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xxmartinxx « Is lo-fi a good thing? »
Published on 10/02/11 at 15:12- Volume knob
- Tone knob
- Record knob
- Depth knob
- Speed knob
- Safe switch
- Start and record footswitches
- Master volume knob for one of the two channels
- LED
- 9 Volt adapter requires modification or replacement bottom plate.
- Hand painted enclosure
- True bypass
UTILIZATION
The concept is fairly simple; it's a pedal that you can record a short sample to repeat over and over as many times as you want on the fly. With the Safe switch, it can also be recorded in advance. You have the ability to control the Recording volume, as well as the play back volume and tone. Since it's a "low fidelity" looper, you can also control the lo-finess with the Speed and Depth knobs.
SOUND QUALITY
The pedal does indeed sound lo-fi, even when the Speed and Depth are set to a minimum. The fact you can have a sample that sounds undegraded suggests that perhaps there are limitations in the design and perhaps the term "lo-fi" is a cover for them. That is simply conjecture. I am making this guess by the fact that my unit was particularly glitchy. Sometimes the Record switch had to be high multiple times before it would engage. Other times it worked fine. I am not sure if it was my particular unit or a design flaw.
OVERALL OPINION
It seems that all ZVex pedals are either straddling or over the line of price prohibitness. This is no exception. It seems like there are better, more functional, better sounding, better constructed loop pedals being sold. I'm not sure if it's the small footprint or the "cool" factor of the ZVex that attracts people to this particular pedal, but if I were to shop for one today, I'm almost positive I would have gone with something else. Luckily, looping is not something I find much use for.
- Tone knob
- Record knob
- Depth knob
- Speed knob
- Safe switch
- Start and record footswitches
- Master volume knob for one of the two channels
- LED
- 9 Volt adapter requires modification or replacement bottom plate.
- Hand painted enclosure
- True bypass
UTILIZATION
The concept is fairly simple; it's a pedal that you can record a short sample to repeat over and over as many times as you want on the fly. With the Safe switch, it can also be recorded in advance. You have the ability to control the Recording volume, as well as the play back volume and tone. Since it's a "low fidelity" looper, you can also control the lo-finess with the Speed and Depth knobs.
SOUND QUALITY
The pedal does indeed sound lo-fi, even when the Speed and Depth are set to a minimum. The fact you can have a sample that sounds undegraded suggests that perhaps there are limitations in the design and perhaps the term "lo-fi" is a cover for them. That is simply conjecture. I am making this guess by the fact that my unit was particularly glitchy. Sometimes the Record switch had to be high multiple times before it would engage. Other times it worked fine. I am not sure if it was my particular unit or a design flaw.
OVERALL OPINION
It seems that all ZVex pedals are either straddling or over the line of price prohibitness. This is no exception. It seems like there are better, more functional, better sounding, better constructed loop pedals being sold. I'm not sure if it's the small footprint or the "cool" factor of the ZVex that attracts people to this particular pedal, but if I were to shop for one today, I'm almost positive I would have gone with something else. Luckily, looping is not something I find much use for.