Zoom 9150 Valve DSP

Ease of Use, well there are 2 kind of users. One wants to turn less buttons possible to get a good sound. Next wants to have plenty of options do make fine tuning. I would be last of those 2. So I have not as many options I d like to have. On the other hand it cant be as perfect I d like to have my sound due to missing options. So let me tell U this way if U find a patch and adapt it to Ur requirements it is easy. The Sound is at least good. No probs if U play overdrived or distored, the valve will give U the kick. Much harder if U want a clean warm or even hot sound. Do not expect to get sound like a valve running on 300V! But U can take the small path at borders to been overdrived (a compressor between the guitar and the Zoom 9150 will help U to stay in this path without missing the dynamics of the guitar). OK I m already talking about sound quality...

The manual is OK even if it doesnt explain all options to 100% but it will get U started.

Rating overall fot this passage would be 8. A bit more options for me or a bit easier for the other type of user.

I have several guitars, nothing special. Most I customise my self. Mid or lower price rank. Perhabs the PUs I still use are the reason why I have a bit noise. Amp is a real transistor crap with a good Roland speaker. I have more equipment but due to I make first a strong clean sound and add effects later on I m able to judge without mentioning these. The valve of the Zoom 9150 gives life to my sound. The valve is part of the preamp (main part for me). Of course there are many better ones at "affordable" prices. But I d get a bit more and I d pay much more! Reverb is good. Some are ok. Others like Phaser are crap. It can do all but sound quality may get poor.

Now how to judge? Sound or sound/price? My kind of sound or all sounds? What for it is used or all it could be used for (with all poor effects)?

Let me give U the sound/price here for me what would be 8-9 but rather a 9 due to I know what I have to spend to get better.

Well I had on the years I use it never problems. But I m rather pesimist, I had a screwdriver ans a valve on me. Ok, OK I had backup patches on other mutlis (without valve!!!) I d use for the modulation effects that I could directly use. So no real backup. the case of the Zoom 9150 is plasic but I trust it. But not realy the valve or the electronics.

Here the judgment is hard. It never let me down so 9

What kind of notes I see here? LOL sry but LOL again. It is the same for so many other bad reports I read. I can imagine the native english speaking guy which writes a letter to these poor japanese guys and they trining to find out. He simply expects they would understand. :D Futhermore he doesnt have a idea of the japanese culture, very polite but it would be a shame to accept they dont understand. So the reply is "I appologize but I cant help U". Keep Ur letter simple, very simple! And be polite, much more as U usualy do. If U know some japanese words insert them!

I had no manual and they send me it totaly for free!!! From Japan to Germany with airmail!!! Hello THX and bye where in japanese. Sry but those bad votings reflects at my opinion only Ur self.

Here without doubt full 10 pts!

But if some1 needs a Zoom manual check here:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/archive/Previous_Model/

Well a hard job to addapt it but it fits real good now. Kind of music would be Pink floyd and others around 60-80's. If it was stolen and I d get it that cheap anytime again. If not I d hope to have the money to buy next better one (-> 300 to 400 Euro!!!). I had a GFX-8 with amp sim i could compare with. Shure nice sims, but only sims. Dont try to sim a valve if U can have a real one. OK sims are getting better and better but compare prices to a used real. It may be a hard job to adjust those but u will be paid out. I love the valve!!!

Anything you wish it had? More options ^^

Take the Zoom 9150 as it ist and U will be happy with it!

Feel free to send me Ur non distored or overdrived patches (even if U use that preamps... THX ^^) or to ask me for help related to Zoom 9150 patches.

Judgement same questions like for the sound quality...

quite easy to use with a great display. about 100 full-editable presets. the manual is good. I bought a BEHRINGER VAMP and the difference is unbelieveable. ZOOM 9150 IS REALLY EASY TO USE.

-- german -- deutsch --

Einfach zu bedienen. Grossartiges Display. Rund 100 vollstandig-editierbare Werk-presets. Das Handbuch ist informativ. Ich hab mir vor einiger Zeit einen Behringer VAMP gekauft und der unterschied ist unglaublich. DAS ZOOM 9150 IST WIRKLICH EINFACH ZU BEDIENEN.

GREAT TUBE SOUND, with a little bit noisy in some settings. The ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) does it's job "okay". I use the L/R Outputs direct to desk, the headphone out goes into my simple 50 Watt Park Series Marshall. Sounds great. I record that sound, just how it cames from the backside of the unit, with a little (external) compressor assorted. I can play with my band, hear a great sound on my AMP, while the mixing table record the stereo signal without a microphone. Sounds wonderfull.

pretty easy, pretty good!

