A: AdrenaLinn III's audio in and outputs process audio, whether inserted between your guitar and amp, in your amp's effects loop, or inserted in your recording console's signal path. So whether you place it in your effects or what position you place it in your stomp box order is a matter of your personal taste. For example, if you are mainly using A3's filter effects, it's similar to asking where in your effects chain you wish to put a wah pedal; placing it before a distortion pedal will sound different than placing it after. Given that AdrenaLinn III contains delay, reverb and drumbeats, most people tend to place it at the end of their effects chain or in their amp's effects loop. Also, given that AdrenaLinn III provides most of the effects found in other pedals, many customers don't use any other pedals. In fact, a large number of customers like AdrenaLinn III's amp models so much that they don't use their guitar amps, choosing instead to connect A3's outputs directly into recording consoles or, in live performance, a high-fidelity powered monitor. The only technical issue to be aware of is that you should set the A3's INPUT LEVEL control so that the CLIP light only goes on when you play very hard, and set A3's VOLUME setting to the right level for whatever its output is driving.

A: No. If we had used a hardware bypass circuit, then the drumbeats would be silenced every time you switched on Tuner/Bypass. Instead, turning on Tuner/Bypass acts the same as setting all five of AdrenaLinn III effects processors to off (Mod On, Amp On, Comp On, Delay On and Reverb On): the guitar signal is digitally mixed with the drumbeats and passed directly to the outputs. Note that the noise gate is active while Tuner/Bypass is on.

A: Yes. Press and hold the main button to access the secondary Main functions. Turn the fourth knob ("Mix /SEP") all the way to the right to select "SEP" This will route the drumbeat to the right output and the instrument (preset) to the left.

A: Yes. Press and hold the main button for 1/2 second to change the VOLUME knob to its Mix / Separate Outs function, which is a balance control between the instrument and the drumbeat signals. Turn it all the way to the left so it says i50, meaning all instrument and no drums.

A: Check the following:

1) Press and hold the main button for 1/2 second to change the VOLUME knob to its Mix / Separate Outs function, which is a balance control between instrument and drum machine signals. Set it to "EqU" (equal) at the middle of its range.

2) Do you hear sound on other presets? If so, check the Amp Volume for that preset.

3) If you turn the little Input Level knob up all the way and play, does the CLIP light go on? If not, check your guitar cable and guitar output.

A: Check the following:

1) Press and hold the main button for 1/2 second to change the VOLUME knob to its Mix / Separate Outs function, which is a balance control between instrument and the drum machine signals. Set it to "EqU" (equal) at the middle of its range.

2) The selected drumbeat may be blank. Select a different one..

3) If only one drumbeat is silent, check the Drums Volume control.

A: Because most AdrenaLinn III customers use the product in the recording process or with a flat-response sound system, the presets are  optimized for this setup and therefore include amp modeling. If you use AdrenaLinn III before your guitar amp, the treble will tend to sound harsher because the amp modeling and your guitar amp both tend to boost treble. If using AdrenaLinn III with a guitar amp, you may wish to turn amp modeling off for the presets you intend to use. The next FAQ describes how to do this.

A: Sorry, no. You must turn it off individually for each preset. To do so, select a preset, change AMP ON to Off, then save the preset.

A: If you’re only using AdrenaLinn’s filter modulation effects and not the amp models, then use the guitar amp you like best because it’s really an issue of personal taste. Filter effects are similar to wah pedal effects, so if you like a certain amp with wah pedal, chances are you’ll like the same amp with AdrenaLinn’s filter effects.

However, if you’re using AdrenaLinn’s amp models, then you might consider a full-range powered monitor because it faithfully reproduces the intended sound of the amp modeling product, just like recording direct. This is true for any amp modeler—running an amp modeler through a real guitar amp is akin to running a Fender amp through a Marshall; you might like how it sounds but it won’t sound like a Fender. The point is that guitar amps always color the sound and never faithfully reproduce the guitar’s sound, which is a good thing and the reason you bought the amp. And every great-sounding guitar amp colors the sound in a different and uniquely good way. AdrenaLinn and other modelers have an “amp” mode which attempts to compensate for this coloring, but it’s really impossible to compensate for the unique coloration of each guitar amp you might be running your modeler into.

I (Roger) prefer to run my AdrenaLinn III through a Mackie SRM450, which is a high-quality powered 12" stage monitor. The JBL EON powered monitors are also good for this. These are the closest stage monitors I've found to a studio monitor.

