Hologram Electronics Colorful Suite of Effects Instruction Manual

Hologram Electronics Colorful Suite of Effects

Product Information

Specifications

• Product: Chroma Console
• Type: Multi-effect pedal
• Inspiration: Vintage recording technology
• Effects: Flexible and customizable
• User Interface: Intuitive

Product Usage Instructions

1. Calibration
   Follow the calibration instructions provided in the user manual to ensure accurate operation of the pedal.

2. Navigation & Primary Controls
   Explore changing effects, bypassing effects, and utilizing foot switch controls for primary operations. Refer to the manual for specific details on each control.

3. Character Module Effects & Controls
   Adjust and customize effects related to the character module according to your preferences.

4. Movement Module Effects & Controls
   Experiment with movement module effects and controls to enhance your sound creatively.

5. Diffusion Module Effects & Controls
   Utilize diffusion module effects and controls to add depth and texture to your audio output.

6. Texture Module Effects & Controls
   Explore texture module effects and controls to modify the tonality and feel of your sound.

7. Secondary Controls
   Access the secondary control menu, adjust sensitivity, drift effect, volume output, and other secondary settings as needed.

8. Gesture
   Record knob movements, delete recordings, and manage gesture-related features for dynamic sound manipulation.

FAQ

• Q: How do I reset the Chroma Console to factory settings?
  A: To perform a factory reset on the Chroma Console, navigate to the Global Settings menu and select the Factory Reset option.

• Q: Can I use an expression pedal with the Chroma Console?
  A: Yes, the Chroma Console supports an expression pedal input for additional control over certain effects and parameters.

A NOTE FROM THE DESIGNERS:

Thank you for purchasing a Chroma Console!
In the pages that follow, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about what Chroma Console does and how you can get the most out of it. But first, it might be worth taking a moment to talk about why we made this pedal and what it’s about. If you’re like us, you may agree that some of the best moments throughout the history of recorded music have something in common: the “limitations” of a piece of gear or recording medium were exploited to create something vastly more exciting than the thing it was meant to do in the first place.

Maybe it’s the preamp on a four-track cassette recorder cranked up so high that an acoustic guitar sounds like a wobbly Marshall stack. Or it’s a kick drum mic clipping the desk but nobody cares because the take was good. The crunchy lo-fi converters on an old sampler, the snarling filter on a vintage synth, or maybe the analog delay that runs away into distorted oscillation just as the song reaches its crescendo. Pieces of gear, when pushed to extremes, can sometimes yield unexpectedly expressive results beyond what they were originally intended to do. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of sitting on the floor, surrounded by a pile of mismatched gear, twisting knobs, plugging one thing into another just to see what would happen when they interact. Then something unexpected happens, and although you don’t know exactly how you got there, your musical intuition takes over and you’re just interacting with the sound—you’re no longer thinking about the devices at play, or equipment at all.

Chroma Console is our attempt to distill these happy accidents into something you can use and enjoy every day. It’s not a studious emulation or tribute to any specific piece of gear, although we’ve spent years carefully researching (and exploiting) the most exciting “limitations” of beloved gear from many different eras. Instead, it’s a tribute to the sometimes messy, sometimes chaotic, but always exciting things that can happen when you allow yourself to experiment. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking for until you hear it, and we hope this helps you find it.

Ryan Schaefer & Jason Campbell

OVERVIEW

Chroma Console is a flexible multi-effect pedal that takes inspiration from the eccentricity, grit, and lively instability of beloved vintage recording technology combines it with brand-new sounds and delivers it all through an intuitive user interface that puts wide-ranging sonic experimentation at your fingertips.

You can easily re-order the effects and experiment with different signal chains—process reverb through a fuzz, run a reverse delay into a pitch shifter, or run the evocative, gritty sound of an aging cassette recorder into a stereo double-tracker. You can use one module to overdrive another, and the entire signal chain can even be pushed into gentle soft clipping when approaching the headroom limit. Before you get started, be sure to calibrate the Chroma Console to your instrument so that it can match the effects to your signal level and make experimentation easy. We suggest starting with Mix at 100%, as that represents the simplest signal path through the effects modules. Next, try tapping the buttons to advance through the different effects in each module.

Once you’ve found a signal chain you like, try using the GESTURE feature, a hands-on sound design tool that lets you record and automate knob movements to quickly and easily create complex, evolving textures with no additional programming or menu diving required. Then try creating ambient pads or layer- looped phrases using CAPTURE, Chroma Console’s combination looper/sustainer.

When you’ve got something interesting happening, you can capture a snapshot and save up to 80 user presets for immediate recall. You can dive back into your collection of experiments and happy accidents later, just as you remember them.

