IK Multimedia

TOTAL GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2020
94
W
hile IK Multimedia
has long been
a proponent of
software modelling,
its latest product is
more of a creative tool than a
full-blown interface. At its core,
the Z-Tone is a DI box. Yes, there
are hundreds of DIs available,
and they sit somewhere between
stands and gig bags on the list
of Boring Yet Useful Purchases.
They’re the guitar equivalent of
broccoli: you know it’ll do you
good, but you never really want it.
Interfaces start at round £20,
and many even have instrument-
level inputs allowing you to plug
your guitar in directly, so why
would you need this? Well, the
Z-Tone DI takes various features
from IK’s Axe I/O to off er you
greater control over your direct
IK MULTIMEDIA Z-TONE DI
IK makes going direct more fun
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signal, as well as additional
fl exibility on how you’re
routing it.
First off , there’s the input side
of the Z-Tone. If you’ve ever
plugged your guitar into
a recording interface and noticed
that you’re getting a duller sound
from your guitar, chances are you
have an impedance mis-match.
The Z-Tone control solves this
by allowing you to dial in the
impedance of your signal to
match that of your pickups from
1 MOhm to 2.2 kOhms, as well as
letting you switch the box to
accept an active pickup signal
£159
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
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correctly. In addition to this, the
Z-Tone DI includes a switchable
pre-amp section comprising an
uncoloured ‘Pure’ circuit and
a FET-buff ered circuit for
additional harmonics and
analogue-style warmth.
Then there’s the routing - let’s
say you want to split your guitar
signal for recording: the Z-Tone
lets you do this by plugging your
guitar directly into the DI box,
then the Link output will send
a mirror of your signal to your
amp. From here, you can send
your dry DI signal to your
interface, giving you a faithful
clean sound for re-amping later,
while mic’ing up your amp for
recording into another channel.
The Z-Tone is probably what
we’d call a luxury for many. But if
you’re diving down the recording
rabbit hole, it really does make
a diff erence. It off ers plenty of
fl exibility to help you capture and
route your guitar signal. The type
of product that we think you’ll
wonder why you need it, then
wonder how you managed
without it.
Stuart Williams
YOU’LL WONDER HOW YOU
MANAGED WITHOUT IT
TGR336.gear_quick.indd 94 13/08/2020 14:43