The bottom line is this: If running your guitar through any amp modeler before your guitar amp sounds good to you, don’t change a thing. However, if you want to hear an amp modeler’s sound as it was intended to be heard, use a flat-response powered monitor.

A: Sorry, no. You must turn it off individually for each preset. To do so, select a preset, change AMP ON to Off, then save the preset.

A: John Mayer is pretty much our hero here at Roger Linn Design, having prominently used AdrenaLinn I, II and III on these three songs. Here's now to get the same sounds on AdrenaLinn III:

For "Heartbreak Warfare"'s opening riff, use preset 82, drumbeat 28 and tempo to 97. For the solo sound, use preset 51.

For "I can't help myself (with Loving You)", to get the pulsing filter sound used on the opening chord riff, set PRESET to 73. To get the auto-wah sound used on the melody line that follows the opening chord riff, set Preset to 160. To get the drumbeat, Set Drumbeat to 1 and Tempo to 84.

For "Bigger Than My Body", use preset 150.

A: This seems to be due to the fact that AdrenaLinn's hardware is more sensitive to high static electricity shocks than we'd prefer. At this time the only solution we have is to avoid touching the two foot switches with bare fingers--or perhaps shield them with tape--while high levels of static electricity are in the air. Sorry we don't yet have a better answer.

A: Many AdrenaLinn III owners assume that by merely setting A3's tempo (by tapping in the tempo or setting it manually) to match the drummer's tempo then starting the A3 on the downbeat, the A3 should play in sync to the drummer. While this may work for setting the delay time on audio delay pedals or setting the speed of tremolo pedals, the fast transitions in A3's filter sequences or random filter effects require far greater timing accuracy. As a result, using this method will result in the drummer slipping out of sync with the A3 within a few bars. The only reliable method is for the drummer to wear headphones and to feed A3's drumbeat into those phones and not into the PA, which is what John Mayer does when performing songs that use A3:

1) Set "Mix / Sep Outs" parameter setting to "SEP", which sends guitar signal to left output and drumbeat signal to right output.

2) Send A3's right output (containing only drumbeats) to drummer's phones but not to audience sound system.

3) Drummer plays in time to A3's drumbeat. Because A3's drumbeat and beat-synced effects are always in sync, A3's beat-synced effects will be in perfect sync to the drummer. If desired, the drummer can use A3's Count In feature (pressing right foot switch quickly followed by left foot switch) to hear a 1-bar count in before its drumbeat and filter sequences start playing.

4) Optional: Drummer uses his own drum machine to generate the drumbeats, and sends MIDI Clock from his drum machine to A3 so that A3 is in sync with it.

A: With the $35 EurekaProm from Eureka Sound, a $150 Behringer FCB1010 Midi Foot Control Board becomes a  dedicated AdrenaLinn III foot console. Turn individual effects on/off, select presets & drumbeats, start/stop the beats and more.

A: No, it seems that the low price of Behringer's FCB1010 pedalboard makes it impractical to any company to successfully sell a single MIDI expression pedal.

One option is the the MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller, which accepts a 1/4" jack from common analog expression pedals and converts the pedal movements into MIDI controller data. It comes with programming software to assign it to different CC numbers and more, but by default it converts pedal movements into MIDI CC 7 on MIDI channel 1. The other problem is that it must receive power over MIDI from another device connected to its MIDI input, which the AdrenaLinn III does not provide.

A: The PROGRAM CHANGE parameter allows you to select whether incoming MIDI Program Change messages will be used to select presets 0-99, presets 100-199, drumbeats 0-99, or drumbeats 100-199. See this section of the manual for details.

A: Yes. Set the SYNC setting (in the SYSTEM row) to "i-o" (send and receive MIDI clock). Now connect a MIDI cable from the AdrenaLinn III's MIDI OUT to it's MIDI IN. Then press START. The drumbeat should start playing at a wildly fast tempo because the MIDI clock is feeding back. You've now proven that the AdrenaLinn III is correctly responding to incoming MIDI clock.

A: Yes, using the MIDI Drums setting in the System row.

A: Yes, the AdrenaLinn III Editor from Sound Tower.

A: Hold the MAIN button for ½ second so that the lower MAIN light goes on. Then turn the third knob (Tempo Source) to the left so that it shows “SYS”. This is explained further in the “The 4 Secondary Main Settings” in the “Quick Start” Chapter of the manual.