Goblinz Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 I bought a zoom 1204 effects processor from ebay last year as I wanted a vocoder to play with. It arrived dead and after a long battle and threatening legal action I got a refund but the guy refused to arrange for return of the item. So I know have a dead effects processor sat on my desk and want to have a go at getting it working before I think about stripping it down or sticking it back on ebay. The unit is completely dead, no lights come on or anything, I've taken the cover off thinking that it would be a burnt out fuse but it doesn't have any internal fuses, I've also checked for broken tracks and dodgy joints. Can anyone give me a few pointers in what to look for to try and get this thing fixed, I'm thinking that I should check all the components with a multimeter, but what do I do about IC's? G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seppoman Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Hi,I also once bought a 1204 and checked it out for the vocoder function and I can tell you: If the vocoder is your main reason to get it working again, then just forget it and try to get 10 Euros for it on ebay. The vocoder really sucks, this has nothing to do with a real vocoder. If you want something usable, buy an Alesis Metavox. I´ve got one of these for 30 Euros new, and while it´s not THE very best vocoder you can imagine, at least you can kind of understand the words. If you want a multiFX with acceptable vocoder, search for a Boss SE50 or SE70, they also have very nice Chorus etc. FX. Or, if you want to spend a bit more on a vocoder: MAM VF11 Analog Vocoder - I´ve also got one and it's an absolutely fantastic machine, very rich and full sound, also usable as a filter bank, all single band volumes adjustable, separate unvoiced input etc - I love it :)Seppoman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Yeh those VF11 are nice, I've got those in my watch list and I want to midify one :)As for fixing busted equipment, obviously it's not worth it, and assuming you can't find a service manual, but in this case it's clearly a power issue, so I'd break out the multimeter and start following traces from the power input until I find the broken stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goblinz Posted October 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Hi,I also once bought a 1204 and checked it out for the vocoder function and I can tell you: If the vocoder is your main reason to get it working again, then just forget it and try to get 10 Euros for it on ebay. The vocoder really sucks, this has nothing to do with a real vocoder. If you want something usable, buy an Alesis Metavox. I´ve got one of these for 30 Euros new, and while it´s not THE very best vocoder you can imagine, at least you can kind of understand the words. If you want a multiFX with acceptable vocoder, search for a Boss SE50 or SE70, they also have very nice Chorus etc. FX. Or, if you want to spend a bit more on a vocoder: MAM VF11 Analog Vocoder - I´ve also got one and it's an absolutely fantastic machine, very rich and full sound, also usable as a filter bank, all single band volumes adjustable, separate unvoiced input etc - I love it :)Seppoman I quite like the amount of other effects and the fact that it's all midi enabled. I have heard good reviews on the 1204 but they're mainly based on what you get for your money. I don't think zoom is such a bad make, my mate has an effects pedal which is amazing for the (ebay) price he paid. I think I'll follow what stry_one suggested and try and get it working, at least that way if I do ebay it then I can sell it as working. I would love to be able to builf a vocoder, but haven't found any schemes as of yet, surely it would be possible to filter off the different frequencies and then modulate them with something???? Gonna have to read up on some synth theory and see how easy it would be... I wonder if it would be possible to write a MIOS vocoder app... Got a lot of learning to do before I even think of looking at something like that. Thanks for the pointers. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBunsen Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 I would love to be able to builf a vocoderThe late great Craig Anderton to the rescue. There ya go: builf away :)As far as multiFX go, I can't love my Digitech Quad Four enough. It's a little green slab of awesome. And it has a vocoder. Four ins, four outs, up to four simultaneous FX, routing, mixing, panning, and seven parameters per effect that can be mapped to either MIDI, input dynamics or internal LFOs. That and it sounds reeeeeeal nice, and they're cheap nowadays. Also available in Studio Quad v1 and v2 black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jidis Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 The late Craig Anderton :'( I hope that's wrong (or a typo). I just saw him on Gearslutz a couple weeks ago. ???George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBunsen Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 My bad. I was thinking of John Simonton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jidis Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 Good news. :)You may have to perform some ritual to undo the curse on him now though. ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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