ART DST-4

VERY EASY TO USE! VERY USER FRIENDLY!

The BEST THAT THERE IS!!!! It can get as clean or as dirty of a sound as you want! It can do almost anything and is very nice when plugged into a good power amp (like a JMP 100 watt or even a GK backline 600) and a 4X12 loaded with celestians with the nice sized magnets (about 10 pds or so each as the greenbacks or the 80 watt leads have).

I have 3 of these units now! :) and will get more if given the chance! I also have a DST 80/80 and it sounds great also! Why spend so much on boogie junk or some other crap when this does what they cannot for a fraction of the price??!!

As I stated 2 years ago...... they no longer make this and do not have any support. That is why you gotta buy these things NOW!

I remember when a friend of mine bought a Marshall 50 watt head in the 1980's. He was upset that it did not sound the way Randy Rhoads and other famous peoples amps did who said they played the same thing. He years later bought a boogie. Then he heard my stuff sold it all for a loss, bought a used DST 4 and was quite content. ART made 3 big mistakes in making this. 1 they tried to market the T2 as a guitar amp and the distortion just was not good for a guitar. 2 They tried to make up for the T2 shortcommings as far as a guitar preamp (which I may add is the best VOCAL preamp EVER! but not marketed as such) by pushing the DST 80/80 and did not even let people know about the DST 4. 3 They quit making ALL the good stuff (including the ONLY pedal with 2 realtime effects pedals on one board) and went to tube emulationg. This company needs some better sponsors and management. Really, get one of these units before I buy them ALL! - given enough time and money I will -

This is the best preamp E V E R if you know what you are doing with it.
Editing with the book is a bit challenging due to it's awsome potential but all can be altered to suit ones needs if you can understand and apply what you have read.
The manual is a necessity and you will need to read/understand it.
This unit is discontinued. If you don't have one to bad. I have 2 and am looking for 3 or more.........

I run it through a 100 watt Marshall Plexi with a Marshall slant cab with a couple of 30 Celestians in the top with 70's in the bottom (if you are wondering why quit reading now because you will not up to this level, go buy a metal zone pedal) and have an x 15 ultrafoot plugged into it.

I know a guy who had a very expensive Boggie unit. He spent a lot of money to have the power amp and the pre-amp rack units etc etc etc
He heard my 80/80 rig and bought the DST-4 sold his boogie for a HUDGE loss and has never been happier. I later bought the DST-4 also to run as a backup unit to my 80/80 and now it is my main pre-amp. I love both the damn things and will never go another way unless one better ever shows up. I doubt one ever will.

Like everything ART has ever made it works. Period.
I have used it for giging and backup. It is un-equalled.

The company is there but says they no longer service this unit.

I play hard rock.
I have played over 25 years.
If something happened to it I would buy another one when it came up.
Everything about it kicks ass except that you cannot buy them new anymore. I hate that I do not have more of them. I insist that my backup guitarist use my extra ones.
I compare products every week. Too many to mention but it kicked ass all over the Blue Voodoo, Peavey, Crate, MesaBoogie, ADA, and many many more. All were ran through Marshall 4x12 cabnets with Celestian speakers. If you do not know why quit reading and go play the flute or some non-string unamplified instrument.
I love ART and really wish they would once more make this and the SGX-T2 series. The SGX-T2 was marketed as a guitar pre-amp but what it does to vocals is un-equalled.

As a preamp, the DST-4 is pretty simple to use. As an effects processor, it can be easy if you want to stick with the presets and a little tricky if you are the type to tweak settings. There is also the matter of how to control it: using the onboard controls, using a two-button footswitch (to bypass the preamp and effects processor individually) or a MIDI controller. It is what you make of it.

For my purposes, I manually select the distortion and effect (usually delay) that I want, and use a footswitch to bypass as needed. My DST-4 came with an ART X-11 MIDI pedalboard, but I've never hooked it up. No need. Getting good sounds out of the preamp is easy as can be. The effects are limited but good for the most part. The manual, which is still available from ART, is helpful.

I have been using the ART Xtreme pedal as the basis for my rig for many years, but wanted to assemble a rack setup suitable for direct recording without using an amp modeler. Being familiar with the Xtreme distortion and generally happy with the effects quality, I bought a used DST-4. For guitars I use humbucker-equipped Jacksons. In the rack with the DST-4 are a tuner, ART Tube Channel parametric EQ, and a Rocktron Guitar Silencer. In the current configuration, I have the Tube Channel and Silencer in the DST-4's effects loop so that I can have them available whether running direct to a mixer or into an amp.

