@Elk_wrath Please keep us updated!
Currently I’m using Fishamn Triple Play Connect and Sonuus i2m, they work great but it’s true that you have to adjust your playing. I also add a velocity filter to avoid undesired notes. And the response depends also on the synth or soundfont you’re using.
I’m planning to upload soon a pedalboard recreating Metheny’s GR-300 synth sound.
Well, DO spend a good time checking it out before making a decision. It’s very powerful and flexible but a nightmare to set up and its editor could not be any more cumbersome. I am not quite there yet. In terms of features it outdoes the competition by far, but the C4 is immensely easier to use and the Boss and Electro-Harmonix units are as plug-and-play as it gets.
(By the way, the Future Impact was designed by Andras Szalay, the very creator of the Fishman Triple Play and the Axon before it, also Akai’s EWI, the Shadow, and the Musix in the 80s. Guy is a mad genius.)
In the end, the SY units (1, 200 or 300) are much more “streamlined” and there’s some grievance to be saved as opposed to entering a FI or C4 world. The Future Impact can be powerful, but power is not all one needs. Consistency and reliability come first for the gigging/paid musician. I haven’t put the FI on the road to see if it withstands the hardships of travelling gear.
Someone in this forum is about to earn my eternal love! 
I guess more than one will.
(I am hoping forum polygamy is OK…)
oh… oh… oh… I can fell it calling me!
Maybe you are my father? 
@QuestionMarc In fact I started learning about synths a few months ago and that’s an easy one, basically a saw wave, and playing with cutoff and attack. But I would love to have more opinions to get closer to his sound.
I’ve just been browsing the Mod Devices Pedalboards and a user called Michl has uploaded a few boards that use the Audio to CV plugin to create some synth sounds with guitar. It may not replicate exactly what you want to do, but it is worth exploring.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but have you tried Midi Guitar 2? Check it out at https://www.jamorigin.com/ . The Midi guitar III update (free for customers who have purchased Midi Guitar 2) is suppose to be out by the end of the year. I have this and have had good success. I also have an SY-1000 and an SY-1 (hope to trade in the SY-1 for an SY-200 whenever they are available for the preset and MIDI control capabilities). I would wait for the SY-200 if you don’t have an immediate need and if you don’t like the Jamorigin route…Hope this helps!
Midi Guitar 2 is quite nice, but you have to use it with a laptop (or a iphone). In my oppinion it is for a normal user (withou 20 roadies) it is not very practical to use it in a band enviroment. And also nor hold-button like the boss sy1 (and sy200). But I agree that waiting for the sy200 is recommendet. The SY1 is great but you have to fiddel around a lot with it the change the sounds, because you can’t store them und switch them via midi.
Welcome to the forum, @netproclaim.
Midi Guitar is nice and powerful (I own it), but it brings the need for laptop + audio interface as @in5y372 pointed above. If one wants less footprint, then the SY unit does a good job. Can’t wait to try the 200 version. Might be worth the wait for @SillySovietNYC and others here.
The SY-1000 is in a league of its own. I have a GP-10 and it’s already very powerful, so between MOD and the 1000 you’re probable set. That’s a killer setup – and with a modest footprint, come think of it. The Headrush and Helix units alone probably take that much space, if not more.
If Jam Origin could port Midi Guitar to LV2 plugin and if the MOD could run it smoothly, we’d be the happiest of all guitar players! Maybe v3 will be native ARM? That would accomplish part of the mission.
(MOD OS and ARM experts please weigh on this one!)
@QuestionMarc I’ve seen a way to run vst on a raspberry pi, but I’m not sure if it will work, how much latency, etc). But when I saw that I thought about running Midi Guitar on the raspberry too! When I have time for that I’ll try and see what happens.
At the moment Midi Guitar is only available for PC and Os X as VST, and android/iOS, so I guess they would have to rebuild it entirely.
If I remember correctly, nhier had already asked members there and learned that they have no ambition to make a LV2 plugin out of it. I would be surprised if that has changed. I guess the market is too small to justify the effort.
Technically, using a VST host for Linux (including @falkTX’s own Carla) that runs on ARM processors could make that happen. Haven’t tried myself, but Muse’s frontman Matt Bellamy had his Arturia synth running on a prototype board with Elk OS. So it’s surely doable.
