Darkglass Anagram Multi FX Announced

[silky smoove]

My Entropia experience, feedback, and question.

The biggest issue I’ve had with Anagram relates to its input gain staging, which doesn’t seem to follow suit with any other device I own, analog or digital. This was my solution, and it may help resolve your Entropia issue. If not, then please disregard.

Anagram has no input gain control, so to dial in the input gain you need to put a gain block early in the chain. This doesn’t allow for the input gain meter to provide meaningful information, so my solution was to load an empty preset and insert nothing but a gain block. With no adjustment to the block, both the input and output meters should be identical. Adjust the gain block until the output gain meter is sitting around 75% of the way up the meter and note the number of dBs of boost applied by the gain block.

Now go back to your preset with Entropia and insert a gain block at or near the beginning of the chain before any gain-dependent blocks, and apply the same level of boost you noted in the empty testing preset from before. This should now make Entropia, as well as all other gain-dependent blocks behave more predictably. Doing this got all of the distortions and envelope filters to behave in a way that matched my expectations.

I don’t know if this approach will help to resolve your Entropia issue, but it’s worth a shot. I’ve said it before and in multiple locations, but it’s worth repeating: Anagram really needs an input gain control, and clarification from Darkglass on the level the blocks expect to see to behave as intended.

 

[Scott McArron]

The biggest issue I’ve had with Anagram relates to its input gain staging, which doesn’t seem to follow suit with any other device I own, analog or digital. This was my solution, and it may help resolve your Entropia issue. If not, then please disregard.

Anagram has no input gain control, so to dial in the input gain you need to put a gain block early in the chain. This doesn’t allow for the input gain meter to provide meaningful information, so my solution was to load an empty preset and insert nothing but a gain block. With no adjustment to the block, both the input and output meters should be identical. Adjust the gain block until the output gain meter is sitting around 75% of the way up the meter and note the number of dBs of boost applied by the gain block.

Now go back to your preset with Entropia and insert a gain block at or near the beginning of the chain and apply the same level of boost you noted in the empty testing preset from before. This should now make Entropia, as well as all other gain-dependent blocks behave more predictably. Doing this got all of the distortions and envelope filters to behave in a way that matched my expectations.

I don’t know if this approach will help to resolve your Entropia issue, but it’s worth a shot. I’ve said it before and in multiple locations, but it’s worth repeating: Anagram really needs an input gain control, and clarification from Darkglass on the level the blocks expect to see to behave as intended.

I’ll give this a shot. I’ve messed around with a gain block before the Entropia, cranking it full blast even. Nothing as methodical as what you’ve done. I got some more high end and clank out of the mid band, which is the right direction, but not really much extra distortion. Counter-intuitive to basically every other distortion-related experience I’ve had. It’s really quite odd.

So yes, totally agree, it needs an input gain control. Either Entropia or the Anagram as a whole or both. I miss having this basic control.

 

[silky smoove]

I’ll give this a shot. I’ve messed around with a gain block before the Entropia, cranking it full blast even. Nothing as methodical as what you’ve done. I got some more high end and clank out of the mid band, which is the right direction, but not really much extra distortion. Counter-intuitive to basically every other distortion-related experience I’ve had. It’s really quite odd.

So yes, totally agree, it needs an input gain control. Either Entropia or the Anagram as a whole or both. I miss having this basic control.

That’s wild to me. As an example, if I load Entropia immediately after my default setup (noise suppressor first, then a +10dB gain block) the default setting is very distorted in a good way, and all of the template presets provided by Darkglass all deliver exactly the type of tone they describe. This is using a moderately low gain Dingwall Super J.

You may have already done this, but it would be worth confirming you’re on the most recent firmware for both the DG suite and for Anagram.

 

[Scott McArron]

That’s wild to me. As an example, if I load Entropia immediately after my default setup (noise suppressor first, then a +10dB gain block) the default setting is very distorted in a good way, and all of the template presets provided by Darkglass all deliver exactly the type of tone they describe. This is using a moderately low gain Dingwall Super J.

