Darkglass Anagram

[BEADist]

51 minutes ago, Russ said:

 Only thing it appears to be missing is an expression pedal, or even a connection for an external one. Not a dealbreaker though. 

 

The FX return can be used as an external expression in.

 

Personally I would not want to give up the FX-loop for that though. I would buy a exp-to-midi converter for an expression pedal.

 

link to the manual:

https://www.darkglass.com/anagram-manual/#Rear_View

 

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Edit: On TB someone says you can use a splitter cable and connect a exp-pedal AND an audio return. The manual says:

 

"Return (exp): A dual function ¼” jack supporting either a stereo return or an expression pedal input."

 

I am not sure what to think of this...

Edited yesterday at 20:28 by BEADist

[Russ]

1 hour ago, BEADist said:

 

The FX return can be used as an external expression in.

 

Personally I would not want to give up the FX-loop for that though. I would buy a exp-to-midi converter for an expression pedal.

 

link to the manual:

https://www.darkglass.com/anagram-manual/#Rear_View

 

-----------------------------------

Edit: On TB someone says you can use a splitter cable and connect a exp-pedal AND an audio return. The manual says:

 

"Return (exp): A dual function ¼” jack supporting either a stereo return or an expression pedal input."

 

I am not sure what to think of this...

Well, there goes my only criticism then.  I should have RTFM! 

[Kev]

I don't feel like a single stereo jack is capable of running a mono signal and an expression pedal input.

 

I get confused when there's more than one ring, but I feel it's not that simple and the manual may be being misinterpreted there...

[tayste_2000]

23 minutes ago, Kev said:

I don't feel like a single stereo jack is capable of running a mono signal and an expression pedal input.

 

I get confused when there's more than one ring, but I feel it's not that simple and the manual may be being misinterpreted there...

Expression is on the send jack and fx loop is on the return using a trs cable.

 

 

[Kev]

It's interesting then that the manual doesn't advertise this use of the return in that case, good if it does work though!

[tayste_2000]

Sorry I've got that the wrong way round.

 

Expr on the return and a trs (insert cable) on the send.

 

1h 3m 38s
 

 

But its controlled i believe by the fx loop block and you have 4 modes, one does this function 

[BEADist]

10 minutes ago, tayste_2000 said:

Expr on the return and a trs (insert cable) on the send.

 

Probably you can have a (mono) fx-loop/insert on the SEND jack and simultaneous use the RETURN jack as an AUX input for practice.

 

That is actually a rather flexible use of those 2 jacks, although I would have much preferred one of the options being TWO mono fx-loops/inserts... : )

[acidbass]

I don't like the form factor.  It seems as if when you step on one of the footswitches, the whole unit will rock forward towards you?  I don't know.  I would be hesitant to take it on tour!

[Greg Edwards69]

I wonder if the return can be used for another input like you can on the HX Stomp (and bigger Helix devices), say for two instruments, or basses with two outputs such as "Rick-o-Sound" or my Yamaha Attitude?

[neepheid]

It all just leaves me cold.  All of these multifx units do.  I don't want a single point of failure.  I don't want a touchscreen.  I don't want something which cost more than many of my basses did on the floor in front of me at the Dog and Duck.  I don't want to have to go through menus to get to what I want.  I want physical switches and knobs that don't change purpose depending on what mode you're in.  I could go on, but you get the gist.

 

Any time someone's shown me one of these devices, either in a video or in person I just think "why?" while giving my best "mmm, this is delicious" act so as not to offend.

 

I'm just offering my personal opinion, not trying to yuck anyone's yum, if you're on board then more power to you. 

[ezbass]

5 minutes ago, neepheid said:

I don't want to have to go through menus to get to what I want.

Always a major pain, with that type of device for me.

 

6 minutes ago, neepheid said:

I want physical switches and knobs

Child that I am, I sniggered inside when I saw ‘physical knob’. 

[joeabass]

Looks/sounds great. Nice to hear octaves/filters from a multi fx that sound good. May try this in place of the stomp 

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

It all just leaves me cold.  All of these multifx units do.  I don't want a single point of failure.  I don't want a touchscreen.  I don't want something which cost more than many of my basses did on the floor in front of me at the Dog and Duck.  I don't want to have to go through menus to get to what I want.  I want physical switches and knobs that don't change purpose depending on what mode you're in.  I could go on, but you get the gist.

yeah I get that, I feel the same way about some things, and especially touch screens and needing to plug into my laptop to edit... But if you get something where the UI is good and simple enough it becomes a tool to let you do things that are either really hard or expensive to do with analogue pedals then who cares what tool is used, if it sounds good enough, it is good enough.... 

