Darkglass Anagram

[markbunney]

Am definately interested in one of these, unfortunately all of the usual places have sold out, so will have to wait a while.

 

i I’ve been looking for ages for a good sounding, easy to use multi effects and I think this could be it.

 

I liked the look of the QC but I do think it’s more than I need, and thought of putting something that costs £1,400 on the floor at a pub gig fills me with terror! Was also looking at the Boss ME90b but wasn’t sure if it was more aimed at beginners, although it does look good. I think the Anagram hits the gap in the middle of these two

[joel406]

Mine has arrived. Studio should be ready by Saturday to start assembling. I got so much to hook up it's gonna be a hot minuet.

[MrDinsdale]

I'm looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts. Its cool unit which I'd probably be more excited about if it had more non-DG effects which I typically don't get on with. I'm particularly interested how people find the interface, some of the demos make it look a little faffy. I know I'd get annoyed with the controls being above the screen so you're constantly covering it when you're making amends. 

 

I'm gonna sit on the sidelines patiently and see if they expand their suite of drives and fx further.

 

I'd also love to see them create a workflow that makes the capture process easier. I've made AIDA-X profiles of pedals and found the process extremely trial and error. I like ve how easy it is to capture on the QC. If you can use the FX loop and desktop software to capture and it can take care of accounting for any latency etc automatically itd be a big win. 

[joeabass]

Ok so first thoughts, much easier to get really good sounds for bass than the HX or QC… not suggesting you couldn’t get things to sound as good if you really dialled it in. The typical sticking points such as filters and octaves are honestly great… I’m taking my octave off the board for the first time. 
 

I’m not a heavy/typical DG user (last DG thing I had was a vintage microbes) and very much like the sound of the Noble, fender and Ampeg sounds in here. I will concede putting a vintage microtubes as a light drive and using the A/O or X as a ridiculous OOT drive is very fun. 
 

The crunch factory preset where they have used a pedal from the NAM loader is very promising and need to look into these more.

 

Ive just scratched the surface here but this is the best first impression I’ve had of a modeller…. I’ll report bag after a few gigs this week. 

[Greg Edwards69]

8 hours ago, joeabass said:

Ok so first thoughts, much easier to get really good sounds for bass than the HX or QC… not suggesting you couldn’t get things to sound as good if you really dialled it in.

That's good to hear. I find the default settings on many Helix blocks, even the bass-specific blocks, less than ideal for bass. I assume the default Anagram block settings are more useful "out of the box."

[joeabass]

2 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

That's good to hear. I find the default settings on many Helix blocks, even the bass-specific blocks, less than ideal for bass. I assume the default Anagram block settings are more useful "out of the box."

It doesn’t have that thing where you load up a block and wonder what on earth they were thinking… if that makes sense. 

[simisker]

13 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

[...] I'm particularly interested how people find the interface, some of the demos make it look a little faffy. I know I'd get annoyed with the controls being above the screen so you're constantly covering it when you're making amends [...]

Yeah, after watching a couple of YouTube reviews, it seems like there are some real UX compromises in order to keep to a small form factor. Or maybe it's simply been under-designed.

 

I was so amazed at the "trying to paint the hallway through the letterbox" touchscreen that the knobs being above the screen didn't even register with me.

 

On a related note, why are all multiFX param controls knobs that can only be operated by hands? Why hasn't someone come up with one that uses rollers that can be operated with the feet?

 

 

[Kev]

5 minutes ago, simisker said:

 

 

On a related note, why are all multiFX param controls knobs that can only be operated by hands? Why hasn't someone come up with one that uses rollers that can be operated with the feet?

 

 

With modern multifx controllers, they are very much designed to not need adjustment mid performance, scenes/presets and whatnot, so i'd imagine there's no market for that.

[simisker]

8 minutes ago, Kev said:

With modern multifx controllers, they are very much designed to not need adjustment mid performance, scenes/presets and whatnot, so i'd imagine there's no market for that.

On the surface, that seems reasonable.

