Empress Zoia // Euroburo

The Lounge Other Gear
#452

I just got mine a few days ago and haven’t had as much time as I’d like to dig in, but I am really impressed so far. Lots of happy accidents and endless creative potential. It just might be the effect that allows me to sell off all of my other effects :aw:

It’s also the first pedal I’ve ever plugged my Rev 2 into and not ran into clipping with. Even with Strymon pedals I have to back off the gain a fair amount, so that’s nice.

Am I dumb or is there no overdub functionality on the looper module? I think I can create something to work around that, but it seems like a strange omission. Am I missing something there?

#454

Still in love :wink: It is hard to think of why i would sell this pedal:

  • the reverb is very good;
  • I also really like the repitch results
  • Quite stable firmware (only one crash due to overload the system, and in the older firmware);
  • Easy to understand, patch, etc.
  • Haven´t had time to analyze critically all the other fx, but i am going to guess that are equally good.

If anything i would consider to buy another one, and maybe a specific midi pedal controller to have more knobs and switches.

3 Likes
#455

Overdub not working is a known bug in the looper module. They’re working on a fix for the next firmware update.

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#456

Looking forward to that!

I’ve been having fun this morning connecting an expression pedal and setting it to control loop length, speed and dry/wet mix of various FX. This may be obvious to the more technical among you, but I was pretty pleased when I stumbled upon this: Connecting a Cport Exp/CV In module (which receives the output of an expression pedal) to the input of a CV Rectify module, and then the output of that module to what you want to control, ‘flips’ the polarity of the CV signal, so for example 0.25 becomes -0.25. This is very useful when you want to use an expression pedal for more than one thing, and need values to go negative.

It’s interesting how you can’t just set a signal’s connection strength to a negative value to achieve the same thing, but maybe there’s a technical reason for that.

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#457

Good to know, thank you :thup:

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#458

Maybe hang on to your other effects just a bit longer. Some of the Zoia reverbs apparently consume a lot of CPU, so it might be handy to have other boxes around to offload FX duties when the Zoia has a heavy CPU load.

Zoia will probably be my next pedal acquisition but it’ll be in partnership w/ my H9 and Infinite Jets rather than replacement for either one. I would however like to see if I can use to Zoia to convince myself to not get a Gamechanger Audio Plus pedal :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I’ve already begun investigation of Freeze/SuperEgo/Plus type functionality in the H9 and look forward to doing the same on the Zoia.

#459

Have been trying to find information about midi capabilities but couldn’t find a direct answer.

Would it be possible to set up zoia patches so that I could arrange the patches in particular order for a gig and when I change the zoia patch, zoia would outout midi pc and/or cc to change patches on my synth(s)? Would be also fantastic if I could have my mod pedal connected to zoia and per patch select if it would be routed to synths or zoia itself? I guess it could also be set up for Deluge looper control (once the new firmware is out) with foot switches, right?

Don’t know if I’m dreaming too much, but is it the magic box I would sell my liver for?

#460

Manual says it will respond to MIDI Program Change at least

http://assets.empresseffects.com/manuals/ZOIA.pdf

#461

Just head over to the Zoia Product Page and examine the modules list on the right side (you need to scroll down a bit).

Under interface modules you’ll find the following MIDI modules:

  • Midi Notes in
  • Midi CC in
  • Midi Pressure
  • Midi CC out
  • Midi PC out
  • Midi Note Out

… and when you hoover over the module name you’ll get a description. “MIDI PC in” isn’t a module itself, but PCs can be received by the ZOIA to switch patches.

IMHO it should be possible to send Program Changes when a patch gets loaded on the Zoia.

Btw, that sounds like a great idea controlling at least part of the gear from the Zoia. Send a single PC to the Zoia (or use the footswitch) and the Zoia sets up (for example) its co-pedals. So in a way it becomes the Master of the pedal board …

4 Likes
#462

There is a reason, but it’s not a great one. The connection strengths are logarithmic so they can’t go negative. You’re using CV rectify exactly how it was meant to be used :slight_smile:

#463

I’m thinking of switching up my Deco to do exactly that (still want to test the two together). Do you think an H9 Core would suffice? Any others you’d recommend as a kind of end-of-chain pairing?

