Zoom 505

The 505 is very easy to program simply due the fact that the parameters are mostly increases and decreases in the amount of effect present. It is somewhat difficult to get around at first as some of the switches do double duty, but the manual is well done.

By all means, use this box with the pre amp in / power amp out connections if you amp has it. When I tried to plug my guitar into the 505 and then into the amp, it really sounded much worse, especially when switching to distortion. The time based effects (flanging, chorusing, and echo) and distortions (Lead and Overdrive are the best sounding)were much more wel-defined when used in a efx loop or pre in/pwr out setup.
A word about the delay. A "thumbs down" to Zoom for not at least putting in a wet/dry mix. All, I repeat, all of the delay settings are too loud to be musically useful. Other than that, the flanging, compressor, auto-wah and phasing are very good for a box in this price range.

Hard to say - looks like it's well made but it is in a plastic case. I don't think it will hold up like my Boss DD5 pedal. They're built like a tank.

Other than calling to see if there was a pot on the pc board that I could use to knock down the level of those delays (there is not), I haven't had to deal with them. I have had to call Samson regarding a Hartke product I had to send back, and I had to end up faxing the manager of customer service to get any information on the return. After that, they were very nice and helpful

I'd recommend it simply for the value. It's hard to beat what you get for the price. If they had a wet/dry mix for the delays, I would really be enthusiastic, but delay is one of my favorite effects, so I'm picky in in that respect.

I just plugged it in and starting playing. Editing patches is very easy. However I could see how switching patches while playing live (which I do not do) would be a pain. There are 24 patch locations in all and you switch between them by the use of two pedals. One pedal goes up one patch and the other goes down one patch. You can, however, put the unit in a mode where you play one patch while selecting another. When you are ready to play the newly selected patch, you press both pedals. The tuner is very easy to use and it allows you to tune down a half-step or "drop-d" tune if you like. To use the tuner (and bypass the unit) you just press both pedals at once. The manual is actually one large, fold-out, sheet (like a map) and I found it to be quite useful compared to what you normally get. The unit can be played through an amp or by itself with headphones.

It is noisy if plugged into the amplifier directly. I reccommend using the effects loop or going from the guitar to the preamp to the unit. Even if you put the unit in bypass (tuner) mode, it still hisses if plugged directly into the amp. The delay, chorus, and flange sound good to me. I don't care much for the distortions but that's what your amp is for! Actually the 'overdrive' distortion setting combined with my amp gets me a little of the 'Eddie' sound that I am after. The EQ is strange and appears to be fairly useless. I also didn't notice any change in the sound with the compression/limiter. The wah sounds pretty good, but I don't have much to compare it with.

I would buy an AC adapter right away. I went through one (rechargable) battery the first night I owned it. I don't play live and I have not had the unit that long so I don't know for sure about its reliability. I will say that it would be very difficult to accidentally erase a patch you have created (and you will create them - of the 24 factory presets, maybe 2 are useful).

For the price I think this is a great unit. I would buy it again and reccommend it to others. I love the delay, flange, chorus and wah. As for distortion I still believe that is the job of the amplifier. Its also nice to have a "hands-free" tuner finally. I think if you are a serious player (in a band, etc.) you would only want this unit as a supplement to a good setup and not the main piece. If you play for personal enjoyment as I do, this unit may be all you need.

After using the 505 for a couple of months, I am submitting a revised review. I still think that this is one of the easiest multi effects units to operate. Programing is a breeze. I found the manual to be a bit sparse, but adequate enough to get me going. I have gotten to the point where I can program it while playing in sneakers while at a gig. (no easy *feet*, I tell you).

The sounds are in general very good. I use this a modual in a larger effects chain (10 pedals total, 5 Boss, 2 DOD, 1 Jim Dunlop, 1 Zoom and 1 ART). You can't relie on the 505 to cover all of your sonic needs, but it does make fantastic contributions. the acoustic distortion and the delays and flanging are quite good. The other distorsions are good for chords but are weak on solos, (the Metal Zone takes care of those). Combining the 505 with other delays and distortions gives the player a lot of variety. I would say tht I use the 505 almost only for clean sounds, at which is excels.

I have had it for a while and think it is fine. The case is plastic, but being a polymer chemist, I like plastic. Besides, 10 gauge steel is heavy and I don't plan to use a dump truck filled with lead to change effects.

