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Zoom B2.1u worth buying?

N

NielsBass

Apr 30, 2010
90
6
#1
Anyone here has some experience with this multiFX pedal?
There are few places on the Internet that has any information or reviews of this pedal.
It got my interest because it's a complete package for little money.
How is the recording quality with the USB?
Are the effects usable or do they sound cheap?
 
#4
I bought a B2.1u and liked it so much i bought a B2 as a backup.

While I don't have good luck w/the Compressor, the limiter works well if you turn down the noise gate.

good bang for the buck, i paid used:

B2.1u $100 (ebay)
B2 $40ish

google patch banks and learn to edit patches.

tuner is great too.

here are some tunes recorded from the XLR on the B2.1u:

http://organiccoop.com/sd/go.mcgi?http://nettrust.com/bnw/

also, one night recently i had to debug the PA, i turned on the drum machine in B2 so I could tell when we fixed PA...
 
#6
I own one (actually own the digitech, pandora, Line6 etc)

My vote is for the zoom.. it's smaller foot print.... similar quality.

In reality many of us only use a few patches...

I have one setup for 7 string that works very well... the patch flavor is best on the zoom.

----
Distortion..
They do have a few options on it.... funny/sad/silly thing is they do emulate an MXR M-80 on one of the patches (yes have one of those to) ... the M-80 is not known for having a usable distortion sound.

As with all boxes... they're loaded with patches suitable for a 8 year old wanking in the basment... need to be reloaded.

.....

The B2.1u has a useable DI... onboard drum tracks... assignable pedal... and small form factor.
 
#8
It's a lot of good stuff in a small durable affordable package that makes it a hard unit to beat. For a lot of things it's the one effect i bring or it is the anchor for other effects. All of the sounds/ effects are usable some are superior the only major thing they forgot was a jam along feature.
Digitech BP355 is the closest thing and while it does add a few features I have not had a hands on experience with it.
 
#10
So I bought my Zoom b2.1u but i have mixed feelings about it.

Maybe I still got to get used to it but compared to the clean signal of my Fender Jazz bass all patches either sound dead or totaly lacking low end.
The Wah seems too subtle while the autowah seems way to fanatic.
The overdrive/distortion again scoops out the low end or sounds too gritty.
I know i can blend the clean signal in but i don't like to have a fuzz in the background.

Maybe i'm doing something wrong or i'm too used to my clean sound, but right now I'm thinking of returning it for a decent Fuzz pedal or a Wah.

A well i'll give it a few more days

Only thing i really like of the pedal is the drum patterns
 
#11
the factory defaults are a bit blah, did you try the web b2 patch database?

i loaded the top voted patches in mine, sounds better than clean IMO.

NielsBass said:
So I bought my Zoom b2.1u but i have mixed feelings about it.

Maybe I still got to get used to it but compared to the clean signal of my Fender Jazz bass all patches either sound dead or totaly lacking low end.
The Wah seems too subtle while the autowah seems way to fanatic.
The overdrive/distortion again scoops out the low end or sounds too gritty.
I know i can blend the clean signal in but i don't like to have a fuzz in the background.

Maybe i'm doing something wrong or i'm too used to my clean sound, but right now I'm thinking of returning it for a decent Fuzz pedal or a Wah.

A well i'll give it a few more days

Only thing i really like of the pedal is the drum patterns
Click to expand...
 
#13
I personally think its not that good. From using one of the lower end zoom products to using the one that you are asking about, i personally thought both of them where very low grade sounding effects. I find buying individual effect pedals seems to be better way of getting a good sounding effect. Plus i found about 90% of the effects on both pedals seemed to be a little useless.

But its up to you mate, if you try it out and you really like it then you should buy it.

Cheers Kevin
 
#14
I had one... I sold it.. the pedal was ok... but I like the versatility of my Boss Gt-10B more.. to tell the truth one thing that got me with the Zoom was.. about 18 months ago I was dong an out door gig at a church in Alexandria.. in the daylight I could not see the display on that thing at all... it all just kind of blended in.. I decided right there that I was going to replace it with something.. and I wound up with the Gt-10B. To it's credit though... it is not a bad pedal.. the drum feature is ok.. but it isn't as good as it sounds.. it isn't like you can program a bunch of beats together to make a song.. they sound good... but it is just more like a glorified metronome. If you want to explore effects for bass.. and don't want to spend a lot it is a good enough place to start.. but I think you will outgrow it sooner rather than later.
 
#15
NielsBass said:
So I bought my Zoom b2.1u but i have mixed feelings about it.

Maybe I still got to get used to it but compared to the clean signal of my Fender Jazz bass all patches either sound dead or totaly lacking low end.
Click to expand...

You really have to dig in and create your own sounds to really appreciate the Zoom. Check out my cheat sheets lot's of folks find them helpful.
The thing to remember about the fuzzes is the mix function in the next module.
 
#16
I actually bought two of them on MNAirhead's recommendation, one with the expression pedal the other without the pedal. I have sold the one without the expression pedal. I am keeping the Zoom unit with the expression pedal. It is much more useful to me. You will have to tweak the presets to get the sounds you want. The presets aren't too good, imho.
 
#17
ya, the presets suck. make your own tones. i won't call it the greatest thing since sliced bread, but i do like it (i have the b2) and i use it for effects i only need once in a great while but am too cheap to buy. like fuzz...i pretty much never need fuzz, but once in a great while i do, so i use the fuzz face simulator in it.
 
#18
Funny thing is, the longer i experiment with it the more i start to love it :)

While i still dont like the overdrive or distortion much, i fell in love with the FuzzFace emulator :)
With some playing around with the settings i got a setting that sounds pretty much like the Fuzzy bass in Nine Inch Nails songs :)

(like on : Invalid Link Removed and YouTube - 'Love Is Not Enough' Live @ Rehearsals 2005)

Still trying to figure out a good Manuel and autowah setting :)
 
#20
Hmm i connected my zoom to the PC through the USB connector, but as soon as i plug the cable into a USB slot the sound on my pc cuts out.
Even when i play a song it just stops making sound as soon as i connect the zoom.
the soundmixer still show the green volume output on the Itunes but i can't get any sound from the speakers....
Seems like my pc does get a line in signal but my speakers won't send out any sound because my zoom is connected

Anyone knows whats wrong?
 

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