Ideas after 1 day of usage

[Tuath]

I just received my Mod Dwarf yesterday ! wow what a device !

I’ve tried the best to configure my perfect pedal board, and though i am close, here are a few ideas:

1 - When using a toggle or something to direct the signal from A to B, would it save some CPU if the Dwarf would automatically detect the plugins that are not in the signal path and power them down logically ?
2 - It would be cool if by changing one value, i could control another value at the same time.(ie Drive goes up, volume goes down). Instead of mapping it to button, you could map it to another action and then use Advanced features to map the relationship.
3 - The Kickstarter campagne had a bunch of plugins that were included because of tiers, or stretch goals, when it’s all done, it would be nice if the dwarf magically said that a bunch of new plugins were available (i believe some are still in beta, or not yet present).
4 - Quick guidance on how to assemble a pedal board would be nice. i.e. is it better to use a toggle to route to one of 4 reverbs or is it better to put all the reverbs active at once and use the on-off switch to control which one is active, is there an effect on CPU ?
5 - Things like toggles should have more than 4 options, maybe it’s selectable ?
6 - I would like a bit more guidance on some of the plugins, especially the LP3 Looper.
7 - It looks great but after 30 minutes of playing with it, i found it hard to find the best way to map it (for me) to the knobs and buttons. The track-part button seems to work odly. I’ve mapped the quick Loop button (record-dub-play-stop-erase) button, but am not sure if the text for the button is the next action if i tap, or the mode i am currently in. Also, there seems to be integration with the 3 LEDS (i.e. when recording) - not sure how that works yet. I guess maybe a series of new leds for the next Dwarf that are assignable from the plugins so that different statuses can be shown (i.e. looper recording, dubbing, playing).
8 - Wifi should be built in Maybe the Mod Dwarf 2
9 - When off, it would be nice to be in bypass mode
10 - Advanced management of assignments… i.e. move everything from page 2 to page 3. replace assignment on button C without having to unassign it first. Maybe a tooltip saying the current assignment so i can more easily try to group thing together.
11 - If there was a plugin that existed where i could send my stream to the internet and receive a stream from the internet - this would become my guitar teacher’s new tool. Maybe the Control Chain ethernet port could connect to my ethernet port to remove the wifi latency part. As long as this is better than using skype or teams or zoom for the course, this would be a killer feature for me. (i.e. http://ELK.AUDIO)

12 - Good JOB !!! this i an awesome device.

[Tuath]

For the LP3 Looper, just found the documentation the explains a lot…

[RashDecisionAudio]

@Tuath

2 - It would be cool if by changing one value, i could control another value at the same time.(ie Drive goes up, volume goes down). Instead of mapping it to button, you could map it to another action and then use Advanced features to map the relationship.

You can use CV Parameter Modulation to do some of this.

[Simon]

@Tuath

11 - If there was a plugin that existed where i could send my stream to the internet and receive a stream from the internet - this would become my guitar teacher’s new tool. Maybe the Control Chain ethernet port could connect to my ethernet port to remove the wifi latency part. As long as this is better than using skype or teams or zoom for the course, this would be a killer feature for me. (i.e. http://ELK.AUDIO)

You should look into JamKazam, Sonobus and Jamulus. These are online realtime jammin’ services. All you need is an audio interface (which I guess you already own) to plug your guitar/instrument and a microphone and your computer (Mac or Windows). JamKazam supports video directly.

[QuestionMarc]

@Tuath

If there was a plugin that existed where i could send my stream to the internet and receive a stream from the internet

You may use Elk’s own Aloha service. They now have a crowdfunding open for their connection box, but it’s almost as expensive as the Dwarf.

Adding that ability to the Dwarf doesn’t make much sense. Other than add 300 Euro to its price, it’s not something commonly desired or expected from an effects box or even an audio interface. That is another layer of service, and as @Simon above notes, there are plenty such services already in the market. I’ve tried Jamulus and it works quite well.

(Aloha OS seems to be the fastest overall, though.)

[Tuath]

Good idea ! i’ll check it out !

