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Darkglass Anagram Multi FX Announced

In case it helps - I've had ZERO issues, freezes, lockups, dropouts, mishaps or drummers self-combust since I started using my Anagram. :)

Obviously I'm also providing zero context that would help support my error-free experience, and context is usually critical. Feedback without context is generally pretty worthless.

In case it helps - I'm using my Anagram as a pretty stock standard multi-effects unit. In my live usage (generally 80s/90s/00s pop/rock), I'm not using any NAMs, I'm not using Entropia plugin, most of my Presets are just 5-7 stock effects blocks, I'm not trying to jump between 7 Presets in 3 different Banks in the one song (I do automate all my Preset and Scene changes via MIDI however), I'm not using any external Expression or MIDI pedals, I'm not using the Effects Loop, I'm not using Bluetooth.

In fact, many would ask why I even bought the Anagram given I'm not pushing (m)any boundaries with it! :) But for me, it gives me the sound flexibility when I need it (<cough> especially once we get the Synth block/plugin <cough>), the MIDI control I need (yes, it is missing a lot, but I can work around that), the Inputs and Outputs I need, and it is in a small and rugged form factor. I don't begrudge anyone going nuts with sound creation and editing in the Anagram, but I think we often overdo things, and thus overcomplicate things. I also don't entirely support the statement "the average punter can't hear the different between your 16 different bass tones", but I don't entirely disagree with it either :) We all have to find the balance we are happy with and that works reliably obviously. Sometimes I'll spend time on a specific tone for a song because it makes me feel better about playing the song, and that often inspires a better performance in me, which often rubs off on bandmates which leads to a better band performance, which makes for a better crowd experience, etc etc.
 
In case it helps - I've had ZERO issues, freezes, lockups, dropouts, mishaps or drummers self-combust since I started using my Anagram. :)

Obviously I'm also providing zero context that would help support my error-free experience, and context is usually critical. Feedback without context is generally pretty worthless.

In case it helps - I'm using my Anagram as a pretty stock standard multi-effects unit. In my live usage (generally 80s/90s/00s pop/rock), I'm not using any NAMs, I'm not using Entropia plugin, most of my Presets are just 5-7 stock effects blocks, I'm not trying to jump between 7 Presets in 3 different Banks in the one song (I do automate all my Preset and Scene changes via MIDI however), I'm not using any external Expression or MIDI pedals, I'm not using the Effects Loop, I'm not using Bluetooth.

In fact, many would ask why I even bought the Anagram given I'm not pushing (m)any boundaries with it! :) But for me, it gives me the sound flexibility when I need it (<cough> especially once we get the Synth block/plugin <cough>), the MIDI control I need (yes, it is missing a lot, but I can work around that), the Inputs and Outputs I need, and it is in a small and rugged form factor. I don't begrudge anyone going nuts with sound creation and editing in the Anagram, but I think we often overdo things, and thus overcomplicate things. I also don't entirely support the statement "the average punter can't hear the different between your 16 different bass tones", but I don't entirely disagree with it either :) We all have to find the balance we are happy with and that works reliably obviously. Sometimes I'll spend time on a specific tone for a song because it makes me feel better about playing the song, and that often inspires a better performance in me, which often rubs off on bandmates which leads to a better band performance, which makes for a better crowd experience, etc etc.
without having had my hands on one yet, I would guess I'd be using the Anagram in a pretty straight forward way ... other than likely using the FX loop with a MXR Synth Pedal in it. So, its good to hear these happy user stories for me.
 
I totally get the negative reporting thing, but these seem like legit issues reported by TB members.
There are definitely some bugs to be worked out, but that’s generally the case with any digital platform that’s basically a tiny computer dressed up like a pedalboard. Even the HX Stomp, which has been out since 2018 still has bugs. All of these platforms will have performance issues from time to time, and it’s only when they occur with such frequency that they become a real concern should consumers avoid them. For my money, Anagram has been stable since day one and it has only gotten better. If you’re at all interested in one, I would not let the reports of freezing stop you from buying one.

You can always drive up to Seattle and demo mine 😁
 
The Anagram has been steadily gaining traction on my G.A.S. list since @IvanBassist joined the Darkglass team and has been making all the great "it's not just for metal" and new update(s) content, so I've been lurking this thread for a while, too.