• 20 Vibrant Effects
• 4 Rearrangeable Effect Modules
• Stereo or Mono Input/Output
• Sophisticated Input Level Calibration
• Knob Recording with GESTURE feature
• Sustain and loop audio with the CAPTURE feature
• BYPASS Foot Switch Customization
• Configurable Filter Effect (TILT, Lowpass, or Highpass)
• 80 User Presets
• MIDI In/Out/Thru, clock synchronization
• True Bypass Switching/Buffered Bypassed with trails
• Tap Tempo, which can sync time-based effects and modulation effects

CALIBRATION

• Because Chroma Console’s effects are designed to color, overdrive, and interact with each other, they are at their most exciting when calibrated to match the input level of your instrument.
• Calibration automatically sets the compression and saturation thresholds, as well as many other effect parameters, to the right level for your instrument so that you can focus on experimentation and having fun—not endlessly fussing with volume controls.
• You can choose one of 4 headroom levels (Low, Medium, High, or Very High) selected either automatically or manually. Automatic calibration will pick the level that the pedal deems most appropriate for the input material it samples, but feel free to experiment and see which category suits your instrument best. For cleaner and louder effects, select a higher input level.
• For less headroom and earlier saturation, select a lower input level. You can use the SENSITIVITY and EFFECT VOL secondary controls to further tweak the saturation sensitivity and effect output levels later if you wish.
• Chroma Console will always remember the most recent calibration setting (even through power cycles) and will be applied to all presets. We recommend re-calibrating when changing between instruments with distinctly different output levels.

To enter the Calibration Menu, press and hold both footswitches simultaneously until you see the indicator lights display a purple animation.

AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION

• To automatically calibrate, simply begin playing your instrument after entering the calibration menu. The indicator lights will change color, and the pedal will listen to your instrument and place it into one of four input headroom levels automatically.
• If you’re using a guitar, simply strumming an open chord a few times at your normal playing volume should do the trick. For synths, line-level sources, or any other instruments, play a few notes or chords to give Chroma Console an idea of the level of signal it should expect to hear most of the time. This measurement doesn’t have to be super precise—it just needs to get the general level.

MANUAL CALIBRATION
To manually choose a different input headroom level, tap one of the four buttons to select your desired category.

NAVIGATION & PRIMARY CONTROLS

CHANGING EFFECTS
Press a button once to descend through effects. The module button will illuminate with the corresponding effect color to indicate selection.

BYPASSING EFFECTS
Press and hold a button to bypass the selected effect.

CONTROLS

• Each knob on Chroma Console has two functions: PRIMARY and SECONDARY controls. PRIMARY controls are listed in bold lettering below each knob.
• SECONDARY controls are listed in gray lettering underneath the primary. These controls are accessed via the SECONDARY menu. For more on accessing these controls, see the SECONDARY CONTROLS section (pg. 20).

FOOT SWITCH CONTROLS

Single press TAP foot switch| Tap Tempo for Vibrato, Phaser, Tremolo, Cascade, Reels, Collage, and Reverse.
---|---
Long press TAP foot switch| CAPTURE Recording. See the CAPTURE section (pg. 26) for more information.
Single press BYPASS foot switch| Bypass/Engage pedal or modules.
Long press BYPASS foot switch| Enter PRESET BROWSER mode. See BROWSING PRESETS.
Double tap the BYPASS foot switch| Bypass pedal when using DUAL BYPASS. See the DUAL BYPASS section for more information.

CHARACTER MODULE

CHARACTER

• Shape and articulate your sound with overdrive, compression, fuzz, and swell effects. Inspired by a collection of analog gear, these effects offer dynamic response and a wide range of tones.
• The red TILT & AMOUNT knobs control the selected effect.

CONTROLS

TILT controls the tone of the effect. At the center, the EQ is set to neutral, with minimal processing. Turning to the right makes the effect brighter, and turning to the left will make the effect darker. In addition to EQ adjustments, TILT also interacts with the parameters of the saturation effects, so experiment and find the sound that suits you best.

• SENSITIVITY is a secondary control that fine-tunes the headroom that you set in Calibration, allowing you to dial in your preferred breakup point for the drive effects.
• When set to SWELL, sensitivity allows you to adjust the triggering threshold, making the effect more or less responsive to your playing.

EFFECTS

• DRIVE: Tube-like drive with nothing but sweet spots, ranging from warm preamp to full overdrive.
  AMOUNT adjusts the intensity of overdrive.

• SWEETEN: A pleasant preamp that adds EQ, compression, and gentle saturation as you increase AMOUNT. Perfect for subtly sweetening your basic instrument sound or lightly overdriving the effects that follow it.
  AMOUNT adjusts compression and saturation.

• FUZZ: Dynamic vintage-voiced fuzz tones ranging from smooth and rounded to brash blown-speaker sounds. Use the TILT control to change not only the tone but also the transient and bias characteristics of the fuzz for varied sounds across the dial.
  AMOUNT adjusts the intensity of the FUZZ effect.

