliminated this. Now, I have set my Stomp XL patches to call up and a specific X5 board. Just like I intended it. Thanks again for all of your important work.
I hope TC are taking care of you. I bought the Plethora because of your videos and now THIS! Thank you! Tap dancing days may soon be over!
Thank you for the kind comments, I hope these are useful! 🙏🏻
Good job Clooney, it is a really tough one to introduce, but once you dig in, the possibilities are so endless.
A good simplification for exp and hotknobs is to leave the limits open on the midi controller end, and just shift what the plethora does by dragging lines around in the TonePrint. None of the basic maths , just listen and move the curves.
Thanks mate, that means a lot coming from you. 🙏🏻 Yup, you can absolutely do curves from the TonePrint Editor, but I've covered that to death in other videos and decided to show the other way of doing it - while removing that other layer of complexity from this video. Mash everything together (no pun intended...), and as you just said, the possibilities are endless!
Well done video. Just setting up a compact build for a customer with a Plethora X3 and midi control. These tips will come in handy. Thanks!
I use 2 midi controllers with Plethora X5: M-VAVE Chocolate & Ampero Control. They're connected via Ampero's midi through. The major difference bethween the controllers is that M-wave doesn't let you save your settings (no banks) + it has less intuitive app. So, I programmed m-wave to do "static" things like changing pedalboards and turning on/off the tuner while Ampero is mostly about turning on/off several effects at once. However, there are some limitations to this scheme: 1) turning on/off several effects at once brings ~1 second lag which is rather anoying (similar lag occurs when you change the boards); 2) Ampero requires external power supply (standard 9v from pedalbord power supply will do); 3) the 2 units combined will take almost the same space on your pedalboard as Plethora X5
This helped a lot. I guess I'll be getting Plethora X5, Boss ES-5 and (if needed for midi signals) Hotone Ampero Control.
Thanks!!
A really interesting and illuminating video. I’m going to connect the Plethora 5 to a Boss ES8, and a Tone X pedal, and swop between banks on the Tone X and effects on the Plethora. I’m hoping I live long enough to work out all the MIDI programming…..
Thanks for a great insight to using midi 👍
Another great tutorial!, I love the versitility of the Plethora X5 2 cons I have discovered are: #1 the awkward tripple-tap to change boards, when playing a live show your taps have to be an exact speed to activate the command, I just ordered the Ampero to solve this issue. The other con is- I would like to see my board NAMES in large bold font rather than the board NUMBER, right now I need to have a cheat-sheet to remember my board order, some of my boards are visually identical other than a few tweaks to delay times and/or effects levels etc.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support, they're very appreciated 🙏🏻I agree with both your remarks, and I'd even love to see the board name as a permanent feature on the screen, not just at switching time. Let's see where TC decide to take this 😄
Absolutely brilliant video. Extremely well done on several different levels. For one, you are an excellent teacher. You are also very well spoken and super organized in how you break it all down and build it all up. One other thing, how many takes did you do this entire video? Two....most guys cut and chop their videos into hundreds but this video is almost continuous. Impressive dude!!!
Thank you for the extremely kind comments, Adam. 🙏🏻 I'm still trying to get this thing right, but it's great to see that the effort on this side is translating on camera. As for the takes, there were a bit more than two... I just try to hide them better! 😁
Awesome content. I own two of the Ampero Controls & they are fantastic, especially for the price. I have been learning Midi for my guitar rig - and really enjoying it, I have to say, and your video is just ahead of my current knowledge, so perfect!! I have just bought the Plethora x3 and will be using it to replace a handful of old stompboxes. Thank you so much & good luck with your channel.
I'm not sure how I missed this when you originally posted it. I'm subscribed to your channel and RUclips never showed it to me. I'm glad I came across it with a quick search though. Short of the clock sync function the X5 pretty much does everything I need it too. Now with the use of midi recording a loop is so much easier. Thanks 👍
You're welcome! And yes, RUclips notifications aren't... 🤷🏻♂️
I use MIDI to control the Plethora, a Boss OD-200 and a Line 6 Catalyst amp (amp model only, I use the PLethora for all downstream effects). I also have a Marshall Anniversary 3-channel valve amp which also has a crude but working form of channel selection. Takes time to set it all up but provides a versatile, effective lightweight effects rig for gigs or studio.👍
hello, i have like you a marshall 6100 anniversary, is the tc plethora can change the channels of the amp with midi? is there a latency? thanks!