[Tuath]

Thanks @Simona and @QuestionMarc,

you are right that the Dwarf was not built for streaming in mind, but since it is operating sooo close to signal chain, i just thought it could be a good idea. ELK already offers their plugin in VST3 format for incorporation in other tools. It also opens up a bunch of specific features (i.e. my guitar teacher record a loop on his Dwarf which gets sent to mine automatically).

I’ll try these other options out, see where i get to. Thanks !

[jon]

Wow what a nice documentation of the first interaction! Thanks for the praises as well!
I will go over your points one-by-one:

@Tuath

1 - When using a toggle or something to direct the signal from A to B, would it save some CPU if the Dwarf would automatically detect the plugins that are not in the signal path and power them down logically ?

This makes some sense. Some times may not be a lot of CPU saving, but I guess that it may be useful. Even I tend to use this. I will save it as a request.

@Tuath

2 - It would be cool if by changing one value, i could control another value at the same time.(ie Drive goes up, volume goes down). Instead of mapping it to button, you could map it to another action and then use Advanced features to map the relationship.

This is already possible. Check out the CV plugins. Perhaps, start here

@Tuath

3 - The Kickstarter campagne had a bunch of plugins that were included because of tiers, or stretch goals, when it’s all done, it would be nice if the dwarf magically said that a bunch of new plugins were available (i believe some are still in beta, or not yet present).

When they are licensed you will have a popup notification saying that X amount of plugins was licensed. Just like you have when a new update is available.

@Tuath

4 - Quick guidance on how to assemble a pedal board would be nice. i.e. is it better to use a toggle to route to one of 4 reverbs or is it better to put all the reverbs active at once and use the on-off switch to control which one is active, is there an effect on CPU ?

This is actually something that we have been wondering how to do for quite a while. I will also add it to our request list although is more about content than features.

@Tuath

5 - Things like toggles should have more than 4 options, maybe it’s selectable ?

You can always add multiple ones. Wouldn’t that solve your issue?

@Tuath

6 - I would like a bit more guidance on some of the plugins, especially the LP3 Looper.

Looperlative brought as well the Plugin Documentation on the WebGUI because we felt the same. More content about it is in the making.

@Tuath

7 - It looks great but after 30 minutes of playing with it, i found it hard to find the best way to map it (for me) to the knobs and buttons. The track-part button seems to work odly. I’ve mapped the quick Loop button (record-dub-play-stop-erase) button, but am not sure if the text for the button is the next action if i tap, or the mode i am currently in. Also, there seems to be integration with the 3 LEDS (i.e. when recording) - not sure how that works yet. I guess maybe a series of new leds for the next Dwarf that are assignable from the plugins so that different statuses can be shown (i.e. looper recording, dubbing, playing).

I guess that here you mean after 30min playing with the Looperlative, right?

@Tuath

8 - Wifi should be built in Maybe the Mod Dwarf 2

To access the WebGUI? There’s an experimental feature where you can use a Wifi dongle just like a Bluetooth dongle. I don’t see a benefit having it built-in since it would increase quite a lot of the costs with licensing and certifications - when you can skip that by using a third-party dongle.

@Tuath

9 - When off, it would be nice to be in bypass mode

This is also hard since the device just works because the signal crosses the codec and it’s converted from analog to digital. Something like this would require a Hardware Bypass relay (which we have on the MOD Duo and DuoX and raises other types of issues).

@Tuath

10 - Advanced management of assignments… i.e. move everything from page 2 to page 3. replace assignment on button C without having to unassign it first. Maybe a tooltip saying the current assignment so i can more easily try to group thing together.

This is being quite requested and it makes a lot of sense. Maybe something to consider on an eventual sprint of “assignments system”.

@Tuath

11 - If there was a plugin that existed where i could send my stream to the internet and receive a stream from the internet - this would become my guitar teacher’s new tool. Maybe the Control Chain ethernet port could connect to my ethernet port to remove the wifi latency part. As long as this is better than using skype or teams or zoom for the course, this would be a killer feature for me. (i.e. http://ELK.AUDIO )

A great idea and something that we are exploring. The problem here is with latency. Even that on the Elk Audio is not so optimal.
Using the Control Chain as ethernet is not possible, that is only an up use of the port and in nothing, the circuit is related with an ethernet port. Gentle heads up: please don’t connect any ethernet device there since that can damage the MOD Dwarf or the device!