• HOWL: Resonant filter fuzz with a lot of personality. Howl can create smooth sustaining tones or synth-like stabs that cut through the mix, depending on the position of the TILT control.
  AMOUNT adjusts the intensity of the HOWL effect.

• SWELL: Expressive envelope-triggered volume swells. As you get a feel for playing the effect, you’ll find that allowing more or less separation between notes allows you to precisely control when the swells trigger.
  AMOUNT adjusts the attack and decay times of the SWELL effect.

EFFECT VOL adjusts the output volume of the Character module.

MOVEMENT MODULE

MOVEMENT

• Warp and expand your sound with modulation effects inspired by classic studio recording gear and techniques, ranging from subtle to pronounced, steady to wobbly.
• The yellow RATE & AMOUNT knobs control the selected effect.

EFFECTS

• DOUBLER: Stereo double tracking effect that reproduces the sound of overdubbing a part multiple times. Sounds range from tight doubling to short slap-back delay.
  • RATE: sets the doubling time range from short to long.
  • AMOUNT: mixes in more doubling as it is increased.
  • DRIFT: introduces and increases the intensity of random momentary pitch shifts.
• VIBRATO: Lush pitch modulation that can range from classic sine wave vibrato to tapelike random warbles.
  • RATE: sets the frequency of the pitch modulation.
  • AMOUNT: adjusts the modulation depth.
  • DRIFT: increases the stereo width of the effect and introduces a random modulation waveform that evokes tape warble and instability.
• PHASER: Vintage-voiced classic phaser effects that range from swirling hypnotic sweeps to pulsing vibrato-like undulation.
  • RATE: sets the phase-shifting frequency.
  • AMOUNT: adjusts the modulation intensity and introduces additional phase shifting stages (ranging from 2-stage to 12-stage). This allows for many different phase-shifting styles across the travel of the knob, so experiment to find the sound you like the best.
  • DRIFT: adds randomness to the phase-shifting waveform.
• TREMOLO: Colorful, pulsing, amplitude modulation that can go from a classic guitar amp shimmer to a hard, square-wave chop.
  • RATE: sets the amplitude modulation frequency.
  • AMOUNT: sets the tremolo depth, from soft flutter to choppy rhythm.
  • DRIFT: introduces randomness, variation, and instability into the tremolo effect as DRIFT increases.
• PITCH: Pitch shifting from -1 octave to +1 octave. Use DRIFT to add a colorfully expressive lo-fi grit, or try automating the sweep or the pitch with GESTURE for maximum enjoyment.
  • RATE: determines the pitch of effect. No pitch shifting is applied in the center, -1 Octave when fully left, and +1 Octave when fully right—with gliding travel through the pitch range in between.
  • AMOUNT: determines the mix of the pitch-shifted signal; 100% wet signal when fully clockwise.
  • DRIFT: lowers the resolution of the pitch shifter in a pleasing, lo-fi manner. Adds instability as DRIFT increases. Can be used in the center position, even if no pitch shifting is applied, to add a little extra personality to your signal.

EFFECT VOL adjusts the output volume of the Movement module.

DIFFUSION MODULE

DIFFUSION

• Diffusion’s time-based effects are equal parts vintage gear appreciation and the weirdness you’ve come to expect from Hologram. Each effect has its own unique character when moving the TIME parameter, which can be exploited to great creative effect by automating it with a GESTURE.
• The green TIME & AMOUNT knobs control the selected effect.

