The latest loopop video takes an in-depth look at the Empress ZOIA programmable multi-effects pedal, introduced at the 2018 NAMM Show.
The ZOIA is described as ‘a modular synthesizer in pedal form’.
Instead of being a delay effect or tremolo, the ZOIA provides the modules necessary to build a delay or tremolo. But – since you’re the one building it – you can make it do whatever you want.
Details are available at the Empress Effects site.
Video Summary:
What drew me to ZOIA initially actually wasn’t its programmabiltiy, but rather the rapidly growing number of interesting community made patches. As I was exploring it, it seemed more appropriate to compare ZOIA to three different product types, or in other words, to explore its pros and cons for three different potential buyer types. People interested in boutique effects pedals, people interested in multi effects, and people looking for a portable environment to develop and use modular patches.
Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro
1:10 Overview
4:00 vs. Pedals
4:15 Patch demos
7:35 Pedal pros/cons
8:45 MIDI mapping
10:25 Patch desc
11:50 vs. MultiFX
12:15 Building chains
15:15 MultiFX pros/cons
16:40 vs. Modular
17:10 Module overview
18:15 Audio & CV
18:40 Building a patch
22:30 Modular pros/cons
24:30 Summary
Awesome, concise, product tour!
Great video, as always. Fantastic planning, depth, and scope.
I love the concept of this kind of device, and Empress is a great company to release a product like this, as they are a stellar reputation for HIGH quality signal processing.
The lack of ability to load samples is one note-worthy exclusion that seems like a missed opportunity. Would also loved to have seen a convolution processor in there as well. Still, for what it offers and the way they have configured it, it is still a dream box that brings quite a bit of unique functionality to the table.
It’s on the GAS list now.