JN
Good pedal, not without minor issues though
What I like the most about this pedal is its extreme versatility and customisability. Using the Neuro tool (I'd recommend the Windows version, not the mobile) you can edit all the parameters that this pedal uses and the only true difference between this pedal, the L.A. Lady, and the Kingmaker is how such parameters are set. So if you like customisation, you can turn any of those three into either one, which is a very smart design choice in my opinion.
The editable parameters are well explained here: .
There are two ways in which you can save your presets: if you save them on the "green" slots (green LED lit), the pedal will recall all parameters except the ones controlled by the 4 physical knobs, whose position at any moment will dictate the value of those parameters. If you save them on the "red" slots (red LED lit), then all parameters will be recalled as stored, regardless of the current knob position (pretty much like a "full preset"). There are 3 slots for each type of presets, and NOT, as sometime stated, 3 for green and only 1 for red.
This pedal isn't without issues though. As someone else said in another review, it seems that the idea of parameters editing with the Neuro app is excellent in principle, but that they didn't manage to implement it in the best way possible. For example, the default "drive" range goes so high that slightly moving the drive knob would already produce too much distortion. Luckily there is a "max drive" setting, which in my case I had to turn right to zero to gain some finer control when I rotate the knob. I wonder in which conditions such a huge drive range is useable.
The other parameters seem to have been poorly calibrated too. For example, with certain settings, even the lowest drive value possible (0) already yields some heavy distortion effect. Also, even with the "Clean" knob to its highest value, you'll hear some distortion creeping in, if the "drive" knob is high. Isn't the "Clean" knob supposed to work as an "pedal ON"-bypass? Another example: the "Level" knob, which is supposed to compensate for the increase in volume as the drive is pushed high, has a way too low level for when the drive is below 1/4 turn. So if you turn the pedal ON, and your drive is turned up to 1/4 (which as I said it's already a big amount of effect), even with the "Level" way to its peak you will get a noticeable volume drop.
And speaking of bypass, this pedal noticeably lower the volume even when turned OFF. I tried both types of bypass, nothing changes in this respect. So whatever it's doing, it doesn't seem to me it's truly bypassing.
Now for the sound itself: I mainly use this pedal for the Tube Overdrive type of effect, and unfortunately it seems to me it is its weakest area, when compared to Distortion and Fuzz. It turns out it's not easy to chase that warm tube overdrive feeling. It took me a lot of editing and I am only partially satisfied with the results. The pedal in my opinion "colours" the sound way too much even with values set to the minimum.
Despite the few cons that I pointed out, overall I like this pedal enought to give it 4 stars. I like the concept of pedal customisation by app and I appreciate the effort by SourceAudio. I hope they'll improve in the areas I have found to be a bit lacking.
The editable parameters are well explained here: .
There are two ways in which you can save your presets: if you save them on the "green" slots (green LED lit), the pedal will recall all parameters except the ones controlled by the 4 physical knobs, whose position at any moment will dictate the value of those parameters. If you save them on the "red" slots (red LED lit), then all parameters will be recalled as stored, regardless of the current knob position (pretty much like a "full preset"). There are 3 slots for each type of presets, and NOT, as sometime stated, 3 for green and only 1 for red.
This pedal isn't without issues though. As someone else said in another review, it seems that the idea of parameters editing with the Neuro app is excellent in principle, but that they didn't manage to implement it in the best way possible. For example, the default "drive" range goes so high that slightly moving the drive knob would already produce too much distortion. Luckily there is a "max drive" setting, which in my case I had to turn right to zero to gain some finer control when I rotate the knob. I wonder in which conditions such a huge drive range is useable.
