The
AdrenaLinn II reviewed
Roger Linn’s
AdrenaLinn II is a guitar oriented digital effects unit that incorporates
– guitar amplifier modeling, a selection of effects and
a programmable drum machine all into one small die-cast metal
box (184 by 120 by 35mm).
Or to put it another way - the AdrenaLinn II is a device for guitarists
that packs a huge amount of fun and inspiration into a small space.
The clever bit about
the AdrenaLinn II is that the effects modulation is tempo synchronised.
This means that things like tremolo or wah filter sweeps are automatically
locked to the beat. No more spending hours tweaking the speed
knob on your analogue effect to get in time with the drum track.
Thanks to the MIDI interface you can even synchronise your effects
to another MIDI device or to a previously recorded track using
the MIDI clock. For some reason, only guitar players seem to understand
just how cool this is. Describe the Adrenalinn II to a keyboard
player or a record producer and most of them will look at you
blankly and go ‘So what?’.
User controls
Like many multifunction
digital effects units the AdrenaLinn II has a small number of
user controls, in this case four, 24 step, continuous rotation
digital encoders, which are assigned to different functions, depending
on the program and mode selected through four buttons.
The controls are laid
out as a ten by four, row and column matrix, with one of the four
rotary encoders assigned to each of the four columns. The knobs
fitted to these encoders are quite small (11.5mm diam.) rubber
coated plastic. Mechanical indexing on the encoder steps is light,
so it’s easy to overshoot by a step or two when you only
mean to move one step and although the knobs feel good, they do
tend to come off easily and get lost. The knobs aren’t glued
on because, if they were, it makes it almost impossible to remove
the P.C.B. if servicing is ever required.
Four pushbuttons select
which row in the matrix the knobs control. Eighteen, strategically
placed L.E.D.s are used to indicate which row and column in the
matrix is active. A LED lights below each knob, whenever the knob
is moved, to indicate which column in the matrix is currently
selected. The top button toggles between a main and a secondary
mode. The next two buttons act as up and down nudge buttons that
select between the next eight rows in the matrix. The final button
provides access to sequencer programming.
The advantage of this
arrangement is that it packs access to a large number of parameters
into a small panel space. On the downside it does hinder instant
access to any particular setting, so for live use, it’s
best to carefully plan and pre-program your settings.
The AdrenaLinn II is
built in to a standard die-cast box, painted in a black textured
finish, with a thin Lexan overlay covering the top. The overlay
is printed, in black, white, gray and yellow, with a text key
to most of the units’ functions. Unfortunately, due to the
size of the box top and the large number of functions built in
to it, much of this information is printed in rather small letters.
There is a bright green, three character, 0.6inch L.E.D. display
near the lower left corner that displays status information. A
momentary action footswitch is mounted at each of the lower corners
of the box. Each of these switches has a main and some subsidiary
functions. For example the right footswitch is used for bypass
(several selectable bypass modes are provided) but also doubles
as a tap tempo switch. The left switch is mainly used to start
and stop the sequencer.
A small analogue rotary
control allows for setting the input level to match different
guitar output levels and an associated ‘clip’ L.E.D.
warns you if you are running the input too hot.
I/O connections
Mounted along the back
of the box are four standard ¼ inch jack sockets for Input,
Left/Mono output, Right output and Phones. There are two five
pin D.I.N. sockets for MIDI in and out and finally a co-axial
power jack for the 9 volts D.C. power from the wall-wart P.S.U.
supplied. Thankfully, unlike far too many of these power supplies,
the power unit is clearly marked as belonging to the Roger Linn
AdrenaLinn II so you can identify it among the several other anonymous
black lumps filling your gig bag. There is no individual power
switch, you have to either throw the switch at a wall socket or
pull the co-axial power connector from its socket, to turn off.
The MIDI output always
outputs a MIDI clock.
Programs
There are 100 factory
programmed pre-sets (0 to 99) and 100 user pre-sets in the AdrenaLinn
II. In practice, straight out of the box, factory pre-set 99 is
left empty and all of the factory pre-sets are copied over into
the user pre-sets.
Each pre-set contains
settings for the effects used, the delay, the amplifier emulation,
the drum pattern and the output volume. There are so many parameters
that can be tweaked on the AdrenaLinn II that many users will
be content to use just the factory settings, with perhaps just
a little tweaking of the copies stored in the user space.
