Rainger Binary Pulsar

The Binary Pulsar is a sidechainer/panner/tremolo pedal, all digital - but with an analog ‘warm’ circuit. In another of our custom enclosures, it’s designed to be floor or desk mounted.

It’s our first stereo pedal, the stereo version (inputs and outputs) of the discontinued Deep Space Pulsar, and it can do a 16s pulse from a 4s input, or even 32nds!

It’s highly adaptable. Syncs with CV/gate signal from modular synth set-up, or with the Rainger FX Snare Trap, or runs on internal tap tempo (the DSP’s Igor controller pad now incorporated into the pedal itself), or can be triggered with a mic (not supplied) - or a drum machine voice output.

CONTROLS

Top end panel

MIC; This is the external mic input socket which can trigger the pedal from any fast attack sound. The socket accepts XLR or ¼” inputs.

SYNC; Plug in external triggers here from the Rainger FX Snare Trap, or a modular synth gate control signal.

IN left & right; These are the stereo 1/4” inputs, or just use ‘left’ if it’s a mono sound source (gets processed into stereo). Or two separate mono instruments can be plugged in, and each will go to its own amplifier via the appropriate output.

WARM switch; This activates an analog ‘warm’ circuit, adding a gentle overdrive to the output while rolling off some high-end, and adding middle.

OUT left & right; These are the stereo outputs. If you’re using the Binary Pulsar in mono, both outputs are summed and sent to the left output.

DC in; The Binary Pulsar is powered by a standard 9v effects pedal power supply, plugged in here. Power consumption is

Main front panel

VOL; This knob adjusts the overall volume.

HOLD; Labelled ‘DIP’ on the old Deep Space Pulsar, this control decides when dipped, how long the signal stays dipped for. 

If the hold knob is turned down low enough, the volume may not have time to fully dip down in the first place, so - with some release time added (turn REL up) - you can hear what seems like a shallower dip.

REL; With the same name on the Deep Space Pulsar, this release control adjust the length of the rise up to previous level when the signal recovers after the dip.

WIDE; This delays the right side signal only. When turned slightly it puts the left and right sidechaining out of sync - which has the effect of turning a mono dip into a stereo one. As the knob is turned further, this can turn a ‘16s’ pattern into a ‘32nds’ one, and turning further into a swing feel pulse.

RES; At fully CCW this knob has no effect, but as it’s turned some resonance is slowly added to the pedal’s outputs - becoming very synthy and squelchy as it approaches the far end of travel.

DIST (knob); This adjusts the volume of the digital distortion effect. 

Footswitch; This turns the Binary Pulsar on and off. It’s a digital bypass (buffered).

INV; This pushbutton inverts the sidechain dip into a pulse - momentarily jumping up from silence.

½ INV; This switch inverts only one side of the outputs, giving a strong and dramatic stereo effect.

DIST (pushbutton); This changes the function of the rubber pad below it. With the switch out, the rubber pad is used to input tap tempo. With it in, it changes the pad’s action to adding momentary distortion (with a bit of flanging) to the output. Press and hold the pad for three seconds and the distortion latches on (or latches off).

8s; This doubles up a 4s input to 8s.

16s; This quadruples a 4s input to 16s. Press in both the ‘8s’ and ‘16s’ switches and you get ‘12s’. Turn the ‘WIDE’ knob to halfway and you get 32nds - split between the two outputs.

WHITE LEDs; The first one (10mm) is the main ‘on/off’ indicator. The other two are ‘left’ and ‘right’, and flash according to how the signal processing controls are set. It’s a visual indicator of the length of the release ‘REL’, and the amount of right-side delay ‘WIDE’.

The pad; Use this to either program the internal tap tempo, or to momentarily switch the internal distortion on (according to how the ‘DIST’ switch is set…. See above).

Using the tap tempo

In tap tempo mode (‘DIST’ switch not illuminated), hold down the pad for a long second to cancel any previous tempo. Then tap once (L & R LEDs stay on to show it’s in record), then a second time, and the tempo is programmed and marches off. 

The tap tempo is correctible; if you’re trying to sync manually with an external track (eg a DJ), at any point you can tap once again if it starts drifting out of sync. Or as many times as you want until it sounds right. 

To make a big change to the tempo you need to cancel it and start again (hold down the pad until the white LEDs stop flashing).

NOTE

* The pedal has no ‘mix’ control between left and right outputs; if necessary adjust this externally.

* The ‘Hold’ and ‘Rel’ controls are designed to mimic the Deep Space Pulsar controls exactly. 

* With the Binary Pulsar, all useful kinds of sidechaining are possible - from subtle groove-inducing dips, to massive NY Freestyle stereo patterns!

* If two instruments are plugged in - one in the left input, one right - their separate-ness is preserved through the Binary Pulsar; the left one comes out of the left output, the right out of the right.

* It draws 165mA.