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Zoom Owners' Club!

It's calibrated from 0-100, so off when down, and fully on when forward. It gets close but it's just flat enough it sounds so dissonant.
OK, I just checked mine. On the Pitch Shift effect and the Mono Pitch effect you can fine tune it on page two of the settings on the effect itself. You're right, on the Pitch Shift without fine tuning it does sound dissonant and makes quite a vibrato effect. I've never really played with these two effects much. Thanks for the few minutes of fun!
I think I get a better octave out of the MonoPitch.
 
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Zoom B1 Four - I love this thing!

I'm far from a digital fan boy, but being able to get a great sim tone through headphones like this is quite impressive.
 

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I had a sudden need for effects for a theater show I'm subbing on. Chorus, fuzz, octave, flanger... how the heck am I going to source all that stuff without blowing all my pay for that show??
Used Zoom B3n to the rescue!
The plan was to re-sell it after the run, but now I'm not sure. The amp & cab sims have me kind of hooked.
The tuner works surprisingly well. I might be able to work with just this one unit, straight into a DI.
 
I’ve been using Zoom Multis on and off for about 10 years now, I think. Had a B2 as my first effects pedal and spent hundreds of hours recording crappy demos with that straight into a Tascam PortaStudio. Then I moved on to separate pedals, downsized, upsized again, you know how it goes… picked up a MS60B and was impressed but hated that you can’t cycle through patches easily without some delicate knob fiddling. Found a really cheap used B1Four and liked that even better. I almost feel guilty putting such a cheap piece of kit on my board but I find the interface and the sounds more to my liking than my HX stomp. And nobody notices but me anyways, so… haha.

But something is still missing- I can’t give up my analog octave and dirt, and the B1Four is still pretty limiting on stage. I wish Zoom would make a direct competitor to Boss’s Ms-3 (my favorite multi-effect format, but unfortunately outdated and abandoned by the company), with the three effect loops and the four-button switching. If they could repackage a B1 or B3 into a unit with a few effects loops, an XLR out, and good routing and switching options, I think they’d eat some of Line 6’s market share.
 
I finally joined the ZOOM world.
Got this barely used B3n at about half of retail.
So far I love it, especially the ZNR and DBX 160.
Some of the patches need some work, but many are
usable right away.
Oh and I have a PDF of all the factory defaults for
the patches if anyone wants one.
Congrats. You're in for a treat.
Here's the very long topic re B3n: New: Zoom B3n Multi-Effects
Here are patches: B3n patch library.
Do you know you can load G3n effects and patches into it?
 
I have been, and remain, a little bemused by the 'dry blend' in the Zoom units. The problem is that the dry blends operate at the effect level - there is no master dry blend which mixes from the input straight to the output at the patch level. So it only works as expected when there is only one active effect. With 2 or more effects in the chain, the 'dry' signal blended in by the second unit is actually the wet/dry mix coming out of the first unit. If this is 100% wet, then the 'dry' blend after effect #2 is the full wet signal from effect #1.

+++++++++++++++

Here's another common discussion point / source of argument - D.I. placement.

Often the FOH will want D.I. to be straight from the instrument, even before it hits any pedals and preamp. The players will argue that the D.I. feed to FOH should at least be Post-FX, if not post Preamp/EQ.

The Balanced output of the Zoom B6 is always Post. Even the discontinued B3 had a hardware switch to go Pre or Post.

What says the TB collective?
 
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I have been sending post signal since starting with the B2.1u because I use the amp modelling even back then. I let all of the sound people know what they are getting and what to expect during the performance. I do all my sound design with a PA in mind. If I'm also using other pedals (usually) I'm careful to maintain unity gain.
My current boards I'm using an MS60 after a preamp but will still send DI signal after the pedal board using a Radial JDI live or a Sushi Box Finally in the studio.
IMG_20220322_153916487_HDR.jpg
 
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Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share some info, and also have some questions for those of you out there into multiFX firmware customization. So far I've been using the Zoom Firmware Editor no problem, making perfectly working updaters for both my MS-60B (mostly added guitar amps) and my G1Xon (added everything bass relevant).

Now, yesterday I tried doing the same with a new MS-50G box I got (just for the 6 FX chain capability), but I wasn't able to produce a working updater. It looked like they worked but update to the device was real fast and it basically did nothing (no new FX to be seen on the MS-50G except for the factory 100 guitar ones). Of course I included the CMN_BASS.ZDL file. As I was going thru' trial and error with version 0.99.5 of the Firmware Editor I read some stuff in its discussion pages about a FLST_SEQ.ZDT file you'd apparently have to include for all FX groups to be available. Do any of you know how could I compile a FLST_SEQ.ZDT file with all possible FX/groups so I can put that in any MultiStomp updater (ON models don't seem to need such file)?

While I've still yet to try that, I still could update my MS-50G using the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] and I liked it a lot. It makes it really easy to make a selection from within each FX group (DYN, FLTR, GUITAR OD/DST, GUITAR AMP SIM, BASS AMP SIM, MOD, SFX, DELAY, REVERB, PEDAL, BASS ID/DST), you don't have to start from the factory FX list in an existing firmware. You have some viewing selections (effect type, from which model, etc.) that help you go thru' it. All in all I ended up with a combination of 154 effects that cover almost everything guitar/bass related (all AMPS and OD/DST together, almost everything DYN&FLTR, lots of stuff from MOD&SFX and just 6 DELAYs and 7 REVERBs -more than enough for me, I've used ZERO delays and reverbs for the last 2 decades). So here's [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], you can import it in Zoom Effect Manager 1.1.1 and flash effects into your own device (be it MultiStomp or ON models).

