Behringer ADI21

Pretty easy, the label on each knob pretty much says it all. It could do with a white mark on the knob to show where it is pointing though...

Im actually running my electric violin through it, then into a laney t100 amp. It does a great job of warming up the tone, giving it a much more acoustic sound without the slightly harsh tone that it can sometimes get.

Ive gigged with it a few times, once i put a decent power supply into it its worked fine every time. Havent tried it with only the battery.

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Overall it does exactly what i wanted it to do with a price to match. It gives a much more authentic violin sound than just the violin by itself. I stil need the reverb from my amp to help with the tone, but i never expected it to do that.

Pretty straight forward... refered to the recommended settings in the 'manual' (Actually just a piece of paper)

I bought this to improve my acoustic guitar recording... and I was disappointed. The recording sounded muddy, I tied all settings but unable to get a usuable tone... it also distort very easily... have to keep my guitar output way down...

but after refering to reviews of the Tech-21 Acoustic DI... the ADI21 performances seems to be on par with what is complain in the Tech21 review...

I think they are more usable for live use rather than recording purposes for acoustic guitar.

However, I do find one thing the ADI21 is good at for recording... electric guitar! I plug in my LP copy to get a jazzy tone through the ADI21, and I got a really impressive solid classic jaze tone out from the ADI21... truly imazing...! :) I have never heard my guitar sounded so good....

So for recording purposes, here's how I rate it:
acoustic guitar: 3
clean electric: 10

its made of tough plastic and seems durable...

but the main footswitch looks lame and weak... I would wanna step on it too much....

other than for recording acoustic guitar, I highly recommend this... but for live, use it as DI and leave it alone would be fine... don't step on it....

Great job Behringer!

This thing is pretty simple to operate. The fun is trying to dial in the tone you want with the MID/MID FREQ combinations. You can get a good, natural tone from your guitar. I use a Yamaha SLG-100S, so this is all the preamp I need before I send it (via XLR) to the board. Quick setup!

My only complaint is the amount of gain this pedal can generate. I have to be very careful not to overload the pedal with my Yamaha SLG-100S. I run at midpoint volume-wise on my guitar, and let the ADI21 do the rest. Really sounds great live! I have samples if you are curious.

I have only gigged with it for about 6 weeks. It is in my pedal board, so I don't expect any problems. It is a plastic casing, so I can't give a 10 for that. This pedal DOES EAT batteries. Get a power adapter.

Never dealt with them.

Overall, this pedal is a great value. I does everything I need to have it do. It provides a great gain structure with flexible EQ options. I really makes my guitar sound great through the soundboard of our band. I have used it 6 weekends in a row now without any problems. For the price, I would buy another one if this was stolen or broken!

Quick follow-up
I have used it for loud playing, and it amazes me how smooth and warm my low-level ovation copy sounds with the adi21.
The mid eq is very useful against feedback but don't believe in SantaClaus...
Still, I can play way loud without problem if I stand away from my amp.
Of course the eq lacks definition but since it is very useful along with the blend knob(always full on) to smoothen the harsh piezo tone I don't care at all.
If you want to pay 10 times the price to get the original, be my guest but a cheap guitar means you can't afford the tech21...
That's exactly where Behringer gets it right!
A cheap piezo guitar and this unit sounds way good...

This product is very easy to use. Basically, it's a fairly simple product with self-explanatory switches and knobs.

THe only gripe I have, like the reviewer below, is that the knobs are ambiguous about where they are facing. They need a dot or some other indicator so you can tell where they are pointing. A dob of paint will do for me, but this is probably something that should be added at the factory.

I had low expectations for this unit, seeing as it was so cheap. I ordered it just out of curiosity, to see what behringer's pedals are like. (I have a behringer eq and mixer).

I guess I was mainly after the ground loop elimination and mid frequency band. I didn't even know the unit had some type of internal processing. (whether it is digital tube emulation or analog.. i'm not sure).

I run a rainsong JM1000 into this. The rainsong has fishman electronics, which are a bit quacky in terms of the piezo end. This unit warms up the fishman very nicely. There's a noticeable difference in sound quality. My friend uses an ovation into his, and it does the same.