EFFECTS

• CASCADE: Influenced by the classic sound of a bucket-brigade style analog delay, but heightened. Dime the AMOUNT, twist the TIME knob, it does the thing. Darker in tonality, subtle modulation that increases with DRIFT.
  • TIME: sets the delay time, ranging from short slapback to quarter-note taps. When using tap-tempo, delay times will be quantized subdivisions of the tempo you tap.
  • AMOUNT: increases repeat and feedback until it begins to self-oscillate, distort, and pleasingly explode at maximum.
  • DRIFT: increases the intensity of pitch modulation and adds more instability and signal degradation to the repeats for added character.
• REELS: Inspired by the expressive sound of a well-worn tape echo, this one is full of grit and bright, lively, slightly wonky echoes that are constantly evolving. Add DRIFT to further degrade the tape medium and see what happens.
  • TIME: sets the delay time, ranging from short slapback to quarter-note taps.
  • AMOUNT: increases repeat and feedback; lively self-oscillation at 100% for maximum creative effect.
  • DRIFT: adds instability and degradation to the tape playback, repeats disintegrate as they get recycled into feedback and then fade away.
• SPACE: A versatile reverberation effect that seamlessly blends between 5 different reverb sounds, ranging from tight recording echo chambers to massive sustaining clouds of notes.
  • TIME: sets the reverb size and tonality. Reverb size increases as you turn clockwise.
  • AMOUNT: sets the wet/dry mix of the reverb; 100% wet when fully clockwise.
  • DRIFT: introduces pitch modulation to the reverb.
• COLLAGE: Wild, spontaneous looping delay. Collage destructively edits the delay line as you move the TIME knob, so quick knob movements or recorded GESTURES create pitch bends, double-speed/half-speed loops, and all kinds of pleasing manipulations that repeat and fold in on themselves as feedback increases.
  • TIME: sets the delay subdivision, ranging from short, granular samples to longer loop-like phrases.
  • AMOUNT: introduces additional repeats and feedback, resulting in evolving oscillation at the maximum setting.
  • DRIFT: introduces random double-speed loops into the mix and increases pitch modulation.
• REVERSE: Reverse delays with variable playback speed/pitch (-1 Octave to +1 Octave) for real-time “backward tape” effects and haunting ambiance.
  • TIME: sets the speed/pitch of the delay. At the center, it plays back at normal speed, half-speed (-1 Octave) at left, and double-speed (+1 Octave) at right.
  • AMOUNT: sets the wet/dry mix of the delay; 100% wet when fully clockwise.
  • DRIFT: adds pitch modulation to the repeats.

EFFECT VOL secondary control adjusts only the DIFFUSION wet effect volume. In this way, you can use EFFECT VOL to set the volume of the delay taps, reverb, loops, etc. to your preferred level with the dry signal.

TEXTURE MODULE

TEXTURE

• Sculpt, squash, and break your signal with a collection of textural effects. Use FILTER or SQUASH to add a subtle polish to your effect chain, or sand it down with your preferred level of grit by using Broken, Cassette, or Interference to add expressive dimension to your instrument.
• The blue AMOUNT knob controls the selected effect.

EFFECTS

• FILTER: Multi-mode filter effect. By default, the active filter style is TILT, but it can be configured as a standalone low-pass filter (LPF) or high-pass filter (HPF). See FX SETUP (pg. 27) for more info.
  AMOUNT: sets the cutoff frequency of the filter.

• SQUASH: A heavy-handed compressor and overdrive that can rein in loud chains of effects, provide subtle polish, or add a pleasing grit to a signal depending on the position of the AMOUNT knob.
  AMOUNT: introduces more compression and begins to overdrive as the knob approaches 100% clockwise.

• CASSETTE: A celebration of all the weird things that cassette tape recorders can do. Wow, flutter, warble, tape degradation, and pitch artifacts can add a profound nostalgic quality to even the simplest of sounds.
  AMOUNT: tape saturation, compression, filtering, and artifacts all increase in intensity as the knob moves clockwise. There are many different flavors of tape coloration present across the range of the knob, so experiment to find the sound you like best.

• BROKEN: Periodic pitch drops combine with amplitude and frequency modulation to mangle your input with the sounds of motorized audio equipment in need of service.
  AMOUNT: increases breakdown, reaching maximum intensity when fully clockwise.

• INTERFERENCE: Adds a dissolving layer of musical disturbance to your signal, inspired by telecom network glitches, radio static, and interference of all kinds.
  AMOUNT: moves through various flavors of interference, increasing in intensity as you turn clockwise.

EFFECT VOL adjusts the output volume of the Texture Module.

SECONDARY CONTROLS

ENTERING THE SECONDARY CONTROLS MENU
To enter the SECONDARY CONTROLS MENU, press the A and B buttons simultaneously and release. Lights will animate teal.

While in this mode, each knob will adjust the Secondary Control of each respective knob (listed in gray lettering underneath each knob).

• EXIT SECONDARY
  To exit this menu at any time, press A and B again and release. This returns the knob functions to their primary controls. Alternatively, press the BYPASS foot switch once to exit.

• RESET SECONDARY
  To reset all secondary controls to the default values, press and hold A and B until a pulsing teal animation displays. This indicates that all secondary controls have been reset to the default values.

DRIFT

• Both MOVEMENT and DIFFUSION modules are equipped with DRIFT controls. DRIFT parameters are inspired by the captivating eccentricities of vintage musical equipment and the charming musical applications of instability and unpredictability.
• Each DRIFT parameter is different, and each was carefully designed to bring a wide range of expressive, musical malfunctions under your control. You can take the baseline sound of each effect and then use DRIFT to dial in the amount of randomness, chaos, or nostalgic warble that your composition requires.

For example, increasing DRIFT when the VIBRATO effect is selected will gradually change the modulating waveform from a sine wave to a random wave shape while simultaneously altering the stereo spread.

