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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:29 pm
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Hey Johnny,

Got any pictures to share on your trip to DC??

I'd love to see it sometime!


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Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:31 am
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Hi Ebm & everybody,

Sorry I don't have pictures share, I didn't have a camera. I decided on Friday, on a whim, to go see these historic sites. Sure glad i did take the time.

Ciao,
Johnny.


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Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:10 am
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This is my review of The Cyber Commander SE software from General Cyber Systems.

If you don’t like reading, the short answer is, it’s great!
If you want more, read on.

My goal here is to give a fair and accurate review of my experience with this software. That is a bit difficult because I like it so well. But here goes.

The Cyber Commander SE is the software that is made by General Cyber Systems to control a Fender Cyber-Twin SE. If you have the original Cyber-Twin, they have another software package for it.

This is my opinion, and impressions, of the Cyber Commander SE after a couple of days of learning, and getting acquainted with the software interface and using it.

Dealing with the company was painless. They were quick to get my registration and authorization codes to me. Installation on my computer went without a hitch of any kind. There was a warning about pasting in the codes to NOT have any leading or trailing spaces when you do the copy. I just followed the instructions and all went well.

After installing the Cyber Commander SE, or CC, the next step was to get my midi interface going. The problems I had with it and the operating system on my computer had nothing to do with the CC. The problems I had, related to getting ANY midi device to operate with Windows xp Media Center Edition, and to getting the latest driver for my old original M-Audio Midiman UNO 1X1 interface.

I won’t go into all that right now. The only reason I mentioned it was because it hindered getting the software to connect with the CT SE. For any one that has the Media Center Edition, or has the midiman UNO, just be aware that there are cures and remedies for the situation already.

Now, on to the software, and what I found.

One of the first things to do is a loop back test for the midi interface. A good solution that I found for the double female connection needed, is a 5-pin coupler from Radio Shack. It was only $3.99 and was available at our local store, so there was no waiting for an order to get here. If you’re curious like me, and decide to do a continuity check on the coupler, keep in mind to check pin 1 to pin 1, etc – and not the pin holes straight across from each other.

After getting a stable midi connection, I found that I had a LOT of information there on one screen. The designers of this software were able to get all the different settings for the preset on that one screen, and without being cluttered.

One thing I noticed right off, that I thought was pretty neat was - The preset that came up was the one I assigned to button "1" of the 4 "Quick Access" buttons on the amp, which happened to be preset # 7 in the players lounge, instead of just the first preset in the players lounge or the custom shop.

You can access ALL the other presets by going to the “Amplifier Presets” box that is just under the section that looks like the amp control knobs, with the preset name and the blue jewel light. They have even managed to include a section for the Fender Cyber Foot Controller too, if you have one of those.

A plus with CC is that you can go to ANY preset, or ANY amp, in your CT SE with only two or three clicks of the mouse. Which in my way of thinking is a very real improvement over reaching down to the big knob and turning, and turning, and turning, until you finally get to the place you want.

Whether it’s two or three clicks is depending on if you change from the section of presets you are currently in to another. Example: Say your working with a preset in the players lounge and want to pull up another preset in the players lounge, that’s a two click operation. Or say you are working with that same preset in the players lounge, and you want to pull up a new amp to build a new preset from, that’s a three click operation because your first click is to change to the amp section. And the change to the next preset you select is really fast, at least on my setup now, after doing the “fix” on Windows Media Center Edition.

As you probably already know, one of the main features about this software is the ability to SAVE your custom presets to your computer. This is not only good for sharing presets with others, but also for your own use should the chip in your CT SE ever fail. If it fails, you lose all your custom presets, or so I’ve been told and read in posts. I hope that I never have to find out for myself.

The only thing I could find that would be negative, in any way, about the CC had to do with the “values” of the length of time with the tape echo effect. The length, or time of the echo, I wanted to set was 460. And I could only get either 455 or 465 on the CC, and not the 460. I know, this is a really minor issue, and it’s easy enough to reach over and tweak the CT SE’s big knob to “460”, but I fired off an email with a question about it anyway.

The fast response I got was this; (John I hope you don’t mind the copy and paste from your email, and me correcting a typo (a double word))
The value setting is a digital resolution issue (usually 8 bits) that we cannot compensate. Please note the SE has been designed with a specific digital resolution, Cyber Commander mimics exactly whatever the SE was designed to. The lack of resolution is what you are are seeing. However, in listening tests, it's almost impossible to tell there is discrete jump from level to the next.

After listening to the amp again, I would have to agree. It’s almost impossible, for me, to tell the difference between “460” and “455” or “465”. And, again, if it is a problem with your setting, it’s easy enough to tweak the “big knob”

All in all – a very good program, in my opinion, for us Cyber Twin SE owners. From just my observations and experience with it, I highly recommend it. And John at General Cyber Systems has given good support.

I forgot to mention there is a very good manual included. Which I should have read first, but I couldn’t wait to get into the software. It explained many of my questions.

To sum up;

Well let's see; The learning curve is short. It's pretty intuitive. (and that's coming from an old dumb guy, or so my kids say) It covers every setting on the whole amp, all 250 presets, all on one screen - without being cluttered. And, when the computer and midi are running right, the CC is VERY FAST!

Very Nice! If I had it to do over again, I would definitely buy it again.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:36 am
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Hey Johnny
Lots of success & Good luck to you with sales !