 

But what about when you're not performing? Are you okay with having to either crouch to the floor to make changes, or put the unit on a hands-friendly raised surface where you can no longer use the footswitches/expression controllers? Wouldn't it be better to be able to program the floor-mounted controller while it's... I don't know... on the floor?

 

Anyway, I don't want to drag this off topic. I'm going to be interested to see how the Anagram UI holds up to real-world user feedback.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by simisker

[Acebassmusic]

22 hours ago, Acebassmusic said:

Oooh....this Anagram looks to be a very interesting new toy....er I mean specific tool I need to find out more about. 🤣

 

The basic information I can find eludes to it being a very flexible and powerful pedal with many, many IR / amp / mic / effects. However I cannot seem to find a full list of what effects / IR / amps etc. it has onboard or what can be uploaded onto it from the Darkglass suite. Anybody know where this info is?

 

I downloaded the "Darkglass Suite for Windows (5.5.8) - Anagram Support" to see if it gave any info. Once installed it asks to plug in my Darkglass product (which I dont own) or select from the dropdown Simulator options....which doesn't contain anything about the Anagram.

 

I'm a bit reluctant to splash out a lot of dosh on a piece of equipment that I'm not sure what it can actually do for me. Anyone got any idea?

 

 

I've sent a message off to Darkglass and hopefully they will send me a list of effects / cabs / amps etc 🤞 I will of course share it here 👍

[Chrishi_J]

They have added a Block List on their Website.

 

My Anagram arrived and I don´t know if I got a faulty unit. The IR Loader is not working. I just got really heavy distortion out of it.

[Acebassmusic]

1 hour ago, Acebassmusic said:

 

I've sent a message off to Darkglass and hopefully they will send me a list of effects / cabs / amps etc 🤞 I will of course share it here 👍

 

9 minutes ago, Chrishi_J said:

They have added a Block List on their Website.

 

I've just noticed they've added the list since yesterday 😁 The link is here.

 

Block List (v1.1)

Amps & Cabs

Preamps

Harmonic Booster

Leo Bass

Jim Bass

Gentle

 

Amps

Peggy Bass

Super California

Kallinen Kruukkeri

Neural Amp loader

 

Bass Cabinets

All cabinets have 6 microphone options with 6 position options each

Microphones: Condenser 103, 414, 67 + Dynamic 112, 421, 52, 7

Black and Yellow 4×10

California Bass 4×10

Darkglass Neo 2×12

Darkglass Neo 4×10

Fruity Bass 1×15

Fruity Bass 4×10

Fruity Bass 8×10

Garden of 1×18

Garden of 4×10

Modern Bass 1×15

Modern Bass 2×10

Modern Bass 4×10

Modern Bass 8×10

Mountainino 6×10

Peggy 1×15

Peggy 4×10

Peggy 8×10

SWIRL 1×15

SWIRL 4×10

SWIRL 8×10

Vintage Peggy 8×1

 

Guitar cabinets

All cabinets have 6 microphone options with 3 position options each

Microphones: Condenser 184 + Dynamic 421, 57, 906 + Ribbon 121, 160

California combo 2×12

Fashionista 4×12

Modern 4×12

Panzer 4×12

Topper 2×12 combo

Vintage London 4×12

 

Artist cabinets

Dave – Beta52A

Dave – D12e

Dave – MD421

Dave – MD441

Forrester – Bitey

Forrester – Clear

Forrester – Monster

Forrester – Punch

Forrester – Thick

Jon – 2×12

Jon – 4×10

Jon – 8×10

Nolly – Blend

Nolly – AllTheMids

Nolly – ScoopyDoo

Nolly – RolledOff

Nolly – VintageStack

Nolly – Mega-Meld-IR

 

User cabinet IR loader

Overdrive & Distortion

Microtubes B3K

Vintage Microtubes

Alpha Omicron

Duality Fuzz

Chinchilla

Microtubes X

Neural Pedal Loader

 

EQs, Filters & Dynamics

Amp EQ

Darkglass 6-Band EQ

Generic 6-Band EQ

Hi-Pass Filter

Lo-Pass Filter

Gravitron (Envelope filter)

mo**erf***r (Envelope filter)