-- german -- deutsch --

Grossartiger Rohrensound, mit leichtem Rauschen in manchen Einstellungen. (wenn Gitarre nicht voll aufgedreht ist, od. extremer compressor effekt aktiviert ist) Die eingebaute ZNR (Zoom Noise Reduction) macht ihre Arbeit "ganz okay". Ich verwende den linken / rechten Ausgang an der Ruckseite um damit direkt in's Mischpult zu gehen, Den Kopfhorerausgang verwende ich als Output fur meinen
einfachen Transistor-50 Watt Marshall aus der "Park" Serie. Das ganze klingt sowohl am Mischpult, als auch (gleichzeitig) uber den Marshall ausgezeichnet. Im Mischpult habe ich noch einen einfachen
Kompressor eingeschleift der das Rauschen in leisen Passagen dammt. Ich kann live mit meiner Band spielen und gleichzeitig mit einem Stereosignal direkt ins Pult gehen, ohne Mikro. Und es klingt
wunderbar.

I own this thing since 8 Years, bought it USED at that time for about $200,- I played it for 3 Years and then it gets dusty in any corner... it survived 3 relocations and many more. Found it a week ago and it works still! All my presets are there, everythings fine.

-- german -- deutsch --

Ich besitze das Gerat jetzt seit rund 8 Jahren, hab es gebraucht fur ca. 2.200,- OS (160 EURO) gekauft, 3 Jahre lang dauerhaft verwendet. Dann ist es in irgendeiner Ecke verstaubt, hat 3 Umzuge uberlebt, und noch so einiges mit gemacht. Vor einer Woche wiedergefunden, und siehe da: es funktioniert immer noch. Alle meine Einstellungen sind da. Alles Super.

The support is like hell. Look at their Website. You will never find a PDF, Handbook, Data Sheet,
OR JUST ANY INFORMATION. Notice: THIS HERE, on Harmony Central are the all-out most information about this unit that you can get. What a bummer!

-- german -- deutsch --

Der Support ist die Holle. Schau auf die Website, Du wirkst kein PDF, Handbuch, Datenblatt, oder auch nur IRGENDEINE information daruber finden. BEACHTE: DAS HIER, was Du gerade liest bei Harmony Central sind sicherlich die umfangreichsten Informationen die es da draussen uber dieses Gerat gibt. WIE SCHADE, eigentlich!

if you are searching for a cheap 19" effect preamp unit and you find it at any corner around, in your local store, used, maybe on ebay. if the price is about 150 Euro / Dollar get it. You will not get any better unit with this sound and value for that money. very recommendable!

-- german -- deutsch --

Wenn Du auf der Suche nach einem gunstigen 19" Effekt PreAmp bist und Du siehst das Gerat zufallig irgendwo, in einem Musikgeschaft in Deiner Nahe, gebraucht, vom Flohmarkt oder Ebay, wenns nicht mehr als 150 Euro kostet und in Ordnung ist: Zuschlagen! Fur das Geld gibt's auf dem Markt kein vergleichbares Gerat welches eine solche Vielfalt und einen derart warmen Klang bietet. Der VAMP von Behringer kostet 175 EUR und ist das (im Vergleich) bei weitem nicht wert.

This is a follow-up. I had a unit very noisy, hence useless with clean sounds, and I found out why: the psu that came with was not powerful and stabilized enough. Beware when you buy on ebay...
Now I have a proper psu, and the noise is gone!
Dead easy to use, especially with MIDI, it has the easiest/cleverest assignation function I've ever seen. I use a yamaha mfc5 (clear design, what other units seriously lacks) and I couldn't be more satisfied.
The numerous insert capabilities of this zoom makes it absolutely future-proof. Go on...

I use this with a sans amp classic in insert (parallel mode) so the zoom provides powerful eq, delays, reverb and so on, as well as volume settings. When I need a clean sound I just have other patches which are stand-alone settings.
I go then in a rocktron velocity 250 power amp ,then in your generic 300 watters 4x12.
Let's face it: KILLER sound. Since the zoom is lacking in the drive department the sans amp provides perfection here.
But the zoom has some of the best clean sound around (in overdrive mode, low on the gain it is), and the effects are very correct for live use.
And no noise.
Of course you have to work your settings correctly, but after a while it's natural.
In my very set-up (dead simple, no?) and for the price I paid, it gets a ten.