The Xtreme distortion can be somewhat noisy, but no more so than other high-gain distortions. It's not necessary to max the gain, as the Xtreme setting lives up to its name. The other preamp modes are quiet. The effects are not as good as what you'd find in specialized units, but better than most stompboxes or multi-effects units. The delays and reverbs are especially good.

The first thing I did after getting my various rack components together was to A/B test everything through an amp versus running direct, and was extremely (and pleasantly) surprised to discover that the preamp's cabinet emulation gives some very convincing "live" tones through a mixing board. Through a Peavey Classic combo, Krank head (tried clean channel AND power amp input), Rivera Knucklehead (clean channel) and VHT tube power amp, I had no trouble getting excellent metal tone at all volumes. The Xtreme distortion (pedal) has provided me with a great tone for years, so I expected comparable results and got them.

The other distortion modes don't really do anything for me, since I either need clean or high gain with no middle ground. The only mode to use the 12AX7 preamp tube is the clean channel, which has just a touch of grit. In a live setting, I would simply bypass the preamp completely via footswitch if I needed a true clean sound, but I'll experiment in the studio with running the tube clean mode through a tube amp's distortion channel.

I haven't gigged with the DST-4 yet.

I have contacted ART about manuals and service on other out-of-warranty products and have been very impressed with them every time. I got a PDF version of the DST-4 manual within hours of requesting it via email. Phone calls and emails about other products have always been courteous and timely, and in the event that I've needed repairs, the turn-around time was very short.

I play in a metal band, but I write music of all styles and wanted a setup that would allow me to cover a wide range. I've been using ART products for nearly ten years, including two Xtreme pedals, one Xtreme Plus, Tube Channel EQ/mic pre/compressor, Tube EQ (half rackspace version) and Tube MP mic preamp. I also own Rocktron noise gates, Boss pedals, Peavey amps and cabs, and Jackson guitars. I've been playing for around fifteen years.

I knew exactly what I was looking for when I bought the DST-4, and I'm quite happy with it. If necessary, I would definitely buy another. The distortion is the best I've ever heard, and the effects are very good for my limited needs. It's a shame that ART got out of the guitar equipment business, even if their studio gear is every bit as good. The sounds I get out of my ART gear don't sound dated like those from other products built during the same time period.

Sencillo manejo.
Un problema es que no almacena los aprametros, con lo que los ajustes sobre patch creados son dificiles
El manual no es nada del otro mundo pero es perfecto para su utilizacion.

Le utilizo con una Washburn RR-2 y con una GIBSON SG Standar, todo ellos conectado a un procesador BOSS GX700 y a una etapa de potencia.

No es extremadamente ruidoso, pero si lo suficente como para necesitar un peque?o reductor de ruido.

El sonido limpio es perfecto, con un tono valvulero muy calido. Realmente se consiguen unos sonidos de guitarras limpias geniales, aumentando la ganancia, conseguiras un autentico sonido bluesy ;)

Su EQ es bastante bueno, pero tiene una peque?a pega....al llegar al punto 10 en del manejo de agudos, da un santo demasiado brusco, es decir, del 9 al 10 no sube la misma cantidad que del 8 al 9 por ejemplo. Lo mismo ocurre con el volumen de salida, hay demasiada diferencia del 19 al 20.

Las distorisones son brutales!!!!!!!!!. Puedes conseguir sonidos realmente brutales. Toco heavy, thrash y death metal desde hace 15 a?os y con diferencia es el mejor distosionador con el que me he topado.

Con una afinacion baja puedes conseguir sonidos muy en la onda de grupos como Hypocrisy, Gorefest... realmente extremo.

Perfectamente resistente.
Nunca he tenido problemas...y es de segunda mano.

N lo he necesitado. La unica pega es que no tienen manuales online, has de comprarle.

ojala que no se me rompa nunca...es mi sonido!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
La mejor compra que he hecho en cuanto a efectos/previos se refiere.

Not imediately obvious on the effects side, but I called the manufacturer and they emailed a manual which is solid. Once you understand the concept of the patches then modifying each one is a piece of cake.

My setup is ESP Kamikaze into a 5150 combo then with this rack effect on the effects loop of the amp. Various stomp boxes on the floor between the guitar and the amp.

This is a double sided question. You should really think of this as TWO effects.

Distortion / Preamp ( with a valve in it )
Modulation and Delay effects ( chorus / flange / pitch / delay / reverb etc )

They ARE two completely different units that are controlled together. There are even different jacks on the back and these two different distinct parts of the rack can be used competely seperately.