This is really a guide ! I come back to it all the time, thank man, you're fantastic
Thank you Claude! 🙏🏻
Thanks for your videos. I didnt know which video to post this under. I am after some demo of the buffered with trails function.thanks
Very informative. Thanks !!
On some midi controllers you can add a Pause command which can give Plethora "time to think".
I use that when controlling my X3 from MobileSheets on a iPad. When a new song loads in my playlist it will make the X3 change to the associated board, turn the relevant pedals on/off and possibly set tempo or delay time (which I have added to hotknobz). Inbetween these commands I add a Pause command of length 1 second (I never change boards inside a song)
Excellent video. Educational and informative. I needed this video 10 years ago :D
(for the midi primer - not the plethora specic stuff obv)
Thank you! 🙏🏻 10 years ago I was too busy on the sofa watching TV... 😬
@@PedalPlatform Me too.
Hi Felipe! Such a excelente job on this video man! I really appreciate it! Thank you so much! Unfortunately I ordered Plethora x5 without washing this video before.. My problem is: I had a big pedal board with many TC pedal on it, so I thought: I'll sell them all and get a x5, this way I'II have all TC pedals, not only the ones I already have! On my board, just because of the amount of pedals I had, I was forced to have a loop switcher and, as I have a flashback x4, this switcher needed to have a midi control to change it board. So I bought an expencive one, that gives me 8 loops, one extra, only for a four cable conection, also alows me to change the amp chanel.... Very good ah???? nope.. on the other hand, its midi out only sends PCs commands by it foot...In short... I only ordered the x5 because I believed that I would not have any latency beetwin changing boards... So, in all my songs, I change at least three times all modelation pedals, clean, drive and lead and latency, makes it impossible..So.. After all this been said, he it goes my question, actually two..When you say: " if you turn the efct level down to zero, it works as a "turn off", you mean that, even with the x5 showing me pedal lights on, it efects wount interfer on the sounds? Because, if not, I can use my express pedal on that..My second question is: Do you know on the market if we have like a midi slave? Where I send PCs comands and this divice sends CCs to Plethora? I found something close on Morning star and Disaster Area but, they have losts of others fonctions that increses the prices too much..Once again I really appreciate your help..All the best!
Thank you for making this video, I'm planning on getting a Hotone Ampero control to use with a Plethora X3 and with a Blackstar Amped 1 amplifier, can I send multiple CC messages accross multiple channels? (one channel for the Plethora and another for the Amped 1).
Parabéns pelo pelo vídeo irmão !! Assunto complexo, mas você arrasou na explanation in English !! ❤️🤘🏼🇵🇹🇧🇷
Grato! 🙏🏻
Thanks for the detailed video!
You're welcome!
Lots of useful tips here
The Twitter analogy is spot on.
Felt appropriate! 😬
Many Thanks... as ever great video
Thank you, hope it's useful!
What an excellent review! Thanks a lot for scratching the surface of Plethora MIDI capabilities. Main takeaway: the lack of dedicated expression input is no longer an issue at all! :))) Side question: how did you like the Ampero switch?
Thank you! 🙏🏻 I'm really enjoying the Ampero Control: great size, expandable, really easy to program, and the price seems more than fair!
Great tips. Thanks
You're very welcome! 🙏🏻
was curious about plethora midi config, ends up learning why ampero control is such a deal for the price....
It's a steal! 😁
will an one control gecko III work with plethora?
Hi Philip,
I just wanted to drop a message to say how much I appreciate your videos-they have been a tremendous help! I've been using the BandHelper app on my iPad which selects the correct preset of the Plethora (and pedal settings) for each song. It's a great workflow and it really saves my back! ;-)
However, I have a quick question: It seems I can't send MIDI commands (like program changes) to the Plethora X3 over its Bluetooth connection. Instead I have to use an external Bluetooth-MIDI dongle. Can you confirm this for me? What a shame if that's the case!
Thanks again for all your great work!
