Zoom

Zoom is a Japanese audio company founded in Tokyo in 1983 in the Akihabara district, and its headquarters are now in Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda; it is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It started as a contractor rather than a consumer brand, developing audio and MIDI technology for other manufacturers, including sound-generator chips, rhythm machines and MIDI synchronizers.

In 1990 it launched its own protected DSP technology, which led to its breakthrough product, the 9002 multi-effects processor for guitar, a compact unit that could be attached to a guitar strap. The 9010 and 9200 rack-mounted effects units followed and became common in studios worldwide.

Zoom set up a Chinese quality-control operation in 2009 and a North American distribution base in 2013. By its fiscal year ending December 2020, handheld audio recorders made up 43 percent of its sales, digital mixers and multitrack recorders 13 percent and multi-effects 12 percent. Guitar Radar follows its multi-effects pedals and updates.