What I find more strange is that this will be the flavour of the month for a while and feature on 50% of the "post your pedalboard" threads on here and talk bass but in a years time be replaced by something new... it's the unsettling changing that somewhere I don't understand 

[neepheid]

4 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

yeah I get that, I feel the same way about some things, and especially touch screens and needing to plug into my laptop to edit... But if you get something where the UI is good and simple enough it becomes a tool to let you do things that are either really hard or expensive to do with analogue pedals then who cares what tool is used, if it sounds good enough, it is good enough.... 

What I find more strange is that this will be the flavour of the month for a while and feature on 50% of the "post your pedalboard" threads on here and talk bass but in a years time be replaced by something new... it's the unsettling changing that somewhere I don't understand 

 

I'm not a luddite - I'm on board with the likes of Toneprints - I've plugged my phone/computer into my TC pedals to edit Toneprints and tailored them to my requirements - tamed the make-up gain on the Spectracomp as I felt it was giving too much of a volume jump when engaged vs. disengaged, and got stuck into the Brainwaves to set the custom interval to be a single semitone - not available in the stock configuration.  But these are one time adjustments, now it's done I just crack on with using the effect - by going straight to the pedal I want to adjust settings on and just doing so.

[Kev]

12 hours ago, tayste_2000 said:

Sorry I've got that the wrong way round.

 

Expr on the return and a trs (insert cable) on the send.

 

1h 3m 38s
 

 

But its controlled i believe by the fx loop block and you have 4 modes, one does this function 

Ohh I get it now, the EXP is on the send and the splitter is on the return.  Feel they could have just squeezed an extra EXP socket on there, but that works.

 

Edit* the manual says its the other way around than the video.  Still much confused but either way, looks like it's possible.

Edited 10 hours ago by Kev

[BEADist]

18 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

....

 

What I find more strange is that this will be the flavour of the month for a while and feature on 50% of the "post your pedalboard" threads on here and talk bass but in a years time be replaced by something new... it's the unsettling changing that somewhere I don't understand 

 

Maybe not? The Line6 Stomp is comparable to this Anagram and it is a rather constant factor on many boards for many years. 

 

--------------------------------------------

 

I have a Boss GT 1000 Core (also a bit comparable) on my pedalboard for almost 5 years now. These devices can be the center of a hybrid pedalboard that would be much too large (for me, and my bicycle transportation) if it would be constructed of stompboxes only.

 

Clearly I like Darkglass:

 

 

 

But I already realized the Anagram cannot do what my Boss can. The Boss stays, but the pedals around it change (actually, it already changed a little since my 'Post Your Pedalboard' post from last week...).

 

On the Boss (and on the Anagram also) you can configure the rotaries to give direct access to parameters you need most. On the Boss you can also make an effectblock global so it will behave just like a stompbox would (meaning changes will be made to all the presets containing that effect).

 

And, although it is a multi-effect it does not mean you have to use presets and/or different modes for the device. If you look at my Boss you can see it has dedicated functions for the footswitches. I use only one preset, but the Boss replaces 10 stompboxes!

 

I'm just offering my personal opinion and experience, if someone insists to use stompboxes only then more power to them, hehehe : )

 

(ps. and slightly off topic: I am curious though how long I will use my Boss Core... My laptop (for internet/banking/YT/BC) is a secondhand 20 years old Panasonic CF-19 with Linux. I do not use a PC to edit my Boss. The Boss can be updated without any extra software needed)

 

[Greg Edwards69]

2 hours ago, neepheid said:

It all just leaves me cold.  All of these multifx units do.  I don't want a single point of failure.  I don't want a touchscreen.  I don't want something which cost more than many of my basses did on the floor in front of me at the Dog and Duck.  I don't want to have to go through menus to get to what I want.  I want physical switches and knobs that don't change purpose depending on what mode you're in.  I could go on, but you get the gist.

 

Any time someone's shown me one of these devices, either in a video or in person I just think "why?" while giving my best "mmm, this is delicious" act so as not to offend.