@Tuath

12 - Good JOB !!! this i an awesome device.

Thank you so much and thank you for such useful and detailed feedback Please keep it up

[cbix]

1 - When using a toggle or something to direct the signal from A to B, would it save some CPU if the Dwarf would automatically detect the plugins that are not in the signal path and power them down logically ?

The problem is this would mean that a plugin is bypassed as soon as it’s not directly in the in → out signal path. You might already achieve this by some utility/CV control plugins (so one switch toggles multiple plugins). But I’m actually using switchboxes sometimes to avoid bypassing a plugin, for example I have a long reverb/delay that I want to “disable” after a while but still hear the tail for a bit.

[Tuath]

@jon

@Tuath

4 - Quick guidance on how to assemble a pedal board would be nice. i.e. is it better to use a toggle to route to one of 4 reverbs or is it better to put all the reverbs active at once and use the on-off switch to control which one is active, is there an effect on CPU ?

This is actually something that we have been wondering how to do for quite a while. I will also add it to our request list although is more about content than features.

After using the device for a month, i feel a diagram would be nice that shows on the left:
input, input gain (as per settings), analog to digital, pedal board stuff, output gain (as per settings), digital to analog, output.

Why is there always a default gain pedal at the end of a new pedal board ?

An explanation of gains and volumes would be nice… Some simple pedal boards can quickly have a few knobs that look like gain, level, volume… If the gain is zero does that mean that the signal is not amplified (in the digital realm) at that point ? If the volume of a plugin is zero does that mean it outputs no sound? Does Level mean that if it is negative it decreases the sound level and positive it increases it ?

A clear diagram of this would be helpful (to me). With so many things that can amplify my signal, i do admit that i am sometimes scarred that I can bust my amp (plugging the Dwarf in the “power amp in” on my Kantana MK2 100w". Is there a plugin that can ensure that if i put at the end of my pedal board it will never send out a signal that can bust my amp ? Is there some protection built into the Dwarf ?

p.s. my kid was playing with the interface and created a pedal board (my amp was off) that took the output signal of a tube screamer plugin and sent it back into it`s input AND to the output of the pedal board. That sounds scary to me… Should i have concerns about this ?

Thanks - great product - found a few great sounds ! looking for more - my teacher has challenged me to make a pedal board for every song we practice…

[jon]

@Tuath

After using the device for a month, i feel a diagram would be nice that shows on the left:
input, input gain (as per settings), analog to digital, pedal board stuff, output gain (as per settings), digital to analog, output.

I’m not sure if I totally understood it. Do you mean a diagram somewhere on the WebGUI or on the documentation (wiki for instance)?

@Tuath

Is there a plugin that can ensure that if i put at the end of my pedal board it will never send out a signal that can bust my amp ? Is there some protection built into the Dwarf ?

You can do this in multiple ways, I believe. Either by using the output gain (perhaps use the User Profiles in order to have one profile for standalone and another for the time that you connect it to the amp. Another option is by using the system compressor (that you can find on the device settings). Other option is to use a compressor or some sort of mastering tool like the RMPro.

@Tuath

my kid was playing with the interface and created a pedal board (my amp was off) that took the output signal of a tube screamer plugin and sent it back into it`s input AND to the output of the pedal board. That sounds scary to me… Should i have concerns about this ?

Not really. That is the beauty of the versatility and the infinite routing available on the platform. It will not behave as if you were doing the same in the real world.

@Tuath

Thanks - great product - found a few great sounds ! looking for more - my teacher has challenged me to make a pedal board for every song we practice…

Thank you for the nice words. Personally, I feel that your teachers’ suggestion is a nice one. I tend to have a similar workflow. I feel that it allows me to keep my sound for each song “fresh”