Effects
There are 14 effect
categories, three amplitude based, six filter based, two time
delay based, two pitch based effects and finally MIDI control
settings for driving the AdrenaLinn filter and triggering the
envelope generator. Some of the effect categories have up to twenty
possible variations. Effect categories are controlled through
rows 3 & 4 of the control matrix. Most of these effects have
a stereo mode so obviously they need to be heard in stereo to
appreciate their full glory. All of the effects sound great even
in mono and some of them, for example the auto-wah and pitch bend,
can be driven by the guitar note envelope. Either amplitude modulation,
using the Tremolo sequence setting, or filtering, using the Filter
sequence can be driven from the internal 32 step effects sequencer.
User programmed effects
sequences have lent their special magic to several recent hits.
For example John Mayer’s “Bigger Than My Body”
uses a distinctive arpeggitor sequence. A custom tremolo sequence
was also used in Green Day’s recent hit “Boulevard
of Broken Dreams”.
Amplifier emulations
There are 24 amplifier
emulations, 9 based on well known American guitar amps, 6 on British
amps, 1 on a Japanese amp, 5 Roger Linn ‘specials’,
2 fuzz tones and a clean pre-amp. All in all there’s enough
here to cover any required guitar amp tone.
Rows 5 & 6 of the
control matrix access the amplifier emulations. Row 5 allows selection
of which amplifier emulation out of the 24 types you are using
and the ability to set effect to occur before or after the amplifier
emulation. Column three sets the amp modeling output volume and
column five is an on/off that actually allows you to turn emulation
on or off. Row 6 provides control of drive, bass, mid and treble.
Delay
In addition to the
main effects there is a separate, tempo synchronised, delay effect
that may be used at the same time as any of the other effects.
Delay settings are accessed through row 7 of the control matrix
and you can set delay volume, time, repeats and delay on/off or
stereo, where the delay repeats are panned opposite to the position
of the dry signal.
MIDI
The MIDI input and
output can be used to synchronise the AdrenaLinn II tempo to other
MIDI devices, to update the internal software and pre-sets, to
copy user presets and drumbeats between two AdrenaLinns, to select
AdrenaLinn user preset program changes from an external device,
to control the AdrenaLinn filter parameters from an external MIDI
device and finally to control the key of the arpeggiator effect
from an external MIDI device such as a keyboard.
The MIDI control functions
are particularly useful when the AdrenaLinn II is used as an input
DI for a digital recording setup or even as an outboard mixdown
processor.
MIDI settings are accessed
through Row 10 of the control matrix. The first knob or column
selects the MIDI channel, the second sets the MIDI clock input
to on or off, the third external program change on or off and
the fourth sets the internal dump for all, drumbeats only or presets
only.
The drum machine
Synchronised with the
thirty two step effects sequencer, the drum patterns extend over
two bars of sixteen steps. The steps can be played as eighth notes,
eighth triplets or sixteenths. There are four simultaneous voices.
Three voices can be at one of three possible volume levels, or
switched off and consist of a bass drum, a snare drum and a hi
hat. Different sounds can be selected for these three voices,
for example there are nine different bass drum sounds. The fourth
voice is at constant volume, but may be one of three possible
percussion instruments.
By tapping the Bypass
button before hitting the Start button you can get a one measure
intro before the main drum pattern starts. At the moment you have
to hit the Start button pretty quickly after setting up the intro
with the Bypass button, or the intro won't happen. Hopefully the
required dwell time between hitting the two buttons will be increased
in future firmware releases.
Drumbeats are controlled
through rows 8 and 9 in the control matrix; row 8 sets overall
volume, routing and time base functions while row 9 allows control
of the sound and volume of the four pieces of the kit.
Although the internal
drumbeats tempo can be synchronised to an external MIDI clock
you cannot trigger the individual drum sounds from the MIDI input.
Admittedly the drum
machine is relatively basic when compared to dedicated units like
the Alesis SR-16 or the Boss DR3, but the pre-programmed patterns
are all good useful beats with great punchy drum sounds. For practicing,
writing and even demos, in many ways it’s easier to have
a basic, solid, percussion pattern to play with.
Software updates
and tools
Roger Linn Design has
recently announced the release of new firmware – version
2.1, although this is still in a beta release at the moment. You
can download the new firmware from their web site along with a
freeware SysEx loader and install instructions. Loading the new
firmware via a MIDI port is pretty straightforward, providing
you read the instructions first. The new release upgrades the
amplifier emulations and modifies the collection of factory programmed
presets and drum beats to be more in tune with the current styles
of music.
