New Darkglass Pedal - ADAM

[Wolverinebass]

2 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I thought so. He has a knack of imparting information clearly and succinctly. 

Doesn't hurt that he is such a versatile bassist either. 

Also doesn't hurt that he's not Patrick Hunter either.

[fretmeister]

On 10/12/2020 at 14:02, PaulThePlug said:

I wonder how much post production has been done on the sound?

If ya got the money, a pro or otherwise, it's £500 for a distortion pedal...

Good job it’s a distortion and an EQ,  and a compressor, and an IR loader, and a di box and an audio interface then.

 

[Wolverinebass]

37 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Good job it’s a distortion and an EQ,  and a compressor, and an IR loader, and a di box and an audio interface then.

 

Quality! Let's be fair, if Nolly has done this it'll have been tweaked and refined to an inch of its life so I would posture that virtually no post production will have been done or necessary. 

[Kev]

I think this unit has so much potential.  The three demos so far have been sufficiently different from one another to get me really excited about what can be coaxed out of it. 
 

Nathan is probably my fave demoer on YT, he really knows how to give people a feel for what he reviews.

[Kev]

Oh, and it’s good to see that the distortion can be turned off, as opposed to blended out, so you can in fact have IR on clean, just not on the multiband compression side.  Odd that Nolly didn’t mention that in his walkthrough, but I guess he’s pushing his idea that you don’t need one.

[Mudpup]

On 08/12/2020 at 14:10, fretmeister said:

 

That being said - I love the footswitch / Encoder dual function things. Although at the same time if I had just been in a pub toilet I would not want to touch anything I have stepped on.

This.... Brilliant 😂

[acroxixo]

From the Darkglass website:

”The ADAM has a current draw of 500mA. Only use a regulated 9V DC adapter with a center-negative plug. ”

Do we need a power supply capable of 500mA to run the ADAM? 
I have a Decibel Deluxe on my board to power my pedals but it doesn’t have a isolated 500mA. 
 

[Cuzzie]

11 hours ago, acroxixo said:

From the Darkglass website:

”The ADAM has a current draw of 500mA. Only use a regulated 9V DC adapter with a center-negative plug. ”

Do we need a power supply capable of 500mA to run the ADAM? 
I have a Decibel Deluxe on my board to power my pedals but it doesn’t have a isolated 500mA. 
 

To run effectively yes.

Just get a current doubler cable and use 2 ports, (there is a 400 and a 100 side by side on that power source) or get its own 1 spot plug if the ports are all used up

Edited December 26, 2020 by Cuzzie
Power source not a pedal...!

[Kev]

Worth bearing in mind that 500ma will be an over estimate based on the pedal being pushed to the Max (all lights on, used as an interface etc).  In normal use, I doubt you’ll need that much juice.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Kev

[Daz39]

On 20/12/2020 at 15:50, Kev said:

I think this unit has so much potential.  The three demos so far have been sufficiently different from one another to get me really excited about what can be coaxed out of it. 
 

Nathan is probably my fave demoer on YT, he really knows how to give people a feel for what he reviews.

He works for Source Audio too doesn’t he? He does some great videos of their devices and is one of the regular responders on the SASS threads on talkbass whenever midi stuff comes up.

[Cuzzie]

@acroxixo BTW not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but if you are getting a doubler cable for this - make sure it is current and not voltage - or the pedal will fry!

[acroxixo]

35 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

@acroxixo BTW not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but if you are getting a doubler cable for this - make sure it is current and not voltage - or the pedal will fry!

I will remember that 😅

Thanks Cuzzie 

[Wolverinebass]

2 hours ago, Kev said:

Worth bearing in mind that 500ma will be an over estimate based on the pedal being pushed to the Max (all lights on, used as an interface etc).  In normal use, I doubt you’ll need that much juice.

Exactly. Much like the Helix stomp. The power supply might say 3A, but it's been shown to work fine with 1A.

