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Source Audio Zio Bass Preamp
- Thread starter IronLung1986
- Start date
Mine arrived, but is being exchanged, due to a packaging issue that was not a manufacturing issue nor shipping related. It was a DEMO unit and was a customer generated situation.
Sweetwater is getting me taken care of as usual.
I had no experience with the Pultec trick before the Zio, and after spending more time with this pedal (which I do love and am keeping) my suspicions about a "trick" that involves a significant mid scoop are proving true to my ear. The scoop function can get me lost in a mix very easily. It works well when the mix is sparse and the guitars are articulate and in their own lanes, but otherwise, in a rock band context (at least for me), my bass comes through better with the scoop toggle off.
Thanks for the update, Iomo! How do you find the unit generally with lack of mid control? That's my biggest fear about this unit - also, how much colouration does it provide? Would it enable me to move on my JPTR FX Jive?
Well-just to emphasize how long it can take to fully wrap one’s head & ears around a piece of gear……this morning I pulled out a completely different bass (G & L 2K as opposed to my Lakland P)…and discovered that at more extreme settings the Zio did not cut the key mids and sounded amazing with the scoop on! I had focus & bass both @ 5 o’clock, treble flat/noon, scoop on, grit off. It sounded much more pleasing than unaffected and played well with my passive Sushi Box tube preamps…..I guess the sweet spot of the Pultec trick is small and required a lot more fiddling than expected? Now I have it sounding crazy good in all situations. This pre can be near flat or very coloured depending on settings. I have never played a Jive, so I can’t offer any useful comment on whether the Zio can displace it. Patience is a virtue, particularly when evaluating new gear
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I use a Jive as an always on pedal and ZIO at end of my chain. I don't use any gain on the Jive as I love the sound of the Zios's drive by itself. Sounds really pleasing. The Jive colours and the ZIO doesn't. The Zio is more of a transparent 'make a lot betterer' pedal while the Jive is a coloured 'make betterer' pedal, or at least in my usage.
The Zio is a lot more complex in controls than the Jive and can get a lot of tones out of its simple controls, very easily and quickly.
The Jive is more a one trick pony, albeit a very good one trick pony.
Finally had the opportunity to test the Zio in a live setting. Up to now I’ve only been able to use it with the headphone out- it does make my cheap phones sound good. Overall I am pleased with the sound. I tested it both on and off and could tell a distinct difference. With the Zio engaged, it sounded like my bass with that something extra and better. The frequency of the bass control combined with the focus allowed me to bump the bass without boom and mud. The grit stayed engaged and added pleasant texture. I used the scoop switched engaged and didn’t notice anything missing, even with a Jazz bass running both pickups on full. The sound was full and clear. The guitarist, a pedal junkie, also commented positively on the sound. I am very satisfied with what this pedal brings to the table.
I always have a sweepable mid control on the head. That said, now that I have the Zio figured out, I don't find myself having to bump mids to compensate for the scoop, because the mids I have scooped aren't the critical ones. My Zio is an always on and the scoop is always engaged. How I set the bass & focus varies a bit with different basses. With my P it's noon and 5 o'clock. With my dual pickup basses it can change with how my pups are selected (or not, depending on what I'm after). There's a short but definite learning curve and I had to get over my inherent reluctance to turn knobs fully clockwise in order to figure it out. YMMV.
Cheers ZIO Bass Preamp support group...
I sat with it and my hooptie P Bass, with an old Rio Grande Muy Grande, Swamp Ash/Maple .110 - .050 DR DDT's in standard tuning. Laney Digbeth DB500H & SWR Henry the 8 X 8 with transparent compression upfront. No other EFX.
I dig it...grit ON only slightly north of factory off setting. Bass @ 11:30, Treble @ 11:00 and Focus @ 1:30 with or without the scoop sounds great.
There is no coloration really...it adds body and presence to your sound. In my mind kinda like an original 18v Xotic Tri-logic, (without the mid control). But the HPF is super nice. The note attack is very tight with the ZIO...it punches!
If you are looking for a "secret sound sauce" preamp, to do dramatically different tone, it's not your bag baby. But, if tightening, expanding and smoothing your tone a little with a bit of 800 wet sandpaper then the...
ZIO is your bag, baby!
Sweeeet!
I sat with it and my hooptie P Bass, with an old Rio Grande Muy Grande, Swamp Ash/Maple .110 - .050 DR DDT's in standard tuning. Laney Digbeth DB500H & SWR Henry the 8 X 8 with transparent compression upfront. No other EFX.
I dig it...grit ON only slightly north of factory off setting. Bass @ 11:30, Treble @ 11:00 and Focus @ 1:30 with or without the scoop sounds great.
There is no coloration really...it adds body and presence to your sound. In my mind kinda like an original 18v Xotic Tri-logic, (without the mid control). But the HPF is super nice. The note attack is very tight with the ZIO...it punches!
If you are looking for a "secret sound sauce" preamp, to do dramatically different tone, it's not your bag baby. But, if tightening, expanding and smoothing your tone a little with a bit of 800 wet sandpaper then the...
