Darkglass Anagram Multi FX Announced

[TaySte_2000]

First impressions are that this is one powerful plug in. In short: splits your signal in 3, each of which you can independently control the volume, and high/low pass filters (define the frequency sweep). lows you adjust compression, mids and highs you set a drive for each. So you can use one pedal drive for highs, another for mids. wildly powerful.

pretty safe to say that the anagram will cover all your drive/fuzz needs.

Agreed, I’ve never paid much attention to something like this in plugin form but just the low gain sounds are incredible.

Can probably dial in something like the Cranborne Camden which adds distortion/harmonic richness below 120hz.

This is definitely my best gear purchase this year.

 

[Bodhi46]

Alright, received my Anagram after 3 months of waiting. I'm still figuring it out and so far I'm impressed with the UI. Not so impressed with the pots and knobs which seem to be too tall. If I remove the knobs, I can press click on the top row of buttons, but almost all of them are resting on the case itself, which doesn't allow me to press down and select. Not too keen on reading through 99 pages of forum talk, but has anyone else experienced this? Any easy fix? Kinda disappointed this is not caught on a high end modeller like the Anagram.

 

[TaySte_2000]

Alright, received my Anagram after 3 months of waiting. I'm still figuring it out and so far I'm impressed with the UI. Not so impressed with the pots and knobs which seem to be too tall. If I remove the knobs, I can press click on the top row of buttons, but almost all of them are resting on the case itself, which doesn't allow me to press down and select. Not too keen on reading through 99 pages of forum talk, but has anyone else experienced this? Any easy fix? Kinda disappointed this is not caught on a high end modeller like the Anagram.

Email darkglass and they’ll send you new knobs out.

To save you reading the thread.

 

[Bodhi46]

Email darkglass and they’ll send you new knobs out.

To save you reading the thread.

Thanks for this. I've emailed them.

 

[Mr Joshua]

Hey Kevy, sorry to hear you’re having issues with your Anagram.

If the knob keeps sliding down or if it happens to any other of the quick pots, please email [email protected]
and we’ll sort that out it no time!

Apologies for the inconvenience!

I was having this issue. Some knobs seemed to be seating too far down and preventing the long-press menus. Contacted Darkglass and got immediate response and have already been notified of replacement knobs that will arrive Monday. Super service from Darkglass.

 

[roogbass]

Really love this device, wonderful!

 

[Zbysek]

 

[IvanBassist]

Alright, received my Anagram after 3 months of waiting. I'm still figuring it out and so far I'm impressed with the UI. Not so impressed with the pots and knobs which seem to be too tall. If I remove the knobs, I can press click on the top row of buttons, but almost all of them are resting on the case itself, which doesn't allow me to press down and select. Not too keen on reading through 99 pages of forum talk, but has anyone else experienced this? Any easy fix? Kinda disappointed this is not caught on a high end modeller like the Anagram.

Hi there! Please email [email protected] and we’ll take care of the knobs. Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

[FretRiff]

 

[AnthonyBe]

*Whilst I haven't tried it myself yet, I understand that the new plugin doesn't respond to scenes the same way as the native blocks do. So this is an important distinction to make.

That's an interesting observation/comment. What was the source of that, or what was the behaviour that didn't work like other blocks when setting up scenes?
I just had a quick play with the Entropia plugin and was able to define different parameters in the plugin associated with different scenes. I definitely haven't done a deep dive, but from my initial testing I'm not seeing it behave any differently to any other block.

 

[mundee]

That's an interesting observation/comment. What was the source of that, or what was the behaviour that didn't work like other blocks when setting up scenes?
I just had a quick play with the Entropia plugin and was able to define different parameters in the plugin associated with different scenes. I definitely haven't done a deep dive, but from my initial testing I'm not seeing it behave any differently to any other block.

For me, it was distortion selections which cannot be changed by scenes. The other values work though

 

[IvanBassist]

For me, it was distortion selections which cannot be changed by scenes. The other values work though

There’s a lot going on in the background, which doesn’t allow the switching of drive types.

