Red Panda Tensor

[D.o.S.]

The artifacts it produces are quite annoying. Manual blames the time stretch if set too far. That's pretty dumb. It's not musical and makes the time stretch not usable.

I'd like to circle back to this because as someone who does a lot of time stretching through various platforms, I didn't hear anything that wasn't expected from the effect during the walkthrough video. Any chance anyone can timestamp me a specific point or provide more clips?

My post a few down from the one you quoted has specific timestamps for that video.

Oooh, yeah, ok. Sorry I missed the second half of that page 'cause I was quoting you.

Rewatching the video, that is some rough digital noise, for sure. I would assume there's going to be a firmware update that shortens the range to the musical bits. (When I made the initial post I was a definitely on the "lol who complains about aliasing in a time stretch effect" but that just sounds like shit).

[Jwar]

I think the pedal is great. Perfect? nah. But great. Fucking nerds.

[Jwar]

How the fuck do you share Instagram videos?

[comesect2.0]

instantaneously

[UglyCasanova]

How the fuck do you share Instagram videos?

I don't think you can embed it, but you can just link to it.

[voerking]

I think the pedal is great. Perfect? nah. But great. Fucking nerds.

this reminds me of my beloved early (two toggle switch) Count to 5. the newer ones "fix" a bunch of things i love about it.

[zoooombiex]

ha! yeah, i probably sound overcritical, but I am really enjoying this thing. just trying to clarify some of the issues noted.

and on that note, maybe my biggest gripe with the tensor from a live/functional perspective is the same as with the particle - the mix knob. red panda really needs to change the taper on their mix knobs. by the time the wet signal is getting loud, the dry signal is notably quieter. They either need to switch to a wet volume + dry kill switch, or change the taper so the dry stays at 100% until the very end of the pot sweep like neunaber, chase bliss, etc. Otherwise, you string a couple pedals like this together and before you know it your dry signal is totally buried.

[Jwar]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfT8v3dAxBL ... ashdesigns

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfUDS0pA83f ... ashdesigns

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfUEsOqgPDV ... ashdesigns

[comesect2.0]

Never had that problem with my particle..mix knob was my favorite part and was seemless...I got my own gripes with the particle but that's just ears...that pedal was fun.

[Jwar]

Played again tonight for about 30 minutes with looping. At first it was marvelous, then I kept messing with it and it had all kinds of noisy artifacts in the loops. Making them unstable and sound awful (plus enormously loud, trailing off loops). Decided to power cycle the pedal and noted the bypassed signal was extremely weak when the pedal has no surplus. I wouldn’t have not thought there would be any bypassing of the signal because it’s digital, so not true bypass??? Weird as fuck. Plug it back in, some the noise went away but not all of. It was clicks, crackles...etc. I shut down and walked away. Super annoyed right now. It killed my groove completely.

[zoooombiex]

Played again tonight for about 30 minutes with looping. At first it was marvelous, then I kept messing with it and it had all kinds of noisy artifacts in the loops. Making them unstable and sound awful (plus enormously loud, trailing off loops). Decided to power cycle the pedal and noted the bypassed signal was extremely weak when the pedal has no surplus. I wouldn’t have not thought there would be any bypassing of the signal because it’s digital, so not true bypass??? Weird as fuck. Plug it back in, some the noise went away but not all of. It was clicks, crackles...etc. I shut down and walked away. Super annoyed right now. It killed my groove completely.

Can you do a video of the noises you are getting? Do they sound different than the ones I described earlier?

Edit: based on some further investigation, there are two main settings that cause the staticky artifacts noted above:

(1) time compression set above 3:00 + hold set to overwrite (other setting irrelevant)

(2) random knob set above 9:00 + hold set to overwrite + any time compression or time stretching (i.e. time set anywhere oher than 12:00)

Interestingly, these are both dependent on the hold switch being in "overwrite" mode. If you flip that switch to "rec" or "next" the static instantly disappears. Flip it back to "overwrite" and the static reappears.

This doesn't impact the ticking noise at the loop seam. But the random knob will accentuate that issue because it means the loop is restarting more frequently.

Also, the loop seam appears to be specifically related to overwriting something that crosses the seam. So the first loop you record (regardless of the hold mode) seems fine. Even if you hold down the hold button for the full 4.8 seconds and record something that lasts from the very start to the very end (eg a drone) the seam is pretty clean (just a tiny low frequency blip that I don't find very objectionable, though it would obviously be better if it were totally seamless). However if you overdub something that crosses the seam, then you get a much more intrusive and high pitched click at the seam. That definitely needs to be fixed IMO.

Also, a tick can appear right as you press or release hold. But it only happens in certain settings and (usually) only if there is a note sounding as you press or release hold. And only when recording a fresh loop - if a loop is already going when you press hold it won't tick when pressing or releasing the hold button. The actual ticking sound for this issue is the same as the tick you get when overdubbing across the seam, but this tick is just a one-off real-time tick that doesn't get printed to the loop.

I started a long list of settings that do this, but too much hassle for a phone post. But as an example, put the pedal in bypass, overwrite mode, play something sustained, and press hold - there is an audible tick as you press and release hold, but that tick won't repeat with the loop.

[taco satori]

Decided to power cycle the pedal and noted the bypassed signal was extremely weak when the pedal has no surplus. I wouldn’t have not thought there would be any bypassing of the signal because it’s digital, so not true bypass??? Weird as fuck.

I can’t speak to the other stuff you’re experiencing, and I don’t think I even fully understand this sentence, but as to the bypass: I’m almost positive Tensor isn’t true bypass. RP states the pedal is “constantly listening,” meaning signal is constantly passing thru its circuitry (like an EHX Freeze a.o.)

[Jwar]

I don't know if I understand my sentences either. lol

@Zoom your thoughts probably cover it but I didn't notice much difference in setting changes. It seems like noise regardless of where the settings were until I power cycled it. It still had some noise, but not a lot.

[shikawkee]

My second Tensor arrives tomorrow. I embrace the "eccentricities" of this pedal though I understand for some that stuff could be a deal breaker. New (good and extensive I hope) demo next week when I can play again.

[adamajah]

My second Tensor arrives tomorrow. I embrace the "eccentricities" of this pedal though I understand for some that stuff could be a deal breaker. New (good and extensive I hope) demo next week when I can play again.

What was wrong with the first one?