TC Electronic PLETHORA X5 Firmware 1.2: what's new?
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- The much anticipated firmware 1.2 for the Plethora X5 is here, and it brings a few user requests...
Download link: www.tcelectron...
If you found this video useful and want to help support the channel, you can buy me a coffee using the following link:
ko-fi.com/peda...
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:17 #1: Helix Phaser
0:50 #2: Viscous Vibe
1:23 #3: Loopers!
2:32 #4: Cab Sims
4:55 #5: MIDI Channels
5:25 #6: More MIDI Control
6:43 #7: System Restore Points
7:33 #8: HotKnobz!
9:23: Housekeeping
Link to the Alec Bourne, the MIDI Mad Scientist's channel: / alecbournemidimadscien...
As always if you have any questions, drop them in the comments box below.
#TCElectronic #PlethoraX5 #firmware #whatsnew #TonePrintPedalboard #TonePrint #guitarfx #guitarpedals #knowyourtone
Get your Plethora X5 from the following affiliate links and help keep the channel's lights on:
Thomann: redir.love/thoprod/486712?offid=1&affid=1010
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My new favourite UA-cam channel. Thanks for the quality content and presentation. All the best to you, Sir.
Thank you for the kind works and support, it's really appreciated! 🙏🏻
This guy should be bumped up, thanks for the video. Just ordered one ☝️
Hope you enjoy it! 🙏🏻
Just bought one in large part due to your demos of this pedal. Really great work, brother!
It’s part time of a scaled back rig: Nashville Tele with custom Stocktone pickups, Origin Effects Revival Drive, Plethora X5, Fender ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb. With the RD in the FX loop and placed between pedals 1 and 2, I can use a compressor in position 1 to kick the RD into higher drive when needed. I really don’t need anything else to gig with.
Sounds like a great small rig, honestly! 😄 Hope you have fun with it!
Your videos are great. High quality and very informative. TC Electronic should hire you to do videos for them. Thank you. With the addition of the Phaser, hot knobs, and export, Plethora X5 is finally what I was hoping for. I look forward to more upgrades.
Thank you so much for the kind comments. 🙏🏻 It's a great update, hope you enjoy it.
I don’t even have this pedal yet, and I’m excited for this update. Can’t wait to get one soon.
Let us know when you do, and if you have any questions just shoot them here. 😄
All of your Plethorax5 video is really helpful to me. thanks to your effort. 😀. sincerely
Glad to hear it! 🙏🏻
Thank you for doing what tc electronic should have already done. Asking them for a written users manual - they didn't listen to me. You explain the functions i maybe never had discovered without your help. Thank you again!
You're welcome Rico, glad you found it useful. 🙏🏻
I was missing the vibe effects. Now I can try it. Great Update, great Pedal ! Thanks!
Hope you have fun with it! 😄
Subbed. Clean, professional videos. Can't wait to hear more of your content.
Good sub, you may want to check his previous vids on the X5 too, if you haven't done yet. Awesome content and very useful infos in the comment sections too.
Thanks for kind words and sub, really appreciated. 🙏🏻
Thank you! 🙏🏻
Excellent presentation- and I love Midi mad scientist - Alec
Thank you! 🙏🏻 Alec is one of the greats 😆
Great demo of the new features. This update really is the cherry on top of the cake. What makes it such a great product is the interface, it's so easy to configure and use. All the effects are top notch and it has now replaced literally *all* of the effects on my board, including some Strymon's, EHX and Mad Professor pedals. I can't recommend it highly enough...
Hi Paul, thank you! 🙏🏻 And yes, it's a bit awesome, now with an extra does of awesomer. 😆
superb presentation of this ace update, thank you.
Thank you! 🙏🏻
Great video, I have a small pedal board just ts9, bb preamp, fuzz, xotic super sweet, just for blues stuff, cant believe the value for money on this bit of kit, put this through the effects loop while my pedals go through the front and really brings that extra touch for not much money and plenty to mess with and create some great tones.
