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Darkglass Anagram Multi FX Announced

#2,921
drpepper said:
I’m running the Anagram in preset mode. Coming from years on the Zoom B3 and then the B2 Four and having never been an individual pedal user, this lines up best with my thinking for now.

I had my first gig with this setup on Friday, and as a starting point it worked really well. I’ve got roughly nine presets dialed in for specific uses, plus a handful more that may or may not get called. Preset 1A is my main clean sound, with 1B and 1C covering other bread-and-butter tones. Song-specific effected sounds live in the next few banks.

My interest was simplifying navigation. It's the most basic use, but the MVAVE lets me move the potentially frequently used press-and-hold (tuner) and two-button (bank page up/down) functions to dedicated, single press buttons. None of those are deal-breakers on their own, but removing the chance of mis-presses (hold or two-button) feels like a win for me, and that’s what ultimately made the MVAVE worthwhile.

My switch layout is:

Button A – Tuner on/off
Button B – Home (jump to preset 1A from anywhere)
Button C – Bank page up
Button D – Bank page down

And for an additional point of reference, I used an INUI 20,000 mAh bank on Friday for a bar gig (4 hour running time) and left the Anagram powered up from setup and sound check until the end of the night, so it was on a bit less than 5 hours and showed 64% remaining. The D'addario is 10,000 mAh, correct? You should be absolutely fine.
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hey DrP, thanks for the insights. I think I could easily work with the 3 presets I built (1A 1B 1C), but it could be cool to be able to easily switch to a 2nd bank and have a total of 6 presets available. Did you have to use the MVave app ... Qube ?? (on an iPhone ??) to program it ? And I'm learning that I'll have to figure out the right Anagram midi numbers in order to make the bindings.

And thanks for the reassurance on the D'Addario USB battery pack. The seller said it would run the Anagram for 3 hours, but I've been using it to figure out the Anagram stuff at home and it would seem that it will go somewhat longer than 3hrs. That should work fine for me as long as I don't power up too early on a typical 3 set gig.
 
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#2,922
pfschim said:
And thanks for the reassurance on the D'Addario USB battery pack. The seller said it would run the Anagram for 3 hours, but I've been using it to figure out the Anagram stuff at home and it would seem that it will go somewhat longer than 3hrs.
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10000mAh*3.7V=37Wh. Anagram draws roughly 7 W, so you’d expect around 37Wh/7W=5.3h of runtime.

In practice, those 10000mAh ratings on Chinese power banks are often optimistic, so it’s safer to assume about 70% of that. That brings it down to 5.3h*0.7=3.7h
 
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#2,923
pfschim said:
hey DrP, thanks for the insights. I think I could easily work with the 3 presets I built (1A 1B 1C), but it could be cool to be able to easily switch to a 2nd bank and have a total of 6 presets available. Did you have to use the MVave app ... Qube ?? (on an iPhone ??) to program it ? And I'm learning that I'll have to figure out the right Anagram midi numbers in order to make the bindings.

And thanks for the reassurance on the D'Addario USB battery pack. The seller said it would run the Anagram for 3 hours, but I've been using it to figure out the Anagram stuff at home and it would seem that it will go somewhat longer than 3hrs. That should work fine for me as long as I don't power up too early on a typical 3 set gig.
Click to expand...
This was just the configuration that seemed most useful to me for the way I intend to use the Anagram for now and for the way my mind works...if you're in one bank, then what I've done wouldn't do much of anything for you. The press and hold for the tuner is no big deal and a "home" button would do nothing for you.

I had ZERO midi experience or knowledge and because I mistakenly thought that chatgpt might be the way to go, I spent a couple of frustrating hours being led down various rabbit holes (chatgpt can be great or a total miss with some topics). But after getting my footing, I had actually gained some understanding of what I was doing that I wouldn't have if not for taking that route.

Because of the rabbit holes, I ended up with the mvave app on both an iPad and MacBook. I think I ended up doing the programming on the iPad (it's a blur now haha). Both work and were easy enough after gaining some understanding, so using a phone or tablet is certainly a good way to go. Typing is a bit easier on the computer obviously.

The midi values for the functions you can control are on page 84 of the manual pdf. With that, you can decide what you want to have the mvave do and maybe jot down the syntax to type into the app.

I don't have my head wrapped around scene, stomp mode or bindings, so I can't offer any input on that.

As I understand it, the Anagram's draw depends on the processing going on. It's looking like for my use, a handful of presets involving a few effects, amps and cabinets isn't going to approach anything like the listed 1.7 or 1.8 amps. But you'll find out what your draw is.
 
#2,928
CuiFoo said:
Exactly. I'm also open to USB-C chargers, but I've faced some freezing issues with USB-C in the past, with a charger that is supposed to deliver enough power, so I was looking into 9V
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Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm missing some concern, but if I were looking to have a backup wall wart, I'd go on Amazon and grab whatever 9V 2A (or higher) 5.5 x 2.1mm center negative power supply/adapter caught my eye. Beyond the specs, I don't think there's any reason to believe there's anything special about the one that's included.
 
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#2,929
JengDoe said:
Anagram draws roughly 7 W
Click to expand...

