ADA MP-1 Classic

Couldn't be any easier to operate! (well maybe if it had turn knobs). Something about the unit that frustrates me is the dual/stero effects loop. You cant run a stompbox throught the effects loop if your going into a stereo amp. If you do, only one channel gets the effect signal.

Plain and simple; my unit is very noisy at high gain settings. Its so bad that I hardly use it. The tone is great. The stereo chorus on the other hand leaves something to be desired as does the noise gate. I bought the "classic" because I craved my long lost "original" MP-1. But I have yet to be as impressed with the classic as I was with the original. At %75 or lower gain settings this unit shines. The headphone output is very weak.

I've been using ADA for 5-7 years with no probs yet.

Well i've never called but I have sent 3 e-mails that have never been responded to.

If you need a flexible preamp and crave tube tones, give this unit a try. If you have a limited budget I would suggest a preamp/effects unit such as the RP-7. I say this because you still need to purchase a foot controller and effects unit in order to make this unit stage ready, and this will be about a $1,000 investment when complete.

The ADA is by far the best sounding midi tube preamp I have ever used! The presets are above average but editing can be fairly complex. Midi Mapping has also been very useful as I plug the ADA directly into an SGX2000 preamp and then into a TubeWorks poweramp. The ADA sounds very good out of the box and and as such, I haven't had the need to edit many of the patches. I have edited the noise gate frequently during shows where that wonderful 60 cycle hum exists. The manual is fairly complete and easy to read and understand. ADA does supply a hard copy of what the units original presets are in the case that the user might want to restore them.

The clean sound is incredible and not very noisy especially with the gate. My big gripe is that when I use a lot of gain, the ADA is incredibly noisy. Maybe this is just me or my unit, but I wouyld like to know if others have had this problem. I have done many things to try to eliminate the noise, such as isolating my rack units and buying an Ebtech hum eleiminator. The sounds overall are fabulous, the unit acts like a tube amp, adjusts for your picking attack, and is extremely warm. The chorus is also far better than the chorus in my SGX2000 and probably one of the best I've heard. I would give this unit a ten accept for the noise problem.

The ADA has been very reliable and I have owned and ADA or ADA classic for years. One problem I have had during particular shows is that the ADA will not come on at all or it will turn on but display weird characters and what not. I have always fixed this problem by plugging the unit into somewhere that had better power or electricity. The problem had occurred in a very old bar, with very old, unregulated, 'dirty', wiring. I don't think i would use it on a gig without a backup due to the problem mentioned above. A good power conditioner may fix the problem. I never had a problem with a tube blowing up before the estimated two years. ( I always replace them every two years or sooner anyway.)

If the ADA could eliminate the noise problem, I would buy them all day long. If you are in search of the perfect tone, this unit can do it! I played just about every tube preamp/preamp multi-effects processor available and the ADA is by far my favorite product for the bang for the buck. I wish the unit had a good compressor in it as the compression should come before the distortion. The ADA MP-2 has this but I have heard mixed reviews about this unit. For the most part, the ADA is a wonderful product, but occasionaly I have removed many tufts of hair trying to get it to work properly. If anyone has experienced any of the problems I have mentioned, please contact me and tell me what you have done to fix or live with them.!?

very easy - it sounds good just about however you set it, and it's got a fairly straightfoward interface. It can be a pain balancing the volumes between clean sounds and distorted sounds - nothing more than an "evening with the new piece of equiptment" can't cure. On a dark stage, it's hard to read the screening of the names of the parameters (preamp level1,2, bass, etc.), but once you've located the button it's easy enough. No biggie.

As quiet as Boogie preamps, dead quiet with the gate (which works great). Probably as quiet as a high gain pre will get. The chorus sounds different than the MP-1's; I'm not sure if I like it more or less. Good enough for Andy Summers-type sounds. It will do *any* preamp sound, except for a ratty Fuzzface sound. The new "brown" voiceing does a 5150/Dual Rect thing, at lower gain it does a Bassman overdrive thing. Sounds like an MP-1, only better - more distinct, higher quality.

3 gigs with it, no problems. With the MP-1, I sometimes had it not want to boot up in some places - you had to switch it off, than back on and it would be fine. The MP-1 *never* let me down, never glitched, I'm assuming this one won't as well.

I owned an MP-1 for years with no problems, so I don't know how ADA's support is directly; some friends have dealt with them and they seemed good enough.

It's great. If liked the MP-1, this is even better. it doesn't have sys-ex control over the tone controls, that would have been nice. I don't desire really any other preamp.