[Ramsay777]

Watched a couple of demos, not as confusing an interface as I initially thought... And while 500 bones is a huge amount for pedal, it does have the potential to replace at least a couple of pedals, especially if the tuner's solid and reliable.

I've never owned a DG distortion but I've given the Neural plug-in a go and liked it, and I've got the super Symmetry Compressor. Could maybe see this in my future. The comment about pub toilets and the rotary footswitches is completely valid too hahaha

[Kev]

Well, mine arrived at the end of last week.  Been some significant delays in the UK distributor getting stock but I think they'll come through shortly as new batches are leaving the factory.

In short, its fantastic.  It easily has the nicest clean section of any preamp they have made, lots of magic going on under the hood in the clean sidechain.  The distortion engines start at a pretty high gain really and go up to a really fuzz/synthy distortion when mode 5 is cranked, but Darkglass are bringing in a firmware update to allow for lower gain in the very near future to improve the range and allow lower gain.  There is quite an array of sounds you can get from each engine, and happy to say that there is a LOT more than Nolly tones you get in it, and a huge part of the tone you hear in the demo is indeed the Dingwall character shining blindingly through.  It's very sensitive to what goes in, and my Warwick/Alpher sound nothing like the Nolly demos through it.  The compressor feels very similar to the FET mode in the Hyper Luminal, which in turn feels similar to the Cali76 compressor style, works really well.

It's £469, so a good £70+ more than the previous Ultra pedals, but when you consider that you get:-

• Compressor pedal with adjustable ratios etc
• Five distortion engines, which cover a lot more ground than any previous Darkglass circuit
• Three presets, with audition mode/stage mode
• Five IRs on board and switchable
• A tuner (which actually works really well, suprisingly)
• A fully functional multichannel audio interface over USB-C
• Bluetooth connectivity to send music in and allows control over aspects of the pedal, including IRs.
• Headphone Amp

...well, it covers the ground of at least three other pedals in the Darkglass range alone, and I can't name another single box solution like this that does so much.  It's an outstanding unit.

Huge Shock - Kev likes a Darkglass pedal.  But honestly, even if you forget about the distortion side of the pedal for a second, its such a capable unit.

[krispn]

It does look like a lot of pedal!

[Wolverinebass]

5 hours ago, Kev said:

...well, it covers the ground of at least three other pedals in the Darkglass range alone, and I can't name another single box solution like this that does so much.  It's an outstanding unit.

I'd have been surprised if it was rubbish. However, the Tech 21 PSA 2.0 is a a similar one box solution that's only £350. Full midi implementation as well. I appreciate that it's an apples and different species of apples comparison, but I think it's one to be made.

The upgradeable firmware is very clever. Pity it's only 3 settings. I'd certainly like to try one.

[Cuzzie]

The PSA is defo awesome

[Kev]

46 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

I'd have been surprised if it was rubbish. However, the Tech 21 PSA 2.0 is a a similar one box solution that's only £350. Full midi implementation as well. I appreciate that it's an apples and different species of apples comparison, but I think it's one to be made.

The upgradeable firmware is very clever. Pity it's only 3 settings. I'd certainly like to try one.

I have to say, I've never looked at the PSA before, but checking it out on the website, it seems to bear very little resemblance?  No recording interface, no compressor or multiband compressor circuit, no IR loader? Does it even have a headphone out, or any kind of aux in, bluetooth or otherwise?  It just seems to be an updated programmable drive pedal with additional midi control (a feature I forgot to mention about the ADAM, albeit by TRS)?  And its only £100 or so less?

Sorry if I'm missing something!!  I'm really unfamiliar with the current Tech 21 range.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Kev

[Wolverinebass]

2 minutes ago, Kev said:

I have to say, I've never looked at the PSA before, but checking it out on the website, it seems to bear very little resemblance?  No recording interface, no compressor or multiband compressor circuit, no IR loader? Does it even have a headphone out, or any kind of aux in, bluetooth or otherwise?  It just seems to be an updated programmable drive pedal with additional midi control (a feature I forgot to mention about the ADAM, albeit by TRS)?  And its only £100 or so less?