You may have already done this, but it would be worth confirming you’re on the most recent firmware for both the DG suite and for Anagram.

Brother, I think you nailed it! Just a quick test and it is 100% better! Definitely in the ballpark! 10% is exactly what I just tested from your recommendation above.

Now I can dial in my EQ and do a proper A/B this weekend.

Much appreciated! Now, more than ever, it’s clear to me Entropia NEEDS an input gain.

 

[silky smoove]

Brother, I think you nailed it! Just a quick test and it is 100% better! Definitely in the ballpark! 10% is exactly what I just tested from your recommendation above.

Now I can dial in my EQ and do a proper A/B this weekend.

Much appreciated! Now, more than ever, it’s clear to me Entropia NEEDS an input gain.

Yes! I’m super stoked to hear that worked. The input gain on Anagram is really weird. Hopefully Darkglass takes note and adds an input gain to remove the need many of us have for this workaround.

 

[jjo161]

Totally agree, an overall input gain would be very much appreciated, maybe @IvanBassist can lay in a good word for it

 

[Scott McArron]

Yes! I’m super stoked to hear that worked. The input gain on Anagram is really weird. Hopefully Darkglass takes note and adds an input gain to remove the need many of us have for this workaround.

I should say, it got it in the ballpark while I had both EQ blocks heavily dialed in all over the place. Once I tested removing those, the Entropia still struggled to get where I want it to go (and what the Parallax does naturally with few adjustments), although much better than before.

Still though, 3 more hours of dialing this thing in and it’s clear to me that what I’m wanting it to do, it isn’t designed to do.

When I got to the point I thought it was sounding really good but not quite there, I’d switch back over to Parallax and be re-stunned by the heavenly (devilish?) nirvana! I didn’t want to put my bass down it was so freaking good!

I think Anagram as a whole is incredible for the vast majority of bass players in most genres. But it’s not for me and what I’m doing right now.

If I was still doing the cover band scene it would be perfection! I don’t see going back to that any time soon. Metal is my true love, always has been (and I wasted more than 2 decades doing nearly every other genre and I ain’t getting any younger!), and Parallax gets me there so easily and intuitively, so I will stick with that.

Since I have no use case for the Anagram in the foreseeable future, I’ll be sending it back. Maybe I’ll give it a chance again after some future feature updates. We’ll see.

 

[S_Okon]

I think we are looking for a similar sound. I am not getting there with the Entropia too (i'm also not a big DG distortion enthusiast). But using split with a Dug DP-3X NAM, i get great results. Also with a Parallax NAM, although i prefer the Dug.
For me, the NAM stuff is the best part of the Anagram anyways.

 

[Jeff O'Connor]

I got my MIDI controller functioning as I wanted today. For anyone looking for an Anagram-only setup (for signal processing) that fits PERFECTLY on a Pedaltrain Nano board, please watch this video I made explaining the functions. I’m super stoked on this setup, and I think it could work exceedingly well for a lot of players, particularly those like me who have to balance local, road and fly dates and have a desire to use the same board for all of them.

One clarification on the video: I misspoke about the power supplied. The Cioks Sol has 660mA available per tap at 9V. Using a current tripler nets 1,980mA at 9V, assuming no losses in the cabling itself. The Kedem 4 draws 250mA per the manufacturer’s specifications. Darkglass told me that the minimum power spec for Anagram is 1,700mA. With that in mind, 1,700mA + 250mA = 1,950mA which leaves 30mA to spare. I think that will work just fine, but if I run into problems, as mentioned in the video I’ll just power the Kedem from the Sol which still has two taps available and then I’ll use MIDI cable to connect the two, or I’ll have West Coast build me a current quadruple or quintuple cable to have more amperage headroom in the system. I doubt that will be necessary.

Oh! What a huge help! I got the Darkglass midi switch, also with the goal of expanding the stomp pedal options! Thank You!!!! I haven't messed with it too much, but I'm very new at Midi things....Darkglass really needs to do a deep dive video to show those bindings!

