Behringer V-Tone Acoustic ADI21

Unless you are an super pro acoustic guitar nerd, don't mind the naysayers

I like this little pedal because it gets rid of the DI acoustic piezo pickup quack sound that we all know too well. I even used it as a bass DI for live and on recordings. It's plastic but sturdy, so unless you plan to throw your equipment at it in a violent rage on stage - it is gonna serve you well.

Great little beast

I had no expectation of this cheap Behringer preamp. I'm pretty satisfied with sound and quality overall.

My recommendation!

A1 Gear

Really brings out the tone!!

Free up your amp's mic channel.

For small gigs I have found the AD121 works very well with the passive pickups on my mandolin and banjo when plugged into the mic input of my acoustic amp. I only have one instrument channel on my amp. For a second instrument I connect the AD21 3 pin Di out to the 3 pin mic channel. Thought I was going to have to buy another amp!

Exactly what I ordered.

It's plastic so I wouldn't take it on tour but it's perfect for studio or home use.

Amazing sound!

This made my guitar sound like a more expensive guitar, it is a great little investment to sound 500% better!!

Good product, not worth the effort

I have used this product for several years as a solo performer, especially in bars and pubs.

It's well made, cans tan up to a few knocks and offers a range of useful audio features. If your acoustic doesn't have a built-in preamp, this is really useful for shaping your sound without having to fuss with the sound board or PA. For home recording it offers a good buffer for acoustic sound, especially if you're going DI.

There are a couple of caveats, however. This is obviously subjective, but in my use as a performer I find it awkward to set up and use. Unless you're going to set it on a pedalboard, with an independent power supply, getting it situated in your performance space is a pain without having cables all over the place and it doesn't do all that much to boost your passive pickups thorugh a PA (which is what I bought it for). Changing batteries is a bit inconvenient also.

I'm sure there are plenty of good applications for this, and plenty of people who would love it, but for my needs it just doesn't quite fit the bill.

Great for indoor use

First of all, this is one great sounding and silent pedal. I bought it to get rid of the piëzo 'quack' of my acoustic electric and found out that 1. it does get rid of it and makes my acoustic electric sound like an acoustic guitar; 2. it is a tone shaper and gives you control over your tone and 3. it adds saturation to your sound if you wish.

It's also quite usable for bass guitars and works as a passive DI.

I bought it for a live acoustic gig. It did very good, This thing has only two flaws:

1. The switch is flimsy plastic and easy to break;

2. While it has an XLR out, it cannot be powered with phantom power but runs on batteries or an external adapter.

I use it in my studio on bass and acoustic guitars. I will never put it on a stage with a band.

Ok, Worth the money

But if you got a few bob to spend get something better.

Don't let the price fool you

This DI/modeling amp was designed for acoustic guitars with piezo (I believe). I am using it with my Blueridge guitar and with a more traditional magnetic pickup, Fishman Neo-D single coil.

I read many reviews and saw videos of people complaining about ADI21 not being good for the job because it distorts too much.

In my opinion that isn't the case. If you set the input gain levels of your mixer, interface or amp right, you won't be having distortion problems. If that is not enough, you can always flick the very useful PAD switch and lower the output gain of the pedal for 20db. So with a bit of knowledge and patience, this pedal can really work great and do the job that it was intended to do; make your amplified acoustic guitar sound richer with the feeling of using a mic and an amp.

The fact that you can choose a mid-range frequency and either cut it or boost it, makes it even more functional since you can not only shape your tone in more detail, but also eliminate possible feedback problems.

The housing is plastic, but it feels more solid than other Behringer pedals. When the pedal is bypassed, it acts as a simple DI.

And it's 21€!!!