Sorry if I'm missing something!!  I'm really unfamiliar with the current Tech 21 range.

Not missing anything squire. That's why I said, a slightly different species of apples. The PSA does have cab simulation, but not uploadable. It does have a headphone out, but not an aux in. It's not just a stomp box pedal any more than the ADAM is as it's a multi band distortion unit with EQ. As I've said a Darkglass pedal with midi presets would be worth £500. This just happens to have quite a few other things too. Just a pity it has so few presets.

I should read the ADAM manual myself, but how flexible is the multi band? Can you choose the ratios and frequencies of the bands or is it just dials? I had thought that it was midi controllable but couldn't remember if it was just the IRs.

As I say, it's not an accurate comparison as they're different in many ways, but similar in others. Just one I wondered about. I'd certainly like to have a go of one.

Demo videos my dear boy as I'd like to hear it played by someone who isn't just going to "do a Nolly" or worse still "do a Patrick Hunter," which as you play Warwicks it'd be interesting. For me at least.

[Kev]

6 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Not missing anything squire. That's why I said, a slightly different species of apples. The PSA does have cab simulation, but not uploadable. It does have a headphone out, but not an aux in. It's not just a stomp box pedal any more than the ADAM is as it's a multi band distortion unit with EQ. As I've said a Darkglass pedal with midi presets would be worth £500. This just happens to have quite a few other things too. Just a pity it has so few presets.

I should read the ADAM manual myself, but how flexible is the multi band? Can you choose the ratios and frequencies of the bands or is it just dials? I had thought that it was midi controllable but couldn't remember if it was just the IRs.

As I say, it's not an accurate comparison as they're different in many ways, but similar in others. Just one I wondered about. I'd certainly like to have a go of one.

Demo videos my dear boy as I'd like to hear it played by someone who isn't just going to "do a Nolly" or worse still "do a Patrick Hunter," which as you play Warwicks it'd be interesting. For me at least.

The Multiband compressor is actually fixed right now in the clean sidechain, but they’ve hinted at that being changed somewhere down the line.  It’s the Nolly signature aspect, ie he’s designed it as he would set a bass in the studio. The pedal otherwise has a FET compressor at the start of its internal chain, which the compression amount and ratios can be controlled by the knobs/rotary footswitches.  The manual is worth a read, it’s difficult to explain the signal chain without the pictures!  But pretty much all aspects of it are pretty different from what Darkglass have released before.

The number of presets is a limitation, as I already have ideas for way more than 3 but then again I personally don’t and won’t use a midi controller, so I’d be relying on the foot switches anyway. But right now I’m actually really interested in how flexible the firmware actually is.  It’s been hinted that the launch version just skims the surface of what it can do in the future, so who knows what may be possible.  127 or whatever the number is midi presets may well be on the cards, particularly as the LEDS can be manipulated to show the number, as the tuner function shows.

[Cuzzie]

Anyone but PH please!

[Kev]

I’m never any good at filming myself, but I’ll try to stick up videos on my IG channel at some point, if I can stand it! 😅 I prefer just to take pretty pictures 😉

[Wolverinebass]

13 hours ago, Kev said:

I’m never any good at filming myself, but I’ll try to stick up videos on my IG channel at some point, if I can stand it! 😅 I prefer just to take pretty pictures 😉

Well, you have some very nice basses squire. I think if Darkglass make it full midi, I might get one actually.

[Al Krow]

There's one in the FS at £50 off the new price if folk are interested.

Looks like DG have covered off part of the front end panel of the DG M900 Mk2 / AO, but with a character dial instead of the AO bite / growl buttons and, importantly, presets, but lacking the preamp EQ.

Seems to me that if DG were to put this as a replacement front end of their M900 series amps they will be making a move into Berg B Amp territory; but the B Amp covers a bunch of additional ground eg allowing EQ presets also.