Thank you. It's a little powerhouse, isn't it? 😁
Hey, mr. Plethorian! Here is another idea how to add to practicality of the Plethora in the next firmware! Well, it is concerning the expression pedal when in modifier mode - now it is toe down 100%, heel down 0%... BUT it is sometimes hard to hit the wanted values in the heat of the gig battle - let's say that one only needs 30% delay level or reverb or whatever. Remember how it was done one another TC product, the Nova System? There is an option to adjust that - max heel down could be 20%,max toe down could be 40% and there was even the midway point that was also adjustable... of course, it could be adjusted from 0 to 100, like now. That would be very, very nice! Hope this gets to TC! THANKS!
Hi back! Actually there's a way of doing that (except for the general volume pedal): edit the Toneprints for the range you want 😁
A fine video along with some fine playing.
Thank you for the kind words! 🙏🏻
Nice walk through The new options and lovely guitar Sound
Thank you for the kind words! 🙏🏻
@@PedalPlatform you’re welcome. I updated both the TonePrint program (MAC) and the plethora. But I couldn’t access the helix or the vibe. Have you encounter this problem?
Absolutely Great Video !!!.....Fantastic job !!! ....thanx for all the info !!!....have a great New Year!!!...
Thank you, and have a great new year yourself! 🙏🏻
Thanks for the video and nice playing!
Thank you! 🙏🏻
That riff you started out with sounded like it came out of a dream theater song
I will admit to having JP as one of my influences, so thank you... 😆
You got to love TC.
And we do 😍
Top videos as always mate.
Thank you for the kind words 🙏🏻
I would gladly give up one of the 5 pedal slots for a custom IR loader. It's really what's been holding me back from grabbing one of these.
You’re not alone in wanting that option. 😉
The best video of the 2020!!
Finally!!!
Great updates.
Hope you enjoy it, it's a good one. 😄
Thank you!!!!
Thank you for the support, it's really appreciated! 🙏🏻
Nice!
i was waiting for this for a long long long time. But the cab sim sounds hmmmm...will give it a try later b4 i comment
Yup, definitely do, and give them a bit of time - personally I find that when rushing through IRs they all sound weird in some way, but then the ears start to settle in. Unfortunately I couldn't spend 10 mins on each, I don't think that would have been very UA-cam friendly! 😆
OMG ！！！！TC is THE KING！！！！！！！
Good one, eh? 😁
Good job 👍
I'm waiting for :
- the Tuner be able to tune B string from Bass
- integration of Mojomojo Boost / Overdrive
- several amp sim. (guitar & bass) with tone settings
🙂
Hi Pierre, that's a nice wish list right there, that would be fun! Can't you tune from the 12th / 5th fret harmonic on the B string? I find that even with tuners that go that low I'm usually more precise if I use harmonics rather than open strings, the tuner hunts a lot less.
@@PedalPlatform Yes we can tune from the 12th / 5th fret harmonic on the B string (i do actually), but it's less "direct" 😉
For the other effects, fortunately: the effect loop is there ... but takes more place on a pedalboard, only if the amps / overdrive were incorporated .
Damn.... I want it soooo bad now 😂
Understandable! 🤣
Very cool ! and useful, thank youXX. still just need to understand how work "mash" and "Ramp (vicious vibe)... soon !-)
You're welcome - and as you say, they will come soon! 😁
Be sure to switch from buffered to true bypass to avoid tone robbing of the amp
Thaddeus, I run mine in buffered bypass all the time, and have no issues with tone suck unless I’m running very long cables between the guitar and the Plethora. Also, true bypass only works when you don’t have any effect on, i.e., when you are in bypass; as soon as you turn on any effect, the buffers are enabled again (this is the only way it would work, it’s not an option you can set). I seem to remember that you we’re having issues with the effects on, so there must be something else at play.
@@PedalPlatform long cables I need a booster. It sounds good to me now. The bypass is global.
