Earthquaker Devices Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder
With old-school circuitry and modern hi-fi distortion
4,8 / 5,0 | 
The Earthquaker Devices Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder straddles both old-school circuitry and modern hi-fi distortion. Making it s super versatile dirt pedal.
Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder
Earthquaker Devices’ Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder is an analog circuit and has a vast range of distortion and drive tones to hand. It can do modern distortion with rich distortion, through to more old-school lower gain dirt tones, making it a handy pedal to have around.
The design uses a discrete transistor-based distortion and that really makes this dirt pedal sing.
Weight
It has a relatively simple control layout consisting of Level, Weight, Gain, Bass, Middle, and Treble. They all do exactly what you would expect them to do and so it should be easy to dial in.
Possibly, the most powerful control is Weight, as it is used to dial in the low-end frequencies that pass through the circuit. The EQD official demo covers some very nice guitar and bass tones using the whole range of distortion tones available.
That passive 3-band EQ is pretty potent and they use it well in the demo video.
18V
The Zoar is also not limited to standard 9V power, as it can handle up to 18V and this allows for enhanced dynamics and a better response. This circuit also included EQD’s Flexi-Switch Technology for silent relay-based switching, so no nasty pops when it is engaged.
Verdict
Sure this is another dirt pedal on the marketplace, a market that is already pretty saturated (no pun intended).
However, I really like the character of the Zoar and I was impressed by how versatile it sounds. Plus, it can handle a bass, so it should also be great on down-tuned guitars, which often suffer from becoming muddy when using basic distortion pedals.
More Information
Video
- Earthquaker-Devices-Zoar-Dynamic-Audio-Grinder-pedal.jpg: EQD
- Flexi-Switch-Technology.jpg: EQD
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