NPD: Hologram Infinite Jets . . .

[Winston Psmith]

I've been wanting one of these since they first came out, but the only way to even try one was to order it direct. Recently, one showed up at my FLUMS, and I'd been watching the listing on Reverb for a while, wondering why no one else had grabbed it? The other night, I showed my wife the Knobs demo video, and she simply said, "Go get it!"

 

Where to begin with this thing?

 

First off, two big reveals: One, there is no such thing as a "ReSynthesizer"? You probably knew that, but anyhow . . .

 

Two: The Infinite Jets DOES NOT process your Dry (direct) input signal. If you look closely at many of the demo videos, very often you'll see that the DRY knob is dialed all the way back. Turn the DRY knob all the way up, and you'll hear your original, unprocessed Guitar sound, mixed with whatever the Infinite Jets is doing at the moment. Even the DRIVE knob only adds Drive to your Sampled sound, NOT your Guitar.

 

So, what is it doing, if it's not processing your Guitar sound? It's a 2-Channel (A & B) Sampler, with a serious DSP processing the Samples. It "captures" what you're playing as a Sample, and runs that through the DSP. The "Voices", as the IJ calls its different modes, are essentially different types of Effects Processing, applied to the Samples.

 

Think in terms of recording a Chord, Note, or Musical Phrase into a Delay pedal, a Looper, or a Sampler, then playing it back through different Effects Processors; that's what the Infinite Jets does.

 

BLUR is a set of Octave effects, with Delay & Feedback for a kind of smeared, pitch-shifted Guitar Pad effect.

 

SYNTH is a pair of Filter effects; there's no internal Oscillator to act as a Synth engine.

 

GLITCH is very much like a Granular Delay, capturing Samples of your signal, then chopping them up and playing them back.

 

SWELL is a Swell/Slow Gear-like effect, but again, it's only applied to the Samples.

 

The Envelope & LFO controls are very much like what you would find on a Synth. The Envelope Shapes determine the contours of your Sampled sounds, as they're played back. Even if you're not familiar with Synth Envelopes, you can get a good idea of how they behave just by looking at them. The Envelope Time control determines the playback/sustain length of your Sampled sound up to Infinite Sustain. Turn this knob too far Counter-Clockwise, and you may cut off your Sample playback altogether, depending on the Envelope Shape and the Voice you've chosen.

 

Dimension controls different parameters of each Voice; think of it as a "More" knob, overall.

 

The LFO controls add Modulation effects, for the most part, although how it interacts with your Samples will depend greatly on the Voice you've chosen. Envelope Shape once again controls the LFO Waveform, and again, you can guess at how they'll behave by looking at them. LFO Frequency is your Rate/Speed control, and the Dimension knob acts as your LFO Depth control.

 

The Manual is very well laid-out, with generous illustrations. It's also one of the very few gear Manuals I've had to sit down and read thoroughly before even powering up the device.

 

If you've gotten this far, here's the one big issue with the Infinite Jets; it really wants to be first in line. You almost have to treat it as an Instrument unto itself. One thing I'm considering is using a Splitter box, or aS/R loop with the IJ in its own channel.

 

It's extremely sensitive to playing dynamics in order to track and Auto-sample your playing, which means you have to "calibrate" the IJ to track your playing when you first use it, and you will have to re-calibrate it any time you want switch Guitars, or do anything that changes your the levee or Gain structure of your input signal. Sending other effects into the IJ is tricky, especially if you want to be able to turn them On and Off while the IJ is running. A lot of experimentation, and likely some degree of compromise is required.

 

OTOH, run the IJ into your favorite Stereo Delay, or other Ambient effects, and you may never leave the house again.

 

There's MUCH more to this thing, so if anyone is really curious about using it, PM me. I'm not going anywhere for a while . . .

[desertbluesman]

Cool review amigo. Have tons of fun with that new gear.

[Dannyalcatraz]

WOOT!

 

You, sir, are living my dream! Like you, I"ve been wanting an IJ since I saw the first demo. Great score! (And a nice review of what it does, too.)

[Larryz]

Nirvana...You have arrived Winston! Hope we still hear from you now and then LoL! Have fun!

 

 

ps. keep us posted on that S/R loop idea...

[p90jr]

Well, there's another $350 I have to part with eventually... Thanks a lot, Winston!

 

Enjoy it, man... very, very, very cool!!!

[Caevan O’Shite]

I've been wanting one of these since they first came out, but the only way to even try one was to order it direct. Recently, one showed up at my FLUMS, and I'd been watching the listing on Reverb for a while, wondering why no one else had grabbed it? The other night, I showed my wife the Knobs demo video, and she simply said, "Go get it!"

 

Once more, she proves herself a gem!

 

Dimension controls different parameters of each Voice; think of it as a "More" knob, overall.

 

I love a good "MORE!" knob!

 

 

The Manual is very well laid-out, with generous illustrations.

 

Good! It'd better be- it'd hafta be!

 

It's also one of the very few gear Manuals I've had to sit down and read thoroughly before even powering up the device.

 

It's understandable. That is, that it isn't understandable, or, at least, it isn't immediately, readily and fully understandable. And that, understandably, you might need to at least cursorily peruse the Manual for it to be to better understandable, grokked, and grooved with. Picts and caves understandably not necessarily required. But I digress. You understand.

 

If you've gotten this far, here's-

 

"MORE!" Oh, sorry, I got carried away...