Noise Suppressor

FET Compressor

BUS Compressor

Compressor / Limiter

 

Modulation & Pitch

Mint Chocolate Chorus (Mono/Stereo)

Flamingo Flanger (Mono/Stereo)

Sublime Octaver (Monophonic)

Sublemon Octaver (Monophonic)

Subcitri Octaver (Polyphonic)

Pitch Shifter (Polyphonic)

 

Delay & Reverbs

Digital Delay

Analog Delay

Modulation Delay

Room Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Plate Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Hall Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Shimmer Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

 

 

[Greg Edwards69]

Interesting point of issue. Erik Arko's video mentioned right at the end:

 

"It will get Bluetooth eventually - they're stuff implementing stuff..."

 

Does this mean the hardware is Bluetooth ready - the specs on the Darklass produce page don't mention Bluetooth at all.

[stewblack]

I am in no rush for another multi effects unit, but this looks good.

Once they begin to appear second hand and after the RRP has dropped, I'll be interested 

[Russ]

1 hour ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Interesting point of issue. Erik Arko's video mentioned right at the end:

 

"It will get Bluetooth eventually - they're stuff implementing stuff..."

 

Does this mean the hardware is Bluetooth ready - the specs on the Darklass produce page don't mention Bluetooth at all.

If the hardware supports it (ie, if it actually contains a Bluetooth radio), then somewhere on the case it'll have the Bluetooth glyph and probably the FCC logo. Can anyone who's got one already confirm? 

 

It could well be that it might need a Bluetooth "kludge" to be put into the USB port to enable the functionality, like on my Zoom B6 (which has a dedicated port for it). 

Edited 3 hours ago by Russ

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Acebassmusic said:

 

 

I've just noticed they've added the list since yesterday 😁 The link is here.

 

Block List (v1.1)

Amps & Cabs

Preamps

Harmonic Booster

Leo Bass

Jim Bass

Gentle

 

Amps

Peggy Bass

Super California

Kallinen Kruukkeri

Neural Amp loader

 

Bass Cabinets

All cabinets have 6 microphone options with 6 position options each

Microphones: Condenser 103, 414, 67 + Dynamic 112, 421, 52, 7

Black and Yellow 4×10

California Bass 4×10

Darkglass Neo 2×12

Darkglass Neo 4×10

Fruity Bass 1×15

Fruity Bass 4×10

Fruity Bass 8×10

Garden of 1×18

Garden of 4×10

Modern Bass 1×15

Modern Bass 2×10

Modern Bass 4×10

Modern Bass 8×10

Mountainino 6×10

Peggy 1×15

Peggy 4×10

Peggy 8×10

SWIRL 1×15

SWIRL 4×10

SWIRL 8×10

Vintage Peggy 8×1

 

Guitar cabinets

All cabinets have 6 microphone options with 3 position options each

Microphones: Condenser 184 + Dynamic 421, 57, 906 + Ribbon 121, 160

California combo 2×12

Fashionista 4×12

Modern 4×12

Panzer 4×12

Topper 2×12 combo

Vintage London 4×12

 

Artist cabinets

Dave – Beta52A

Dave – D12e

Dave – MD421

Dave – MD441

Forrester – Bitey

Forrester – Clear

Forrester – Monster

Forrester – Punch

Forrester – Thick

Jon – 2×12

Jon – 4×10

Jon – 8×10

Nolly – Blend

Nolly – AllTheMids

Nolly – ScoopyDoo

Nolly – RolledOff

Nolly – VintageStack

Nolly – Mega-Meld-IR

 

User cabinet IR loader

Overdrive & Distortion

Microtubes B3K

Vintage Microtubes

Alpha Omicron

Duality Fuzz

Chinchilla

Microtubes X

Neural Pedal Loader

 

EQs, Filters & Dynamics

Amp EQ

Darkglass 6-Band EQ

Generic 6-Band EQ

Hi-Pass Filter

Lo-Pass Filter

Gravitron (Envelope filter)

mo**erf***r (Envelope filter)

Noise Suppressor

FET Compressor

BUS Compressor

Compressor / Limiter

 