True bypass is a meme. Buffers are extremely important. Running it in buffered bypass means your tone won't change when you go into bypass, and you can have long cables to your amp without any tone suck. Buffers can drive long cables, your pickups can't. The bad old days of Boss pedals sucking your tone are long gone mate, modern buffers are very clean and transparent, and are an absolute necessity for complex signal chains and silent switching. The true bypass craze got so bad that companies began selling dedicated buffers for big pedal chains. Ridiculous.
ua-cam.com/play/PLAgQzd-5tFOrkOEtMH3W8uRwWWDB74ZV3.html
great !
It's an awesome toy, getting more awesome-r with each new firmware version. 😄
Your videos are amazing, thanks very much. I bought it 2 days ago and loving it, however it does not connect to any computer via USB (tried on 3). Obviously missing out on all these new features and bummed out. I contacted the retailer and they have contacted TC rep for advise. The Plethora does not pop up on my desktop so i can upload the new firmware.
Hi Jon, any news on your connection issues?
I want to use 2 tape delays panned in stereo. I haven't been able to find out if you can do that with 2 delays.
Is there a way to configure a footswitch to be able to change the boards without having to bend down or having to triple hit the first knob? sometimes in the middle of the show it is uncomfortable and slow
Hallo, Danke für Deine super nützlichen Videos zu dem Plethora X5, das ist wirklich großartig👍. Aber ich habe eine Frage: Bleiben die die im Looper eingespielten Parts, nach dem Ausschalten des X3 erhalten?
Hello again, mr. Plethorian! I see the EXP CALIBRATION function/option on the Plethora. Could You, please, explain or even make a video on it if it's worthwhile? Thanks!
Hey! It's a simple one, it's literally just to make sure that the Plethora recognizes the travel limits of the expression pedal so you can use it to its full extent. I shall put it on the todo list though, maybe as a short! 😁👍🏻
@@PedalPlatform Shorts are great to! Thanks in advance!
Great demo! Just ordered one for myself. I also like your tone! What other gear are you using in this video?
Thank you! I don't remember exactly what I was using, but I'm guessing it must have been the Atomic Amplifirebox on the Plexi / JCM800 models, probably pushed with a TC Spark Booster. 😄
Nobody, on any reviews, mentions distortion/overdrive. Why does this pedal not have these?
I guess because it wasn't supposed to... the Plethora is a compilation of most of TC's Toneprint enabled pedals in one single board, and at this time TC doesn't have any digital / toneprint distortion / drive pedals, therefore there are none to include. It was designed as a "bring your own drives" pedal, something with excellent quality modulation and time based effects, to complement whatever gain preferences most guitar players already have. It was never designed to be an Helix / GT-1000 style everything-and-the-kitchen-sink, it is just what it is: a whole bunch of toneprint pedals in a single, highly versatile board. 🙂
How do the cabs feel? Are they gig worthy for ampless setups?
They feel good under the fingers and sound great. It's just a shame that they're under the Global settings, which means you can't attach them to each board and have to change them manually, but other than that I have no issues with them.
@@PedalPlatform thanks man. Youre the only guy who went this far with the demos. Great stuff!
I am an analog man from way back when I started playing. I know that MIDI is a valuable asset to the world of music production, from what I see. Problem is, I have absolutely no idea what it is about or how to use it. I really wish I could, but every time I try to do something that involves MIDI, it becomes a total nightmare. Maybe I should have been born in the modern era of technology, LOL
😆 It does have some quirks, and isn't always straightforward, but with a bit of practice you get the hang of it. I hope to at some point do a very brief intro to MIDI switching for pedals, but in the meantime you can keep an eye on Alec Bourne's channel, and the lovely people from That Pedal Show also have this primer: ua-cam.com/video/vjMePOQcRrg/v-deo.html. Hope this helps clear up some of the muddy waters. 🙏🏻
@@PedalPlatform Thanks. I'll sure keep an eye on his channel and yours too. Thanks so much for the reply.
