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Source Audio Zio Bass Preamp
- Thread starter IronLung1986
- Start date
rsmith601
Commercial User
- Apr 14, 2009
- 4,166
- 7,599
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- CEO and Co-Founder, Source Audio
Most of our dealers will stock them, or at least be able to order you one to try.You’re more than welcome. Credit where credit is due.
I’m hoping a local store ends up stocking a few. I’ve got so many preamps already that I have forced myself to try before I buy any more gear.
Poor me! Real first world problem, right?
This is more of an open-ended question for myself, but curious to hear others' input. I play shows with either very low volume requirements or slightly louder situations with FOH support where the venues always have DIs available and often nice Radial JDIs at that. I have a very small but effective rig of a Quilter Interbass plus an SA Ultrawave into a Barefaced One10 and that really covers almost all my volume and tone shaping requirements. But. . .but. . .
In my situation, is there anything the ZIO or any of the many other preamp options would provide that I don't already have covered? I know having a DI and tone shaping and some OD all in one enclosure is attractive (I'm definitely attracted to it!) but I don't need a one box fly rig, though I keep looking at them. With that said, I do like the idea of having my own DI just in case and I really like the clean sounds and mild OD of the ZIO.
In my situation, is there anything the ZIO or any of the many other preamp options would provide that I don't already have covered? I know having a DI and tone shaping and some OD all in one enclosure is attractive (I'm definitely attracted to it!) but I don't need a one box fly rig, though I keep looking at them. With that said, I do like the idea of having my own DI just in case and I really like the clean sounds and mild OD of the ZIO.
The truth is you have it covered. The Ultrawave is a tone shaping beast and going into a DI you can do similar things as the ZIO. I love my Ultrawave.
....BUT the Bass Zio is analogue and has certain chips/circuit gubbings going on that seems to make it sound really warm/big and the drive comes across as really solid sounding. Also has an EQ curve that is hard to recreate using the Ultrawave with the pultec style scoop.
Apples and oranges really and in our quest to achieve ultimate tone, chasing the tone dragon, i feel personally this is a step up in quality. Soon find out anyway!
shoepedals
Commercial User
- Jan 9, 2024
- 15
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- Proprietor of Shoe Pedals, Source Audio, DOD, and Spiral Electric Consultant
I will say one thing also about the tone controls on Bass Zio. They are designed so that it's easy to get a variety of tones without too many unwanted side effects. For instance, as you boost the bass, you also cut a little bit of muddiness and as you boost the Treble, you also cut high out high frequency noise and harshness. The goal with that is that it's easy to use and get a variety of tones without having to be too careful of overdoing it. That kind of operation was all inspired by my trusty Pultec EQ, which I find a joy to use because it's very fast and easy to dial in the sound I want without too much fiddling. IMO, that's a kind of underrated aspect of nice studio gear. It's actually very easy to use in a lot of cases.
Next week can't come soon enough i loved reading this. Can't wait to get my hands on the Zio.
That's what I'm thinking about the Zio as well. If nothing else, it seems like a solid DI and the EQ and that mild drive are just gravy.
I'm still learning the Ultrawave, but if I had a niggle, it's finessing a mild OD. I've had luck with some surprising patches though, like a fretless one.
This is exactly my thoughts! If I could set things like HPF to a knob in Ultrawave that'd be rad. But getting a subtle overdrive is a chore.
And it seems this guy can hit that sweet spot, with a DI.
I've been thinking about a DI for the last few months and this will fit my needs perfectly. In my regular church gig, I need a DI where I can tailor my FOH low end and mids and then push out from a DI into the mixing desk multi core.
I think I need to transfer some funds from my savings account and get one of the first batch!
I think I need to transfer some funds from my savings account and get one of the first batch!
Just ordered! Really looking forward to this pedal. As others have said, the EQ and ability to add some mild OD looks like a winner.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,035
- 22,694
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- John K Custom Basses
And ordered... Wasn't expecting any additions to the board, but then again, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! May be time to unload the AfterShock as the UW seems to cover any Tubey OD I need now. (Even created a nice Tube Screamer cocked wah sound that you can't get with the AS.)
Maybe off topic, but hopefully you've published that preset (what's the name?)!
Honestly, I have to say that I was not really impressed with the Zio Bass Preamp in the beggining. The eq is limited, only way to work the mids is flat or scooped, limited gain, etc...
But this actually grew on me and I now see these limitations as the actual strenghts of this pedal. It's simple and sounds good. It doesn't mess your tone, only makes it better. The gain is quite interesting due to it's transformer quality.
If the price is right then it can be a great tool.
I think I'll be getting my hands on one eventually.
But this actually grew on me and I now see these limitations as the actual strenghts of this pedal. It's simple and sounds good. It doesn't mess your tone, only makes it better. The gain is quite interesting due to it's transformer quality.
If the price is right then it can be a great tool.
I think I'll be getting my hands on one eventually.
I have not yet. I am an intense slacker. I have like a dozen to publish. But I also have found that a lot of my presets are way too loud given I create them for going direct into my PreSonus Studio 1810, and lately started adjusting for amp use due to actually getting out and playing with a buddy again. But I'll do that one this weekend, was going to set aside some time anyway for some tinkering, especially with the Zio inbound. It'll be titled Tubey Cocked Wah, and I use it mainly for guitar. Which I love the ability to bypass the Zio when I do use guitar, and just switch the EQ on the EQ2 as usual.
Didn’t even have time to get into the Sweetwater candy before trying out the Zio Bass. For reference, I’m playing with flatwounds and through headphones: the pedal sounds great!
Turning the Treble knob all the way down is still a very usable sound, even with flats. I like a pretty mid-forward tone, think something similar to Billy Sheehan, and the Scoop switch does a great job of retaining my sound and not scooping too much. Still plenty of mids and character-retention while definitely reshaping the sound. As someone who doesn’t usually opt for scooped EQ, this does sound quite nice.
I haven’t tried it through an amp or in front of other pedals yet, but as a headphone amp at the end of the chain it has a LOT of output. Unity gain seems to be around 8:00.
I like that the Grit switch adds some tube-y drive without being overpowering or messing with the other knobs’ EQing. Nice natural feel to the gain.
The Focus knob is a cool feature even with the Bass knob set flat, I’ll have to play around with the pedal some more to determine if I’ll leave it at the pictured setting permanently. The Bass knob itself is really nice for adding punch without getting muddy; I’m pretty happy with my low end using flats but it’s a fun option to play around with. Lot of usable range in the knob.
Very pleased so far and looking forward to spending more time with it, the Zio Bass is a keeper!
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Round two, with the fretless this time.
The Scoop and Grit switches are a bit interactive, with the Scoop seeming to tame the gain a bit. Speaking of the Scoop, it’s happened a couple times now that I’ve turned it on just to check between settings and forgotten to turn it off. I still prefer the flat setting but the Scoop has really impressed me, especially how it makes me rethink the Treble settings.
Next time I want to put it at the beginning of the chain and see how it pushes other pedals.
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I like how it combines a shelving bass knob (boost only), and then let's you dial up some hi pass filter - kinda doing what the Pultec EQ can do.
Push up the bass until you get the depth you want, but then dial in just enough HPF to get rid of the sub lows that muddy a mix and obscure the bass drum.
And I'll comment again. For always on overdrive this unit sounds perfect to me.
Push up the bass until you get the depth you want, but then dial in just enough HPF to get rid of the sub lows that muddy a mix and obscure the bass drum.
And I'll comment again. For always on overdrive this unit sounds perfect to me.