I would buy it again. I wish that the patch switching was smoother, but hey, for $100, you can't b too picky. :) I have written some good stuff as a result of this pedal. I recommend this to anybody who is a pedal junky like me. If you are looking for the best of the best as far as sounds goes, look at something which costs 8 times as much.

This Pedal is easy enough to use but you'll find that moving from patch A1(with distortion) to say patch C3(with distortion and flanger) is awkward to say the least.

The distortion effects are pretty good,especially the acoustic guitar type distortion,which was made for Nirvana's Unplugged in New York. There is no feed back as such,but that does'nt matter because when you change between patches within banks,there is about a 0.5 sec delay while it switches to the next effect,which will annoy you more than friends laughing at your misfortunate purchase!

I dunno, if you accidentally reset the pedal to the factory settings before a gig,you would be completely screwed.

This Pedal really stinks if you are playing in a band and that delay time between switching will ultimately drive you and your comrades so completely mental that they could hit you with their instruments.Do NOT use this pedal live for music that goes from clear to distorted.

The Zoom 505 is quite easy to use. It's easy to edit patches, but switching between them is a bit more tedious. The manual is quite user friendly, but it could be bigger.

I have heard many stories that Zoom is very noisy, however, I have not had this problem. The effects are good, but they could be better. The distortion effects sound strange, espacially through headphones. As long as you play through a amplifier you'll be ok. The EQ is really bad. It's a one way EQ...that about says it all, really. Another thing, the sustain sucks on the higher tones. They last about 4-5 seconds when you come up to the 15 fret or so on the high e string. Maybe that's just a problem I am having. Who knows...?

I haven't had any problems with my Zoom 505...yet. It looks sturdy, and it feels quite sturdy too. I have only had mine for about 3 months, though.

Never needed any customer support.

I would buy it again. You don't find many effect prosessors to that price. What I like the most about it (besides the price) is the amount of effects crammed into one little box. It is smalles than any other effect prosessor I have ever seen. And you can have 9 effects in one patch.
P.S. If anyone wants to trade patches or maybe if anyone has a patch he/she wants to share...mail me...

The 505 is easy to use in some ways and not in others. Its easy to change patches but some of the effects settings are a bit funny so you have to consult the manual (which is a single sheet).

I think the sound is quite good for the price. There is a distint lack of tone on the high gain settings.

Im never gonna play a gig so this bit of plastic is fine. You can't stand on it though.

never needed support

Its okay, I would rather have 10 seperate boxes but I don't have A$1500 to spend. It is GREAT value, if you ask me.

I bought mine about 1 month ago and the "manual" is falling apart. Extremely easy to edit patches, and found it pretty versatile. Been playing guitar for about a year and started editing right away. My wife used to complain about tripping over pedals: not anymore.

It is a bit noisy when routed through the pre amp. Much better sound quality through the effects loop, and I really suggest to lower the main volume. You can adjust it so you get the same sound through the clean or lead channels and effects loop. I mainly use the metal and fuzz distortions, but have to edit the patch to get a decent sound: really put some time into it, but with this unit almost anything is possible. The EQ sucks: basically I turn it off in every patch I edit. The rest of the effects leave a door open to some creativity. I think it is great for the money. About 3/4 of the pre-programmed effects are useless, but that gives you space to come up with your own effects. Great feature: if you mess up you can recall all the patches to factory settings or restore one patch at a time. Suggestion: write down the parameters for each patch you edit just in case you erase any of your edits.

The case looks sort of weak. I always keep my pedals in hand because I tend to abuse it, but it is still in one piece, and I really abuse it. If interested in purchasing, you definitely have to buy an AC adapter. Batteries do not last.

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I definitely recommend it. You know you've got something good if your friends keep trying to borrow it. I love the ease of editing, the enormous amount of combinations, and if put through the effects loop and use the amp's overdrive, you can come up with some extremely interesting and wild effects. I've used it with tube amps, transistors, but mostly with Peavy "Transtube" and always get great effects. I love it, and for the money I'd recommend it to anyone.

Most of the presets are just awful. A real shame, because with a little editing, some pretty decent sounds can be had. The manual could be a little better, but it gives enough info to use it. I didn't find editing to be that difficult, but it took a few minutes to get the hang of it.
The EQ section, in particular, could be a little easier to program. The way it is set up makes it difficult to nail a preferred sound. But eventually it can be done.
I've also set my unit up so that a lead sound is only one or two steps away from the rhythm sounds. I've had no problems switching between effects quickly.
It would have been nice to have more pedals, but that would put the price up. The Zoom 1010 is a little easier to switch effects, and the individual effects can be modified. On the 505, almost nothing about an effect can be modfied (but that's not much of a problem; there's about 9 versions of each effect).