Best, Mark
Hi Mark, thank you for the kind comment! 🙏🏻 And yes, I can confirm that the Plethora at this point doesn't do MIDI over Bluetooth. I'm not sure if that's on the roadmap for eventual future updates, but it would be a lovely addition to the feature arsenal :)
Hello from France!!
Salut Nicolas! 🙏🏻
Hey Felipe, I am from the future and I came here first to say thank for your vídeos about Plethora.. I Just orered one and noticed that the changing board on x5 is still with a big latency... if TC would make this improvment, most of your work on controlling knobs, sending a lot off comands, etc.. wouldn't be needed..
Thank you!!!
The TC Flashback delay 2X4 (the model with 5 pin midi jacks) can use midi clock messages as source for the delay time. This is super useful when playing with a sequencer, arpeggiator or drum computer. Is this not available in the Plethora's? Seems like a oversight to me. Extend the clock sync to the LFOs of the modulation effects and you really have a winner.
Nope, not currently available, but high on TC's feature request list... together with loop sync, etc 😁 Let's hope it makes its way to firmware 1.4!
@@PedalPlatform omg loop sync with a drum machine would be amazing 🤞🏼
Love your videos, they definitely put me over the edge of buying the Plethora after over a year of having it on my wishlist but being afraid to jump in fully...
Do you think they are planning to implement a way to set tempo via MIDI? I'm currently having to do a board per song for mostly the same things (a reverb with mash/expression pedal to get huge, usually 2 delays, then maybe an octave effect and a modulation effect for the last two) and would much rather just have a default starting board that changes the delay time based on my MIDI Controller and not have to both lose the mash AND have to manually tap in the tempo if I'm using the same board for multiple songs...
Thank you Daniel! As far as I know, the MIDI tempo is still top of the requests for the next firmware version, but we'll have to wait and see... it would certainly plug a hole in the feature set! 🙏🏻
Hi Philip, just got the X5 some days I go. Honestly, you have the best video on how to use MIDI with it! Thanks! So, I could sucessfully make the Morninstar MC8 to control the X5, but one thing I could not make it work: I tried to send two CC messages to turn ON/OFF two pedals, but just the first CC message is read by the X5. Why is that? Any work around?
That's because the X5 isn't always great at catching up with sequential CC messages. I'm not familiar with the MC8, but if you can setup a delay time between messages, try to add a few ms between your CCs until the X5 behaves. If the MC8 can't do this, try inserting any CC message to any unused channel between your "good" CCs to the X5. The idea is to "slow down" the MC8 to give the X5 time between acting on the first message it receives, and be ready for the second one, so if it doesn't work with one "empty" CC, add a few more until it does. Thank you for the kind words 🙏🏻
Is it possible to do the midi mapping (pc) on the device it self? If so, how?
Love the video!!! Really useful and helpful :)) Do you know if a midi controller can switch switch sounds within the plethora along with normal stomboxes (such as distortion pedals etc)! I presume a boss ES 8 can do this but not too sure?? Thanks :)
Thank you @Jacob! 🙏🏻There certainly are some loop switchers that include MIDI switching capabilities, and both the Boss ES-5 and ES-8 do it. I just checked the Rolandcorp.com.au website and this is what they say:
"...plus adding in the factor that the ES-5 can send up to 16 unique MIDI messages simultaneously, you can simultaneously change patches on as many devices as you could ever feasibly string together - all with a single footswitch tap."
So yeah, this will do it :)
Link here: rolandcorp.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-boss-es-5-effects-switching-system#ES5-47
Just to be clear, if I want to control the pitch shifter (like a whammy) with an expression pedal, it can be one but I'll need a midi capable expression pedal? I also want to slave the Plethora x3 to my Boss RC500 clock.
Hello, could you help in my case? Is it possible to set button 1 in boss es-5 to turn on the delay in plethora x3 and then clicking the same module to turn off this effect and enable another effect in plethora x3?
Hello, Philip. Your tutorials are pure gold! Thx a lot. Can you pls mention which midi cable type is on Plethora side (A or B)?
Thank you for the kind comments 🙏🏻 The Plethora takes a regular 5-pin DIN MIDI cable. It's as old school as it gets, which I find refreshing 😁
does the plethora have a db boost?, would be great to know if it could also boost the solo tone as to not need a booster as well, thanks
HI i have a valeton gp 200 midi connected to the X3 and want to use the gp200 to change boards ...failure so far HELP!!