So - sound quality for the Distortion end.
"Quality" is a difficult term with distortion - you either like it or you don't. I didn't experiment too much with the sounds because I really bought this for the modulation effects. What is very powerful is the EQ with the sweeping mid. There are 4 different pre-amp settings and each one can be controlled also with these EQs - and the settings can be saved. The clean sound is a pretty nice valvy sound. I didn't experiment too much with the others so read other reviews.

Modulation and Effects quality.
AWESOME in terms of noise and tone. This is the best thing I have in terms of not messing with my signal or weakening the tone and for the things like chorus and delay we are talking ZERO noise. I'm very impressed. Part of the this is because I'm not even going through the pre-amp stage - different jacks and I don't touch them.

In terms of flexibility of these effects at first I was disappointed because each effect only has one variable, eg chorus SPEED, or delay TIME. Compared to the typical chorus pedal which has at least 4 knobs that seemed limiting, but in truth I've been able to get a really good and useful set of sounds out of this unit. The only thing that I might want is a longer delay for those ping pong type riffs.

Must be good - this thing is as old as the ark and works perfectly!

Excelent. Even though the website doesn't list this product with the discontinued products a quick phone call to them and they emailed me a pdf of the manual.

I'm very impressed. I have other equipment and there is nothing to compare to this in terms of clear, zero noise modulation and delay. I very much like the way that the pre-amp and effects parts can be used completely seperately because that helps keep the noise down if you don't use it for distortion.

I'd say a much better bang for the buck than modern racks which might include lots of stuff ( like amp and speaker modeling ) that you won't use.

Very easy to use... KNOBS baby!! No scrolling through dozens of programable parameters. Gain, bass, mid, mid freq, treble, output, and a "fader" that fades between wet / dry for the effects. Great, well thought out simplicity.

The effects are lacking in terms of programability. As others have said, only one editable parameter limits tweekability. BUT, as with the preamp side, simplicity RULES the game here. I personally dont use much of the effects. I just want a good sounding preamp, with a little reverb. So for my needs ths DST4 and its simplistic effects are a blessing.

Mine is the V1.01 firmware. At this point I could care less for multi- paramter editing so I'm not going to upgrade...yet. Manual is typical ART, easy to understand and to the point.

I see this as a less-is more kind of thing. For my simplistic needs I feel no reason to give it anyting less than a 10

Heres my rack:
Furman PL+
DST4 with ART ECC multi-effects in the loop for chorus/delay/modulation effects
Korg tuner
Peavey classic 50/50 run in stereo.
Mesa rectifier 2x12 (Mesa / celestion black shadows)

I dont find this unit all THAT noisy... no noisier than my other preamp circuits.

As others have said, effects are limited... I dont really use them at all. I have my ART ECC in the effects loop for delay,chorus and modulation.

Im living in the past, as a fan of hair band 80s metal... George Lynch, EVH, Vernon Reid, Chris Degarmo, Vai, Marty Friedman, Paul Gilbert etc... This unit does 80's metal with ease. The parametric midrange EQ is Very usefull and can really belt out the Marshall JCM800 2204 midrange snarl. As a big Petrucci fan it comes very close to his Mesa Mark III solo tones. This units tone strengths are in its preamp. Very warm sounding... and no fuzziness to the high end. I was previously was using a rocktrom progap ultra, but got rid of it becaus I could never dial out the high end fuzzies... No matter how much I goosed the mids and dimmed the highs. Underneath it all as part of its baseline tone, was fuzz. NOT SO with the DST-4. Very warm round analog / tube tones, even the high gain tones are smooth and not fuzzy at all. Its very dynamic too... not very compressed at all.. which I like.

I like the clean tube channel too. No Its NOT the fender-sparkle that everyone wants, although the trebble control can help it a little. Rather its a warm mild overdriven tone that is big and fat. Sounds STELLAR with my jimmy Vaughn strat bridge PU.

I like the reverb too... not too "boingy", adds nice sense of space and ambience. This is the first piece of gear I have ever given a 10 for sound quality.

Bought it used, runs fine

No oppion, never needed to contact them.

I bought this unit wanting a warm analog / tube preamp with some basic effects. Thats exactly what I got. I am completely overjoyed that this unit does 80's squak and Petrucci Mesa mark III tones.

Unbelieveable value as a used item. I think these usually go for less than $100 used. IMHO that makes it a steal. I would have probably been more critical if I paid more for it.

i found that the user presets all pretty much suck. however there are no real limitations to the sounds you can get this thing to make. i set it up 4 years ago without the manual and got exactly what i wanted in a relatively short amount of time.

i'm running my guitar straight into the input,and have my tuner run through the effects loop mono{left}output straight into the hiz input on my Randall RG 150 head.Man its the most awsome guitar sound you ever heard{no B/S}.

no B/S,. i bought it used at a pawn shop for $100 bucks 4 years ago,and play though it everyday,i take on the road and have spilled many beers on it.IT STILL WORKS FINE !!!

well i never dealt with the company, but i have been trying to find a manual for it and they don't even have it listed on their site

i play in a heavy metal band and we are tuned waaaaaaaaaay down,this unit rocks.i've been playin for 15 years, and have played through all kinds of preamp units that cost 4 times as much and they were all 4 times harder to set up. i wish it had a tuner and i wish i had a manual.