 

[IvanBassist]

Oh! What a huge help! I got the Darkglass midi switch, also with the goal of expanding the stomp pedal options! Thank You!!!! I haven't messed with it too much, but I'm very new at Midi things....Darkglass really needs to do a deep dive video to show those bindings!

Configure the bindings for On/Off state, just like you would for the normal Stomps and then use CC 20-26 (depending on which binding you want) and set 0-127 values to trigger them On and off

 

[viobass]

I should say, it got it in the ballpark while I had both EQ blocks heavily dialed in all over the place. Once I tested removing those, the Entropia still struggled to get where I want it to go (and what the Parallax does naturally with few adjustments), although much better than before.

Still though, 3 more hours of dialing this thing in and it’s clear to me that what I’m wanting it to do, it isn’t designed to do.

When I got to the point I thought it was sounding really good but not quite there, I’d switch back over to Parallax and be re-stunned by the heavenly (devilish?) nirvana! I didn’t want to put my bass down it was so freaking good!

I think Anagram as a whole is incredible for the vast majority of bass players in most genres. But it’s not for me and what I’m doing right now.

If I was still doing the cover band scene it would be perfection! I don’t see going back to that any time soon. Metal is my true love, always has been (and I wasted more than 2 decades doing nearly every other genre and I ain’t getting any younger!), and Parallax gets me there so easily and intuitively, so I will stick with that.

Since I have no use case for the Anagram in the foreseeable future, I’ll be sending it back. Maybe I’ll give it a chance again after some future feature updates. We’ll see.

After using Entropia since it was released, today I went back to just splitting my signal path with a crossover. I prefer the way the standalone distortion pedal blocks sound and I don't need 3 frequency bands. 2 is enough. This way I can also get way more fine-grained control over each signal path actually making it easier to dial in a sound I like.

Like you guys I also ran into gain weirdness. I put a Harmonic Booster block in front of Entropia and Entropia just became a gain sink, even with a +20 Gain block in front of it. It just ate ALL of it. It's not a big deal but, I wasted a lot of time figuring out that is was the placement of the Harmonic Booster relative to Entropia. I don't experience that with the Harmonic Booster and other distortion blocks. Just Entropia.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Scott McArron]

After using Entropia since it was released, today I went back to just splitting my signal path with a crossover. I prefer the way the standalone distortion pedal blocks sound and I don't need 3 frequency bands. 2 is enough. This way I can also get way more fine-grained control over each signal path actually making it easier to dial in a sound I like.

Like you guys I also ran into gain weirdness. I put a Harmonic Booster block in front of Entropia and Entropia just became a gain sink, even with a +20 Gain block in front of it. It just ate ALL of it. It's not a big deal but, I wasted a lot of time figuring out that is was the placement of the Harmonic Booster relative to Entropia. I don't experience that with the Harmonic Booster and other distortion blocks. Just Entropia.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yes, similar experience here. I’m just finding it very difficult to dial in. I’m using a gain block (that helps quite a bit), both EQ blocks with crazy settings with some frequencies maxed out here and there, HPF and LPFs, fiddling with both distortion band frequencies and distortion levels, using frequency analyzers and doing comparisons, not to mention cycling through cab sims and IRs to find one that don’t choke the frequencies I want boosted and can’t seem to target with the limited EQ options… heck, I’ve maxed out the entire top row just dialing in Entropia! I’m just finding it so difficult to find the distortion tones I’m looking for.

I keep going back to the same question. Who is a multiband distortion with compressed clean low end for? In my experience, I’d say it’s most ubiquitous in modern metal, especially technical metal genres to maintain clarity in high gain situations. That’s where it shines. So metalheads would be the primary target audience, again, IMO/IME.

Therefore, why not set the defaults to favor the primary target audience to avoid the complexities of all these extra outside functions and parameters to the core product (Entropia) to make the solution work?

NDSP understands the target audience of multiband distortion with Parallax. And while it is quick and simple to dial in modern metal tones, it’s also just a few tweaks away from many other tones suitable to many other genres. And it doesn’t require—not that it can’t be improved by—other blocks to get it where the user wants it quickly and easily (I also use a parametric EQ to fine tune but it’s not a necessity). Entropia begs for other blocks outside of the solution to make it “work”. YMMV, of course, depending on what you’re going for.

