Darkglass Anagram

[Al Krow]

13 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

It's not just the DSP though, it's how it's used. Neunaber wet reverb is still good today, and that's based on FV1 chip - it's just really well programmed.  

 

Sure, agreed. And they got folk to land on the moon with less computing power than a current pocket calculator. Hence my comment about the Line 6 software updates and its value in keeping the Stomp in the game, which is also true with the even the more basic Zoom pedals where some of their patches are decades old.

 

However better DSP is going to provide an inherent improvement in chip capability, other things being equal? It's then up to the programmers to make the most of it.

[Greg Edwards69]

5 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

I'd say it's the amp models and cabs, Al... as seems to be the story of my morning it's a feel thing, they just seem to have more life to them without needing parameters like "sag" and "hum" to dial them in.  They're closer to captures than models though in that the SVT won't drive when you whack the gain up; but sticking a vintage microtubes and compressor in front of it does a cracking approximation. 

• The cab sims feel more musical and less dramatic once the amp blocks are EQ'd to suit. The can go into the typical more dramatic IR thing if wanted though
• The fuzzes are also brilliant, I find fuzz to be a really difficult thing for digital modellers to get right but the 3 fuzzes available are great.
• The noble block adds something more than low end, some of the newer models like he Orange and EBS blocks will give tube like saturation at low drive settings
• The pitch shifting is decent - using the pitch shift to do an octave up is nice and clear and sharp, the oc2 approximation is decent as far as digital goes

Even little things like the tuner seem well thought out - Long press to access, a footswitch for mute on/off and tap tempo at hand on third footswitch.  There were a load of updates before xmas too, Darkglass do seem really invested in this so it feels like an investment in the sense that you know most things will be incrementally improved over time.

 

Everything just feels more premium.  The best way I can explain is that to me, the HX stuff always felt flat and 2D.. like a really good drawing of what it as supposed to be, where as the the Ampero felt more like a less accurate sculpture of what it was approximating.  The Anagram feels like the best of both.

 

I'll be honest in that most of my concerns come from a) the price tag, b) previous experiences with digital and c) Only hearing it in anger through headphones so being unsure how it sounds in an FOH mix or through my amp.  I think I've just talked myself into being happy about keeping it though.. thanks Al! 😄

Personally, I think there are a few parameter-based things rather than modelling, that make the Anagram sound arguably "better" than my Helix LT.

1. The default settings on the Anagram usually sound great. As has been mentioned before in this thread, many of the Helix block defaults are at "what were they thinking?" settings.
2. Almost every effect block in the Anagram has a clean blend. The Helix often requires you to insert effects on a parallel path just to make them usable for bass.
3. The anagram's parameters are pretty self explanatory for each block. The Helix replicates real world devices, including sometimes misleading parameters, or strange behaviour, and they take a while to get your head around.
4. The cab blocks are usable without much tweaking. It took me years (literally years) to get a usable tone out of a cab block in the Helix. I do wish the Angram cab blocks had hpf/lpf in them, though.

 

PS. Now that DG has demonstrated they can build amp blocks that do drive when pushed, I wonder if they'll revisit the Peggy block or make a new one.

Edited yesterday at 17:38 by Greg Edwards69

[Al Krow]

5 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

1.  
2.  
3.  
4. The cab blocks are usable without much tweaking. It took me years (literally years) to get a usable tone out of a cab block in the Helix. I do wish the Angram cab blocks had hpf/lpf in them, though.

 

Thanks Greg - appreciate this is an aside to the thread, but you've confirmed my anecdotal evidence of working with guitarists over the years who all seemed to struggle with taming a harsh tone on their Stomps!

 

Some, like you on bass, got there after considerable effort and do sound good, others gave up and switched to other multifx. Whereas those using Boss usually had a great sound "out of the box" - a big reason my current crew went for the Boss GT1000 Core and latterly the more budget GX10, in my case, on bass. I love my current guitarist's tone whereas the previous line-up's guitarist's tone from his Stomp often grated. 

 

Glad that the Anagram has avoided the same pitfalls!

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Al Krow

[Greg Edwards69]

Indeed. Dialling in a cab block does require a modicum of audio engineering knowledge. It shouldn’t. It should be as easy as selecting a cab. 

[thisisswanbon]

16 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Personally, I think there are a few parameter-based things rather than modelling, that make the Anagram sound arguably "better" than my Helix LT.

1. The default settings on the Anagram usually sound great. As has been mentioned before in this thread, many of the Helix block defaults are at "what were they thinking?" settings.
2. Almost every effect block in the Anagram has a clean blend. The Helix often requires you to insert effects on a parallel path just to make them usable for bass.
3. The anagram's parameters are pretty self explanatory for each block. The Helix replicates real world devices, including sometimes misleading parameters, or strange behaviour, and they take a while to get your head around.
4. The cab blocks are usable without much tweaking. It took me years (literally years) to get a usable tone out of a cab block in the Helix. I do wish the Angram cab blocks had hpf/lpf in them, though.

 

PS. Now that DG has demonstrated they can build amp blocks that do drive when pushed, I wonder if they'll revisit the Peggy block or make a new one.

All excellent points! The EBS and Orange blocks both do the breakup with completely different character so it'd be great if they re-visited Peggy!  Struggle to work out why they made the new Mesa blocks seperate clean and drive blocks instead of 1 block like the original amp.

 

I spent a good while with mine last night and started to get my "I'm seeing digital so I'm hearing digital" head on - So I pulled out the old board with a Tonehammer Pre on it for comparison, thinking I'd hear/feel something different and it'd be the death of the Anagram... didn't quite work out that way.  There was little to no difference in response between the Anagram and Tonehammer (this was using the Super Cali amp block without cab block), I think the Anagram may be the closest to analogue feeling I've come across for base clean tones!  What a belter of a unit this is!

 

[Chadu25]

Testing the Mood2