I think both @pfschim and @silky smoove have valid points, but even one or two reports of freezing and shutting down during a gig are enough to spook me into waiting. It would probably be fine, but I'm still not eager to chance that on a gig.

5sg.
 
I've frozen mine a few times, but luckily I test my gear to the point of redundancy before I actually take it on a gig so all the freezes happened in my home office where the stakes were super low. Point is, every freeze was able to be replicated and isolated to a single issue, and that issue has up to this point been exclusively "I tried to do a thing too fast."

So... Most stable platform in the world? Not really. But totally workable as long as you don't fiddle too much or switch between presets and banks too quickly
Unfortunately mine has been a bane of my existence due to freezing and crashing.. I was at rehearsal tonight and it froze or died 3 times again. Just using one very basic preset. I wasn't switching presets in the middle.of the song or anything. Once again, no midi, factory plug, had a power conditioner. It is updated to latest firmware. Maybe I just got a bad unit but it has killed my trust in the Anagram.

Oh and before I hear dirty power. It has crashed at multiple places. At the rehearsal my guitarist was playing through a Helix and had no issues.
 
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Unfortunately mine has been a bane of my existence due to freezing and crashing.. I was at rehearsal tonight and it froze or died 3 times again. Just using one very basic preset. I wasn't switching presets in the middle.of the song or anything. Once again, no midi, factory plug, had a power conditioner. It is updated to latest firmware. Maybe I just got a bad unit but it has killed my trust in the Anagram.

Oh and before I hear dirty power. It has crashed at multiple places. At the rehearsal my guitarist was playing through a Helix and had no issues.
Sorry to hear you’re having issues. I’ll send you a DM later once I’m back from the gym to try something.
 
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What MIDI controllers are we all using with our Anagrams? I'm trying to find one that's got 5 or 6 switches, but without costing me £200 like the official Darkglass footswitch does.
Once you get above 4 footswitches, you cut out a lot of the cheap options (e.g. the M-Vave Choc)

Good starting point - Looking for a MIDI Footswitch to use with your Anagram?

Someone pointed this PaintAudio 10-footswitch unit to me the other day - PaintAudio MIDI Captain Foot Controller (BLUE)
I'd never heard of it, and the website screams 'budget friendly Chinese product' so don't expect much in the documentation (again, like the M-Vave stuff :) ) but it meets your brief on # of footswitches and price.

Personally, if I needed a MIDI Footswitch, I'd either go with the Darkglass (just for easiest compatibility) or the Morningstar MC8 Pro (max. flexibility and excellent product) but they are at the pricier end of the spectrum.
 
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Extensive use with NAMs and everything since October. Managed to freeze it maybe 3 times, every time when fiddling around NAM-profiles or multiples, chaining them, scrolling around "too fast" etc. Never during actual playing or just when switching presets or doing minor adjustments amidst playing.

Information value of this post is near zero, but just felt like there's a need to bring up positive user experience also.
 
I've only managed to freeze my Anagram once - using a preset chock full of blocks including the Entropia, while running the Looper in the background, scrolling through the different cab sims (which means, I was using the Looper to 'play for me' so I can pick and fine-tune the cab sim). I can understand why the system does NOT like that at all as I was switching the sims quite fast. In actual live applications, no issues at all.
 
I totally get the negative reporting thing, but these seem like legit issues reported by TB members. I'm also aware that there are folks out there, like yourself, who seem to be using the Anagram on gigs without any live issues. I just noted several reports here in the past week or so, just as I was aiming to get one, and was kind of dismayed as my finger hovered over the "buy now" button :cool:
In the same boat! Probably will buy one with a 30 day return policy, but still, reliability is a No 1 concern when buying equipment.
 
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Never managed to freeze mine but unlike the QC at least the boot time is a few seconds and not a minute and a half.

I’ve used mine on one gig, was running at the max of the dsp (got a warning here and there).

3 nam profiles, compressor, fuzz, eq and an amp sim (I’ve since found I can remove the eq and amp), then used the fx loop as an IEM mixer.