I appreciate your video, this is hard to understand for me because English is not my native language. But is it possible to use a Midi pedal to control the Tap tempo of the device? I appreciate it!
Very thorough video Filipe. While I am fairly experienced when it comes to midi, this video would have saved me countless hours when I first got into midi. This will really help out newcomers.
Hope you can answer this question as I can't find any information. I currently have a TC Nova system that is over 10 years old and starting to do some strange things and the X3 looks to be perfect for my board, however because of previous issues with multi-effects units, I always do a full backup via midi dump whenever I make substantial changes. Does the Plethora allow for midi dumps or backup via the USB connection? Thanks again for all your efforts. Liked & Subscribed.
Thank you so much for the kind words, they are really appreciated! 🙏🏻
As for your question: there isn't currently an option to midi dump the Plethora's contents. There is an export function on the Global Settings menu (it creates a system image on the internal drive, which you can access when you plug it into a computer), but unfortunately there isn't a way of restoring it into the Plethora at this time, being mostly used for debugging purposes by the TC people. I don't know at this point if the full export / restore function will appear in the future, but I definitely hope so.
@@PedalPlatform Thanks for the prompt reply Filipe. I have placed an order for an X3 anyway as it is the ideal design for my needs. While we all want everything for next to no money when it comes to multi-effects units, we need to be realistic, however I hope TC includes these 2 must have options for working musicians in a future update. 1. A way to backup and restore boards. We invest so many many hours creating presets for our repertoires. 2. Show the current board name somewhere on one of the screens or if this is not possible, a way to use midi via a switcher to quickly show the board name similar to when you use the toggle switch on the unit, but without having to actually go out of and back into the current board to see that. Anyway, it's a great start for now.
I agree wholeheartedly with both feature requests, so here's to hoping they'll be implemented. :)
Can you have random order on the tc boards for diff helix patches......e.g helix patch 12 with tc board 4 and helix patch 13 with board 6
Great informational video. Do you maybe know if there is a specific PC for opening tuner on X3?
Thank you! And no, there is no PC for the tuner. 😕
Hello, can I use this as a foot controller as I need to use single effects and racks.
Hello, friend, would you help me connect the plethora x5 via midi to a neuron gain intelligence from the neunaber brand. The idea is to call the neuron presets from the plerhora. Thank you so much. 🙏🏼
Thanks!
Thank you! 🙏🏻
Great video! Can the tuner in the X5 be controlled by midi?
Thank you! 🙏🏻 Unfortunately I think the tuner doesn't support MIDI control...
So, I ordered a Plethora X5, to pair with my Hotone Ampero 2 Stomp. I decided to check for some midi commands to see what will be possible with my new toy. I was amazed that I can't find anywhere a simple CC table, listing all of the commands. Both the Ampero and Ampero 2 have pages in their manual dedicated to midi commands. Why does TC Electronics not publish such a table....I really need to check the on screen midi commands to program my controler(s)?
Do you know of a resource like this, anywhere?
Yeah, it would be nice to have that as a table somewhere. Some people think it's just more convenient to have it on the device itself, to avoid having to carry a paper copy / pdf, but it can also be a royal pain if you're doing other stuff or have it in a rack, etc. Clearly a case where both would be better.
@@PedalPlatform yea....I'm planning on using midi to create "scenes" with the Hotone Ampero 2. I'll be programming the midi controller using my PC, and will have several commands for each switch...it would just be nice to quick reference a piece of paper or even an online manual so that I don't have to keep dialing through menus just to learn a command.
Hello..subcribed to your channel..planning on getting one ..does plethora affect the tone of your drive if put in front of it? Is there any volume drop? Appreciate the answer ..thanks
Thank you for the sub, appreciated! With the Plethora, the tone of the drive being affected depends more on the drive than the Plethora itself. The Plethora buffers / converters are really clean, so it all depends on the drive preferring to be the first in the chain, or being fine when placed after a buffer. 👍🏻
@@PedalPlatform yeah.planning on getting one..and my chain signal would be dunlop dime wah-boss sd1-wampler pantheon deluxe-tc spark boost-plethora and inserting the mxr analog delay to the loop of plethora.. what is that is there enough buffer for this kind of set up? I mean there is a buffered bypass setting on plethora right? Hope it wont affect the tone of the pantheons tone..thinking the that wahs input buffer and making the plethora the output buffer would be enough i guess.. thanks for the answer... Really appreciate you videos ..this will be my guide when i finally get plethora
Hi, just wondering if the X5 can be controlled particularly well with something like Maschine, so that changes determined in the composition/recording process can be reproduced live?
