Anagram Support & FAQ

Anagram effects coming soon. Explore the guides while we prepare for release.

The 80s Suite collection contains six individual Anagram effects: 80s Compressor, 80s Chorus, 80s Detune, 80s Color Delay, 80s Sync Delay and 80s Reverb. This guide covers their controls, routing and everyday use.

A quick start

1. Add an installed effect to your Anagram chain and open its Settings.
2. If it has Mode, choose the mode before making detailed adjustments. Mode selection recalls useful starting settings.
3. For a wet effect in a series chain, begin with its default Mix and adjust while playing. Keep a stereo monitoring path to hear the full movement.
4. Assign controls to scenes or bindings as needed. Save the preset to retain the sound and assignments.

You can combine the effects or use any one on its own. The individual product guides explain every control and each mode's starting settings.

Are these the same purchase as the desktop 80s Suite?

No. The Anagram editions are separate products for Darkglass Anagram. A desktop 80s Suite license does not authorize them, and desktop installers and .lic files are not used to install or activate them. Each Anagram effect is an individual product; “80s Suite” is the collection name.

Where do I edit a sound?

Open the block's Settings pages for Anagram's native controls and values. The custom Chain View display shows the effect's settings or activity.

For a quick adjustment from Chain View, fresh blocks use Thresh for Compressor and Mix for the five wet effects. Your saved or chosen Quick Pot assignment is retained.

Can I use different sounds in different scenes?

Yes. All visible menus are available for scene assignment, including Mode and Trails. When editing one scene, select Controlling Active Scene in Settings, choose its Mode first, then adjust the other controls. Save the preset after setting up the scenes. Recalling a scene restores its stored settings, including edits made after selecting a mode.

Anagram provides the scene and binding interfaces. The short names in bindings identify the effect: CMP Compressor, CHR Chorus, DET Detune, CD Color Delay, SD Sync Delay and REV Reverb.

In Stomp mode, operate footswitch bindings from Chain View. Pressing a footswitch while Settings is open can return you to Chain View; reopen Settings to inspect the resulting values.

Why is a control inactive?

Some controls only affect the sound in particular modes or when a stage is enabled. An inactive control retains its value and remains editable. It takes effect when the relevant mode or stage is active.

• Compressor's Character Drive is inactive when Character is Off.
• Chorus's TRI Rate and individual TRI Depth L/C/R controls affect Manual and Preset+Manual. Overall TRI Depth also scales the Preset contribution. Order applies when both stages are enabled.
• Sync Delay uses Note L/R when Tempo Sync is On and Time L/R when it is Off. In 22 PAN, Note R, Time R and R Phase are inactive. Pan Note applies with Tempo Sync On, Pan Rate with it Off, and Pan Depth with either choice.
• Sync's ducking controls apply in both 22 modes. Duck Threshold, Attack and Release also become inactive at Duck Amount 0 dB, when no ducking is applied.

What happens when I change Mode?

Detune, Color Delay, Sync Delay and Reverb recall starting settings when you change Mode. Choose the mode first, then make detailed edits. Mix stays at your chosen setting in all four.

Loading a saved preset restores its saved edits rather than replacing them with the mode's starting values. A scene can therefore hold an edited Hall while another holds an edited Room in the same Reverb instance.

How should I set Mix in a series or parallel rig?

In a series chain, each block receives the complete output of the previous block. Start with the wet effects' default Mix settings, then adjust by ear. Several generous delay/reverb blends in series will build more ambience.

In a parallel branch with a separate dry path, a fully wet effect can avoid adding another dry copy. Detune, both delays and Reverb remove their immediate dry contribution at 100% Mix. Chorus has its own DIM behavior, described below.

Whole-block bypass passes dry audio even if Mix was 100%. If a parallel branch must become silent, mute that branch's return instead of relying on effect bypass.

How do Chorus and Detune differ?

