Ho! New Recording Gizmo Day! Well sort of, I've had this Zoom R8 by the side of my desk for a few weeks now, I'm trying to familiarise myself with the menu system because it is so different to computer based recording software.

The Zoom offers no EQ pre-set Libraries so I have no choice but to learn about frequencies. Many thanks to Dave Wronski for mentioning the 160Hz Low Cut a while ago, without that vital piece of info I may have given up.

Some photos to show what I have to work with. If anyone has any EQ tips especially regarding clean and 6G15 reverb drenched I'd much appreciate hearing from you.

Last edited: Nov 02, 2015 10:23:50

Thanks for chiming in. The recorder has a guitar input with a Hi-Z switch and sounds quite smooth as-is with no effects but the bottom E string sounded awful, none of the EQ controls responded until I used Dave's 160hz cut trick. It got me thinking that should ask for more advice.

Unfortunately the manual doesn't cover EQ'ing very well, most video tutorials for the Zoom skimp on the subject and others are mainly software or hardwares which bare little relation to what I have (well, from a noobs point of view)

A couple of questions: I'm EQ'ing on the way in, I once read that if you get EQ right at the beginning it saves a lot of hassles later. True/False?

And minus gain, if 0Db is zero gain then how can you have minus? That really does my head!

The pictures above in case it isn't obvious.

First picture is the Pan/EQ menu and the others are the sub menus.
The Low and High sub menus have a cut filter option.
When cut filter is in operation the gain control disappears.
No cut filter for mids
Q is something to do with linear or logarithmic curve?

Last edited: Nov 02, 2015 13:54:40

"Q" is the width of the filter that has the "frequency" as the center of that band. A low Q value affects a wide area while a high number "Q" affects a very narrow area. So a high Q is valuable to notch out a particular frequency ( like 60Hz hum or a cabinet resonance) while a value of 1 or less grabs several octaves (like the tone controls on your guitar amp).

The advice to cut rather than boost is good. Keep any boosts you make small ones using wider Q's. Cuts can often be larger and, as stated above, tend to require narrower Q's.
Try to describe what sounds wrong. Boomy or thick is usually on the 200Hz region or thereabouts. Boxy somewhere between 400Hz and 1KHz. Harshness somewhere around 2KHz to 4KHz. Clarity can be found in a similar region. Sibilance is somewhere around 7KHz, presence around 8KHz and air up around 10KHz.
Set a narrow Q and apply a big boost, then sweep the frequency to help identify the frequency you need to adjust.
Unless you're after a special effect, remember that EQ is there to balance sounds against one another and to correct imbalances, which is why presets are often not very helpful.

Los Fantasticos

Last edited: Nov 02, 2015 14:11:58

djangodeadman wrote:

Hi and lo cut filters don't have gain controls because all they do is cut everything above or below the set frequency. They cut by a set amount, most likely 12 or 24 dB per octave, so, for example, a lo cut filter set at 160Hz will be either 12 or 24 dB down at 80Hz.

I'm seeing the light (almost nearly)

Quote Dave Wronski: "For guitar, the cut frequency is 160hz, which is the first octave of the E string fundamental which is 80hz.
160hz is center of the "mud" sound."

I don't know the Quilter amp. Do you know if the direct out has any form of speaker emulation? If not, that could have quite an impact on the tone of what you are recording. If this is the case, does the Zoom have any speaker emulation available?
Recording loud sources, like electric guitars, can be tricky when you have neighbours, I'm afraid.

Los Fantasticos

crumble wrote:

djangodeadman wrote:

I don't know the Quilter amp. Do you know if the direct out has any form of speaker emulation? If not, that could have quite an impact on the tone of what you are recording. If this is the case, does the Zoom have any speaker emulation available?
Recording loud sources, like electric guitars, can be tricky when you have neighbours, I'm afraid.

The Quilter direct-out is one of the main reasons I bought it, the signal runs through the speaker circuitry so the difference between mic and direct-out is small. The Zoom has basic speaker emulation and many other effects. Plus the Zoom R8 is also a USB audio interface of which I can control Reaper (including transport controls and faders) with access to impulse response effects should I need them.

In which case you should be good to go; and with some practice, you should be able to get very decent results.

Start with getting a good tone from the amp, which from what I've read about the Quilter, shouldn't be too tricky.

Los Fantasticos