The other parameters seem to have been poorly calibrated too. For example, with certain settings, even the lowest drive value possible (0) already yields some heavy distortion effect. Also, even with the "Clean" knob to its highest value, you'll hear some distortion creeping in, if the "drive" knob is high. Isn't the "Clean" knob supposed to work as an "pedal ON"-bypass? Another example: the "Level" knob, which is supposed to compensate for the increase in volume as the drive is pushed high, has a way too low level for when the drive is below 1/4 turn. So if you turn the pedal ON, and your drive is turned up to 1/4 (which as I said it's already a big amount of effect), even with the "Level" way to its peak you will get a noticeable volume drop.
And speaking of bypass, this pedal noticeably lower the volume even when turned OFF. I tried both types of bypass, nothing changes in this respect. So whatever it's doing, it doesn't seem to me it's truly bypassing.
Now for the sound itself: I mainly use this pedal for the Tube Overdrive type of effect, and unfortunately it seems to me it is its weakest area, when compared to Distortion and Fuzz. It turns out it's not easy to chase that warm tube overdrive feeling. It took me a lot of editing and I am only partially satisfied with the results. The pedal in my opinion "colours" the sound way too much even with values set to the minimum.
Despite the few cons that I pointed out, overall I like this pedal enought to give it 4 stars. I like the concept of pedal customisation by app and I appreciate the effort by SourceAudio. I hope they'll improve in the areas I have found to be a bit lacking.
4
0
Report
A
Great!
Source Audio AfterShock Bass Distortion: Great in every aspect. You can choose between 3 distortion settings: Tube, heavy and fuzz. Tube is great for that crunchy vintage tone and sound. Heavy does what it says :D distorts the signal for a heavy tone and sound witch is very nicely controllable with the knobs on the pedal. Fuzz is just really good fuzz.
I personally tend to use the heavy and tube settings the most, since i play metal. And the control you have with the Neuro app... Omg, endless possibilities! The amount of tone tweaking you can do with the app is just insane, and of course if you don't want to tweak the settings you can always use the provided presets or download user created ones in the Neuro app, either way, this pedal has some amazing capabilities with or without the app. Cons: the only con that i could find with this pedal personally is that it can't be powered with a 9V battery, you have to use a power supply witch is nicely provided with the pedal. Overall i am very pleased with the pedal and i am sure it will last me a while. <3
I personally tend to use the heavy and tube settings the most, since i play metal. And the control you have with the Neuro app... Omg, endless possibilities! The amount of tone tweaking you can do with the app is just insane, and of course if you don't want to tweak the settings you can always use the provided presets or download user created ones in the Neuro app, either way, this pedal has some amazing capabilities with or without the app. Cons: the only con that i could find with this pedal personally is that it can't be powered with a 9V battery, you have to use a power supply witch is nicely provided with the pedal. Overall i am very pleased with the pedal and i am sure it will last me a while. <3
4
0
Report
L
One of the most universal Bass Distortions in the market!
I was searching for something like this for a long time
since the music that my band plays requires to jump from one type of distortion to another quite often. An amazing thing
about this pedal in my opinion is it's ability to go from slightly vibrated sound to a complete nuclear blast. I would even suggest
being careful with the drive if you don't have a good bass amplifier, I nearly smoked an Ampeg combo by just fooling around with a few bass chords.
The Neuro App is just something else. The possibilities it reveals are an absolute overkill. And if you are thinking - yeah well, but this thing doesn't have a noise gate,
with changeable threshold, filters, treble & bass boosts, an equalizer etc., just connect this thing to the app. I still have so much to grasp and understand but it is already replacing several other pedals combined!
since the music that my band plays requires to jump from one type of distortion to another quite often. An amazing thing
about this pedal in my opinion is it's ability to go from slightly vibrated sound to a complete nuclear blast. I would even suggest
being careful with the drive if you don't have a good bass amplifier, I nearly smoked an Ampeg combo by just fooling around with a few bass chords.
The Neuro App is just something else. The possibilities it reveals are an absolute overkill. And if you are thinking - yeah well, but this thing doesn't have a noise gate,
with changeable threshold, filters, treble & bass boosts, an equalizer etc., just connect this thing to the app. I still have so much to grasp and understand but it is already replacing several other pedals combined!