For the money, it's pretty good. The strong points are: good reverbs/delays (most, if not all, are in stereo!), limiter, chorus, auto-wah, noise reduction (gating), etc. I really like the Acoustic guitar simulation, which allows my electric to sound pretty close to an acoustic (as heard through a PA).
The weak points of the unit include: most of the distortions are just horrible, but I was able to get some decent tones out of the Rhythm distortion (the others sounded better through a guitar amp, but I play straight into a PA); the EQ was difficult to set up, but usable; and (as with all Zooms I've tried) the phasing and flanging effects are annoying and unmusical. Also, the amp simulation could be improved a little; a couple of different choices would be a big improvement, and couldn't add much to the cost (there's only a choice of amp simulation on or off). The amp simulation tries to give a Marshall-like stack sound, and I would have preferred something Fender- or Boogie-like.
The noise factor wasn't really a problem through the headphones or a PA. The only time I noticed it was when I first got the unit and plugged it into my guitar amp. Sounds much better though the effects return than through the preamp. The gating is pretty good. I did not find noise to be a problem.
I'm in a band that plays out, and run the 505 straight into the PA. The soundman just loves it! Makes it easier to keep the volume and mix stable. Sounds fine for what we do, but really heavy rock or metal folks might want to use something else for distortion.

I've been practicing with it for a couple months, and have done a couple shows with it. No problems that I've found. I'm now using my guitar amp as a cheap monitor. So far, so good.
While it is obviously a cheap plastic unit, the springs on the pedal seem pretty sturdy. I wouldn't stand on it, like a Boss pedal, but it's about what you expect for the cheapest possible multi-effects unit available.
I use a Radio Shack AC adapter, and have had no problems on the power side. No difference in sound between a new battery and AC.

I have had no need to deal with them so far.

For those who are cash-strapped, and would like some effects, this would be a great deal. Also good for beginners. I like it a lot. I would prefer the Zoom 1010, for its pedals and editing ability, but this gives 90% of the usabilty, and the sound quality is about the same.
You have to expect some limitations for being the cheapest multi-effects unit around (and there is certainly room for improvement), but I love it! It's a great value.

Easy once you figure out how to edit patches. Good manual. Forget changing effects mid-song, theres about a .25 second delay when doing so -- totally throws you off. Also, you always accidently get the wrong effect, which will really piss you off

Fairly noisy. Almost all effects are WEAK and unusable unless you spend hours tweaking them.

I wouldnt use it as a stomp box -- very flimsy. Using it for a gig would be a JOKE.

Im returning mine, exchanging it for a wah and distortion. Maybe someone could learn to love it, but I think it SUCKS. Its tempting to buy these multi effect pedals but DONT. Just buy individual boxes for some REAL sounds.

The good effects (or rather- the ones I like) are pretty good sounding already. However, there are some pretty terrible (or should I say unusable to me) sounding effects - rather key ones for a guitar effect pedal that I can't get to sound to my liking. Editing is pretty cryptic at first but after about 10 minutes, it's pretty easy.

The unit uses ZNR which is a type of smart NR that works pretty well - silence. All the effects sound great with the exceptions of any of the distortion settings, the amp simulation, and the compression. The distortions sound really tizzy and "processed". The Amp simulation won't fool anyone and the compression tends to lose the character of the guitar. I'm into retro 60s and 70s rock so maybe it's just not to my liking. The distortions put a very distinct character into the sound and I just don't like it. I've tried for hours to get this thing to sound like tubes and blues and crunch but it just sounds like tizz. However, the chorus, reverb, delays, EQ, and everything else is excellent sounding. The auto-wah, and wah simulation (optional pedal needed for crybaby-like sound) are unheard of in this price range. It's kind of a mixed bag. In order for this thing to sound good, it MUST go through a guitar amp. The amp simulation isn't worth anything to me.

It's plastic- but it's under $150. Don't stomp on it too hard and too much unless you buy an extended warranty that covers abuse. As long as it's physically pampered, it will probably get beat up. The electronics are probably pretty reliable, but this is a foot pedal and that's more than half the game.

You cannot get a better multi-effects unit for under $150. Period.
I'm returning this to the store though because the distortion/amp simulation are pretty key for a unit of this sort and they just don't cut it for 60s and 70s rock. I have to spend more money.
If you like the ZOOM sound- this is killer.