Definitely a much easier way to organize the FX inside your Zoom pedal. Too bad it took me this long to try it, this tool has been available for some 3 years AFAIK.
 
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@andruca All of the Zoom MS pedals run on the same ZFX chip, the reason that the G & CDR advertise the potential to operate more effects is due to the ability to render guitar quality effects at lower resolution. They do not actually offer any better performance but do in a critical listening environment lose fidelity on bass. If you compare same effects between the B to G you will hear the difference in quality.

I have made the comparisons and that is why for bass & synth I use the MS60B and an MS0CDR for guitar and piccolo bass.
 
@andruca All of the Zoom MS pedals run on the same ZFX chip, the reason that the G & CDR advertise the potential to operate more effects is due to the ability to render guitar quality effects at lower resolution. They do not actually offer any better performance but do in a critical listening environment lose fidelity on bass. If you compare same effects between the B to G you will hear the difference in quality.

I have made the comparisons and that is why for bass & synth I use the MS60B and an MS0CDR for guitar and piccolo bass.

I'm about to do a recorded A/B with my Stingray5, I just copied my main 3 patches for that bass (mostly different gains of BassDrive, plus compression and ZNR, with occasional Ba Squeak for added B3K'ish grit) and listened to both thru my home amp and headphones and I couldn't notice any difference (definitely nothing in the low range). Will do said recording for a more precise A/B verdict. AFAIK the chained FX limit doesn't constraint the frequency response but instead frequency response of each pedal in the chain might determine you're not able to add as much FX in the chain because of a processor limit error (simply can't chain too many CPU intensive FX together). This overload is definitely possible with the MS-60B, or even with the B3 too (only 3 FX slots), if you chain, say, 3 instances of the more demanding delays. I've been thru' this with my G1Xon, full of FX from the B1Xon, sounds exactly as my MS-60B (same chip too), I've used it live, record demos with either that or the MS-60B (or a B3 I own for the case) and use the same patches and never appreciated a difference (and I spend a lot of time post-producing my bass tone).
 
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I think MS60Bs first came out in 2013 or so ? I've had one on all my boards since, usually placed in a Boss LS-2 loop. My first unit had a very low S/N, something like 408, so I probably got one of the early models. Amazing little units, Zoom shot it top corner with that one. I also used all the other stomps at variable points, as well as a B1on, G1four, acoustic guitar units, the old plastic B1. I'm currently using a Zoom LiveTrak 12 in my humble home studio.
 
I have been, and remain, a little bemused by the 'dry blend' in the Zoom units. The problem is that the dry blends operate at the effect level - there is no master dry blend which mixes from the input straight to the output at the patch level. So it only works as expected when there is only one active effect. With 2 or more effects in the chain, the 'dry' signal blended in by the second unit is actually the wet/dry mix coming out of the first unit. If this is 100% wet, then the 'dry' blend after effect #2 is the full wet signal from effect #1.

I'll weigh in...
I agree that it would be a nice feature to have a global wet/dry mix feature. IIRC, the old B3 actually did include this. It comes in handy for those who might use the pedal as you've described. JMO, but perhaps Zoom made a judgement call to do away with this. If using real-world pedals chained together, you'd be up against the same exact problem you pose, in which case you'd need to add some sort of pedal that allows for blending of a dry path with that of all of your serial effects. Many of us have been screaming at Zoom to include a second parallel signal path for just this reason. Many other multi-fx pedals include this. Zoom lags behind. That said, a GLOBAL blend feature is a feature I'd probably never use.

Here's another common discussion point / source of argument - D.I. placement.
Often the FOH will want D.I. to be straight from the instrument, even before it hits any pedals and preamp. The players will argue that the D.I. feed to FOH should at least be Post-FX, if not post Preamp/EQ.
The Balanced output of the Zoom B6 is always Post. Even the discontinued B3 had a hardware switch to go Pre or Post.

If your effects pedal includes any type of distortion, chorus, tremolo, etc., then taking a DI feed PRE effects (straight from the instrument) will defeat the purpose of using the effect, no? Valid, though, if your effects only include tone shaping and compression, for example.

As for a POST DI feed only provided: this assumes you want to include your effects DI to the mixer (see above). As a PRE-fx DI feed, you're essentially using the Zoom pedal as a direct box, and whatever else going through it is only being heard by you at your stage rig. If my DI (pre-fx) tone was preferred, I'd personally want to have a separate (high quality) direct box feeding the mixing console and bypass the Zoom pedal altogether. It also gives the benefit of not losing the bass signal if your pedal dies during a performance.

No one size fits all, certainly, so options are a good thing. I'm personally finding that many players are including special effects that need to be heard and sent to the mixing board. In addition, the popularity of cabinet simulation (or for some, aggressive HPF/LPF) makes sending a fully POST-fx signal to the mixing console desirable and necessary. In this use case, we are crafting our bass tone through the multi-fx modeler, monitoring via full range speakers (either studio or live performance PA-type speakers). Many prefer doing this as the cabinet simulation will filter out unwanted negative effects of overdrive/fuzz distortion (aka 'killer bees' when distorted tones are sent without cabinet sim or LPF).
Implementing fully modeled, cab simulated tones suitable for a PA system is not a trivial exercise, but with the proper monitoring gear and technique it can be a beautiful thing.
 

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