Also available from the site is a free, limited function, Java
AdrenaLinn editor that allows you to read, save and edit all of
your user presets directly from your PC. However if you really
want full program control of your AdrenaLinn II its worth buying
the AdrenaLinn II Sound Editor from Soundtower Software ($35,
www.soundtower.com). This is an invaluable tool and the easiest
way to program the AdrenaLinn. The graphical layout of the Soundtower
editor makes the internal architecture of the AdrenaLinn very
clear and it allows you to load and save from and to the AdrenaLinn,
to create and store both templates and AdrenaLinn program patches
and even incorporates a SysEx loader to upgrade the AdrenaLinn
firmware, as new versions become available, with a simple menu
click.
In Use
The AdrenaLinn II is
a complex device and to be able to have every aspect of its operation
at your fingertips you will have to spend quite a lot of time
with it, frequently referring to the manual. Fortunately, due
to the factory pre-sets, it’s also possible to just plug
it in and have a lot of fun right away. It’s very quite
in operation and the quality of the effects, emulations and programmed
beats is just first class.
Something that can cause confusion with the unit in its factory
fresh state is that it seems difficult to select just one of the
amplifier emulations, without any effects, delay, or in some cases
enormous amounts of gain. Closer examination of the manual reveals
that presets 20 through 39 are dedicated to all the amp emulations,
although you might want to duplicate these with a few custom tweaks
in the first few user memory slots.
Although there is no bank switching you can cycle through the
factory and user settings by holding down either the Start foot
switch, to cycle down, or the Bypass foot switch, to cycle up.
The cycle speed flips into fast forward or reverse if you hold
either switch down for longer than a couple of seconds.
In a studio environment
you can use the AdrenaLinn II as an outboard effects unit and
run the control software via MIDI. Compared to most other multi-effects
boxes and individual effect pedals one huge advantage of the AdrenaLinn
II for studio or even live use, is that it is very, very quiet,
even when large amounts of overdrive are dialed in to the guitar
sound.
One
thing that is missing from the AdrenaLinn II is reverberation.
Although this lack can be compensated for by using a short delay
setting and in a studio reverb can be added at the mixer, it does
mean there are many classic guitar tones you just can’t
quite achieve using the AdrenaLinn II alone.
Conclusion
It may seem that much
of this review concentrates on the negative, on the things that
the AdrenaLinn II cannot do, or on the few faults that it has.
This is because this little box can do so much and sounds so great,
that it's actually easier to describe it's few limitations.
Compared to other amp
emulator, straight-to-desk boxes such as the pioneering Line6
POD or the Vox Valvetronix Tonelab the AdrenaLinn II does not
present a friendly, amplifier-look-alike, set of user controls.
However no other device on the market has the built in drum machine,
effect control sequencer and beat locked effects that the AdrenaLinn
II has. This is a truly inspirational tool that offers very good
value for the money.
Copyright 2005
Terry Relph-Knight
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Modeling
and digital effects
All digital effects
boxes work in basically the same way. They have a front end pre-amp
that provides a high impedance to the guitar signal and then an
A to D converter that converts the analogue signal out of the
pre-amp into digital samples. The sampled signal is sent through
a DSP (digital signal processing) chip under the con troll of
a dedicated micro-processor that handles the effects selection
and responds to the inputs from the user input switches and knobs.
Finally the processed signal is converted back into analogue and
fed out to drive an amplifier or a recording system.
Four things set one
digital effects box apart from another; the user interface, the
sampling rate and bit depth used, the speed and power of the DSP
chip used and the function and quality of the software that drives
the DSP.
User interfaces with
a large number of controls and large status displays can be easier
to use, but are expensive and take up a lot of space.
The input and output
sample rate and bit depth affect the fidelity and noise levels
of the processed signal. Earlier digital effects were often 16bit
or 20bit at 20 to 30kHz. The AdrenaLinn II uses 24bit conversion
at 40kHz.
The internal resolution
of the DSP chip is often confused with and misquoted as, the input
/ output conversion resolution. Current DSP chips use at least
32bit internal processing to achieve realistic results with complex
effect such as reverberation.
What the effect box
actually does and the final quality of the effect sound, is dependant
on what the internal software or firmware, instructs the DSP to
do. Companies building digital effects spend a lot of time and
money developing their own proprietary algorithms (methods of
achieving specific effects).
Modeling is a fairly
recent development made possible by the level of computing power
available in the latest chips. It involves modeling, or emulating,
the behavior of the circuitry of classic analogue amplifiers and
effects in software and applying this behavior to the digitised
guitar signal.
An advantage of most
of the digital effects on the market today is that their core
firmware can easily be upgraded to new improved versions as these
become available.
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