 

[TaySte_2000]

Anagram after I’ve been tone matching against my pedalboard.

Its a very samey same video but that’s the point.

I’m either using the Leo Bass or the Noble block then I’ve replicated a lot of how I was running my Darkglass Element.

My alternative for the Cream Pie is a nam of the origin DCX which isn’t quite doing it. It’s a lovely tone but different. The harmonic boost is probably closer.

I have a million ways to arrive at the same thumpy mud now. I’ve not quite nailed the Subdecay Noise Theory but I’m going to just try and capture it instead of replicating it, but at the same time what I have is easily
giggable.

There is a depth to the punchline I’m not sure I’ve copied yet but again, likely just going to capture it and the new entropia is really really nice.



Oh and this will be the least “Darkglass” tone you’ll ever hear

 

[murphster_matt]

Hey Peeps,

Firstly, great product, sounds awesome and has loads of depth to play around with. I am very impressed and very happy with the Anagram!! You have been regulary adding content, functions and features, great work!

Took the opportunity to reduce my pedalboard to a Mono Lite+ and I am loving the minimalist look. The QC is collecting dust, with one small caveat....

Midi Out:
So I read back in this thread that Midi Out isn't implemented yet. Can someone confirm this before I spend another 8 hours trying to get it to switch my M900V2 amp via midi I run my M900V2 on Out 3 with Out 1 going to FOH, love the sound of my M900 too so wanna keep it.

@ivan or DG dev team. If this is not available when will it be / is it on the roadmap and for when? I am currently having to use an external pedal which is a pain in the jackside and kinda defeats the minimalist pedalboard. I understand you wanna keep your dev plans flexible and there may be some stunning fetures you want to keep secret prior to launch, but fundemental functionality i.e. Midi/Bluetooth Sync etc could be added to a roadmap and communicated to help users plan their boards / setups. It may also reassure prospective buyers to take the plunge, knowing that these function will be available and when

It would be ideal to have the option to define Midi out per preset/scene, making the Anagram the hub and simplifying the preset management with other gear. A midi utility block which sends out midi upon preset selection, with definable Midi Ch. PC/CC would be awesome... but even just PC out would be great if I could get it working.

DG Suite:
Last wish, the Darkglass suite could really use a decent preset editor UI. Making changes on the Anagram works just fine, it can be a bit clumsy with the blocks, double tap and drag, but it works. Comfortable would be editing in DG Suite, ideally with bluetooth sync rather than usb (as the USB can also be power/midi/audio). Equally, DG Suite isn't capable of handling two concurrent DG product connections via USB.

You have really brought an amazing product to the market, I am loving it and thank you for the hard work and passion which has gone into it. Please consider my wishes positive contributions and constructive feedback to a team which has achieved a lot!

All the best!

Matt

 

[AnthonyBe]

Midi Out:
So I read back in this thread that Midi Out isn't implemented yet. Can someone confirm this before I spend another 8 hours trying to get it to switch my M900V2 amp via midi

There is no MIDI Out capability yet on the Anagram.

We only just got a decent set of MIDI capabilities in OS v1.4 on 3 Sep (Darkglass Anagram KosmOS version history) for controlling the device via MIDI, which in my mind was the priority (plus it let them sell their MIDI footswitch accessory ). I'm sure DG will not give you any timelines and simply say that MIDI Out features (i.e. being able to tie a MIDI event send to a footswitch) is on the roadmap. Given their speed of development and release, I don't think we'll be waiting too long. That said, you always have to plan for the features available today, and not promised, as you can never know for sure how long "soon" is ;-)

DG Suite:
Last wish, the Darkglass suite could really use a decent preset editor UI. Making changes on the Anagram works just fine, it can be a bit clumsy with the blocks, double tap and drag, but it works.

