New: Zoom B3n Multi-Effects

[FuzzFacetious]

Somewhere where I think I was going wrong at first was with gain staging.

With the guitar, I'd set an amp to have a certain amount of gain, to make it nice and dirty, slightly over the "edge of breakup" usually, then set the volume of a dirt pedal to overdrive it harder, and only set a little bit of gain on the dirt pedal.

This doesn't work IME so far with the B3n; it ends up really muddy, but, getting a nice clean amp sound and then setting a distortion pedal to taste works really well!

 

[Johno Dunn]

So, I got a call today from a local Santa Barbara band that wants me to be their new bassist. They are old friends, and headline most of the local festivals, play the cooler local clubs, and play lots of weddings and local charity events.
Now the Zoom content, they practice through cans or IEM's only. I will now get to utilize the cab sims! Playing through my amp I have never liked what the cab sim has done for my tone. I'll finally get to see what all the fuss is about.
J!

 

[zcliu]

Is there an easier way to add effects by selecting the type of effect first rather than pressing TYPE button and choosing it one by one?

And I don't know why my volume is too low when I use my earphone even if I turn the master level to 120.

 

[Cider]

Anxious for a new guitar lab update. It feels like it's been forever since Acoustic amp & cab download.

I wish Zoom would do a Super Bassman sim soon. I need it for, um, Royal blood

 

[jimfist]

Is there an easier way to add effects by selecting the type of effect first rather than pressing TYPE button and choosing it one by one?

And I don't know why my volume is too low when I use my earphone even if I turn the master level to 120.

Page 9 of the manual: you can skip individual TYPE selection and select by broader category instead:

 

[zcliu]

Page 9 of the manual: you can skip individual TYPE selection and select by broader category instead:

View attachment 1110759

It really helps me out. Thank you so much.

 

[jimfist]

Anxious for a new guitar lab update. It feels like it's been forever since Acoustic amp & cab download.

I wish Zoom would do a Super Bassman sim soon. I need it for, um, Royal blood

I'm looking for a GK800RB, too. I wouldn't mind seeing ZOOM port over the HiWatt Custom 100 since I had pretty good luck with it for bass on the G5n.

 

[jimfist]

I will now get to utilize the cab sims! Playing through my amp I have never liked what the cab sim has done for my tone. I'll finally get to see what all the fuss is about.

That's not surprising if you are in fact trying to put a simulation of a real cabinet into an amp rig that has a traditional bass cabinet with non-full range speakers in it (and not designed to be flat response, generally, like a PA cabinet).

What was your speaker system you used when you tried out cab sims?

Even with full range monitoring, Cab sims don't necessarily work for everyone as it's a matter of taste, and you might find that you like a preamp pedal and/or GEQ dialed in to taste better without the cab sim. Or, you might prefer one of the cabinets that has a more hi-fi full range sound (SWR or Aguilar) than the SVT, Fender, or Acoustic cab sims.

It all depends what sort of flavor of direct tone you're looking for. Also, don't forget that the cab sims have a BALance parameter so you can blend in the dry (non-cab sim) tone with the cab sim in varying degrees. This can help retain some of the "in your face" nature of the tone while still adding the cabinet coloration.

 

[FuzzFacetious]

Is there an easier way to add effects by selecting the type of effect first rather than pressing TYPE button and choosing it one by one?

And I don't know why my volume is too low when I use my earphone even if I turn the master level to 120.

Master volume full, turn patch volume up, if it still needs more volume, go into individual effects such as amp sim and turn volume up.

Unless you ALWAYS play through headphones, turn autosave off first so that you maintain your normal volume levels

 

[FuzzFacetious]

That's not surprising if you are in fact trying to put a simulation of a real cabinet into an amp rig that has a traditional bass cabinet with non-full range speakers in it (and not designed to be flat response, generally, like a PA cabinet).

What was your speaker system you used when you tried out cab sims?

Even with full range monitoring, Cab sims don't necessarily work for everyone as it's a matter of taste, and you might find that you like a preamp pedal and/or GEQ dialed in to taste better without the cab sim. Or, you might prefer one of the cabinets that has a more hi-fi full range sound (SWR or Aguilar) than the SVT, Fender, or Acoustic cab sims.

It all depends what sort of flavor of direct tone you're looking for. Also, don't forget that the cab sims have a BALance parameter so you can blend in the dry (non-cab sim) tone with the cab sim in varying degrees. This can help retain some of the "in your face" nature of the tone while still adding the cabinet coloration.

Cab sims work through a real amp and cab - reducing a lot of harsh frequencies and boomiiness BUT needs to be blended in low (about 22 in the parameters of the B3n cab sim) which works similar to "mic off" on the guitar version afaik. Someone else posted something about this a few pages back and I've tested it and found roughly 22 in most cab sims to be the sweet spot, sounds better than no amp sim but doesn't sound muffled or muddy as it can if you have the mix too high.