The design is great with the tone and gain KNOBS. The manual made connecting the processor to my system very easy. Editing patches is a snap because there aren't thousands of choices to make. I haven't YET gotten the $50US upgrade. I want to be able to edit each effect of the multi-effect patches, so it's on my list.

The manual says that the unit is primarily to be connected to an amp's effect loop, but it sounds great almost any way you use it. I use all 75 presets to get ALMOST identical tone of my favorites like Boston, Journey, Leslie West, Stryper, Petra, Warrant, and many more. At home, I use it as my primary "amp" with a compressor first in line and use the headphone out. Live, the unit and compressor are connected via the stereo outs directly to the main sound board. I have only 2 complaints. First is the strength of the signal from the direct-out, it's way too hot and noisy. Last is the fact that the speaker simulation is only on the direct-out. There are EQ nuances in the simulations that's hard to duplicate.

My DST-4 failed only once. The leads to the power supply were resoldered and it was as good as "new". My DST-4 IS my sound. I would never intentionally play without it!

I sent A.R.T. email concerning the direct-out problem... AND got several responses! While they didn't offer a "fix", they did try to help... :-)

For the past 18 years, I've played rock, some country, and lots of Christian music. If I lost my DST-4, life would go on, but my playing would definitely change! I would buy another except that they're not made anymore... :-( I love it's simplicity, it's sounds, it's reliability! I hate the direct-out problem, the missing compressor/noise gate, the lack of global input/output level control, the missing headphone level control. I compared the DST-4 to the Alesis GT Quadraverb and the Rocktron Chameleon. Obviously the Alesis lost! The Rocktron MIGHT serve as a replacement if I need one.

This was my first FX unit ive owned so I cant say I have a lot to compare it to. I use approximately 5 out of the seventy five presets available. I love the fact that its based on dials instead of buttons, this makes it easy to dial in the patch you want very quickly.

It sits atop my Marshal 30 watt amp that is sitting on top of a Spectra bass amp. Pretty kick ass practice setup. No problems with noise. I love the distortions, just have to wish that there were more of them and that I could tweak them a little more. Chorus is weak. Delays are excellent. Flanger is good but it could stand to be adjustable so it could be "heavier", its a little on the weak side. Presets 61,62, and 63 on "Extreme Distortion" ROCK.

I have actually had some problems with the LED's in my unit. The dials work just fine, but the LED's are just whacked. Either all on at once or all off at once. I have to tell which sound I am using by ear.

na - the led problem doesnt bother me enough to actually take the effort to try and get it fixed.

Love the distortions that it has. I use them all the time. But im looking to buy a different unit now because I want something more versatile. I love the fact that its rack mount and under $250. It isnt my dream machine but it does have some very useful FX for the price. I wish it had a built in tuner...

This unit was easy to use right out of the box. I like the fact that you actually turn knobs instead of pressing arrow keys. The manual leaves a little to be desired, but all the important info is there.

I run the DST-4 stereo sends into a stereo compressor and a stereo reverb unit, then each channel goes to it's own LabSeries L5 Amp. This set-up is the best combination of versatility and sound quality that I have ever used. I used to use mutliple heads and cabs to get this sounds, now I have a simple rack and two "twin" size amps (100W each). I will admit, though, that the "Extreme" distortion carries a lot of noise with it. Other than that, this unit is clean. You will probably want to tweak your own presets too, as most of the factory presets are useless. Fortunately, it is very easy to do.

No fuss, no muss... I just plug in, dial up my presets, and let 'er rip! I've been using mine for over a year and never had a problem.

Never needed it... though I do know that ART has a great reputation in this department.

In my 22 years of playing, I have used a lot of amps and preamps. Sure, there's some stuff that has an INCREDIBLE sound... but it usually has a hefty price tag too. The DST-4 is a great value for a versatile preamp. I have found the preamp sound I was looking for, and matched it up with a bunch of great effects. I did end up building a double foot-switch to control the effects live, but for recording you may not find it necessary. Also, the XLR direct out is great! It has a built-in cabinet simulator that you can set for 2x12 or 4x12. I have recorded many of my studio tracks using this, and they come out sounding great.