Now, if you think of the nuts and bolts of doing it versus acquiring a SY200 or C4 that works right out of the box, the latter is an immediate solution. Of course, the former carries many many many more possibilities, but soundcards for RPi are still in short supply, there aren’t that many, some have non-passive-instrument friendly input impedances (PiSound is 100kOhm only), and so on.
(My reason for picking a MOD is precisely because it’s more powerful as a musician’s tool and more efficient straight out of the box, be it as a stompbox, as a synth, and even as an on-the-fly mixer. Plus, it’s an open platform, so your dream-come-true plugin might exist one day.)
I can understand that, and even agree.
In some other thread I mentioned that I dream of the MOD being able to host VSTs one day, but that is a mountain of work.
The tech folks here can explain that better, but being VST alone isn’t all. It has to be for ARM processors, and not x86. Reaper has Linux versions for both, I use the ARM with my RPi.
And how would the user interface of such VSTs be ported on the Mod web user interface?
I agree, this is not an easy task.
Yes, no doubt there is a need for a laptop and audio interface when using Jamorigin Midi Guitar 2…i was assuming (maybe iTxncorrectly) that these would be pretty standard pieces of equipment for most folks that are into synth guitar. I can see that this would not be a cost effective option for those without this equipment, but for those with, its fairly inexpensive and easy to set up (no gk pickup required!)…
Your assumption is not wrong. Since most synth modules migrated to software starting in the late 90s, we were all thrown into a computer setup in whatever capacity. Add to that Triple Play’s doom – initially a fantastic, self-contained unit with much of the Axon’s features in a smaller unit AND wireless being turned into a highly computer-dependent flimsy plastic semi-toy.
Back in the day, I had a non-computer guitar synth rig with the Axon, a synth module, and a nice interface mixer, all in a neat rack. Worked flawlessly, and I later added a Mac mini hidden in that rack that could operate without a screen. That thing was heavy and un-flyable, though… I had to drive for gigs. Other people had VG units and could operate with them alone.
What I mentioned in my initial response though was “less footprint”, not so much cost. With the smaller SY units and the MOD you probably have enough to make a lot of sound. Using Midi Guitar app, not only you need more hardware, but think of this setup: guitar > interface > computer > midi conversion > interface > midi > Mod.
(I too assume everyone here has a computer and an audio interface, so the investment in that app makes total sense. It’s just a question of practicality and functionality on stage.)
So, if one can use the SY and MOD, that’s a modest footprint. And with a SY-1000/GP-10, one can even input midi into the MOD. Not nearly as sharp as the Triple Play, but very usable.
Yeah I built myself a Zynthian Synth months ago (while waiting for the Dwarf) on a Raspberry Pi and it’s pretty good. Even I wanted it low cost, so I used an audioinjector cheap soundcard for the Pi, it really works good. As you said there’s a problem with input impedance, but it’s easy to build or use a preamp.
I still want to try making VSTs work on a raspberry, even if it doesn’t work, it’s worth it for the learning.
I didn’t know Matt Bellamy used that setup! Having the synth integrated on the guitar is great.
The Zynthian is cool. I had one but sold it. It had the HifiBerry custom card and my pain stems mostly from selling that one, which is no longer made. Zynthian switched to its own sound card after V4.2, not sure how good it is.
He actually used this board with Elk OS. More information on how it operates is scarce.
Elk is currently working full time towards their (fantastic!) Aloha OS, so Elk OS’s development has come to a halt. Hopefully they will pick up on that soon. The dev boards have not been produced in quite a while. When they resume production I bet my life they’re going to be at least 30% pricier… Right now an 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 in Italy is selling for ~130 Euros (!!), about 45 more than less than a year ago. Not fun.
Oy, couldn’t wait. Ordered the SY1, figuring I would have some fun for a few months, then sell it on Reverb and trade up to the 200 when it’s out. Thanks for all the advice!
Hello @SillySovietNYC,
So how do you like your SY-1?
I hope You don’t mind I changed your topic title to something more informative and to categorize it under
Using Mod Devices → Setup Questions.
You might change category and title yourself to something more descriptive and/or suitable.
Greetings and God bless, Marius
Sorry for the late reply on this. The SY-1 is fun, but I don’t find myself going back to it. Now that the Dwarf has enough synth capabilities, I’ll be selling the SY-1, as I suspected at the outset.
Can you share a pedal board to replace SY-1?