But if the goal is just generic multiband distortion for all with no target audience to play with as you will, then you can ignore my opinions here and it’s doing what’s it’s meant to do wonderfully! It’s just not quite for me in my current band situation (deathcore).

Cheers to Darkglass for making a fine product in the Anagram though! If I were playing any other genre, or if I’d never experienced Parallax, it’d be a no-brainer. I might still keep it in any case It just means I won’t be getting rid of my QC anytime soon.

 

[gustobassman]

Yes, similar experience here. I’m just finding it very difficult to dial in. I’m using a gain block (that helps quite a bit), both EQ blocks with crazy settings with some frequencies maxed out here and there, HPF and LPFs, fiddling with both distortion band frequencies and distortion levels, using frequency analyzers and doing comparisons, not to mention cycling through cab sims and IRs to find one that don’t choke the frequencies I want boosted and can’t seem to target with the limited EQ options… heck, I’ve maxed out the entire top row just dialing in Entropia! I’m just finding it so difficult to find the distortion tones I’m looking for.

I keep going back to the same question. Who is a multiband distortion with compressed clean low end for? In my experience, I’d say it’s most ubiquitous in modern metal, especially technical metal genres to maintain clarity in high gain situations. That’s where it shines. So metalheads would be the primary target audience, again, IMO/IME.

Therefore, why not set the defaults to favor the primary target audience to avoid the complexities of all these extra outside functions and parameters to the core product (Entropia) to make the solution work?

NDSP understands the target audience of multiband distortion with Parallax. And while it is quick and simple to dial in modern metal tones, it’s also just a few tweaks away from many other tones suitable to many other genres. And it doesn’t require—not that it can’t be improved by—other blocks to get it where the user wants it quickly and easily (I also use a parametric EQ to fine tune but it’s not a necessity). Entropia begs for other blocks outside of the solution to make it “work”. YMMV, of course, depending on what you’re going for.

But if the goal is just generic multiband distortion for all with no target audience to play with as you will, then you can ignore my opinions here and it’s doing what’s it’s meant to do wonderfully! It’s just not quite for me in my current band situation (deathcore).

Cheers to Darkglass for making a fine product in the Anagram though! If I were playing any other genre, or if I’d never experienced Parallax, it’d be a no-brainer. I might still keep it in any case It just means I won’t be getting rid of my QC anytime soon.

Have you tried this approach? He does a split and uses one instance of Entropia on the bottom row just for the lows, and then another entropia block for the top row with just the mids and highs, then merge the two. I tweaked this a little for my purposes but I get a really solid metal tone taking this approach. Moreso than just using the Entropia by itself.

Might not work for what you are trying to achieve but it really helped me nail a killer tone for my needs.

 

[Scott McArron]

Have you tried this approach? He does a split and uses one instance of Entropia on the bottom row just for the lows, and then another entropia block for the top row with just the mids and highs, then merge the two. I tweaked this a little for my purposes but I get a really solid metal tone taking this approach. Moreso than just using the Entropia by itself.

Might not work for what you are trying to achieve but it really helped me nail a killer tone for my needs.

I did a version of this splitting the lows below ~250hz to the second row and controlled it with the same settings as Parallax uses: Bus Compressor, 4:1 ratio, 3ms attack, 600ms release. It allowed more control which was especially nice by removing the cab sim from the low end, but in the end it didn’t make a significant difference from the Entropia low band so went back to that to consolidate as much of the tweaking within Entropia as possible.

There are definitely great metal tones to be had! …with enough tweaking (particularly a gain block and bumping the mid band frequency waaay up), but I just haven’t been able to dial in quite what I am personally going for that I get from my current setup in a much more efficient way. I imagine many metalheads will be able to get great metal tones that suits there needs just fine.

 

[viobass]

The biggest issue I’ve had with Anagram relates to its input gain staging, which doesn’t seem to follow suit with any other device I own, analog or digital. This was my solution, and it may help resolve your Entropia issue. If not, then please disregard.

