Darkglass Alpha Omega Photon

[Kev]

 

Well.  This will cause some pedalboard shake ups!

[fretmeister]

Place your bets!

 

I reckon £550.

 

[Daz39]

So basically the tech behind the ADAM has been rolled out to the A/O. Any cleverer and it will be making tea and toast.

 

Edit: and as usual, no expense spared on the marketing video. There'll be people throwing their wallets at it like Homer.J.Simpson watching tv shopping channels.

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Daz39

[Rick05]

I liked the look of the ADAM but it didn't capture me enough to change from my X-Ultra, but maybe this one will. Or I wonder whether they will do an X version of this in the future.

 

I reckon around £500 like the ADAM.

[Supernaut]

Yet another generic metal pedal...

 

Darkglass is the iPhone of the pedal world. 

[Kev]

If by iPhone you mean the king of the pedal world, yis! 😉

 

Biggest complaint about the ADAM was it’s distortion algorithms.  If Darkglass have got this one right, this will replace a number of pedals on AO user pedalboards.  Interface, compressor, noise gate, tuner, cabinet simulator, headphone amp, 6 presets (3 midi/app access).  Oof.

[Daz39]

It's close to a band replacement unit.

All they need to do is put in an auto-play feature for octave up that goes slightly out of tune and tempo during solos, and you can do away with your lead guitarist! 

[fretmeister]

23 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Yet another generic metal pedal...

 

Darkglass is the iPhone of the pedal world. 

 

 

To be fair it's only generic because they've been so successful.

 

But I must admit I am getting very bored with the Darkglass sound being on every new metal record.

[Supernaut]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

But I must admit I am getting very bored with the Darkglass sound being on every new metal record.

 

Very much so. 

 

It's either that or the old stand by - a P with SS strings through a cranked SVT. 

[Kev]

Yeah, I hate it when stuff sounds good. 

 

But to be fair, being a bassist in progressive metal, it’s the Darkglass/Dingwall tone that is becoming very boring and predictable, but it depends how it’s used.  Darkglass are capable of much more, and the Alpha Omega circuit is the most diverse of the lot.

[fretmeister]

I'm not saying it doesn't sound good.

It's just that it's everywhere.

 

It's become the modern equivalent of Dual Rectifier use in the 1990s. Every metal album sounding like Machinehead.

[bagsieblue]

Disappointing - thought the hood would come off to reveal Luke Skywalker.

[acroxixo]

https://www.thomann.de/gb/darkglass_alphaomega_photon.htm?sid=439f51b55694eed1841f815bca0c282d&ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1
 

Photon - 466£ / 555€
ADAM - 485£ / 575€

[Kev]

Surprised it's come in under the ADAM.  Thats a hell of a lot more pedal than the Ultra model for not a lot more cash.

[krispn]

20 hours ago, bagsieblue said:

Disappointing - thought the hood would come off to reveal *Luke Skywalker.

Leyland Sklar

 

I think it’s an anagram 

Edited December 2, 2021 by krispn

[thodrik]

Looks interesting. 

I have actually only started to really enjoy my A/O original since I bought a V2 Sansamp Bass Driver last year (I bought the A/O about two years ago). 

With the Photon and the ADAM, I see them more as tools I would really like to have for recording purposes, rather than for the purposes of gigging where I generally like to keep things 'simple'. 

[Cuzzie]

Is it exactly the same circuit as in the AO pedal or have they digitalised it?

 

If it’s been digitalised I hope it’s not lost a little of its magic

[Kev]

52 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Is it exactly the same circuit as in the AO pedal or have they digitalised it?

 

If it’s been digitalised I hope it’s not lost a little of its magic

It’s a digital algorithm.  Apparently it’s five different variations of the circuit, including one that keeps the low end undistorted aka X Ultra.  Really keen to hear how it sounds.

 

Digital doesn’t worry me too much anymore, I use a Quad Cortex now and it’s captures of Darkglass pedals are almost indistinguishable.  I wonder if they’ve used their expertise at all, as well as their footswitches.

[fretmeister]

6 hours ago, Kev said:

It’s a digital algorithm.  Apparently it’s five different variations of the circuit, including one that keeps the low end undistorted aka X Ultra.  Really keen to hear how it sounds.

 

Digital doesn’t worry me too much anymore, I use a Quad Cortex now and it’s captures of Darkglass pedals are almost indistinguishable.  I wonder if they’ve used their expertise at all, as well as their footswitches.

As Doug owns both companies I’m sure there’s a lot of sharing of ideas.

[Kev]

18 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

As Doug owns both companies I’m sure there’s a lot of sharing of ideas.

I'm not entirely sure what Doug's role with Darkglass is anymore, certainly isn't the CEO anymore, so I'm not sure how much they're sharing.  Their digital platforms bare no resemblance to one another in aesthetics or function, so who knows?

[Wolverinebass]

On 01/12/2021 at 15:02, Kev said:

Yeah, I hate it when stuff sounds good. 

 

But to be fair, being a bassist in progressive metal, it’s the Darkglass/Dingwall tone that is becoming very boring and predictable, but it depends how it’s used.  Darkglass are capable of much more, and the Alpha Omega circuit is the most diverse of the lot.

I agree completely Kev. The Dingwall/Darkglass thing is getting very stale. However, as a progressive metal bass player myself, I await claims of "passe" when my bands album comes out next year. "Wal and Tech 21? He must be an agent of the counterculture! Seize him!!"

 

Out of all the Darkglass pedals, the AO to me is the best. I'd certainly be interested to try this one.

[Rick05]

I’m still in love with the Dingwall/Darkglass sound and love my x ultra, but the photon has turned my head and could free up a bit of space on my pedal board.

 

I’ll be interested to see if anymore come out in the ADAM format too.

[Danimal]

I'll be interested if they release it as an alternative firmware option for existing ADAM owners. I'd happily pay something for that as an upgrade. Seems very unlikely though.

 

If this all-digital 5 knob/3 rotary switch format is going to expand with similar B7K and VMT style versions in future iterations, maybe someone will figure out a way to hack them for cross-compatibility or custom firmwares in general.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Danimal

[fretmeister]

6 minutes ago, Danimal said:

I'll be interested if they release it as an alternative firmware option for existing ADAM owners. I'd happily pay something for that as an upgrade. Seems very unlikely though.

 

If this digital 5-knob/3 rotary switch format is going to expand with similar B7K and VMT style versions in future iterations, maybe someone will figure out a way to hack them for cross-compatibility or custom firmwares in general.

If they did they they’d never sell any to ADAM owners.

 

It’s like Neural’s plug in business model. Individual plugins that could have been joined together like Helix Native.

[Danimal]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

If they did they they’d never sell any to ADAM owners.

As a current ADAM owner I won't be buying one either way though. Can't speak for everyone in my position of course, but I don't think it would be too far removed from their current model of offering multiple versions of the same drive with expanded functionality to suit different budgets and purposes. If the argument that they're not just trying to be 'the iPhone of effects pedals' holds any water, that is.

 

I don't think they are trying to be that,  but even so, they are still masters of generating FOMO. So regardless, I doubt it will ever happen.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Danimal