I've also tried this with electric guitars. If you are careful about the input level, you can get a decent clean sound. Suitable for jazz. The input is a bit impedance sensitive though, so if you go full bore into it with magnetic pickups, you'll get distortion. We've used two of these live in jazz gigs to great effect. (normally I use an evans preamp, but these pedals are really portable for those occasions when you don't want to lug a rack around).

I give it a 9 for quality in this area because its price/performance ratio is so staggeringly good. I'm sure it wouldn't compete against a rackmount acoustic preamp, but that's not what the unit is trying to do.

I have used it without a backup. It seems very robust to me. Very robust indeed.

Never

This thing is a bit of a steal. It is solid, and does a nice job of warming up acoustic guitars. The midshift is very useful. I haven't used the XLR output yet, though.

I've been playing for 10 years. Semi-pro jazz guy. I use jackson USA electrics (swee-tones and SLSes), a rainsong, a hofner john stowell, a couple of godins, and a ramirez classical. I play gigs every couple of weeks.

I've been running this into a graphic eq, then into a lexicon reverb unit and out into a power amp. I've gotten good results. my friend has a custom electric guitar (neckthrough) which sounds amazing with this unit. I can't duplicate his sound, even though my main swee-tone has the same pickups on it. Hmm.

Highly recommended. I'm glad I bought this.

This is basically a copy of Sansamp Acoustic DI. Three band equalizer with parametric mids, output level and a blend control to dial-in tube emulation as much or as little as you want. The manual is brief but adequate with a few samples - same samples as Tech 21.

My only gripe is that, it is impossible to see where the pots point at at dark.

It would also be nice to have it phantom powered.

One other thing is that, it consumes 25mA which is a lot. It probably eats batteries like hell but I'm using an adaptor.

I play bass guitar. I also have Sansamp Bass Driver DI, but so many bassists praised Acoustic DI so I wanted to have one. Tech 21 is expensive (though it's worth every penny) so I decided to try out this copy.

For a bass guitar the useful range is limited, but when dialed in it sounds great (I basically use the sample from manual with a little treble added). It is a rounded, more like an old-school bass guitar sound. It is also a lot more friendly with effects than Bass Driver DI. ADI21 lacks a drive control, but if you crank it, it can be overdriven. However, if you like overdriven bass I suggest either to use Bass Driver DI or put a distortion/overdrive pedal in front of ADI21.

It is as noisy as a bass amp, no more no less.

Since I bought my Bass Driver DI, I stopped using my bass amp. With ADI21 also, I go direct to mixer. My chain is bass -> Tech 21 Bass Compactor -> Zoom 3000B Bass Processor -> ADI21 -> Mixer.

Too early to tell. It's made of plastic which is not a problem, I used plastic boxes before. The suspect is the on/off switch. It doesn't look like the stomp switches I'm familiar with, but it seems to get the job done. But this is a preamp, you don't stomp on it too often. Time will be the real judge.

Having said that; I have other Behringer products and not one of them died on me.

Behringer has a huge website with a lot of information. Once I sent them an e-mail with a question and they've responded in time.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase. If it were lost I would definitely buy another. Compared to Tech 21 Bass Driver DI, its range for bass guitar is limited but luckily it's the sound I'm looking for; well rounded. For the time being it replaced my Bass Driver DI.

I wish it accepted phantom power and it had knobs that I could see in the dark.

Very simple to use. Well rounded and quiet. Took away all piezo quack,but can be blended to put some in if it is part of your sound.

Martin OCX, Peavey Ecoustic to either a Roland DB500, Behringer 200 watt powered mixer, or board into full size PA. Quiet at all settings.

Buy two, they are dirt cheap compared to everything else...I know, I've tried a bunch of them. Time is the test

I've never had a problem with any Behringer equipment ever. So I cannot say how the customer support is.