Absolutely reliable, and my yamaha midi footswitch is of the same kind.
Hey, my unit didn't die when abused with the wrong psu! Try that with a digicrap dod fooltrap...

I didn't have a manual for it, asked directly to zoom in tokyo and you won't believe, as I didn't: One week later a full-paper manual came via air-mail in my mailbox!
Hats off, full ten again.

I am very happy I found out about the psu issue.
My set-up sounds killer, but the rocktron power amp is a very fine thing I must say. As is the Classic sansamp...
What I like most is that all my stuff is contained in a 3-unit rack, and I only have a small midi controller at my feet. That's very appreciable, and tough to break/unset. When gigging that counts much than anything else, given the crowded tiny stages we more often than not get.
There is a slight timegap when changing presets, but very manageable. In fact it is less an annoyance than a pod or v-amp , they tend to be very mute when changing sounds...
I like to play/gig with this set-up, nothing can go wrong since everything is sealed in the rackcase.
I play a lot of things, no jazz nor numetal though, and 10 good presets are all I need to cover it all. At least I can relax hence improve my performance, and I can't forget that I am a guitarist, not a dancer...
Thanks for reading, have fun

This is my 2nd review and after owning this now for 3 yrs I can give a proper evaluation.This unit can take some time to get used to and I still have some trouble with patch levels.I use it with a Peavey TG Raxx preamp and am currently using a Peavey classic 60/60 poweramp.This unit doesnt really sound that great on its own BUT..... in combination with the TG Raxx preamp its frigin awesome.

In my system this really cooks Period!I dont understand some of the other reviewers noise problems (I must of got a good one)I think the Efx are Good, not great but I only use a little delay and some pitch shifting and chorus on some clean patches.My honest opinion is that if Hendrix or Page had come across one of these things back in the early 70s these things would be HIGHLY ACCLAIMED!and worth some $$$$.After tweaking this thing for 3 yrs I can get just about any useable tone that I WANT.

So far so Good 12 yrs old!

Nada

I really like mine----It is a part of my rig for as long as it holds up.After owning a 1973 Marshall jmp 50/wtt head(for24yrs) and a 63 Fender Deluxe I Can make it sound Better than those amps at any volume including LOUD!!My speakers by the way are Celestion V 30s in an old Fender Bandmaster 2/12 cabinet.The down side of this unit is the delays,a little brash sounding but as I stated I really dont use much.Oh by the way the Tube does make a difference,Ive used 4 different ones and Im sticking with a Groove tube 12ax7 rated at a medium gain that a freind gave me.One word of advice!! ThIS IS NOT FOR THE PLUG IN AND PLAY kind of person,or any one with less than a 110 IQ.

Not so easy. Too much parameters, so you can get f***** in many places tonewise. EG for the drive you have turbo, tone, and after that para-eq, go find the right setting that lasts...
Editing is easy, given the parameters crowd in there.
The midi board I hve , a yamaha fc5 which works perfectly with my dod g10 , simply doesn't work here. Whatever the manual says to do.
Simply put, I really don't like the thing, the DOD g10 is way easier, you never get lost, and it has good tones.
The valve-whatsoever zoom doesn't.

No no no. Far too noisy to be usable. The znr noise reduction is in use only in the drive module. So with clean sounds you're stuck, shhhh. You also get a poor definition of the sound, like a slight fog, must be the old technology but the newest models do that too...
I find the drive sounds absolutely ****, get a tech21 gt-2 instead.
The valve? A big big joke, the best sound I found was in the transistor mode! Of course I tried to change the tube, nothing that I could hear.
I like the tremolo though, but the noise is too loud. Whatever you do it is too noisy to stand it more than five minutes.
Because of this the unit is basically worthless. Sorry Zoom.

Very reliable, for the good it does.
I wouldn't use it at all period.

Great. I purchased the thing on ebay without manual nd the folks at zoom in japan send me a manual within a week! All I hd to do was to give them the serial number and my adress.
Now if that's no customer support. They even didn't charge me!
Thank you again zoom

What a disappointment! Not that I did hope much. But I wanted this if only for electro-acoustic guitar(comp, para-eq, reverb, effects) and man I tell you forget about it. Too much noise.
I hve old 9002 and 9002pro and they are way better than the 9150 (especially the pro since it has a fine noise reduction and a switchable speaker sim) so I don't see the point except from a marketing view.
The GM200 from zoom is way better for electric sounds, and drive capabilities. It is noisy but the znr works well there. This is the way to go if you have few money to spend on ebay.