Chorus combines a three-voice TRI stage with DIM stereo movement. Use them separately or together, from a gentle sheen to a moving ensemble. Detune uses small pitch offsets and short left/right delays for thickness and width. Its fresh 50% Mix suits a series chain; 100% removes the separate dry contribution.

What does DIM Full Wet do in Chorus?

With DIM enabled and DIM Full Wet On, Mix controls the TRI blend while DIM keeps its full voiced output. If TRI is Off, Mix is inactive. Turn DIM Full Wet Off to blend the complete chorus against the dry input.

DIM's own sound includes a direct-center component, so Full Wet does not remove every trace of the direct signal. With both stages Off, the block passes dry audio at unity level regardless of Mix or DIM Full Wet.

Why does Chorus show BYPASS or stop animating?

BYPASS means the block is enabled but both TRI and DIM are Off. When the whole block is bypassed, enabled stages appear as dim still images instead. If both stages are also Off, the bypassed block's display is empty. Wave motion illustrates rate; its height does not scale with Depth.

How do the two delays differ?

Color Delay focuses on Circular and Pan Delay textures, manual timing and diffusion, with all controls on one page. Sync Delay offers 42 12-Bit, 22 DYN and 22 PAN voices, with host-tempo note divisions or manual timing, modulation, and ducking in both 22 modes.

What does Tempo Sync control?

In Sync Delay it selects note-based echo timing and the independent note-based pan clock in 22 PAN. Turning it off uses millisecond echo timing and free-running Pan Rate. Pitch modulation always uses Mod Rate in Hz, regardless of Tempo Sync.

Tempo comes from Anagram. Sync Delay does not store a separate preset BPM or provide its own incoming MIDI Clock synchronization.

Why is Sync Delay's ducking subtle or absent?

Use 22 DYN or 22 PAN and set Duck Amount below 0 dB. Ducking reduces the wet repeats when the signal entering Sync exceeds Duck Threshold; it does not duck the dry signal. A quiet signal may never cross the threshold.

Set the amp/preamp and earlier blocks to the levels you intend to use, then adjust Duck Threshold while playing. Listen for repeats to recede during notes and return in the gaps. Use Attack and Release to shape that movement. The gold bar shows the ducking being applied. Ducking is inactive in 42 12-Bit.

What does Trails do?

Color Delay, Sync Delay and Reverb have Trails, default On. With On, bypass stops new audio entering the wet effect while the existing tail decays over the dry signal. With Off, the tail fades and clears. New notes stay dry while the block is bypassed.

Trails applies to block bypass. It does not provide full spillover across preset replacement or guarantee tails between modes. Color Delay clears its old tail when changing between Circular and Pan Delay. Removing a block also clears its tail.

Are Reverb's modes separate algorithms?

Hall, Chamber, Plate, Ambient and Room are five editable starting programs within one algorithmic reverb engine. Choose a program, then shape it with the controls. Changing programs recalls the sound settings while preserving Mix and Trails.

Why am I missing some stereo movement or repeats?

Check the complete monitoring path, including your DAW or audio-routing software. Use a stereo input pair rather than recording or monitoring only one channel.

Anagram does not automatically sum left and right when you use a single output. Taking one side can lose opposite-side echoes or movement. A mono amp return needs an explicit summing stage elsewhere in the rig. The effects preserve stereo dry audio, while their wet-input treatment depends on the effect and mode.

What do the Chain View graphics show?

These displays show settings or activity; they are not waveform analyzers.

What should I include when asking for help?

Include the effect name and version, Anagram firmware version, mode and relevant settings, the signal-chain order, and the steps that reproduce the problem. Mention whether it happens during playing, scene changes, bypass or preset recall, and how you are monitoring: headphones, analog outputs or USB. A photo of the relevant Settings page and a short audio example can help.

Related Anagram documentation

All product guides · Quick start, FAQ & support

Contact Signalworks

For help with these Anagram effects, email support@signalworksdsp.com. Include the details listed above so we can help with your setup.