Many thanks for this review, i'm going to buy this unity. Do you think that may I use headphone with the sim cab?
I've tried it with a Y (2x mono male to stereo female) jack adapter and it worked with my headphones, but your mileage may vary as it wasn't exactly designed to do it.
@@PedalPlatform many thanks
I have a tc electronic g system, is the plethora better as far as effects and capabilities. The only drawback I see between the two is the cat5 cable connection that the g system has over the 4 cable method from your head to the peddle in front of you.
I don't have first hand experience with the G system, so can't compare them directly, but the concept seems to be very different, with the Plethora being mostly an integrated collection of the TonePrint pedals in a floor unit configuration, vs. the G system's rack + foot controller. And yes, that foot controller with cat5 cable was really cool 😄
Thank you for your reply!
It’s interesting, the graphics I have for the pedals have different aesthetics on my display than they do in your demo. Hmm. Maybe there’s a setting somewhere that allows one to change that. Here goes Menu diving 😬
Settings > Global > Display Settings > Colors 😬 😆
@@PedalPlatform thanks so much. Hey do you happen to know if the loops you record are things you can pull from the plethora via usb. Like a .wav file? I’m going to try I guess next time I’m near my studio but wonder if you tried.
At a guess, with the Ditto+ coming out next year that may not be a feature they want to include for free 🧐
The loops are only RAM based, so that'll be a nope... 😕
@@PedalPlatform ah, shame. They probably lost enough business due to TonePrint stomp boxes sitting on shelves because of plethora (I know my original versions gather dust). Maybe killing the Ditto+ was a bridge too far 🧐
super nice videos :) any idea on where i could see the list of all pedals the plethora includes???
Thank you! 🙏🏻 It includes all of the current TonePrint enabled pedals, the Mimiq (not Toneprint) and a Looper:
- Corona Chorus
- Hypergravity Compressor
- Flashback 2 Delay
- Mimiq Doubler
- Vortex Flanger
- Quintessence Harmony
- Tape Deck Looper (Plethora exclusive)
- Sentry Noise Gate
- Sub'n'Up Octaver
- Helix Phaser
- Brainwaves Pitch Shifter
- Hall of Fame 2 Reverb
- Pipeline Tap Tremolo
- Viscous Vibe
- Shaker Vibrato
Hope this helps 😄
@@PedalPlatform sure helps , i thought it also included the half of fame reverb and at least one analog delay pedal , right?
The Hall of Fame 2 Reverb is on the list, between the Brainwaves and the Pipeline 😉 They're in alphabetical order for the effect, not the name, which makes reading awkward. 😄 And the Flashback delay includes a few analog simulation toneprints as well, so it covers a lot of ground.
@@PedalPlatform ok I’m gonna get it , lol
😄😄😄
Hello thank you for your videos helped me a lot I can’t upload the latest firmware on my Mac? It always says file is not supported? Can you help me please? Thank you
Are you dragging and dropping the plethoraX5_1_3_11.bin file straight into the mounted drive? I haven't yet done it on a Mac, but I'll try and source one to see first hand how it works and if there's any difference to the Windows process...
Great instructions, thanks for posting these! Can you tell me if the effects loop can be blended? For example, if I wanted to run my dirt box in the effects loop, then blend that back to the signal for say, a 50/50 mix, can I do that in the P5? I think you may have covered this in one of your presentations, I just can't seem to find it. Thanks!
Hi!, nope, the effects loop is serial, and always full wet. Sorry!
Ottimo lavoro! Overdrive ??
Thank you 🙏🏻 I'm not sure if I understand your question, so here's two possible answers:
- The Plethora doesn't have a built-in overdrive effect;
- All the gain sounds I was using came from the Atomic Amplifirebox, possibly boosted by a TC Spark (I can't remember exactly what my signal chain was).
@@PedalPlatform ok understood everything. maybe tc Electronic insert overdrive effects?
