The new Boss AD-10 Acoustic DI

[Daniel Grenier]

My Aura Spectrum DI died last week and instead of sending it off to Fishman for repairs, I ordered me one of those new Boss AD-10s DI. I was quite impressed with some of the great features so I went for it. It’s on order now.

What sold me were the 2 mixable inputs, the 2 sets of outputs with pre or post effects! The extensive feedback controls, built in looper and tuner and decent-sounding effects.

Looks good “on paper” but I’ll be interesting to put it thru it’s paces when it gets here.

Want to buy a dead Aura anyone?

[varmonter]

Please give an honest review after you have had it
for awhile.

[MrErikJ]

I wrote a post looking for input on this pre and didn’t hear anything. I’m looking forward to hearing your review!

[Daniel Grenier]

Disclaimer: I am not a "gearhead" by any means. In fact, I am very old school so take that into consideration when looking at my review.

I am currently trying out the unit using my Martin 12 string with undersadle pick up w/Fishman Presys+. I have no other effects in the mix and the o/p is going to a pair of Yamaha monitors (not an amp). I have not tried other types of pick ups yet.

So. I got my AD-10 a few days ago and already there is an issue. The Chorus fx does not work. Tried everything including a factory reset but still nothing. It'll have to go back.

Otherwise, here are some prelim pros and cons from my point of view.

Pros:

• Sounds amazingly pure and clean - best I have ever heard. No hiss no hums.
• Mixable inputs for 2-pickup guitar or 2 different guitars
• Extensive EQ to sculpt your sound a million different ways
• Impressive anti feedback and acoustic resonance to further enhance sound
• No need for external tuner, looper, compressor, reverb, delay or chorus (or amp, actually)
• 2 L/R o/p one xlr and one qtr inch with optional pre or post fx
• Up to 10 global memory presets (will be so handy for my 5 different acoustics)
• Most features fully programmable for complete control of your sound
• USB compatible as a direct interface to your DAW/computer (no need for separate DAW interface anymore)
• Boost footswitch for those louder solos
  (Did I mention that it sounds incredibly pure and crisp?)

Cons: Some minor, some major (to me)

• No dedicated headset jack (you have to use one of the o/p jacks)!
• No L/R balance controls for the o/p
• Looper is only 80 seconds and loops cannot be stored
• FX loop is mono-only (I wish it was stereo)
• Display panel SUCKS! It is tiny and incredibly "Mickey Mouse" in this day&age of stunning displays on everything. It is confusing with very cryptic 2-symbol characters for which you need the manual to decipher. This is the worst part of the unit, I think.

Lastly, I tried to contact Boss Support but to no avail as the link in Roland Canada for "Boss Service" is actually invalid. I have contacted my excellent Dealer to figure out what to do with the Chorus issue but I have to say that trying to get a hold of Boss Warranty Service has so far been frustrating and underwhelming (unlike Fishman and TC Helicon who have stellar and lighting fast service)

My 2 cents ... for now.

[MrErikJ]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

Disclaimer: I am not a "gearhead" by any means. In fact, I am very old school so take that into consideration when looking at my review.

I am currently trying out the unit using my Martin 12 string with undersadle pick up w/Fishman Presys+. I have no other effects in the mix and the o/p is going to a pair of Yamaha monitors (not an amp). I have not tried other types of pick ups yet.

So. I got my AD-10 a few days ago and already there is an issue. The Chorus fx does not work. Tried everything including a factory reset but still nothing. It'll have to go back.

Otherwise, here are some prelim pros and cons from my point of view.

Pros:

• Sounds amazingly pure and clean - best I have ever heard. No hiss no hums.
• Mixable inputs for 2-pickup guitar or 2 different guitars
• Extensive EQ to sculpt your sound a million different ways
• Impressive anti feedback and acoustic resonance to further enhance sound
• No need for external tuner, looper, compressor, reverb, delay or chorus (or amp, actually)
• 2 L/R o/p one xlr and one qtr inch with optional pre or post fx
• Up to 10 global memory presets (will be so handy for my 5 different acoustics)
• Most features fully programmable for complete control of your sound
• USB compatible as a direct interface to your DAW/computer (no need for separate DAW interface anymore)
• Boost footswitch for those louder solos
  (Did I mention that it sounds incredibly pure and crisp?)

Cons: Some minor, some major (to me)

• No dedicated headset jack (you have to use one of the o/p jacks)!
• No L/R balance controls for the o/p
• Looper is only 80 seconds and loops cannot be stored
• FX loop is mono-only (I wish it was stereo)
• Display panel SUCKS! It is tiny and incredibly "Mickey Mouse" in this day&age of stunning displays on everything. It is confusing with very cryptic 2-symbol characters for which you need the manual to decipher. This is the worst part of the unit, I think.

Lastly, I tried to contact Boss Support but to no avail as the link in Roland Canada for "Boss Service" is actually invalid. I have contacted my excellent Dealer to figure out what to do with the Chorus issue but I have to say that trying to get a hold of Boss Warranty Service has so far been frustrating and underwhelming (unlike Fishman and TC Helicon who have stellar and lighting fast service)

My 2 cents ... for now.