• DOUBLER random momentary pitch shifts
• VIBRATO random modulation waveform that evokes tape warble and instability
• PHASER adds instability to the phase-shifting waveform
• TREMOLO introduces variation to the amplitude and frequency modulation
• PITCH lowers the fidelity of the pitch shifter and adds instability
• CASCADE increases pitch modulation, adds signal degradation to repeats
• REELS increases pitch instability and adds tape degradation
• SPACE introduces pitch modulation at various stages in the reverb
• COLLAGE introduces random double-speed loops and increases pitch modulation
• REVERSE adds pitch modulation to the repeats

SENSITIVITY
SENSITIVITY fine-tunes the headroom that you set in Calibration for the Character module, allowing you to dial in your preferred breakup point for the drive effects.

OUTPUT LEVEL
This secondary control can attenuate or boost the output volume of Chroma Console’s FX output.

EFFECT VOL
Each Module has an EFFECT VOL secondary control. This secondary control adjusts the output volume of its respective module. This control is helpful to adjust the internal balance of the modules within the signal chain.

For the DIFFUSION module, EFFECT VOL boosts/attenuates only the wet output signal of the diffusion effects.

GESTURE

Gesture recording is an exciting feature that allows you to record and loop knob movements of Chroma Console’s Primary Controls. This allows the user to build up complex, evolving sounds easily with simple motions of the knobs.

ENTERING GESTURE RECORDING
To enter the GESTURE RECORDING mode and begin recording knob movements, press the C and D buttons simultaneously and release. The lights will animate white to indicate that the Gesture menu is active.

RECORDING KNOB MOVEMENTS
Begin turning the knob or knobs of your choice. Button LEDs will change from white to red to indicate that a knob in that column is being recorded.

To end the knob recording cycle, press C and D once more or hit the BYPASS footswitch. Either action will exit the GESTURE menu.

• While playing back a gesture recording, Module LEDs will oscillate between the color of the selected effect and white, indicating that knob recording is present within the corresponding Module.
• More knob recordings can be created by re-entering GESTURE and repeating the above steps for a different knob. Moving a knob that has been previously recorded will overwrite the original loop and create a new loop.
• Once you’ve recorded a gesture, you can use tap tempo (or external MIDI clock) to speed these gestures up or down relative to the tempo they were originally recorded. For example, recording a gesture at a slow speed and then speeding up the tempo is an interesting way to create complex motions and patterns that move faster than one can physically move the knobs.

DELETING KNOB RECORDINGS

• To individually delete a knob’s recording, simply move the knob while in live effect mode.
• To delete all present knob recordings, press and hold C and D until a pulsing white animation displays. This indicates that all recorded knob movements have been deleted.

CAPTURE

• CAPTURE is an ephemeral sustainer and looper with up to 30 seconds of record time. Immediately create soft droning pads or musical looped phrases with the press of a single footswitch.
• While the TAP foot switch is held down, the CAPTURE mode is initiated, and a short loop will begin recording. As soon as the foot switch is released, the loop will stop recording and the CAPTURE mode will enter into playback mode. This step can be repeated to simultaneously clear the original and start recording a new loop.
• When recording very short loops, the audio playback will have soft fading edges that overlap, creating a seamless ambient pad in a short moment. The indicator lights will animate blue when playing sustainer loops.
• With longer material, CAPTURE will act as a traditional looper, allowing you to capture and play a musical phrase. The indicator lights will animate green when playing looped phrases.
• The CAPTURE feature can be configured in POST-FX (default) or PRE-FX in the FX SETUP menu. This CAPTURE ROUTING is saved on a per-preset basis.
• To stop/delete CAPTURE recordings, press the TAP foot switch once.
• CAPTURE recordings are not saved within user presets.

FX SETUP

Chroma Console’s presets can be customized further in the FX SETUP menu. In the FX SETUP menu, the following settings can be adjusted:

1. Module Routing
2. Dual Bypass
3. Capture Routing
4. Filter Style
5. Expression Control Mapping

ENTERING FX SETUP
To enter the FX SETUP menu, press & release the A and D buttons simultaneously.

MODULE ROUTING
When entering the FX SETUP menu, the buttons will animate in sequence to indicate the current module order of the preset. The default module order is as follows:

After the animation displays, the four buttons will begin blinking blue, at which point you can tap the buttons in your desired routing sequence to reorder the modules. Once modules have been reordered, the pedal will exit the FX SETUP menu and return to live effect mode. To cancel the module routing process and exit the menu, you can either press the BYPASS foot switch or press A and D.

DUAL BYPASS

• Chroma Console’s BYPASS foot switch can be configured to bypass and engage specific Modules, as opposed to bypassing the entire pedal.
• In a blank or default preset, Chroma Console’s BYPASS foot switch is configured to bypass/engage all Modules at once.
• From the FX SETUP main menu (blinking lights, awaiting module routing), press and hold the BYPASS foot switch.
• While the BYPASS foot switch is being held down, the four buttons will be illuminated either in SOLID YELLOW or BLINKING YELLOW. While the foot switch is being held, you can press the buttons to toggle between SOLID or BLINKING Buttons.