 

I'm just offering my personal opinion, not trying to yuck anyone's yum, if you're on board then more power to you. 

To play devil's advocate...

 

There are plenty of people toting traditional stomp box pedal boards that are of similar value to a higher-end multi-fx. Heck, just a Cali 76 compressor is £299. One could easily assemble a small board of 5 pedals worth £1k.

 

Pedal boards can fail, too. And potentially harder to diagnose during a gig - is it a power connector, PSU outlet, dodgy patch cable, or malfunctioning pedal? If you daisy chain pedals and/or power from something like a 1-spot, a bad connection can be incredibly frustrating. A switcher and multi-out PSU can help in case of failure, but it adds expense. Heck, my brother's GigRig G3 switcher cost more than my Helix.

 

Regardless of whether you use a multi-FX or analogue pedal board, you would do well to have a backup solution so the audience doesn't have to wait for you to diagnose the problem.

 

But I totally understand apathy to menu diving and multi-purpose physical user interfaces. It's not for everyone. One of my guitarists doesn't know how to edit presets on his Helix without a computer attached - and he's a mainframe IT engineer! But that said, once it's dialled in, you shouldn't have to tweak it at gigs.

 

 

[Greg Edwards69]

16 minutes ago, BEADist said:

On the Boss (and on the Anagram also) you can configure the rotaries to give direct access to parameters you need most. On the Boss you can also make an effectblock global so it will behave just like a stompbox would (meaning changes will be made to all the presets containing that effect).

I really, really wish Line 6 would implement this on the Helix. It would be such a time saver.

[LukeFRC]

36 minutes ago, BEADist said:

Maybe not? The Line6 Stomp is comparable to this Anagram and it is a rather constant factor on many boards for many years. 

In my head that's the competition I compare this too - it's got great UI and is super simple to use and also been supported and added to for years. It's got its limitations but it's possibly one of the best pedals of this era. 
In 5 years time ppl will still be using them. Will they be using the Anagram? 

[BEADist]

Well that would probably depend on the updates the Anagram gets? It already has a great UI and is super simple to use. But there is not even proper midi at the moment. If that will be implemented as soon as in 'Quad Cortex soon' and it is updated like the Element (almost not if I understand correctly) then no.

 

Edited: if I understand correctly this is a Korg company device. I do not know about their update and support history.

Edited 9 hours ago by BEADist

[krispn]

I’d love to try one of these out and hear what it can do. Powerful processing (and I was tempted by the Kaamos recently) but would struggle to really get the most out it playing the set my pub outfit current plays.

But in context…
Infinity Microtubes £459

Kaamos £389
 

That would cover (albeit) the DG drive catalogue and one of the better sounding octave units I’ve recently heard. 
 

It’s not going to replace my pedals but if I won one I’d love to get it out for a weekends gigging and run it into two channels on the desk. 
 

 

[visog]

21 hours ago, MichaelDean said:

 

I still can't get on with the Darkglass tone though. That fizzy top end and seemingly disconnected low just doesn't sound good to me. 

 

I quite like the tone BUT it's ubiquitous on YouTube. I like the less intense variants such as the 'Vintage' range. That said, it looks like the Anagram can do it all, and not just distortions.

[joel406]

Wanna hear something funny. I just saw this. Like 30 minutes ago. Read like the first 3 post. Ordered it. It arrives tomorrow. So... pedal board number 6?

[visog]

26 minutes ago, joel406 said:

Wanna hear something funny. I just saw this. Like 30 minutes ago. Read like the first 3 post. Ordered it. It arrives tomorrow. So... pedal board number 6?

 

Oh great - hope it lives up to the hype. Would love to hear you reaction/review.

[Kev]

28 minutes ago, joel406 said:

Wanna hear something funny. I just saw this. Like 30 minutes ago. Read like the first 3 post. Ordered it. It arrives tomorrow. So... pedal board number 6?

Looking forward to some unbiased thoughts!

 

Still working through the deep dive video, mega impressed with the bloke doing it, probably the clearest explanation of a complex device i've heard in a while, thorough but easy to listen to.  It's a really interesting device, on the face of it i probably would have bought it over the Quad Cortex, but it'll take a hell of a lot to make me want to bother changing.  Still, if Neural keep ignoring bassists, its going to be tempting if its as good as it seems!