Source Audio Zio Analog Front End & Boost

The Source Audio ZIO is a deceptively flexible unit that can serve many different purposes at various places in your signal path.  Use it at the front of your chain of effects to shape the rest of your outgoing tone, after your drive pedals as an overall tone sweetener or clean volume boost, or at the the end of your pedalboard to drive a long cable run or as a restorative device to recreate the sound of your guitar going directly into the input of your amplifier.  You can also use the Source Audio ZIO in your amp’s effects loop if you want to drive your power amp even harder, or to compensate for a level mismatch between two channels.

This excellent and flexible pedal is designed to take a guitar’s high impedance signal, sweeten the tone with any of its four top notch preamp circuits, and output a strong, low impedance signal that won’t be altered by the buffered dry tones of effect pedals further down the signal chain. High fidelity, noise-free Burr-Brown op amps help give ZIO extreme clarity and importantly responsive pick dynamics—while maintaining your tone’s body and warmth.

ZIO has four distinct preamp circuits, and we know this matters… (some makers won’t even tell you what preamp they use in their boost pedals) JFET offers a completely transparent signal boost with zero colouring or distortion. LOW-CUT reduces “tubby” bottom-end for a tighter sound with added headroom. STUDIO finds inspiration from the time-honored “Pultec Trick,” a studio technique that adds clarity by cutting the “mud frequencies” and adding mid-range articulation. E-PLEX captures the focused and subtle grit of the preamps found in vintage Echoplex Tape Delay units. The ZIO’s TONE toggle offers three different levels of capacitance (or simulated cable length) to brighten or darken the tone. It’s one of those pedals we so often overlook for the glory effects out there, but this is a key part to developing your tone, and helping you gel with your sound.

Cables Length
When we connect a cable to the output of a passive guitar pickup, it does more than just pass signal on to the next device. We’re mostly familiar with the idea of different cables imparting a specific tonal quality. Why? Cables have a property called capacitance, which increases with the length of the cable (and we’re talking hearing the difference over just 10ft). This capacitance interacts with passive pickups and guitar wiring, to create a resonant filter and the higher the capacitance of the cable, the lower the cut-off of the resonant frequency.
​
The three toggle positions replicate different lengths of cable. Select the BRIGHT position to introduce a low capacitive load and the most treble content. Selecting MED provides additional capacitance and produces the effect of a medium length of cable (roughly 15 feet). Selecting the DARK mode gives the effect of a longer cable or coils cable and is useful for taming excessive brightness or providing a stylistic voicing choice

Don’t just take Source Audio’s word for it, check out the many reviews out there singing this little guy’s praise.

Any questions? Please drop us a line…