BLINKING YELLOW
If a Button is BLINKING YELLOW, Chroma Console’s BYPASS foot switch will bypass/engage that particular module.

SOLID YELLOW
If a Button is SOLID YELLOW, Chroma Console’s BYPASS foot switch will not bypass that particular Module.

• Releasing the BYPASS foot switch at any moment will return you to the FX SETUP main menu (blinking lights, awaiting module routing).
• When using DUAL BYPASS, double-tap the BYPASS foot switch to disengage the entire pedal.

CAPTURE ROUTING
Chroma Console’s CAPTURE recordings can be routed POST-FX (default) or PRE-FX. From the FX SETUP menu, turn the MIX knob to make your selection. An orange menu will indicate that you’ve entered the CAPTURE routing menu.

• PRE-FX: Turning MIX left of center will route CAPTURE before the effects.
• POST-FX (default): Turning MIX right of center will put CAPTURE after the effects.

A white button light will indicate your selection. After 3 seconds of inactivity, Chroma Console will return to the FX SETUP main menu.

EXPRESSION CONTROL MAPPING

• From the main FX SETUP menu, move the expression pedal—this will open the expression mapping menu.
• Next, move the corresponding knob of the control you’d like to map to the expression pedal. After 3 seconds of inactivity, the expression mapping menu will time out and return to the FX SETUP main menu.
• The expression mapping menu also automatically opens when you connect an expression pedal to the EXP jack, or when you move an expression pedal after the assignment was canceled.

FILTER STYLE
Chroma Console has 3 distinct filter styles that can be configured on a per- preset basis.

• TILT FILTER – turn left to cut high frequencies; turn right to cut low frequencies
• LOW-PASS FILTER – turn left to cut high frequencies
• HIGH-PASS FILTER – turn right to cut low frequencies
  • To change the style of the Filter effect, move the TEXTURE AMOUNT knob while in the FX SETUP menu.
  • After 3 seconds of inactivity, Chroma Console will return to the FX SETUP main menu.

EXIT/RESET FX SETUP

• To exit this menu at any time, press A and D again and release. Alternatively, press the BYPASS foot switch once to exit.
• To reset all changes made in FX SETUP, press and hold A and D until a pulsing blue animation displays. This indicates that all FX SETUP parameters have been reset.

COPY/SAVE PRESETS

Chroma Console is capable of storing up to 80 user presets.

These user presets save:

• Effects & Module Routing
• All primary control settings
• All secondary control settings
• All Gesture recordings
• Filter Style
• Dual Bypass Settings
• Capture Routing
• Expression control mapping
• Tapped tempo

ENTERING THE COPY/SAVE MENU
To enter the COPY/SAVE menu, press the B and C buttons simultaneously. This will copy the active preset and prepare it for saving.

The Buttons indicate which preset bank you are in.

• BANK A
• BANK B
• BANK C
• BANK D

The 4 LED bars will indicate which specific preset slot you are in.

• PRESETS 1-4
• PRESETS 5-8
• PRESETS 9-12
• PRESETS 13-16
• PRESETS 17-20

NAVIGATION

You can navigate through the presets and banks in two different ways. Use either the AMOUNT knobs or foot switches to scroll to the desired saving location.

• If a preset slot is empty, the buttons will briefly illuminate white as the cursor hovers over the slot.
• If there is already a preset saved within a slot, the buttons will illuminate with corresponding effect colors. Any saved preset will become active as you scroll through the banks, allowing you to audition the sound before overwriting it.

SAVE/OVERWRITE

• To save or overwrite your copied preset into the desired slot, press both the B & C buttons again. A teal animation will be displayed as the pedal saves your preset. Chroma Console will return to normal operation once the process is complete.
• To cancel the saving process and exit the COPY/SAVE menu, press and hold the BYPASS foot switch. The lights will animate red to indicate that the process has been stopped. The copied settings will be restored.

BROWSING PRESETS

ENTERING THE PRESET BROWSER MENU
You can load and audition presets from the PRESET BROWSER. To enter the PRESET BROWSER menu, press and hold the BYPASS foot switch. A wiping button animation will indicate that you’ve entered the browser.

The Buttons indicate which preset bank you are in.

• A Button illuminated: Bank A
• B Button illuminated: Bank B
• C Button illuminated: Bank C
• D Button illuminated: Bank D

The 4 LED bars will indicate which specific preset slot you are in, using a white cursor and color-coded menus.

NAVIGATION
You can navigate through the presets and banks in two different ways.