We don't know yet, they haven't yet confirmed if they will do it 😶
Great videos on the Plethora. A question: is there a way to get whole boards to upload to the Plethora? Maybe boards put together by artists, etc. I only find tone prints for individual pedals.
Olá Pedro,
Not at this point. So far, only individual toneprints are available, but we'll have to see if TC will implement that function at some point as there are more users asking for it. 👍🏻
can you create a chain and control parameters with an expression pedal? and can you make the effects stay in sync if recieving midi from a dj mixer?
You can absolutely control parameters via expression pedal, up to 3 in each effect slot (check this video for more info ua-cam.com/video/SXZsEOUv_44/v-deo.html). As for midi sync, not yet. You can change boards, turn fx on and off, and modify parameters via midi, but no clock as of yet.
@@PedalPlatform thank you so much
This sounds amazing! What drive are you using in the video and is it in front of the FX or somewhere in the chain?
This is going to sound funny, but I don't remember for sure 😆🤦🏻♂️ I know I was using the Atomic Amplifirebox in the Plethora's FX loop, so it was either one of the Amplifirebox's built in drive emulations, or a TC Spark Booster between the Plethora and the Amplifirebox... sorry!, and thank you for your kind words! 🙏🏻
how much looping timed you get? Individually & globally
Each looper can record up to 40 secs in stereo / 80 secs in mono, and they're all independent, so if you don't use all the time on one, you can't use that for another one.
@@PedalPlatform OK so 80 sec max per instance of the looper. It would be Kool to be able to sync them. I use both your Dittox4 (2 of them) and the Ditto Jam. The jam have very Kool features
I have a Fender Studio Rumble digital bass amp.Could I use the drive and fuzz effects that are in the Amp along with the plethora?
Absolutely, and if your Rumble has an Fx loop you can even use 4 cable method to get some Plethora FX before drive / fuzz, and some after. Check this video if you need more info on 4 cable method: ua-cam.com/video/XQ-mqY7k5k0/v-deo.html
@@PedalPlatform Cheers..IL check it out 🤘
Hi! So you really have 3 independent loopers in PlethoraX5? It means that you can use it for example to build a whole song, 1st looper for the versus, 2nd for the chorus and 3rd for a variation?
The X5 can have up to 5 independent loopers :) But keep in mind they are really independent, so you don't get tempo sync or start / stop sync between them, so there's a fair bit of tap dancing involved. But if you're so inclined you can program a MIDI controller to do the start / stop duties and save some taps along the way: ua-cam.com/video/NrsOYkBgfXg/v-deo.html&lc=Ugy66JFx3jYHA4i0vSZ4AaABAg
@@PedalPlatform thank you very much
Let's say I'm running this in my amp effects loop. I want my time based effects after my gain, so I'm set for that. I was under the impression that there was a way to set this pedal so that some effects could be processed before that. Is there a way to do this with this pedal? I despise the sound of modulation after gain and I do not use pedals for drive for any reason.
To get some effects before the preamp and others in the effects loop, you have run the Plethora in 4 cable mode. Check this video for an explanation of how that can work: ua-cam.com/video/XQ-mqY7k5k0/v-deo.html
I should have another one with other variants soon, but that should give you a good head start.
@@PedalPlatform thank you so very much
My pleasure 🙏🏻
Dude why is it so hard to update the firmware on the plethrora I dont know what I'm doing..
Hey Rusty, it's been fairly straightforward for me:
- download firmware update file;
- power up the plethora;
- plug it into the computer using USB cable (won't work over Bluetooth);
- wait for the computer to recognize the plethora as an external hard drive;
- drag and drop the firmware file into the plethora drive;
- after the copy is done, eject the plethora drive from the computer;
- unplug the usb cable, pull the power cable from the plethora, wait a couple of seconds, plug the power cable back in again.
If the file was copied correctly, after a few seconds the middle screen of the plethora should warn that an update is taking place. Wait for it to do its thing, and you should be good to go...
