The Soundblox Hub Manager is finally available for download on the Source Audio website. The Hub Manager is a free companion software application for the Soundblox Hub v1. The Soundblox Hub and Hub Manager introduce our exciting new concept of "smart" effects pedal boards. Together they bring the professional sophistication and control to the effect rigs of guitar and bass players of all levels. "High-end effects touring rigs are expensive and complicated," says Source Audio founder, Roger Smith. "The Hub and Hub Manager make it easy for musicians to achieve a professional level of power and control over their effects pedal collections without the expense and complexity."
The Soundblox Hub, originally released in October of 2013, provides the flexibility and power of a complex multi-effects unit with the simplicity of individual stompboxes. The Hub is a compact unit that connects with up to five of Source Audio's Soundblox 2 pedals, unlocking their MIDI capabilities and uniting them into a powerful multi-effects processor and switching system. The Hub allows users to save the on/off states, knob positions, and external control assignments of each connected pedal to create up to 128 unique multi-pedal presets (or "scenes"). Simply dial in a sound with the pedals, then save the state of the entire pedal board with a single button press on the Hub. Scenes can then be recalled with any external MIDI foot-switcher or device that sends MIDI Program Change messages.
The Hub Manager is the perfect companion software application for the Soundblox Hub. It offers an extremely intuitive interface and easy-to-understand graphic display. With the Hub Manager, users can create and edit scenes, name them, export/import scene files, and share them with other Hub owners. The graphics make it refreshingly simple to understand the components of each pedal board scene - simply click a pedal image to reveal a straightforward graphic display of that pedal's knob settings and external control assignments. The Hub connects to all Windows or Mac computers with a standard USB cable.
The Hub Manager's Software Interface The Hub Manager's individual pedal settings graphic with adjustable knobs and other editing options
The Hub and Hub Manager also take full advantage of Source Audio's digital approach to effects processing. Unlike traditional stompboxes, Soundblox 2 pedals are a constantly evolving technology. Through software and firmware updates, Source Audio has the power to periodically update and improve products already released to the market. Source Audio regularly posts the latest firmware updates to their website - the Hub Manager gives users the ability to easily download and organize new firmware updates, ensuring that their existing pedals will never become outdated.
In addition, the Soundblox Hub, with its USB, 5-pin MIDI, and Multi-Function ports, provides many tremendous opportunities for future Source Audio products. Currently, Source Audio is developing a flexible and highly configurable MIDI foot controller as well as a dedicated effects loop add-on device that will make it possible to integrate any non-Source Audio effects pedal into the Soundblox Hub's scene saving and effect switching system.
Check out our in-depth tutorial on how the Soundblox Hub, The Hub Manager, and Soundblox 2 pedals all work together.
JEFFREY MCALACK
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