ZIO is your bag, baby!
Sweeeet!
Cheers ZIO Bass Preamp support group...
I sat with it and my hooptie P Bass, with an old Rio Grande Muy Grande, Swamp Ash/Maple .110 - .050 DR DDT's in standard tuning. Laney Digbeth DB500H & SWR Henry the 8 X 8 with transparent compression upfront. No other EFX.
I dig it...grit ON only slightly north of factory off setting. Bass @ 11:30, Treble @ 11:00 and Focus @ 1:30 with or without the scoop sounds great.
There is no coloration really...it adds body and presence to your sound. In my mind kinda like an original 18v Xotic Tri-logic, (without the mid control). But the HPF is super nice. The note attack is very tight with the ZIO...it punches!
If you are looking for a "secret sound sauce" preamp, to do dramatically different tone, it's not your bag baby. But, if tightening, expanding and smoothing your tone a little with a bit of 800 wet sandpaper then the...
ZIO is your bag, baby!
View attachment 5370809
Sweeeet!
Good stuff. I just got a Darkglass Harmonic Booster for my additional clean preamp and it is really good, but haven’t had a gig with it yet. If it doesn’t measure up live, I’ll look at the ZIO based on all the glorious reviews it’s getting.
Just an FYI...
After ZIO test flight and eliminating other "noisy" stuff that were not on par with the ZIO and the Love Squeeze Compressor. I ordered replacements:
(1) SA EQ2
(1) One Control Crimson Red Bass Preamp
(1) Eventide H90 (EFX loop)
I'm just going to have to bite the bullet on the learning curve on the H90.
It just made sense to have these together on 18" of Nano Plus. I hate noise...
After ZIO test flight and eliminating other "noisy" stuff that were not on par with the ZIO and the Love Squeeze Compressor. I ordered replacements:
(1) SA EQ2
(1) One Control Crimson Red Bass Preamp
(1) Eventide H90 (EFX loop)
I'm just going to have to bite the bullet on the learning curve on the H90.
It just made sense to have these together on 18" of Nano Plus. I hate noise...
This pedal is dangerous!
Really dangerous!
Got mine a few days ago (Germany).
Normally I use a lot of overdrive/distortion and other effects in my musical projects.
The Zio brought back the love for clean tones.
This preamp sounds so good!
What shall I do now with my tons of effects?
That's not fair
Really dangerous!
Got mine a few days ago (Germany).
Normally I use a lot of overdrive/distortion and other effects in my musical projects.
The Zio brought back the love for clean tones.
This preamp sounds so good!
What shall I do now with my tons of effects?
That's not fair
Sell em on TB like the rest of us…..then buy more!This pedal is dangerous!
Really dangerous!
Got mine a few days ago (Germany).
Normally I use a lot of overdrive/distortion and other effects in my musical projects.
The Zio brought back the love for clean tones.
This preamp sounds so good!
What shall I do now with my tons of effects?
That's not fair
I got my ZIO pedal today and am trying to integrate it into each of my 2 boards.
Both boards have the Tech21 VTBass as their basic sound in a clean/FatTube-like setting.
That didn't work at all at first.
But if you play the ZIO alone (with bass, of course) it sounds great in the mix. Even the Scoop switch makes some sense (especially with a mid forward-P sound).
The Grit switch makes the whole thing a little thicker: more low mids, less highs, even if it doesn't distort.
Both boards have the Tech21 VTBass as their basic sound in a clean/FatTube-like setting.
That didn't work at all at first.
But if you play the ZIO alone (with bass, of course) it sounds great in the mix. Even the Scoop switch makes some sense (especially with a mid forward-P sound).
The Grit switch makes the whole thing a little thicker: more low mids, less highs, even if it doesn't distort.
shoepedals
Commercial User
- Jan 9, 2024
- 15
- 153
- Disclosures
- Proprietor of Shoe Pedals, Source Audio, DOD, and Spiral Electric Consultant
Tha
That's interesting. Could you elaborate a bit more about what didn't work well with the VTBass and the Zio combined? Also is the VTBass placed before or after the Zio?
I am a diehard VT fan since its release many years ago. I tried to replace it VERY often with "flavour of the month" pedals, but I keep coming back to it.
I had the ZIO as last pedal.
Simply put: too much of a good thing.
The ZIO might be starting its own new pedalboard.
I had the ZIO as last pedal.
Simply put: too much of a good thing.
The ZIO might be starting its own new pedalboard.
shoepedals
Commercial User
- Jan 9, 2024
- 15
- 153
- Disclosures
- Proprietor of Shoe Pedals, Source Audio, DOD, and Spiral Electric Consultant
Ah ok. Interesting. So did it ened up sounding muddy or maybe just "too eqed"? I know most of the ampeg eq circuits can also do some quite extreme boost and cut, so it might be overkill to combine them, or the Zio settings might end up being quite subtle to work appropriately with it (which is not necessarily a bad thing). I was just curious if there was a more "broken" type misbehavior, as the Zio designer lol