#464

I admit I’ve been so spoiled by the H9 Max that I forget that H9 Core only comes with one algorithm - the H910-H949. So you could use the Core to offload pitch shifter and digital delay duties if you want to run a CPU heavy patch (eg. certain Empress reverb(s)) on the Zoia. At the prices Eventide charges for add-on algorithms, you might consider budgeting for the standard H9 over the H9 Core, because the extra $100 gets you 8 more algorithms. I think the Core makes the most sense as an expander for H9 Max units, due to the Max’s algorithm-sharing feature which lets it share algos with up to 3 other H9 units.

I was actually going to get a Strymon BigSky but then I got a deal on an H9 Max.

I’m getting a VFE Klein Bottle for audio routing between the Zoia, H9 Max, and Infinite Jets. It’s a mixer in pedal format with 3 FX busses, LPF, HPF, etc.

1 Like
#465

Very cool indeed.

I’m suspecting I’ll want the Zoia on a stand of some sort - it’ll be easier to see the display while playing, and also work the buttons and such.

#466

I made a small thing tonight; first time I’ve actually had a clear couple of hours where I could think about an instrument I wanted to make and was able to try it out.

It’s a bit rudimentary at present and I’m sure I could streamline it to make the CPU load much less, but still; I am happy with the sound so far. Things like using switches to toggle between values (I use multiple keyboards at the moment) are eluding me presently.

3 Likes
#467

There should be more synths run through amps in this world.

5 Likes
#468

I’ve made 3 patches so far to use for different songs that my alt-rock band, We Used To See The Sky, play live:

  1. A simple lush reverb and delay that can be stompboxed on and off, for vocals in the bridge section of a song. Just using the left input.

  2. Simple guitar patch using compression, tone control and overdrive that sounds really muscular when dialled in. Just using the right input.

  3. The most complicated one so far: A vocal looper with stompbox recording on/off, and expression pedal control for speed and loop start position and another stompbox for mute. Bypassing the looper for the main sections of the song, I’ve added a mild bit of fuzz to my vocals to replicate the original demo of the song in Logic. On another page, a guitar signal path with a delay and ghost reverb that sounds so lovely, I could cry. This can also be stompboxed on/off.

While I’m excited in trying out the more ‘out there’ patches on Patchstorage and playing around more with the presets already in the machine, I bought the Zoia primarily to use myself on stage, and even for my alternative rock stuff, it’s already proving useful.

I’m trying to get in the habit of always using left input/output for vocals and right input/output for guitar, and setting the colours of modules in consistent ways (eg. red for inputs and outputs). Having said that, it could be quite interesting to utilise my amp for some vocal stuff in future!

And I haven’t even really tried it for FX for my synths/Deluge/Octatrack yet, or hooked up a MIDI keyboard to play a synth created by the Zoia! A couple of the synth presets sounded really meaty. The possibilities are endless with this thing, basically. I absolutely love it, even though I have loads of stuff to learn when it comes to more complicated modular concepts.

1 Like
#469

Excellent! I can’t emphasise how much fun I’m having with the Zoia - it’s absolutely amazing and your team should be very proud of themselves for bring it to market. I hope it’s a big success for you.

By the way, it would be great if there was some kind of explanation on the modules sheet on the website about the different algorithms within modules. For example, the overdrive module has a few different algorithms (classic, edgy etc) and while I can hear my guitar tone change when I choose different options, it would be cool to read about what each one was designed to be.

3 Likes
#470

You’ve got me thinking of swapping the stock speaker in my Boss Katana 100 amp for a Celestion F12-X200, which has a 60Hz-20KHz frequency response. It would give me more confidence to run my Lyra-8 and other bass-capable synths into the Katana at gig-level volumes.

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#471

Lyra-11

image https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/1870947-24.png?w=600&h=349

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#472

Yep, really a classics … It’s one louder …

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