Anagram has no input gain control, so to dial in the input gain you need to put a gain block early in the chain. This doesn’t allow for the input gain meter to provide meaningful information, so my solution was to load an empty preset and insert nothing but a gain block. With no adjustment to the block, both the input and output meters should be identical. Adjust the gain block until the output gain meter is sitting around 75% of the way up the meter and note the number of dBs of boost applied by the gain block.

Now go back to your preset with Entropia and insert a gain block at or near the beginning of the chain before any gain-dependent blocks, and apply the same level of boost you noted in the empty testing preset from before. This should now make Entropia, as well as all other gain-dependent blocks behave more predictably. Doing this got all of the distortions and envelope filters to behave in a way that matched my expectations.

I don’t know if this approach will help to resolve your Entropia issue, but it’s worth a shot. I’ve said it before and in multiple locations, but it’s worth repeating: Anagram really needs an input gain control, and clarification from Darkglass on the level the blocks expect to see to behave as intended.

Thanks for this awesome tip. I've been having issues dialing in my sound and experimenting last night I put a +7Db Gain boost right in front on the Alpha Omicron block and VOILA!, sounds awesome. Your approach makes total sense. Can't wait to try it when my kid goes to camp today.

My $400 Boss GX-10 has an awesome feature where you name and configure the inputs, including gain, for each of your instruments. When you start playing or switch basses you just select the bass you are using and off you go!

If Darkglass won't do something to handle input gain they should definitely put something like the process you outlined above in the manual under a "best practices" type section. It would save people like me a lot of time.

 

[Zbysek]

I keep going back to the same question. Who is a multiband distortion with compressed clean low end for?

I am using dual-band analog setup with compressed clean low end and overdriven mids/highs.

I don't play metal. I play rock, pop and blues.

I would appreciate to be able to split the signal into three ranges. However, it is difficult to do with analog gear...

 

[Scott McArron]

I am using dual-band analog setup with compressed clean low end and overdriven mids/highs.

I don't play metal. I play rock, pop and blues.

I would appreciate to be able to split the signal into three ranges. However, it is difficult to do with analog gear...

Nice! Don’t hear that all too often for those genres

 

[Zbysek]

Nice! Don’t hear that all too often for those genres

Yeah, you are probably right.

Here is the way I am thinking about it: clean compressed low end works in many/most genres. So it boils down to how driven the mids and highs are.

I need/want to be able to change the level of saturation for my mids and highs...without affecting the low end. I hate it when bass player engages a pedal and the low end is suddenly gone.

Using crossed-over dual band setup allows me the flexibility to use subtle saturation for pop songs and medium-gain overdrive for rock songs during a single set or gig...while keeping consistent low end all the time....

Here is my current pedalboard:

 

[Scott McArron]

Yeah, you are probably right.

Here is the way I am thinking about it: clean compressed low end works in many/most genres. So it boils down to how driven the mids and highs are.

I need/want to be able to change the level of saturation for my mids and highs...without affecting the low end. I hate it when bass player engages a pedal and the low end is suddenly gone.

Using crossed-over dual band setup allows me the flexibility to use subtle saturation for pop songs and medium-gain overdrive for rock songs during a single set or gig...while keeping consistent low end all the time....

Here is my current pedalboard:

View attachment 7343259

Fantastic use case. I remember having those same issues back in my cover band days. Would’ve been nice to have an Anagram back then! And it’s awesome to have one now.

I decided to keep mine. It’s a great little unit, looks sexy as heck, is ultra-portable, and better suited to bass than my QC (except for the one tone I use in my metal band I’m struggling with, but will keep putting in effort there).

It’s exciting every time a new feature update comes out. Like mini-Christmas Days randomly sprinkled throughout the year. Lol

 

[Zbysek]

I decided to keep mine. It’s a great little unit, looks sexy as heck, is ultra-portable, and better suited to bass than my QC (except for the one tone I use in my metal band I’m struggling with, but will keep putting in effort there).

Good luck...and enjoy!