 

...the one big issue with the Infinite Jets; it really wants to be first in line. You almost have to treat it as an Instrument unto itself. One thing I'm considering is using a Splitter box, or aS/R loop with the IJ in its own channel.

 

Yeah, I was thinkin', somethin' along the lines of an Electro-Harmonix Tri Parallel Mixer and/or Fulltone True-Path A/B/Y or the likes...

 

It's extremely sensitive to playing dynamics in order to track and Auto-sample your playing, which means you have to "calibrate" the IJ to track your playing when you first use it, and you will have to re-calibrate it any time you want switch Guitars, or do anything that changes your the levee or Gain structure of your input signal. Sending other effects into the IJ is tricky, especially if you want to be able to turn them On and Off while the IJ is running. A lot of experimentation, and likely some degree of compromise is required.

 

...my Sustainiac Acoustic Feedback generator in parallel, too, for classic harmonic-overtone feedback; that is, the electronic signal-path would be completely parallel, yet the induced feedback and intervallic overtones would be EVERYWHERE- including sent to the Infinite Jets. "MORE!"

 

...all followed by a cool panning delay, or, say, my El Capistan, set for stereo TRS input, fed by one or another panning device connected after the Infinite Jets...

 

run the IJ into your favorite Stereo Delay, or other Ambient effects, and you may never leave the house again.

 

Exactly! See above (and Left, and Right, and... ).

 

Feed it into a functioning Lexicon Vortex and you may never re-enter this dimension again...

 

...I'm not going anywhere for a while . . .

 

Understandably.

 

En~Joy!

 

 

.

 

Oh- and I liked this guy's review and demonstration of the Infinite Jets:

 

[video:youtube]

[Winston Psmith]

I'm back . . .

 

Here are a few updates on my experiments with the Infinite Jets, for anyone who's still thinking of getting one.

 

First off, RTFM! Yes, really. I'm used to getting a new Synth or MFX, looking at the front panel and diving in; not with the IJ. It is possibly the most intriguing device I've brought home since my Semi-Modular Synth. The Manual, like many Analog Synth Manuals, has a recommended Starting Setting, which will give you your first inkling of what it does, and how it works. Even then, it's obvious this thing gets deeper than the front panel suggests.

 

Next, about Calibration. Your instinct may be to play as loud as hard as possible to calibrate the IJ. I don't recommend it, unless you only want the IJ to Sample and Trigger when you're playing at blast level. Plug in, power up, and play some soft clean tones to start with. You can always re-set it, if you're not getting the response you want or expect.

 

After trying it in the S/R Loop of my GT-10, I can say that the IJ is much happier, and more responsive, going directly into the Input jack on my MFX, rather than being placed in the S/R Loop, no matter where I moved the S/R Loop in the signal chain. I suspect that the A/D converters in the MFX are part of the issue, which means it may also be possible to find a happy medium, with further effort. Next is to try it in the S/R Loop of my Laney Amp.

 

Noise Gates & Noise Suppressors are NOT your friends when using the Infinite Jets. You'll either have to dial them back or turn them off altogether. It is possible to change the Output Volume of the IJ, but because the different Voice Modes and Envelope Shapes will also influence the overall threshold level, there isn't likely to be a One-Setting-Fits-All solution.

 

After experimenting with the Drive knob, trying different settings of both knobs yielded somewhat ambiguous results: it was difficult to determine if the Drive was processing the Dry signal, or simply overpowering it, but I suspect the latter. Be forewarned, a little Drive (very little) goes a long way, in terms of how it affects your sampled sounds.

 

The A&B switches offer a great deal of influence as to how you capture and trigger Samples, depending on a variety of parameters, including Latch, Unlatch, and Toggle modes for the switches themselves. You can even get the IJ to behave more or less like a traditional desktop Sampler, pressing a switch once to capture and play a Sample, then again to clear it.

 

As to the eternal question of "Who's On First?", my inclination would still be to place the IJ at or near the front of my signal chain. If you have a Compressor or a Boost/Transparent OD that you use as an Always-On effect, I would place the IJ right after it. Envelope Filters or Auto-Wah effects will require some experimenting, possibly compromise, but I would recommend placing Crybaby-style Wah-Wah pedals after the IJ.

 

OD/Distortion placement will vary greatly with how you use them in the signal chain; you may have your Low-Gain OD right before the IJ, and a High-Gain Distortion or Fuzz right after it, because each will contour your signal slightly differently, depending on the degree of signal-clipping involved.

 

You should know that the Dimension setting can be controlled or driven by Envelope Dynamics, like an Auto-Wah/Envelope Filter, which is another argument for keeping the IJ close to your Guitar in the signal chain. The Dimension settings add a great deal of depth to the different Voice Modes, so dynamic control is a very cool addition!

 

Overall, the IJ sounds great going through most Mod or Delay effects, even more so in Stereo.

 

The main thing is to feed the IJ a steady level to Sample and Trigger. If it's happy at the end of your signal chain, and giving you the sound you want, all well and good.

 

Maybe not the last word on the subject, but a major consideration for anyone who might buy one: the Infinite Jets is primarily an Ambient effect. More than a Synth pedal, more than any other pedal I've used, really, it will influence, even determine how you play, in order to get the most out of it. It may help to think of it as a sort of robotic accompanist, like a Sequencer, or EQD's Arpanoid, a device that plays by its own internal rules.