I've looked for videos, asked in the Plethora FB group, and in a FB Maschine group, but still haven't found any examples of people doing this - only midi control pedals. Seems like an obvious use for the pedal, so I was surprised to not find any examples.
Hi Gill, I also don't have any first hand experience with the Maschine, but I have been able to control the Plethora relatively easily with a DAW. As long as you are able to time the messages so that the Plethora has time to process the board changes, and send the CC's with enough separation between them when turning multiple effects on/off, I'm guessing it should be fine.
@@PedalPlatform I did have it working fine a few nights ago, then it didn't - new midi usb cable just arrived.
Since the lack of clock sync is so annoying I was wondering if there is a method to calculate the time setting by knowing the BPM and then using the app to set one of the hot knobs to control time and use a cc to set the BPM. I find your videos to be very informative and easy to follow, the sort of video I struggle to find is anyone showing the features working together. I look at the X5 as an opportunity for me to not even touch the pedal and just concentrate on the playing, having effects and hot knobs automated, expression pedal occasionally, drive pedal changes. When it comes to the electro side it almost works the opposite way, finding a maschine tutorial after seeing someone do something interesting in a performance vid, that's what I can't find for the X5. Sorry for rambling, I perhaps see more potential in the X5 than there is in actuality - limitations that I haven't considered or are unaware of. My hope would be that I can play a 5 minute track with several effect changes, one looped section captured, paused and brought back in, possibly hot knob automation and potentially set at the correct BPM, but with an empty bar at the start where CCs essentially load and reset the board, that way when I put all of that together in the composition and recording process it works the same live by just importing the midi to something like Reaper with the backing/click track. I even looked up "plethora x5 performance" and the closest I got was Chords of Orion, which is always interesting, but didn't deal with midi. That's all I'm missing from this guide, an example of how it can be used in a live situation without even touching it. Maybe TC would recognise the midi potential of their products if more people showed it off.
I'm sorry for the late reply, but my youtube seems to be eating notifications for dinner and I just stumbled upon your answer... 🤦🏻♂️ no worries about the rambling, it's good to hear from different types of users what their frustrations are, not only from my video creator point of view, but also from the developers perspective, as that can help them direct their efforts.
I think you're not wrong, the potential is there, as long as you can live with the quirks, e.g. don't try to do board changes during a performance because it goes into bypass for half a second or so.
The CC to bpm thing might actually be easy to do with a bit of number crunching and toneprint editing. As an example, say you have a song at 90 bpm, and you know the longest delay you want is quarter note, but also want the option to have eight and dotted eight. Create a toneprint and map the delay pot curve 0% point to give you the eight note (60,000 / 90 / 2 = 333 ms); map the 100% point for the quarter note (60,000 / 90 = 667 ms). Do a linear mapping for the other points such that the 50% point lands on 500 ms (dotted eight). Now if you get the hotknob to control the delay, you can send the corresponding CC value 00 for eight notes, 64 for dotted eights, 127 for quarter notes.
If you don't want to create a toneprint per song / bpm, it should still be relatively easy to map the CC's to the response curve to get more precise values, but I'd definitely recommend creating your own toneprints to make sure the mappings are what you expect, as the factory toneprints will vary (off the top of my head, the tape delay goes from 60ms to 800ms, whereas the 2290 does 0 ms to 7000 ms, etc). You'll also want to keep the min-max range as tight as possible, otherwise you'll be trying to map 7000 ms into 128 values, which will create massive jumps between steps.
Who's rambling now?? 🤣😉 Hope this helps, and please let me know how it's going for you.
It doesn't look like you can use the expression pedal instead of the MASH function in the foot switch. Hopefully a future firmware update will include the MASH control in the CC table.