Modulation & Pitch

Mint Chocolate Chorus (Mono/Stereo)

Flamingo Flanger (Mono/Stereo)

Sublime Octaver (Monophonic)

Sublemon Octaver (Monophonic)

Subcitri Octaver (Polyphonic)

Pitch Shifter (Polyphonic)

 

Delay & Reverbs

Digital Delay

Analog Delay

Modulation Delay

Room Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Plate Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Hall Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

Shimmer Reverb (Mono/Stereo)

 

 

 

Another reason why these sorts of things don't appeal to me - while I fully appreciate that it's a me issue - option paralysis. WTF is a ham fisted pub playing weekend warrior like me gonna do with all these cab sims?

 

I'm better off out of it.

Edited 2 hours ago by neepheid

[bnt]

I had a look at the block list … a Flanger, but no Phaser?!? For shame! 😳 

[Russ]

19 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Another reason why these sorts of things don't appeal to me - while I fully appreciate that it's a me issue - option paralysis. WTF is a ham fisted pub playing weekend warrior like me gonna do with all these cab sims?

 

I'm better off out of it.

Something like this is best suited for someone who plays live, with features for people who play through an amp, but other features for those who do the "silent stage" thing and go direct with IEMs, like routing one signal with just a preamp and effects to an amp output, and another with amp simulation/IR to an XLR to the desk, but who also wants a recording and production tool so they can get those exact sounds into their DAW of choice without using plugins. 

 

If it's purely for live use, there's cheaper solutions to get the sounds you want, from more basic multi-FX to common-or-garden stompboxes. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Russ

[juice]

1 hour ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Interesting point of issue. Erik Arko's video mentioned right at the end:

 

"It will get Bluetooth eventually - they're stuff implementing stuff..."

 

Does this mean the hardware is Bluetooth ready - the specs on the Darklass produce page don't mention Bluetooth at all.

I believe the hardware is Bluetooth enabled, they just haven’t got it enabled yet but will have soon

[juice]

13 minutes ago, bnt said:

I had a look at the block list … a Flanger, but no Phaser?!? For shame! 😳 

I don’t expect it will be long before a software update as this has come out of the gate with just enough to make it a viable product and then I’m sure there will be rapidly expanding library as other developers/brands come onboard….

[juice]

Review I’ve just read on facebook bass players forum which kinda confirms my impression of the unit from youtube reviews I’ve seen,

from Fernando Romero:

“Some honest opinions on the Darkglass anagram after spending some good time with it. 

Pros: 
I have found all the included effects to be useful. I already was a fan of their stomboxes. 

Very intuitive interface. Easy to create tones from scratch. Saving my default settings for each effect is beyond handy  

Binding parameters to knobs and footswitches is super simple to setup  

Cons:
My biggest gripe is the lack of information from the compressor section. I play basses with different output levels and not being able to see the amount of gain reduction this applies makes the compressors in this not useful for me.
I wish i could apply the compressor in the global section and maybe add lights showing compression applied in the “Name” view.

Desktop software is lacking. This probably needs its own software like “hx edit”. Software needs more access to make useful changes in the unit.

Needa more effects. More chorus options, stereo delays, non darkglassass inspired overdrives, fuzz and distortion etc.

Lacks dedicated expression/footswitch port. This was a big wt🤬 

Overall i am happy with my purchase and know that 3/4 of my issues could be fixed with firmware and software updates. Not everyone will be happy being an early adopter especially considering this isnt cheap. I will be keeping this and trusting Darkglass Electronics to make updates that could make this close to perfection “

[bnt]

1 hour ago, juice said:

I don’t expect it will be long before a software update as this has come out of the gate with just enough to make it a viable product and then I’m sure there will be rapidly expanding library as other developers/brands come onboard….

Oh, I agree, like ToneX didn’t have modulation effects until recently. It’s all DSP programming. 

[BEADist]

After watching the deep-dive video I think the Anagram can do 2 effect loops:

 

1. The effect insert through the Send jack.

2. Using one of the 'outputs' as a send and the Return jack as the return.

 

Am I right, can someone confirm?

 

(...GAS has returned...)