Sonuus B2M Owner's Manual

B2M™

Universal Bass-to-MIDI Converter

Owner’s Manual

B2M™ B2M™ B2M™ B2M™

Congratulations on your purchase of the
B2M™. Please take the time to read
through this manual to ensure you get
the best from your B2M™.

What is the

B2M™

?

The B2M™ is a simple to use, but highly
effective, Bass-to-

MIDI

converter. It is
“Universal” because it doesn’t need a
special pick-up mounted on your bass
guitar, but instead simply connects to
your bass like any other effects pedal or
tuner. However, this does mean that it
can only work “monophonically”, so
chords are not supported.

Specifically designed and optimised for
all 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-string basses to give
accurate triggering, with very low­latency, it is a true plug-and-play solution
for monophonic

MIDI

bass. It can be used
to sequence bass lines, add an edge to
your live performances and to open up
many creative possibilities.

Power

Yo ur B2M™ is powered by a single 9V
PP3 battery (supplied). Simply connect
the battery observing the correct
polarity. If you connect it the wrong way
round it won’t cause any damage, but
the unit won’t operate until this is
connected correctly.

Because of its low power consumption,
the unit will run for many hours (typically
for more than 60) on a single battery.
When the battery is close to needing
replaced, the

LOW BATTERY LED

will light. It
is not necessary to replace the battery
immediately since the B2M™ will
continue to function normally. When the
battery is nearly exhausted, the

LOW

BATTERY

LED

will flash and the battery
must be replaced. If you need the B2M™
to work reliably for several hours (

e.g.,

a
recording session, or when playing live)
the battery should be replaced if the

LOW

BATTERY

LED

is lit.

The B2M™ is switched on when a lead is
plugged into the

BASS

jack. So, to
maximise battery life, this jack must be
disconnected when you are not using
the unit.

After 30minutes of inactivity the B2M™
will enter a low-power (but not fully off)
state to preserve the battery. To restart
the unit, simply unplug and re-insert the
lead into the

BASS

jack.

Operation

Using your B2M™ couldn’t be simpler:

• Plug your instrument (electric bass)

into the

BASS

jack socket. The

POWER

LED

will light.

• Connect
computer using a suitable
interface) to the

• Adjust your bass’ volume control so
that the
occasionally while playing normally.

• Optionally, check your bass is in tune
using the built-in tuner (if you want to
tune to the standard bass tuning).

• Play your bass to send

MIDI

Chromatic Mode

The B2M™ accurately tracks the pitch of
notes and outputs pitch-bend
messages but sometimes it is preferable
to send notes without pitch-bend
information (
sounds). This can be done by enabling
the

CHROMATIC

jack socket.

Tuner

For your convenience, the B2M™
includes a built-in tuner. This uses our
PULSAR™ tuning technology where the

POWER

This innovative tuner gives you a fast
and accurate way to tune your bass.

If there is no input signal, the
remain lit and indicates that the unit is
powered. When there is an input signal,
the

LED

tuning.

When the note is out of tune, the
pulse quickly. As you get closer to the
correct pitch, this pulsing will slow.
Eventually when you are perfectly in
tune, the pulsing will stop. Normally, as
long as the
per second, the tuning is close enough
for most purposes.

• Connect

MIDI-IN

of your

MIDI

device (or

computer using a suitable

MIDI

interface) to the

MIDI OUT

socket.

• Adjust your bass’ volume control so
that the

CLIP LED

lights only

occasionally while playing normally.

• Optionally, check your bass is in tune
using the built-in tuner (if you want to
tune to the standard bass tuning).

• Play your bass to send

MIDI

to your

MIDI

device (or sequencer,

etc.

).

Chromatic Mode

The B2M™ accurately tracks the pitch of
notes and outputs pitch-bend

MIDI

messages but sometimes it is preferable
to send notes without pitch-bend
information (

e.g.,

when playing piano
sounds). This can be done by enabling
the

CHROMATIC

switch next to the

BASS

jack socket.

Tuner

For your convenience, the B2M™
includes a built-in tuner. This uses our
PULSAR™ tuning technology where the

POWER LED

doubles as a tuning indicator.
This innovative tuner gives you a fast
and accurate way to tune your bass.

If there is no input signal, the

LED

will
remain lit and indicates that the unit is
powered. When there is an input signal,
the

LED

will pulse smoothly to indicate

tuning.

When the note is out of tune, the

LED

will
pulse quickly. As you get closer to the
correct pitch, this pulsing will slow.
Eventually when you are perfectly in
tune, the pulsing will stop. Normally, as
long as the

LED

pulses slower than once
per second, the tuning is close enough
for most purposes.

It is always best to start at a lower pitch
and tune upwards to the correct pitch. As
you get closer to the correct pitch and
the pulsing slows down, turn your tuning
head more slowly to avoid overshooting
the correct pitch. Because the tuner is
very accurate you will find that very small
movements may be all that is required to
move from slightly out-of-tune to in-tune
(or indeed, to go from in-tune to slightly
out-of-tune). With only a little practice
you will find you can tune very quickly
and accurately using the PULSAR™
tuner.

Instrument Thru

If you want to connect your instrument to
another device, or to your bass amplifier,
simply connect a lead to the

THRU

jack.
The B2M™ has a very high-impedance
input and it will not affect the sound of
your instrument while it is connected.

MIDI

To make connecting to

MIDI

equipment
as simple as possible, the B2M™ has a
standard 5-pin

MIDI

connector (

i.e.,

no
adapter cables are required). It also
provides standard 5V power and is able
to power self-powered

MIDI

devices such

as

MIDI

mergers and message filters.

For pitch-bend, the commonest setting
for most

MIDI

devices is for full-scale
pitch-bend to represent ±2 semitones,
and the B2M™ is also set to this range.
To e n s u re y o u r

MIDI

sounds are correctly

in tune with your bass, ensure the

MIDI

patch you use is also set to a pitch-bend
range of ±2 semitones.

Of course, you may want to experiment
with other pitch-bend ranges for special
effects.