1. Turn any module AMOUNT knob to scroll through its corresponding 20 available presets.
2. Tap either foot switch to move the cursor to the desired saving location. A single tap of the left or right foot switch will move the cursor one slot to the left or right, respectively.
3. To load a preset, press & hold the BYPASS or the TAP foot switch while the desired preset is selected.

By default, presets will be auditioned while navigating through the browser. Preset Browser Audition can be turned off in the GLOBAL SETTINGS menu (see pg. 36 for more information).

GLOBAL SETTINGS

The GLOBAL SETTINGS MENU lets you change the default behavior of Chroma Console to suit your needs.

ENTERING THE GLOBAL SETTINGS MENU
To enter Chroma Console’s GLOBAL SETTINGS MENU, press all buttons (A, B, C, and D) simultaneously and release.

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
Once in the GLOBAL SETTINGS MENU, Chroma Consoles knobs are used to make changes to the global settings. Below is a table that illustrates the settings each knob can alter.

KNOB

| CONFIGURATION|

OPTIONS

---|---|---
TILT| MIDI CHANNEL| 1-16

RATE

| ****

MIDI ROUTING

| Interface mode, Interface without internal clock, Thru mode, Thru without internal clock
TIME| MIDI CLOCK SOURCE| AUTO, USB MIDI, DIN MIDI, Internal clock only
MIX| N/A| N/A
AMOUNT (CHARACTER)| LED BRIGHTNESS| Min-Max
AMOUNT (MOVEMENT)| PRESET BROWSER AUDITION| Enable Preset Browser Audition Disable Preset Browser Audition
AMOUNT (DIFFUSION)| BYPASS MODE| Buffered Bypass, Buffered Bypass with trails, True Bypass
AMOUNT (TEXTURE)| N/A| N/A

1. MIDI CHANNEL (TILT KNOB)
   This setting configures which channel Chroma Console will listen to incoming MIDI messages on. By default, Chroma Console is set to MIDI Channel 1.

2. MIDI ROUTING (RATE KNOB)
   In Global Settings, you can choose how Chroma Console routes MIDI messages from other devices and whether it sends its internal clock messages.

   • Interface Mode (Default): Chroma Console works like a USB MIDI interface. If you send a message from a computer to the Chroma Console over USB, it will be forwarded to the DIN MIDI OUT port. If you send a message to the DIN MIDI IN port, it will be forwarded to the computer over USB. Chroma Console’s clock signals will be output to both DIN and USB MIDI.
   • Interface without internal clock: This setting functions the same way as Interface Mode, but Chroma Console does not send out its internal clock messages. MIDI clock messages from the computer are forwarded along with all other MIDI messages.
   • Thru Mode: Chroma Console forwards incoming messages from the DIN MIDI IN port to the DIN MIDI out port. Clock signals will be output to both DIN and USB MIDI.
   • Thru without internal clock: This setting functions the same as Thru Mode, but Chroma Console will not send out its internal clock messages. MIDI clock messages sent to the DIN IN port will be forwarded to the DIN OUT port.
     When Chroma Console is synced to External Clock sources, its Internal Clock, as it is referred to here, is equivalent to the External Clock BPM. See MIDI CLOCK SOURCE for more.

3. MIDI CLOCK SOURCE (TIME KNOB)

   • Chroma Console has two hardware interfaces – USB MIDI and standard 5-PIN DIN MIDI. Chroma Console will sync the following effects to the external MIDI clock:
   • Vibrato, Phaser, Tremolo, Cascade, Reels, Collage, and Reverse.
   • In Global Settings, you can configure the Chroma Console to listen for clock messages from different external MIDI sources.
   • Auto (Default): In this mode, Chroma Console listens for the clock on both USB and DIN MIDI and automatically switches between them. Incoming USB clock messages take priority over messages received on the MIDI DIN input.
   • USB MIDI: Chroma Console listens for MIDI clock over USB and ignores DIN MIDI clock messages.
   • DIN MIDI: Chroma Console listens for the clock on the MIDI DIN input, and ignores it on the USB
   • Internal clock only: Chroma Console ignores all external clock messages and always uses its internal clock.
   • After receiving the clock, you can switch back to Chroma Console’s internal clock by sending a Stop message from the external MIDI clock source. If Chroma Console stops receiving clock messages, it will switch to its internal clock.

4. LED BRIGHTNESS (CHARACTER AMOUNT KNOB)
   This setting allows you to reduce the brightness of the LEDs for use in different lighting conditions. By default, LEDs are at 100% brightness—turn knob counter-clockwise to decrease brightness. ****

5. PRESET BROWSER AUDITION (MOVEMENT AMOUNT KNOB)
   By default, presets are auditioned while navigating through both the PRESET BROWSER and the COPY/SAVE menu. This global setting lets you disable preset audition, allowing you to navigate through presets without hearing their effects. When the audition is disabled, the currently active preset will persist until a new preset is loaded. Disabling this setting can be useful for live performance.