Yep, totally agree. It definitely feels like they have invested their time on ensuring the on-device UI works as well as possible in the limited screen size (which I have to applaud them for) but the Darkglass Suite is still only basic Preset management and parameter editing.

I can't even move blocks around in a preset (I'm using DG Suite v5.9.1-rc3 on Windows 11) and tried your mentioned double-tap hold and drag, but got nothing? Anyway, I do hope the DG Suite gets some love to put it on parity for Preset and Scene creation/editing. If you are doing something complex with splits/merges and multiple rows, it would be much easier to see it all on one page in DG Suite, as opposed to have to scroll up and down on the device UI.

I'd also like to be able to access ALL the Device Settings, Global settings (output routing, global EQ, MIDI settings, bindings, etc.) via DG Suite.
In short, full feature parity.

I know we all want everything, all at once, AND we didn't want to wait another 6 months for the Anagram to be released. That is the 'joy' of being a hardware/software developer. What compromises to you release with, what are your priorities in your release roadmap, what are your bars for quality control (easy to rush features full of bugs), balancing finite development/testing resource capacity with desired features/bugfix roadmap, etc.

I honestly don't feel the need for 'yet another distortion/overdrive/preamp' block/plugin. I think as of v1.6 with Entropia, and all the others we got in v1.5, we are extremely well serviced in that area. I'd rather see the functionality mentioned above, plus some more fundamental effects blocks (good synth block like an MXR Bass Synth, AutoWah, Defretter [for bass frettless bass simulation], Phaser, Stereo Delay, better FET compressor, etc.) but that is based on my needs.

 

[Bodhi46]

DG Suite:
Last wish, the Darkglass suite could really use a decent preset editor UI. Making changes on the Anagram works just fine, it can be a bit clumsy with the blocks, double tap and drag, but it works. Comfortable would be editing in DG Suite, ideally with bluetooth sync rather than usb (as the USB can also be power/midi/audio). Equally, DG Suite isn't capable of handling two concurrent DG product connections via USB.

You have really brought an amazing product to the market, I am loving it and thank you for the hard work and passion which has gone into it. Please consider my wishes positive contributions and constructive feedback to a team which has achieved a lot!

All the best!

Matt

Yep, totally agree. It definitely feels like they have invested their time on ensuring the on-device UI works as well as possible in the limited screen size (which I have to applaud them for) but the Darkglass Suite is still only basic Preset management and parameter editing.

I can't even move blocks around in a preset (I'm using DG Suite v5.9.1-rc3 on Windows 11) and tried your mentioned double-tap hold and drag, but got nothing? Anyway, I do hope the DG Suite gets some love to put it on parity for Preset and Scene creation/editing. If you are doing something complex with splits/merges and multiple rows, it would be much easier to see it all on one page in DG Suite, as opposed to have to scroll up and down on the device UI.

I'd also like to be able to access ALL the Device Settings, Global settings (output routing, global EQ, MIDI settings, bindings, etc.) via DG Suite.
In short, full feature parity.

I third this. I've been playing around with the Anagram UI and its great and perhaps the best implementation of a small screen I have seen. But i would really love a full featured iPad/Tablet/PC suite that allows me to quickly and easily do everything i need to as a supplement to the small screen on the Anagram. I would hold the Eventide H90 control app on the ipad as a gold standard. The H90 screen is terrible, but anytime I want to make changes, I turn on my Ipad and load the H90 control app and I can control everything on it. The H90 Control app on the PC is even more powerful and was a major decision in my purchasing the H90 as its a complicated piece of kit and editing on the H90 screen would be torturous. This, along with BT sync would be my most requested feature. I understand DG does not have the resources that Eventide has, but I think it would be a killer feature. Right now, the DG suite is pretty barebones and the DG Ipad app does not even include the Anagram in it considering its a flagship product. Any feature that lets you get the technology out of the way so I can play more is going to be number one in my book.
Besides that though, I am appreciating the sounds I can get out of it so far, so bravo! My 2 cents.

