ZMACS silent recording possible?

Stage & Studio ZMACS
1

Hi everyone.
I’m having a lot of fun with my Zmacs, it’s a great piece of gear!
I’m currently using it with 4 amps and 2 cabs.
I’ve just tried recording, using the direct amp 1-4 out straight to my audio interface with an IR loader in my daw. It sounds great when I’m using my cab at the same time, good signal and good sound.
But is it possible to have the same signal and sound without using a cab?
If I switch to cab 3 (not used) the signal is low and muffled (and maybe it’s not safe?).
Thanks for your help and gave a great weekend!

2

Hi @Matt6

Welcome to the forum!

For silent recording you really need to use the attenuator loop or put a reactive load on one of the cab outputs.

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I’m not sure of your setup; if you want to explain exactly the connections, maybe with photos, that would help. But muffled sound is an indication something is not right!

3

Hi Dan,
Thanks for getting back to me, I’ll try to explain my set up.

It’s guitar → pedalboard → Zmacs in

I have 4 tube amps which are connected to the Zmacs, and 2 cabs.

Since yesterday, I have added a Two Notes Captor 16 to my setup, which is a reactive load. I’m using a speaker cable from the “to cab 3” output of the zmacs to the “speaker in” of the Two Notes Captor. The Captor is not connected to a cab. Zmacs cab 3 is set to 16 ohm.

Finally I use a TRS cable from the Zmacs “Amp dir” to my audio interface. I record the direct amp signal, and add an IR in my DAW.

This way, if I want to record my amp on my computer, I can:

  • use cab 1 or 2 on the zmacs if I want to hear my real cab and record at the same time.
  • use cab 3 on the zmacs (–> Two Notes Captor reactive load) and record the direct amp signal silently (no real cab in the room).

I have briefly tried this, and it seems to work fine (no muffled sound like yesterday)
Does that seem like a safe and logical setup to you? Do you see a better alternative (using the loop maybe)?

Thanks again for your help!
Cheers

4

Hi Matt,

Yes, it sounds safe and logical: based on the ZMACS settings, you are amp either seeing a cab or the load.

When you are ready, you could also experiment with moving the reactive load from Cab 3 into the attenuator loop. You would use ATTENUATOR LOOP SWITCHED because the Two Notes does not have a bypass. It’s all in the user manual.