6. BYPASS MODE (DIFFUSION AMOUNT KNOB)
   This setting configures the bypass mode of the pedal.

   • Buffered Bypass: Instrument input remains buffered when Chroma Con-sole is disengaged, offering a more consistent dry tone and maintaining the stereo image when a mono input source is used. Effects immediately stop upon bypassing the pedal.
   • Buffered Bypass with trails: The DIFFUSION effects will fade out naturally when bypassed but will not process any new audio until the effect is engaged again.
   • True Bypass: Chroma Console uses two relays for stereo true bypass. When bypassed, the outputs are connected directly to the corresponding inputs. The pedal is electrically isolated from the input and output signals.
   • When Chroma Console is set to True Bypass, the automatic mono-to-stereo and stereo-to-mono routings do not apply.

GLOBAL SETTINGS RESET
If you want to reset all global settings back to the original factory settings, hold the A, B, C, and D buttons until a pulsing orange animation displays.

FACTORY RESET
A factory reset will clear all User-preset banks and reset the global parameters back to the default settings.

1. Enter the GLOBAL SETTINGS menu.
2. Simultaneously hold buttons A and D while also pressing/holding both foot switches.
3. Indicator lights will display a warning animation. Continue holding to proceed with a factory reset.
4. After 5 seconds, the pedal will reboot and display the startup animation. This indicates that the factory reset is complete.

INPUTS & OUTPUTS

CONNECTIONS

LABEL/CONNECTIONS

• INPUT L / INPUT R Left and right 1/4” audio inputs
• OUTPUT L / OUTPUT R Left and right 1/4” audio outputs
• EXP Expression pedal connection (see FX SETUP pg. 27)
• MIDI IN / MIDI OUT 5-pin DIN MIDI connectors
• USB USB-C MIDI connector
• 9VDC 9 Volt DC power input

STEREO INPUTS & OUTPUTS
Chroma Console detects which inputs are connected and routes the signal automatically:

• Mono to Stereo: Connect either input and both outputs.
• Stereo to Mono: Connect both inputs and either output.

When Chroma Console is set to True Bypass (see GLOBAL SETTINGS section pg. 36), the automatic mono-to-stereo and stereo-to-mono do not apply when the pedal is bypassed.

Audio Technical Specifications:

• Max audio input level: +8dBu
• AD/DA: 24-bit 48kHz
• Input impedance: 1 MΩ
• Output impedance: less than 1kΩ

POWER SUPPLY
Chroma Console requires a 9-volt DC power supply that can provide at least 500mA continuous current. The pedal uses a standard center negative 2.1mm connection.

Use of a power supply that does not meet these specifications could result in damage to the Chroma Console or the power supply.

EXPRESSION PEDAL INPUT

• Polarity: TRS
• Recommended pot resistance: >10k Ohm
• Parameters: Assign an expression pedal to any single primary control (TILT, RATE, TIME, MIX, or AMOUNT).

For more information on how to configure expression, see the FX SETUP section (pg. 27).

MIDI IN / MIDI OUT & USB CONNECTION
Chroma Console has a standard 5-pin DIN MIDI in/out connection and a USB-C port. The USB-C port can be used to send MIDI commands to Chroma Console directly from a computer. For MIDI configuration options, see GLOBAL SETTINGS.

MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART

HOWL (66-87)

 |  | SWELL (88-109)
 |  | OFF (110-127)
 |  | DOUBLER (0-21)
 |  | VIBRATO (22-43)
MOVEMENT MODULE| CC# 17| PHASER (44-65)

TREMOLO (66-87)

 |  | PITCH (88-109)
 |  | OFF (110-127)
 |  | CASCADE (0-21)
 |  | REELS (22-43)
DIFFUSION MODULE| CC# 18| SPACE (44-65)

COLLAGE (66-87)

 |  | REVERSE (88-109)
 |  | OFF (110-127)
 |  | FILTER (0-21)
 |  | SQUASH (22-43)
TEXTURE MODULE| CC# 19| CASSETTE (44-65)

BROKEN (66-87)

 |  | INTERFERENCE (88-109)
 |  | OFF (110-127)

WARRANTY

Hologram Electronics warrants your product to be free from physical defects in material and workmanship for 2 years from the date of the original retail purchase. If you discover a defect covered by this warranty, we will repair or replace the product.

Not Covered by this Warranty:

• This warranty covers manufacturing defects that arise from the correct use of this device. It is limited to defects in materials or workmanship and does not cover damage caused by unauthorized modification, abuse, lightning or power surge damage. The warranty does not cover the normal wear and tear of graphics, knobs, or enclosures.
• For support, please visit our support page at hologramelectronics.com/support or scan below:

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