Fantastic value is it. Play acoustic pop covers as a solo and duo act. Breaking strings for about 30 years. The gear list is short, but I've tried on alot of gear. The current rig is a Peavey Ecoustic, Sabine stick on tuner, a Dearmond Gold foil (Stratotone Jupiter Pickup) installed at the neck, bronze strings. Acoustic side is stock, dearmond is routed through an on board EMG BTS sytem and then through a wireless to a Tech 21 tri AC before the board. Pan pedal allows blended tones, all electric or all acoustic. Great rig and very cheap. This piece removes the last rack mount preamp gear and puts me into 3 - 9 volt batteries to carry in and out. I love it. I've tried all kinds of acoustic preamps...Tech 21, Boss, Fishman etc. etc. and this is the best bang for the buck for me. Plugged in at the bar, no one cares but you how it sounds. Would I use it to record? I don't record so it doesn't bother me. Incredible value, designed in Germany, built in China and shipped to Boston with a battery for $30. Absolutely Amazing.

The only guitar that has come close to this is a Citron AEG. The Peavey was less than $200 and is easily replacable.

I have only had it a few days. I was able to get a sound I liked by sampling out the sample sounds in the manual.

I used it through a Gibson Chet Atkins SST and it clearly improved my sound right away. It is quiet. It took the trebly sound away from the guitar quite well. It is a little of a muffled sound and it is distorting the sound a little but I may be able to improve that once I start tinkering a little more with the adjustments. I am quite pleased overall considering what I paid for it.

I am pleased with it as a way to improve the sound of the SST. I tried it with an electric guitar and it was ok but not as good. It is an acoustic DI so this makes sense but they do recommend you try it on electric guitars, keyboards and such. Haven't tried it with the keyboard yet but I plan to.

Easy enough to get a good sound out of this if you know the Sansamp Acoustic DI, which it seems to be a thinly veiled redesign of. If you're not familiar with that device you might have some troubles.

This is a microphone simulator. In other words, it is supposed to take a saddle pickup input, and make the output sound like it was done through a microphone. So it has other uses besides cutting the harshness of a piezo pickup. I use it on electric guitars too, after other analog modeling pedals, to simulate some power amp sag. I've tried the Tech 21 original after a Line 6 Pod as well, and it was nicer to my ear than the built-in cab/mic simulation.

Seems to give a nice sound. It reduces harshness like the Sansamp Acoustic DI. Plus . . . it has better headroom. The latest batches of the Sansamp Acoustic DI I use have had horrible headroom when operating on batteries. The ADI21 will take a hotter signal before distorting.

Can't say as it's brand new. I purchased it as a cheap backup to my Sansamp Acoustic DI, to keep in my instrument case for jams, but I like the ADI21 better. However the ADI21 is plastic. Damn heavy plastic, mind you, but plastic nonetheless, and the pedal button does not make me comfortable.

Can't say as I've never had to test this. I always have another similar device at hand in case of emergency. If I end up really liking these I'll purchase one or two more, they're that cheap.

In an audio sense, works better than the device that inspired it for my applications. In a construction sense, it's not as rugged. The pots are lots looser and easier to knock out of position, it has a pedal button for activation instead of a switch, and is made of plastic.

I just received this, played an hour with it so far.
Go to the behringer site for the specs, I only share my first impressions now.
Because you all wants to know: shall I buy it?
Analog box, way easy to use of course.
Good manual, if you ever need it.
I tested it with 1) Artcore Setzer-style Ibanez, 2 humbuckers
2) Yamaha AEX1500, pro-level jazz axe with piezo/active preamp.

Let it be very clear: the Adi21 doesn't work well with the Artcore, except if you turn down the output level of the guitar to 4-5. Must be impedance mismatch, but no problem when doing so.
With full output on your HH guitar you only get nasty clipping.

With the yamaha, no impedance mismatch hence clear sound while far louder than the passive Artcore...

First, it does its job, which is to smoothen the piezo harshness. And helps a lot with the parametric mid as a notch filter.
Of course my yamaha sounds way clearer straight in the p-a, but the Adi21 is a great help when playing a bit loud. So are the deals in music amplification...
I must say my yamaha sounds way better than almost any piezo-equipped guitar (hey, I payed for that!) so chances are that you'll only get the benefits of the Adi21 with your guitar.
I'll post when tested with a standard electro acoustic.

So are my first impressions: a good thing to have in your set-up.
Useful against feedback and piezo harshness.
Be careful with the output level of your passive jazz axe.
Thanks for reading, hope this helps