Thanks for the video. I have a maybee stupid question.. do you think the Harley Benton FXL8 Pro would be OK to control correctly th Plethora ? Thanks again !
Hi Claude! It's not stupid :) I've never used the FXL8 Pro, but from what I can see in the manual it seems to only be able to send one MIDI command per patch; if that's the case, it *should* be okay to change patches, or turn one effect on / off, but I don't think you can chain commands like I'm doing in this video.
has midi clock sync been addressed yet? I just bought one and I stupidly assumed that it would have this feature... if not I hope it comes soon...
Nope, still missing in action. 🫤 And I know it's still on the user's wishlist, but have no idea when it's going to be implemented. 🫤
Could the Hotone Ampero be used to control the Plethora X3 and something like the Kernom Ridge at the same time?
Theoretically yes, 100%, just daisy chain out of the X3's MIDI Thru port into the Kernom Ridge, keep the Plethora and Ridge in different MIDI channels so they don't get their comms all mixed up, and it should work just fine.
In practice, your mileage may vary as some devices are pickier than others, but in principle you *should* be just fine.
How long is the looper time?
Hi there, just got my plethora X3 and your videos have been really helpful. QQ) How do you rename a board - cant find anything in pedal settings - thanks
Hi Ian, thank you! You can rename boards from the TonePrint Editor app. 👍🏻
Hey there! If you swipe toward the left on the board from the app on your phone you can rename the boards. On a computer just click the dots on the right hand side. I just found this out today haha!
Thank you for your video! Unfortunately, I understand few ways because I have always had multi-effects where it is easy to save presets. Now I bought Iridium and I would like the plethora to pair with it. Is it difficult to create presets with Iridium and plethora x and drive them with midi pedals?
Hi Mauro,
Unfortunately I don't have an Iridium that I can use to demo the process (my Christmas list keeps getting bigger...), but from what I can see in the Iridium's user manual it should be almost as simple as what I did in this video with the Plethora, along these lines:
- Plug the MIDI out from the controller to the Plethora MIDI in;
- Plug the MIDI thru from the Plethora to the Iridium's EXP port (you will need Strymon's MIDI EXP cable, or an equivalent cable - be careful, as they're not the same as the older audio cables with DIN plugs);
- Follow the Iridium's user manual steps to configure the EXP jack to use MIDI, set the MIDI output mode (you'll want it in OFF mode), and the channel.
All other concepts in this guide should then apply almost directly to both devices: send Program Change (PC) messages to both devices to switch presets, or Continuous Controller (CC) messages to update parameters, etc, according to their respective implementation. You can find the table with the values for the Iridium in their user manual, and the Plethora's is in the menu, as I showed here.
It all looks a lot more complex than it is, but once you start messing with it, it'll start making sense. :)
@@PedalPlatform Thank you! I've always wondered how two different devices fuse via midi and create a preset that can be called up by the controller. As you say, it's easier to do it than to say it. And since they have been doing it since the 80s, there is obviously a way to do it and even in a simple way. In a multi effect device is simple , you made a preset and push save, but with midi is different.
I think there are a couple of principles related to midi that I didn't explicitly cover in this video but might be helpful to always keep in mind:
- in a midi chain, nothing happens until *you* make it happen;
- all the devices that you are controlling are independent *of each other*, and there is no pairing process per se (some devices can be made to send a MIDI command whenever they change preset, etc, but that's a different, more complex situation).
Putting both of these concepts together:
- Say you have a Plethora and the Iridium plugged in to a controller, both on different MIDI channels, and you send a PC message #0 on the Plethora's channel. That will cause the Plethora to load board #1, but the Iridium will stay exactly as it was before. It will ignore any message that's not sent on its own channel. Same for the Plethora: if you send a PC #0 on the Iridium channel, the Iridium will load preset #1, but the Plethora won't do anything about it. If you want both devices to react to the message, you have to send the message on both their channels;
- Both devices can load different presets at the same time: if you keep the devices on their own channels (which you should), you can load different presets on the devices with the same controller press. For example, you can send PC #0 to the Plethora and PC#1 to the Iridium in the same controller press. This will load Board 1 on the Plethora, and preset #2 on the Iridium.