 

[ga_edwards]

Totally agree. As a long time Helix and HX Edit user, the lack of features in the Darkglass Suite is astonishing. I thought I was doing something wrong when I tried to edit a preset and couldn't. And as a preset manager, it's rather clumsy. When I've tried to reorder presets by dragging them from one slot to another, it seems to swap them, rather than reorder. At the moment, the only useful thing is installed firmware updates, and even then, it doesn't offer a way to backup your presets first - you need to save them one at a time.

Obviously, I realise this is a new product, and development takes time, but I would rather see DG spend more time on the Suite functionality than adding more distortion blocks (although I'm excited by the possibility of more modulations in the next update).

 

[viobass]

Totally agree. As a long time Helix and HX Edit user, the lack of features in the Darkglass Suite is astonishing. I thought I was doing something wrong when I tried to edit a preset and couldn't. And as a preset manager, it's rather clumsy. When I've tried to reorder presets by dragging them from one slot to another, it seems to swap them, rather than reorder. At the moment, the only useful thing is installed firmware updates, and even then, it doesn't offer a way to backup your presets first - you need to save them one at a time.

Obviously, I realise this is a new product, and development takes time, but I would rather see DG spend more time on the Suite functionality than adding more distortion blocks (although I'm excited by the possibility of more modulations in the next update).

My Boss GX-10 at a 3rd of the price has an awesome preset editor, Tone Studio. I like the Anagram better because it sounds better, is bass-centric, has more output options, can be used as an interface with Bluetooth, has a better tuner, etc. I'm keeping my GX-10 as a backup only.

In Darkglass' defense, they are a much smaller outfit than Boss or Line 6. They are at a crossroads but, it looks like they are staffing up.

 

[Bodhi46]

I agree with @ga_edwards above. I appreciate more effect blocks, but I already have most of my needs covered with either the built in blocks or an external pedal. What I want is a full control editor to make the Anagram faster and easier to setup and additional functions like Bluetooth control/sync.

Some comments on using the DG suite.
1. Giant icons which take up screen, but offer no functionality.
2. Can't see the full signal chain.
3. Have to click into each effect to see parameters then no way to adjust it.
4. I can't change or move blocks and I can't edit parameters on it. I can only delete the entire block or import a new preset.

Anything I need to do has to be done on the Anagram and not on the suite. I'm hoping DG is working on updating the suite, because atm, its does not offer any additional functionality afaik besides firmware updates, although it is a testament to the UI designer that the Anagram works so well and is so easy to use.

Please take inspiration from the H90 control app or the Two Notes Torpedo Remote (I have a TN Opus as well). The TN Opus is another pedal, like the H90, which would be almost impossible to use without the Torpedo remote app. It literally has two knobs and two push buttons on the entire pedal and a small two row dot matrix screen. In fact, I'm pretty sure TN assumes all editing would be done on the editor. Any editing I do is done on the Ipad app itself. If I need to type a lot (like reordering or renaming presets, I will use the PC editor). While the pretty graphics on the Torpedo remote is nice, the H90 control app is also very good. Full signal chain visible, all parameters controllable from one page, routing options, preset editor, real time touch control on ipad/tablet.

Right now, the Anagram is new and sitting on my desk. Using the touchscreen and knobs is very easy and I'm enjoying the experience. If it becomes part a pedalboard at some point, having it on my desk is not an option. Thinking about having to bend down and build chains and tweak anything all the time is making my lower back twitch.

Again, I know, DG is not a company with huge resources like Line 6, Eventide etc. But the Anagram was never a "think small, aim low" product and I think the DG team has mostly nailed it. If Anagram is to become a true platform where users can market, trade, buy and use effects blocks, then a full feature editor (PC/Mac/iOS/Android) is pretty much a must have IMO. The more powerful the hardware is, the more an editor is needed.

 

[Murph_Orpheus]

I think a better editing will come in the Darkglass Suite, they just need time to get there.