 

[Noshtero]

Is anybody else experiencing major volume increases coming from the effects? My bass isn't all that hot and if I want to keep the volume similar after a preamp and amp sim, I'm running the volumes at like 4 or 5. I can't even fathom going to 20, let alone 50. 100 would probably set my amp on fire.

 

[jimfist]

Is anybody else experiencing major volume increases coming from the effects? My bass isn't all that hot and if I want to keep the volume similar after a preamp and amp sim, I'm running the volumes at like 4 or 5. I can't even fathom going to 20, let alone 50. 100 would probably set my amp on fire.

See @CharlieC post above for his guide on setting up patches for unity gain and patch/effects leveling.

 

[Noshtero]

I did. I'm starting off with the B7K preamp. I'm running it at 6 to get unity gain. If I put it to 100 I'm going to blow up my amp. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding my setup and how gain plays into it. I'll play with it.

 

[FuzzFacetious]

Perhaps try turning the master volume right down?

Yes gain usually boosts volume somewhat, gain afaik is the volume boost before whatever component (tube, transistor, whatever) can be overdriven with top much volume to create the broken up / distorted sound, so as you add gain you add volume - if anyone can correct any misinformation here that would be great btw

The b3n is digitally simulating this over driving process with the gain.

I often have to lower volume but rarely as extremely as you!

Tip - if you use an amp sim and dirt pedal in the same chain, lower gain on the amp sim to keep it clean and get all the dirt from the pedal. Trying to stack different gains doesn't work as well as just having a single source of drive/distortion ime.

 

[khutch]

Is anybody else experiencing major volume increases coming from the effects? My bass isn't all that hot and if I want to keep the volume similar after a preamp and amp sim, I'm running the volumes at like 4 or 5. I can't even fathom going to 20, let alone 50. 100 would probably set my amp on fire.

YES! Mine came yesterday, a day earlier than UPS "promised" (I question the validity of a promise that does not show up on the tracking page until AFTER the package has been delivered....). I've not had much time to play with it so I don't have any real impression of it other than that the volume of the supplied patches is all over the place and individual effects are too from a very brief attempt to build my own patch.

In other words, don't tell US to follow CharlieC's advice, tell ZOOM!!

 

[Fight4Bottom]

Mine arrived a few hours ago (I got a discount on it by calling the "Friend" ). I've only just scratched the surface, but I've scrolled through all the presets and levels do seem to vary from patch to patch, although only the "Bomber" seems insanely hot. I created my own patch with a delay and a tremolo chained together and the levels sounded fine. Switching the individual effects on and off produced no volume fluctuations. Mind you, I haven't tried chaining amps and cabs yet.

This is an amazing box and I look forward to diving into it fully.

 

[Rafbass77]

How is b3n sound quality compared to the line6 m series?
Mainly of delays and modulations and octaver.

 

[Markus_33178]

Hi Together,

yesterday i used my B3N during a rehearsal with my rockband to play my bass direct into the monitoring PA. The Sound was quite good. But, the Zoom B3N added a noise, seems to be wideband. Not very loud, but noticeable and bothersome during our rests between our songs. Are there any similar experiences or if the noise of the B3N is higher or less compared to the B3?
best regards,

Markus

 

[jimfist]

Hi Together,

yesterday i used my B3N during a rehearsal with my rockband to play my bass direct into the monitoring PA. The Sound was quite good. But, the Zoom B3N added a noise, seems to be wideband. Not very loud, but noticeable and bothersome during our rests between our songs. Are there any similar experiences or if the noise of the B3N is higher or less compared to the B3?
best regards,

Markus

Using the stock power supply? Does it exhibit this behavior when:

- you are at ANY location other than your rehearsal room?
- with the B3n in Tuner bypass or Tuner Mute mode?
- with all presets/sounds including CLEAN tones, or only with sounds that have a lot of gain/distortion?
- is your gain structure and cable interfacing with your mixer proper?

The B3n or any other effect will enhance and amplify any distortion or noise that is already present in the signal path, whether it is environmental (electrical wiring or proximity to electronics that radiate noise) or generated by the instrument itself or cables used. This is all basic "troubleshooting 101", and something with which any musician using electronic instruments should be somewhat well-versed.

These days, it is rare that a properly working pedal such as this (again, using the correct power source) will self-generate noise that is worth noting. Just like any analog effect or traditional guitar amp, if gain staging isn't done properly, or you're adding a ton of preamp gain (overdrive/distortion), you will hear broadband hiss.

If this is due to using effects that have a lot of preamp gain/overdrive or added high frequencies (treble), then add a noise suppressor to the signal path.

 

[Silas Stingy]

Got the B3N yesterday. First impressions are that the general quality of sounds is better than the B3. Tracking on synths is better and the modulation pedals are working for me. I have no hum or noise when running to a VTDI off the same eneloop power supply. The only disappointment so far is that the pitch shifting is still not great, an improvement, but not great. Not got around to messing with the amp sims yet. It's going with me to a gig tonight and I'm confident.