- Always be explicit: never rely on things being the way they were when you programmed your controller. Say you want to create 3 presets that involve
1 - Plethora Board 1 | Iridium Preset 1
2 - Plethora Board 2 | Iridium Preset 1
3 - Plethora Board 3 | Iridium Preset 3
As you're programming your controller's presets, you'll create the first one where you send PC#0 to the Plethora, and PC#0 to the Iridium; when you move on to preset 2, you might be tempted to just send the PC#1 to the Plethora, since the Iridium is already on Preset 1; then you create preset 3, in which you send PC#2 to the Plethora, and PC#2 to the Iridium. When you now tap back to the preset 2 on the controller, the Iridium will stay on whatever preset it was before you tapped it - because you didn't explicitly tell it to move back to 1.
I will be doing more videos on MIDI in the future, where I hope I can explain these concepts in more / clearer detail - not necessarily with the Iridium, but most concepts are transversal to every MIDI controlled device, which should allow you to start seeing the patterns that govern the fantastic and sometimes confusing world of MIDI control 😁
@@PedalPlatform thank you Very much…you are beautiful person! I didn ‘t expect this kind of answer. Like you said, midi is fantastic world but at the beginning a few “nerd” 😉
I wouldn’t wrong buying a midi controller and so i’m wondering this kind of question because i don’t know this world. Anyway you was Very helpful!!!!
Which app are you referring to? I’m looking at the App Store and only see toneprint which doesn’t even list plethora x3. Thank you!!
The app I'm using is the Ampero Control app, from Hotone. Sorry I didn't make it clearer 😬
For the MIDI side you don't need the TonePrint Editor - that's only for editing toneprints and renaming boards, changing their order, etc 😄
@@PedalPlatform Thank you so much for the info! I love your videos, so clear and made my decision to purchase an X3 clear.
Thank you for the kind comments! I hope you enjoy your X3 😄
Thank you for the video, excellent job! Question: does the looper sync with an external MIDI clock? Like Ditto x4 I mean... Have a nice day everyone
Thank you! 🙏🏻 Unfortunately no, not at this point, but it's on the user request list, so... it might happen at some point!
@@PedalPlatform thank you! So I guess all the effects don’t sync with midi clock. That’s a bummer, at least for me. I own Flashback x4 and Ditto x4 for this precise reason: they sync with dm, synth and Ableton. Thank you again, have a nice day
Trying to get midi working with a rjm pbc 6x. Pc board changes are working easily. But I can’t get cc commands to work at all for turning pedals on and off? Any hints?
Same problem for me but with Es 8.... Any hints?
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
The plethora can not receive cc for a period of time after a pc. Basically when you change banks you will notice there is a period of time that the screen takes to change. Ccs won’t be heard during that time. I found a work around to send cc and pc seperate
Can I program several heads for echo as in a Meazzi??
Kind of - the maximum number of "heads" per delay is two, but you can load up 3 different (serial) delays on the available slots, for a total of 6 "heads". Will need some tweaking, but it can be done :)
Is anyone controlling the midi on their Plethora 5 with a Boss ES8? If so, any advice or tutorials? 😀
So… no tempo sync?
Nope, not at this point in time (pun definitely intended...).
Is there a way to access the tuner via MIDI?
I don't think so, but if I'm wrong I'll report back 😄
Useful???? Well, it seems I will see this video so many times. I'm one of those for whom midi is black magic 🤐
Thank you for this awesome lesson and for your great job. 👌👌👌
It *is* black magic! 🤣
Ordered my X3 to hook upto my DAW and synths, only thing its missing is midi clock sync.
As far as I know MIDI clock sync is still high on the user requests list... hoping it'll be there on the next firmware!
@@PedalPlatform Yep certainly would be a good feature, especially for us Synth heads :)
It's the one huge glaring omission and also a huge letdown now that I've purchased one
That is the main reason why I haven't bought Plethora x3 yet. A reliable clock sync would be glorious.
If this thing would sync to midi clock and have endless encoders that would have made this a fantastic pedal. Now it seems a bit too clunky imho.