Thanks for the detailed review! As a whole, do you recommend it and do you plan on keeping it?

I too have thought it could potentially be a real game changer for having multiple acoustics and taming and enhancing their pickups, but that is assuming the preamp section is sufficiently powerful and clean.

[Daniel Grenier]

Originally Posted by MrErikJ

Thanks for the detailed review! As a whole, do you recommend it and do you plan on keeping it?

I too have thought it could potentially be a real game changer for having multiple acoustics and taming and enhancing their pickups, but that is assuming the preamp section is sufficiently powerful and clean.

Hands down a keeper and a definite thumbs up if you're thinking about getting one. The pros outweigh the cons 10-1 (and, no doubt, some of the cons will be remedied in version 2, knowing Boss).

[Johnny.guitar]

I picked one up to "try out". It's not going anywhere.
Best my acoustic has ever sounded. Really like all of it actually, but for sure you need to read the manual...I've gone over it several times to get a good understanding of everything. I'd have to agree with Daniel on the "cons". Most don't affect me(doubt I'll use headphones, run my PA mono through xlr...however the looper is very basic(I picked up the Boss FS-7 to have dedicated loop footswitches). It works to tap out some percussion or something simple but you can't pull parts in & out or anything.
And yes the display rather archaic.
However it has replaced about 5 pedals and one could easily bring just the AD10 and do a gig without missing anything.
Also I read a review on line from one of the acoustic magazines and he stated you can't adjust delay repeats.
You can do just that as well as have 1/4 notes or dotted 8th's. So I have 2 presets set the same except one has a nice slap back delay & the other has a nice long trailing delay for ambience.

[andyp4]

I just picked one up yesterday and have put it thru it’s paces today.
I havent gigged with it yet so cannot comment on that.
The thing is fantastic, only a couple things which frustrate me that i hope they will correct in an update.
-the looper has no undo/redo function.
-once you have assigned the tuner footswitch to another function (in my case tap tempo) there is no way to access the tuner without changing it back in the system settings.
Other than these two things, no complaints thus far

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

So. I got my AD-10 a few days ago and already there is an issue. The Chorus fx does not work. Tried everything including a factory reset but still nothing. It'll have to go back.

Maybe you have the switch in the back in the stereo position and you are not hearing the chorus effect because you are only listening to either the left or right output.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

My Aura Spectrum DI died last week and instead of sending it off to Fishman for repairs, I ordered me one of those new Boss AD-10s DI. I was quite impressed with some of the great features so I went for it. It’s on order now.



What sold me were the 2 mixable inputs, the 2 sets of outputs with pre or post effects! The extensive feedback controls, built in looper and tuner and decent-sounding effects.



Looks good “on paper” but I’ll be interesting to put it thru it’s paces when it gets here.



Want to buy a dead Aura anyone?

How does the body resonance modeling on the AD-10 compare to the Fishman Aura?

[troggg]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

Lastly, I tried to contact Boss Support but to no avail as the link in Roland Canada for "Boss Service" is actually invalid. I have contacted my excellent Dealer to figure out what to do with the Chorus issue but I have to say that trying to get a hold of Boss Warranty Service has so far been frustrating and underwhelming (unlike Fishman and TC Helicon who have stellar and lighting fast service)

Roland/Boss is way better at product development than interacting with customers. That said, there was nowhere to go but up from the AD-8 modeling-wise.

[lkingston]

Here is a link to 4 AD- 10 tutorials from the Boss YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...6_DY8ImOssuVql

[lkingston]

I just won a bid for a great condition AD-10 on eBay. I will report back here after I get it.

[Photojeep]

I've owned one for a few weeks and like others have said, "It's not going anywhere."

Admittedly I use it pretty simply but the tone out of it is great. I bought it primarily for its body resonance feature and I'm hooked! The effects really are subtle which I suppose is appropriate for acoustic playing. They call reverb "Ambiance" and if you want to really hear it you must set it to maximum. This confused me at first and I thought I had a defective unit until I remembered this is intended for acoustic guitar and the general guitar playing public only uses enough to fatten up the sound without drawing attention to itself.

My signal chain is guitar->boss tu3->boss ad-10->PA/amp. I use this into my church PA with is a Behringer X Air 8 (I think...) and my Gibson J15 actually sounds like an acoustic guitar! Pretty close to its un-plugged sound.

I find the TU3 tuner to be more accurate and I like to use it as a mute switch, whether tuning or not. The buttons on the AD-10 are a different "feel" and I find the good ol' big button/flap on the TU-3 to have a more positive feel when activated.

I love the AD-10 A LOT but the owner's manual was actually inaccurate for a couple things so if you buy one, go to the Boss site and download the digital one. It is accurate and you won't have the frustrations I did at first.

Best,
PJ

[lkingston]

You know, I understand the excitement around the Tonedexter. Yes, if you have a wonderful sounding guitar, a great instrument condenser mic, and want to capture that sound, that is the way to do it. For those of us with five or six hundred dollar guitars and a decent vocal mic, a generic decent sounding body resonance emulation of similar quality is just fine! Add the stomp boxes I use and battery power and I’m a happy gigger!