So 1 nam was always on and one scene has all 3 on. Compressor, eq, amp sim, fx loop always on and a gain block waiting in the wings if I need help with a volume boost for my in ears.

No issues during the gig and even a compliment from the Soundman at the end.

Not to discount others experiences as this is my biggest fear with a unit like this and a big reason why I didn’t stick with the QC. But this boots so fast that short of utter failure a quick power off and on is going to solve most issues and have me playing again within 5 seconds.
 
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A couple firmware iterations ago it wouldn’t let me add blocks to new presets a couple times but haven’t ever had a freeze or restart and I’m using nam blocks and jumping presets a lot.
 
What MIDI controllers are we all using with our Anagrams? I'm trying to find one that's got 5 or 6 switches, but without costing me £200 like the official Darkglass footswitch does.
I looked at the DG pedal but at £200 I wasn't sure I wanted to go there for my needs so I got a MVave Chocolate Plus. It's got 4 buttons which have 2 actions (long and short press) so you have in effect 8 different operations. You can also set it up so that by pressing A&B or C&D together can change to a new bank of MIDI functions (max 8 banks). If I could only remember what I programmed and where I stored it, it would give me approx. 64 diferent commands!

I have mine setup so that the MVave can quickly switch between presets & banks and my Anagram takes care of the scenes / stomp operations. The instructions for setting it up are not very clear at all so I had to do some internet digging to find out. Mine is powered / connected via the USB post so I dont have to worry about remembering to recharge it. Since setting it up its been rock solid with no glitches. Until such times as MIDI gets more fully integrated I dont think I'll get any extra value from the DG pedal for what I do.
 
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Really love the new orange terror amp, it’s very gentle without over boosting bass like I think a lot of the amps do and you can dial in a nice edge of breakup.

it’s actually much closer to my noble DI tone than the Gentle block which doesn’t do much of anything other than the bass/treble boost.

Would love to see a different chorus options other than the mxr copy and a tube based drive or a tone hammer.
 
@IvanBassist I'm pretty sure there's a bug with preset saving, specifically the "save as" function. It's happened to me twice now. Yesterday I was on preset 16C (one I made) and wanted to compare the changes I made to the last saved version, so I hit the top right menu, then save as, and saved to 17A, so I could switch between them. The new preset did save to 17A, but it also saved to 16A for some reason and I lost the preset I had there.

I've lost two presets due to this. The first time it happened I thought maybe I messed something up so I was very careful this time. It's definitely a bug.

What MIDI controllers are we all using with our Anagrams? I'm trying to find one that's got 5 or 6 switches, but without costing me £200 like the official Darkglass footswitch does.
I was going to order the Darkglass switch but I noticed the footswitch spacing looks pretty tight, so I went with the pirate aero (only 3 switches, so doesn't fit your criteria). Something to keep in mind if you're picky about that.

Unfortunately mine has been a bane of my existence due to freezing and crashing.. I was at rehearsal tonight and it froze or died 3 times again. Just using one very basic preset. I wasn't switching presets in the middle.of the song or anything. Once again, no midi, factory plug, had a power conditioner. It is updated to latest firmware. Maybe I just got a bad unit but it has killed my trust in the Anagram.

Oh and before I hear dirty power. It has crashed at multiple places. At the rehearsal my guitarist was playing through a Helix and had no issues.
Just making a random suggestion since I'm not sure what else you can do besides wait for a firmware update that fixes it: did you try deleting all the NAM files from the device to see if that fixes it? All my freezes have been NAM related, so your problem might be totally different, but I'm suspicious about the potential for a corrupted NAM file to bork the system.
 
I'm pretty sure there's a bug with preset saving, specifically the "save as" function. It's happened to me twice now. Yesterday I was on preset 16C (one I made) and wanted to compare the changes I made to the last saved version, so I hit the top right menu, then save as, and saved to 17A, so I could switch between them. The new preset did save to 17A, but it also saved to 16A for some reason and I lost the preset I had there.

I've lost two presets due to this. The first time it happened I thought maybe I messed something up so I was very careful this time. It's definitely a bug.
Yep, I've had this happen several times. Lucky I've backed my up presets beforehand otherwise I would be pretty miffed.
 
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