We might still get the midi clock sync, but I agree with you on the encoders. Any multi function potentiometer nowadays should absolutely be an encoder 👍🏻
@@PedalPlatform I briefly had the X5 when it was released. I promptly discovered it didn’t clock sync. I use it for synths, so you can imagine my chagrin about that. I sent it back and bought a GFI Specular Tempus instead (no regrets there, these guys still update regularly and improve/expand the algorithms to boot). Seeing TC still hasn’t updated the firmware to support clock sync tells me something is amiss. A bit like what happened with Mooer’s Ocean Machine, which has midi but no clock sync and never was updated even when many people hoped they would add it. It’s a bit too weird TC can’t make a midi clock sync happen within a year or two. Apart from the missed opportunity to put endless encoders on this (the design just screams for it) this pedal could have been fantastic, but now it’s just a bit too clunky. I guess TC didn’t want to undercut their pedal business too much? If it had midi clock sync I think I maybe could live with the lack of endless encoders. The X3 would make a very fine triple delay :)
IMHO the Ocean Machine has some bigger issues than just the lack of MIDI clock... I love the routing capabilities, and it has some really cool sounds in it, but it's unusable in stereo as the channel levels are all over the place. I still have mine in the box for the occasional fun stuff, but it's no longer a pedalboard permanent occupant. As for the Plethora, we'll really have to wait and see what happens with it. I hope it'll carry on being developed, as I believe there's still a lot of untapped potential in it.
@@PedalPlatform The OM indeed feels unfinished imho. Here it’s collecting dust, so I probably will make someone else happy with it. TC has all the knowledge and with Behringer’s production capabilities they are entirely capable to create the X3 we all want for a terrific price as icing on the cake. So why didn’t they? It’s almost there but not quite. It feels like life itself, lol! Meanwhile I caved and finally ordered a Volante. Although not perfect (I wish its sound was slightly more like the El Cap, but I understand it wasn’t modelled after the same tape delay) it very nearly is, and that is quite rare. I’ll be eying what TC comes up with regarding the X3/5 and midi clock. For what good it will do, I’ll cross my fingers. :)
does plethora works with boss es-5 switching system?
I haven't tried the Boss ES-5, but from taking a look at the MIDI spec, it should 100%.
@@PedalPlatform Unlucky it's not true. It's a shame that X5/X3 is the only FX device can not take multi CC# from the BOSS ES5/8 inside one CH#, it means you can only turn on/off one slot inside the board via midi CC# message. TC Electronic do not fix this bug even in the lastest firmware .
Have you tried slowing down the rate of CCs by inserting "blanks" in between the real ones? Check this time stamp for an example: ruclips.net/video/NrsOYkBgfXg/видео.html.
@@PedalPlatform The simple answer is "no", X5/X3 will not responce any CC# commands come after the PC# message.
And even you do not use PC# message(specify the board), X5 will igore all the CC# messages except the first one when you are using BOSS ES8 assigning function.
If you do not use PC# message,and insert one blank midi map between every two midi maps, X5 will response only two CC# message successfully. becuase ES8 have only 8 midi maps,so that is means X5 can only response 4 CC# message.
The only way X5 take multi CC# message and PC# is to set X5 MIDI channal to OMNI,and use each CC# come with different CH#
Yup, ignoring the CC#s after a PC# is a known issue, and is caused by the board reloading. The Plethora "resets" and goes into a temporary bypass while changing boards (even the IRs are bypassed for a moment), and basically ignores everything while it does so. As for the CC# not registering, it's also a massive annoyance, especially as you say in a situation where you are limited in the number of CC# you can send with a single tap. All I can say is TC are aware of these issues, but until they find a way of not having to reset the whole unit when changing boards, I'm not sure we can expect many changes in the PC# followed by CC# behaviour... I hope the CC# buffer can be an easier fix, but we'll have to wait and see. 🤷🏻♂️
Is there any way to have an expression pedal plugged into our midi controller instead of the plethora's expression pedal input control volume instead of expression via midi using the X5? Much appreciated!
Hi Filipe
Hello! 😄
since it is easy to put stuff like drive and distortion into digital modelers, why didn't they? one and done would be way cooler. basically it's just a big pricey modulation reverby spacey sounds pedal
All I can say is . . . yikes!!!! 🥵😧😱
Meaty?
No thank you. I'm a vegetarian.
OH! You said MIDI.
Never mind.
Man; you have to EQ your sibilants out.
Can you set the tuner to a midi control?
Nope, not at this point...