But please let me know if you follow these steps and it still didn't work, we'll figure it out. 👍🏻
So I have done this several times when I power back up the plethora it loads the original firmware Im ready to throw this thing in the pool 😆 I even tried extracting the file in the plethora still same thing. I Have not registered it yet because Its asking for a proof of purchase on music tribe can that have something to do with it?
@@PedalPlatform I have done this several times and it stills loads old firmware 1.0.101 getting very frustrated
Let me investigate this a bit further on my side - in the meantime, could you send me a video of the process to see if I can spot any signs of where it might be going sideways? 😕
@@PedalPlatform Im not sure how to send you a video but someone said if I'm more than one update behind I should start from the bottom and update them in order? I'm going to try that. I'm ready to just get my money back but its heartbreaking because this is exactly the type of pedal I ha e been looking for :(
Regarding #7 System Restore: Any idea how to reverse the process? I was able to successfully download my exports/plethora.restore file into the "Plethora" volume, as you explain in this video. However, I had no luck in my attempts to figure out how to restore the Plethora X5 from the plethora.restore file... I tried hunting around in the System menu, tried treating plethora.restore like a Firmware update, leaving it in the "Plethora" volume and doing a power cycle, but thus far nothing is working. Have you had any luck with this?
Hi! Yes, I was a bit too trigger happy advertising that one... it was supposed to be there and fully functional, but for now it only exports for service purposes. Full restore capabilities will have to wait a bit longer... 😕
@@PedalPlatform Right on, thanks!
Newbe question.... (got the plethora X5 1 hour ago) Can you save the looprecordings per looplocation on each board?
Hey Luk, hope you enjoy your new Plethora! :) But the answer is no, the loops only live in temporary memory, and can't be saved.
How does this sound compared to the individual pedals??....I know the pedals are analog dry thru,whereas the Plethora is digital...In other words,does the Flashback sound just as good in the Plethora as the Pedal?
I would definitely say the effects sound as good as the original pedals, and the dry sound is excellent. The buffers / converters are really good, and I'd say they could only pose a problem in a Dry / Dry+Wet rig where you need the dry sound to be in absolute phase with the wet.
@@PedalPlatform that was why I was asking..I am building a wet dry wet rig,so wondering if there would be any phase issues?...I like a little dry signal in my wet cabs,not just 100 percent wet.....I love TC’s stuff....I have an Alter Ego version Flashback,which is my favorite delay pedal ever..
Yup, in that case the Plethora might not be exactly what you're looking for. 😕 And I agree, the Alter Ego is really lovely! 😍
does the signal flow allow you to setup loopers in parallel or is everything in series?
At the moment it's all in series, but there are some user requests for parallel signal paths, so that might be under consideration at TC. No guarantees, though. 🙂
@@PedalPlatform thank you, some flexibility may be useful, for loopers or delays for example
What's up with Sweetwater's 50 bucks off before christmas secret? check their site!
I didn't see it specifically fixed, but there was a complete drop out of signal when ever you went into "adjust mode" live ... ? That is/was not good.
And 2nd big ask: can you guys get a deal , like offer your customers a set of five of those bolt-on extra large "Masher" switch buttons? Think they call them "barefoot buttons" or something.
I've been watching this project, up until now, still completely undecided on a switcher for two plus years, as a general purpose but stage ready device. I'm very satisfied with the five or so of your pedals i own, but I need a controller at this point. Your original decisions to opt for big screen graphics, with a DSP powered user definable interface is the most pure design I have seen yet.
the covid is a test, do stay inside just a little more. The software update is fantastic timing for me, the devotion paid off with this customer. Bless you for keeping all of it real TC, You deserve Future Leadership Roles in tech. Looking forward towards future business with you! Eric ~ Santa Fe (Fan-ta-sy) New Mexico Very Merry Christmas 2020 to you and Your's!
Hi Eric, thank you so much for your compliments - I'm not a TC employee, but I'm really happy you like the Plethora, and I'll make sure to pass your compliments on to the TC team! Merry Christmas to you too! 🙏🏻