Just FYI, the official Anagram specs state 18W minimum USB supplied power for reliable usage.

Was that 7W figure you are using something you measure on your own device? If so, curious to know whether that was just in an 'On' state but with no signal being pushed though, or you've averaged out a figured based on a period of usage. I'm interested in knowingly the variability of the Wattage change based on how the device is used.

Obviously, how hard you are pushing the Anagram (e.g. using NAMs, complex effects, lots of changes, etc.) will determine how much it actually pulls and therefore influence how long a battery supply will last.
 
#2,930
drpepper said:
Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm missing some concern, but if I were looking to have a backup wall wart, I'd go on Amazon and grab whatever 9V 2A (or higher) 5.5 x 2.1mm center negative power supply/adapter caught my eye. Beyond the specs, I don't think there's any reason to believe there's anything special about the one that's included.
Click to expand...
When I was compiling the contents for https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/anagram-power/ (which is always ongoing) I spent a lot of time looking for differences in vanilla 9V DC wall-wart replacement type power supplies.

Like you said, there's nothing special about the Darkglass supplied one and literally every power supply on every marketplace site (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu, etc.) all claim the same "low noise, high quality, overcurrent protection, short circuit prevention, blah blah blah...".

If anyone finds something that really stands out and looks genuine, I'd love to know about it.

About the only one I've kept my eye on from Amazon was this one:

KFD Guitar Pedal Power Supply Adapter 9V 2A for Guitar Bass Effect Pedal Board Boss Guitar Pedal DS-1 PSA-120 PSA-230 Recoder Tuner Twin Boss BC-1X BD-2 BR-80 Marshall MS-2, 8 Way Cables Charger : Amazon.com.au: Musical Instruments

KFD Guitar Pedal Power Supply Adapter 9V 2A for Guitar Bass Effect Pedal Board Boss Guitar Pedal DS-1 PSA-120 PSA-230 Recoder Tuner Twin Boss BC-1X BD-2 BR-80 Marshall MS-2, 8 Way Cables Charger : Amazon.com.au: Musical Instruments
www.amazon.com.au
KFD Guitar Pedal Power Supply Adapter 9V 2A for Guitar Bass Effect Pedal Board

Reviews are mixed (as is common) but generally positive. It appears you can use it just as is, or use the splitter (I would test carefully before doing this with Anagram + 1 other low current draw [less than 300mA] pedal).
 
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#2,931
TaySte_2000 said:
Honestly the best standalone power supply I found for the Anagram is the GigRig.

Loads of ma on tap, cheap second hand if you can find them and takes you to an IEC cable.

But most of the time I’m running mine on a phone charger and usb c 🤷🏻‍♂️ you guys are worrying too much about these things.
Click to expand...
Hey, thanks for sharing that! I'd never heard of TheGigRig brand or seen their power supplies before your post.

I've just added their 2 main solutions which are appropriate to use with Anagram to the Wiki - https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/anagram-power
 
#2,934
I'm curious where levels are generally at on the output volume meter (right side of presets) for folks saying their XLR output seems 'quiet'. It's notable how much the output levels vary across Anagram user presets in the 'Public Presets' section of DGS. So there's definitely a range of where people are dialing in their preset volume to begin with.
 
#2,935
+1 to that

Also noticed the levels going into NAMs on various captures I've tried from tone 3000 are all over the place... Some are blown out at 0 across the board (testing using my Dingwall SP1, not a super hot bass), even with nothing else running
 
#2,936
Grahams Groove said:
I'm curious where levels are generally at on the output volume meter (right side of presets) for folks saying their XLR output seems 'quiet'. It's notable how much the output levels vary across Anagram user presets in the 'Public Presets' section of DGS. So there's definitely a range of where people are dialing in their preset volume to begin with.
Click to expand...
Dunno if it has been suggested, but it might make sense to use the output block on different positions in the chain and see if anything changes
 
#2,938
Snake101st said:
+1 to that

Also noticed the levels going into NAMs on various captures I've tried from tone 3000 are all over the place... Some are blown out at 0 across the board (testing using my Dingwall SP1, not a super hot bass), even with nothing else running
Click to expand...
I've noticed this, and I find it a bit annoying. I wish either the NAM "protocol" itself or Tone3000 did some volume normalization across captures
 
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#2,939
Been getting a bit of gas for something like the Walrus Audio Qi or OBNE Parting so just went to town on a patch, tried out all the drives and amps again.

Lot of fun, by the end of it I’ve got 3 workable live scenes with huge ambient pads and then a nice gritty rock tone I can switch to and a further grittier tone.

It’s been a while since I really dived into it, I got my gigging tone pretty quick, loaded a bunch of presets I don’t like from the cloud and rarely stray from mine.
 

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#2,940
CuiFoo said:
I've noticed this, and I find it a bit annoying. I wish either the NAM "protocol" itself or Tone3000 did some volume normalization across captures
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You'll find this with IR files as well. It's truly the wild west. I've found IRs everywhere measuring (digitally) from -20dbfs to 0dbfs. I've not really gotten into the whole NAM thing, but I'm bummed to learn that the process doesn't have an appreciable standard at this point. I've been reading that the second generation of NAM is coming, so hopefully that's included.
 
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