2
0
Report
t
The best and most complete effect ever.
I'm just blown away by this amazing effect's possibilities. The double input and output, along with the software, offer countless options. It emulates perfectly well known and celebrated bass distortions and preamps (Darkglass B7K and VMT, BigMuff, and at least 20 others) with the faculty to edit and customize it with the brilliant and user friendly software that comes with it.
With its I/O routing options, you can bi-amp your signal, route it to 2 different divices, process 2 signals, the possibilities are just countless.
This pedal is a really awesome invention from a company, Source Audio, which has definitely gained my attention, and the price is really cheap too, compared to what the pedal can do and to its competitors'!
With its I/O routing options, you can bi-amp your signal, route it to 2 different divices, process 2 signals, the possibilities are just countless.
This pedal is a really awesome invention from a company, Source Audio, which has definitely gained my attention, and the price is really cheap too, compared to what the pedal can do and to its competitors'!
1
0
Report
J
Why is this not an essential pedal on any Bass Board?!?
I always find that Bass distortion is a really tricky effect to pin down as it really comes down to your own personal opinion on what you like the sound of. However the AfterShock Bass Distortion from Source Audio is easily the best sounding Bass Distortion Pedal I have ever had the privilege of playing through! Now for me as I am in an Alternative Prog Rock band distortion and fuzz sounds are incredible important and prior to this pedal I had the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe which had a synth quality to which I am convince that it's not supposed to have! After discovering this pedal from Source Audio though I was enlightened, how can bass distortion sound so good, usually I hate bass distortion because they're so thin but the AfterShock is rounded and full. It is one hell of a beast and would easily beef up anyone's bass board. To top it all off it's such an affordable pedal, I always see people going mad for Darkglass but in my opinion it's the Source Audio AfterShock all the way! It has become my staple and most recognisable sound on my board!
0
0
Report
SA
Very good product.
I use it mainly for tone shaping, and am still learning to use it, but the sound and features are great. A small problem is that you need to purchase more items in order to be able to access its full potential, but right out of the box it sounds good and it is still intuitive and easy to use. I recommend it.
0
0
Report
K
Digital
I knew that this pedal was digital, but it didn't satisfy my ears which are used to analog drive pedals. It provides a lot of tweaks and options through its software, but the settings I tried sounded too artificial to my ears. I know that many people swear by this pedal, but it hasn't really been my favorite so I sold it.
0
0
Report
J
a box full of possibilities
Currently using it as tube/crunch/fuzz-pedal depending on the need.
Pros:
+Oh boy does this device have a lot of options to tinker with.
+The neuro app is pretty easy to grasp
Cons:
-The manual could be written better
Other notes:
This thing can go CRAZY loud. Be careful with the parameters. This thing could probably melt amps.
Pros:
+Oh boy does this device have a lot of options to tinker with.
+The neuro app is pretty easy to grasp
Cons:
-The manual could be written better
Other notes:
This thing can go CRAZY loud. Be careful with the parameters. This thing could probably melt amps.
0
0
Report
R
the most versatile bass drive pedal on the market
I've been using this pedal for a while and it has never disappointed me. endless amount of tone possibilities. I strongly suggest using the Neuro desktop app and both outputs of the pedal to utilize all of its features - 2 parallel drive channels, parametric eq, noise gate etc.
0
0
Report
H
a boutique pedal without wallet pain
this is a great distortion pedal. Not only can it emulate the well know dist/fuzz/ovd pedals you can think of but it goes further by allowing you to mix and eq them any way you like. With so many parameters at your disposal it is impossible that you are not able to find a sound that you like. You can recall up to 3 preset by turning the switch. I wish it had more ways of recalling presets (without hooking it up to a laptop/phone or the neuro hub). The metal construction its sturdy and you can tell it can endure anything. The company is well known for delivering good quality and with this one they certainly keep up with their fame. I do not regret every penny spent on it.
0
0
Report
