NPD: Source Audio ZIO and EQ2

[Zilthy]

I was going to blather on about a bunch of stuff, mainly history and search for overdrives and EQs, but I will try and jump straight to the point.

Basically it came down to I wanted to add an Echoplex type boost, a clean boost, parametric EQ and still keep room for other pedals like signal splitter, noise gate, etc.  When the Source Audio ZIO came out, I decided to take a closer look at that and their EQ2 and give them a try.

First EQ.  I really considered the Boss EQ-200.  Slick, sliders, nice stuff going on.  But, the Source Audio EQ2 is *also* Parametric, and I really prefer parametric.  Add in the fact it has a built in noise gate, very cool.  My only real complaint is that to get the most out of the EQ2 it needs to be hooked up to a computer to program (something I would like to avoid) but, with 4 patches available on the pedal (and 128 via MIDI) I can live with that, once I have the couple set, I am usually pretty good there.  I should go more in to this one.

The ZIO.  I quickly ran through a couple of things with that one, and gravitated pretty hard to the low cut setting.  And *wow* that is *nice*.   It seems to do all the right things in all the right places and leaves the amp shining through.  The nuances, aggression, dynamics and feel of my SLO come through a lot more, not only in the room, but on the recording.  This is definitely going to be a keeper.

[rnolan]

Way to go Zilthy, but I suspect your quest will never end LoL. (which is fine by me, I like reading about your journey)

[Dante]

Awesome!

I think EQs are underrated, I mean, what is a speaker emulator but a fancy name for an EQ setting?

I still look at MQ-1 units when they come up for that very reason

[rnolan]

Hey Dante, in their most basic form cab emulators are just eq, e.g. the headphone out on a MP-1, some caps to remove some top end.  However, I suspect some of the cab sims are a bit more complicated than that e.g. ADA GCS 2, 3, 5 & 6 but then they are bringing in mic placement etc.