Oscillator Devices

The company is best known for the Trash Panda series, MIDI controllable expression pedal splitters that let one expression pedal drive several effects at once².

What Oscillator Devices builds

The range covers several jobs a MIDI pedalboard needs. Each product is a pedal, developed and built in Germany⁴⁹⁵.

The Trash Panda expression splitters

The Trash Panda is a MIDI controllable expression pedal splitter series: one expression pedal in, multiple controlled destinations out, with expression pedal calibration built in². The Trash Panda Dual is the two-output version, also with expression pedal calibration³.

The related Garbage Collector series works in the other direction: it converts MIDI into expression pedal signals and emulates footswitches, so you can control pedals with expression inputs or external switch inputs, such as tap tempo, from a MIDI controller¹⁰¹¹. The maker describes applications including expression pedal multiplexing like the Mission Engineering Expressionator, in combination with controllers such as a Morningstar MC6 or MC8¹⁰. Garbage Collector v3 adds MIDI clock synchronous switching of the footswitch emulators¹⁶.

MIDI connections

Oscillator Devices uses MIDI TRS Type A, the same assignment as pedals from Boss or Wampler, and its sockets are compatible with Morningstar MIDI TRS connections¹⁰¹⁴¹². The HYDRA4X connects with a 1/8" (3.5 mm) stereo jack plug¹²¹⁷. The Siren and HYDRA4X are compatible with all MIDI 1.0 compliant controllers¹³¹².

Firmware updates over WebMIDI

Firmware updates are performed through the maker's WebMIDI interface, a browser tool that controls MIDI devices from the browser, so no separate update software is needed⁷⁸. You need a MIDI interface for your computer with a MIDI output, and that interface must support MIDI SysEX⁷.

Not every MIDI device can carry an update:

• Morningstar MC3, MC6, MC6 Pro, MC8 and MC8 Pro controllers will work⁷.
• PirateMIDI does not support MIDI SysEX and will not work⁷.
• Most simple USB interfaces work, as well as USB or Firewire audio interfaces with MIDI support⁷.

There is one significant limitation: while Morningstar MIDI controllers and WIDI Uhost/Jack work fine with the WebMIDI interface, they are not capable of sending large SysEx files, which firmware updates require¹⁸.

The legacy update

The legacy process needs a MIDI interface for your PC with a MIDI output. The maker's instructions¹⁸:

1. Connect the device you want to update directly to the MIDI interface, with no other devices in between, and turn it on.
2. Do not use your PC or the device during the update process.
3. If the update fails repeatedly, download the file again, as it may be corrupted¹⁸.

You can check whether an interface can handle large MIDI SysEx files by sending a firmware file with no device connected and watching the interface's status LEDs, which should blink or stay lit for about one to two minutes¹⁸.

Presets and recovery

The update process only replaces the firmware; all user presets and settings remain intact⁷. The caution is that once an update begins, the old firmware is erased, and the device only functions again after a successful update⁷.

If an update fails, the situation is recoverable. A device with a failed update may appear unresponsive or "dead," but it will still accept a new update attempt⁷. The maker attributes this to the design of the hardware:

Oscillator Devices support article⁷

During an update, LED1 on and LED2 off means the device is ready to receive the update¹⁸.

The range (14)

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