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:46 am
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Wow!

Thank you very, very much for your time and effort in doing this review.

Kindest Regards,
John.


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Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:51 am
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The prospect of having this sort of control over the Cyber Twin is really exciting! I can't wait to get my own copy of the software.

And man, am I ever glad I got my Foot Controller a couple of months back! It seems totally counter-intuitive that they would discontinue it.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:02 am
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pantagruel wrote:
The prospect of having this sort of control over the Cyber Twin is really exciting! I can't wait to get my own copy of the software.

And man, am I ever glad I got my Foot Controller a couple of months back! It seems totally counter-intuitive that they would discontinue it.


+1

If Fender shot themselves in the foot and discontinued their foot controller,
There is always this one.

http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-FCB1010-MIDI-Footcontroller-?sku=182469

I've got one and it does work - but with some programing.
I have no idea if the Cyber Commander will see and work with the Behringer FCB1010 though.

If not, I found the information for programing mine on the internet.
I found it years ago by searching for either cyber twin and fcb1010, or fcb1010 abd cyber twin. Maybe it's still out there somewhere.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:41 am
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I sold my footcontroller a year ago. I didn't use it.
What I would like to get is a working volume/expression pedal for the CT SE.
Didn't find one that would sure work with the CT SE till now.

If anyone knows a good one ?


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Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:33 pm
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HalfBlindLefty wrote:
I sold my footcontroller a year ago. I didn't use it.
What I would like to get is a working volume/expression pedal for the CT SE.
Didn't find one that would sure work with the CT SE till now.

If anyone knows a good one ?


I have a older Ernie Ball mono volume pedal that works really well.

_________________
Tony Houston

Image


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:41 pm
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Thanks ,

I'll look and see if I can find one for sale somewhere, who knows :)

btw : I have been havin' lots of fun with a jazzy-ish tune.
It's on my normal site, if you want to, please see what you think of this funny jam.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:02 pm
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The Cyber Foot Controller is very useful for rapid tone switch. No other foot controller quite matches the Cyber Twin. You get two pedals (one dedicated to volume, one assignable to an effect) and it's built like a tank. My only complaint was the way the power connector connected - could have been better.

When combined with Cyber Commander, the foot controller can be used to control a bank of up to 16 Cyber Twins (or SEs).

Ciao,
Johnny.


Last edited by johnny stecchino on Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:04 pm
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johnny stecchino wrote:
Wow!

Thank you very, very much for your time and effort in doing this review.

Kindest Regards,
John.


"Thank You" for the pc editor we have been wanting and waiting for. (some of us, not so patiently) :D


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:22 pm
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Lets put it to good use:

Here are my settings for Avion thingie
Code:
1  "BloesAvionClean "    =Preset Name          ;
2  "Tweed"               =Tone Stack           ;
3  "Pre-Distortion"      =Tone Position        ;
4  "Standard Polarity"   =Speaker Phase        ;
5  "Hot Rod Tube 2"      =Drive Circuitry      ;
6  "None"                =Effect Type          ;
7  "Fender Reverb"       =Reverb Type          ;
8  "Reverb Input Only"   =Reverb Bypass        ;
9  "Full Body"           =Timbre Type          ;
10 "Off"                 =Compressor Type      ;
11 "Medium"              =Noise Gate Type      ;
12  2.1                  =Gain Value           ;
13  9.4                  =Volume Value         ;
14  5.0                  =Treble Value         ;
15  6.0                  =Middle Value         ;
16  7.1                  =Bass Value           ;
17  6.3                  =Presence Value       ;
18  2.2                  =Reverb Value         ;
19 3.36                  =Delay Out Level      ;
20 2.55                  =                     ;
21 1.32                  =                     ;
22 2085                  =                     ;
23 "10.0"                =                     ;
24                       =Dly/Time Change      ;
25 9.01                  =Reverb Dwell         ;
26 4.56                  =Reverb Tone          ;
27 5.73                  =Reverb Time          ;
28 7.11                  =Reverb Diffusion     ;
29 5.48                  =Noise Gate Depth     ;
30 ON                    =Noise Gate           ;
31 "Volume"              =Expression Pedal     ;
32 ""                    =Cont. Controller     ;


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:12 pm
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Dear All,

When you do a Single Preset Save To File, two files are saved, a binary one and a text one. Note that a complete Single Preset involves 32 parameters. Lefty's post above is a raw single preset text file listing. Any other Cyber Commander (SE in this case) can read this text file exactly as you see above. This makes trading presets real easy even with folks who don't have Cyber Commander.

Delighted to see Cyber Commander being used this way!

Ciao,
Johnny.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:33 am
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johnny stecchino wrote:
Dear All,

When you do a Single Preset Save To File, two files are saved, a binary one and a text one. Note that a complete Single Preset involves 32 parameters. Lefty's post above is a raw single preset text file listing. Any other Cyber Commander (SE in this case) can read this text file exactly as you see above. This makes trading presets real easy even with folks who don't have Cyber Commander.

Delighted to see Cyber Commander being used this way!

Ciao,
Johnny.


Johnny,

Does that mean I can copy and paste the settings above into notepad, and save to a txt file, and then the Cyber Commander will be able to read it and make a new preset from the txt file??

Or is it the CT SE can read the file through the Cyber Commander and the CT SE makes the new preset?


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