Nothing comes much easier than this to program!! After 10 minutes, it was almost second nature and I achieved the sounds that I was trying to get with very little effort. The manual is very good in general, but some of the MIDI functions such as Control Change mode could be a little better explained.

My set up is Strat Plus Deluxe and Columbus Les Paul Copy, Zoom 9150, Behringer FCB1010 MIDI Foot Controller, Marshall 8008 Valvestate Stereo Power Amp and 2 x Celestion 100W Gold Speakers.
Compressor is a little noisy, but what the hell!, at least you can get that nice punchy Compressor sound which I certainly couldnt on my RP7. Pre Amp tones are superb as are the digital effects. Only small issue is that if you want to use Stereo Delay you are unable to use Reverb at the same time, as it uses its processing power.
Play in a band that covers Blondie to Pink Floyd and this set up gives me all that I require. The Floyd clean tones in particular are to die for!!!

Can't really comment yet. Had it for one week and have first gig with it next weekend

Contacted Zoom (Japan) reference MIDI control of the unit and although it is long discontinued, found them to be excellent.

Definitely need a MIDI foot controller to get max potential out of it and the FCB 1010 works a treat with it. Programming the two together could not be easier. Only adverse comment is lack of Tuner. Value for money, although used I honestly dont think the Tones can be beaten.

i have had this unit since it was new . and its an over all pretty good sounding digital processor. i have only just recently replaced the tubes . an i need battery info as well
if anybody could help me find a manual i would greatly apreaciate it .

it have some cool sound banks and some of the features are very useful as well its not the quietest unit in the world but it does have some interesting presets and with a little programming its easy to get the sound your looking for effect wise & (within reason)
all of these multi effect processors and have their limitations
but over all it has some decent patches

I never had a problem with it and. I have had it since it was new .
have played over 500+ shows with it in my rig . (didtnt always use it )

sucks i have needed a manual for a while now i have called and emailed them numerious times. and to no avail !
LET ME PUT IT TO YA THIS WAY, AFTER I BOUGHT IT. IT WAS MINE AND
THEY DID NOT OR WOULDNT ANSWER ANY QUESTION REGARDING THIS PRODUCT !

IT'S BEEN A PRETTY GOOD PRETTY GOOD PIECE OF EQUIPMENT

This thing is as easy to use as any other effect processor. I've been at this game since the mid - eighties. If you can't figure this thing out, 1) You didn't bother to READ the manual, 2) you have zero experience with DIGITAL processors, or 3) You shouldn't even be thinking of this or any digital product. (oops, there's THAT word again!). If you can't PROGRAM a VCR, stop reading this and any other reveiws here. You need to immediately sell all your digital products (microwave, alarm clocks, t.v., vcr, wrist watch, etc... Translation: this Zoom 5150 is no, I repeat, no different than ANY other digital proc. I've had this for years now. I suppose any
tone - deaf person could get it to sound good. I, however have a pretty trained ear, and could not. The manual is just that, a typical little booklet.

I have had the dreaded "Gear Lust Syndrome," from the very early days of playing. I have owned and/or played just about every brand and style of equipment available to us mere mortals. Currently, I play a Fender Tele Deluxe with the Lace Sensor P.U. (Dual Red in the bridge and Blue single in the neck. Also have a very old, as in the late eighties, Hohner Headless Steinberger copy. Other tone gear includes: Hughes and Kettner Blues Master, Sholz Sustainor, (2) Zoom GM 200 Modelers, a 30 watt solid state practice amp, Ampeg G-4 and B-25 heads, a mid 70's Fender Bassman head, and a Musicman HD 130 head. There is also a Fender Hot Rod Deville w/single twelve in the house. Have other "classic" pedals from Boss, Ibanez, Digitech, etc... Have Digitech TRS-24s and DHP-55. Overall the sound quality of ANY Zoom product is middle-of-the-road. Anyone who says otherwise is, quite frankly, TONE DEAF!!!! Zoom CANNOT make a product with low noise. Do not believe the ads, the hype, or any person who says otherwise. There are as, on any other device with pre-sets, very few usable sounds. But, in the hands of a good programmer, it can sound better than presets. But, as anyne who ever owned a Zoom knows, you must scrap all hope of quiet, pristine, and overall good sound. With Zoom it is pure fantasy. The effects are cheesy, the thing can double as a pink noise generator, and one or two presets are usable ONLY while practicing. Other than that..... If you like or want a Zoom, pick up the GM200 or the original 9002 or the 9000s. For recording these sound good ON TAPE, not while you record. This thing is a PREAMP not an amp: It WILL not sound like any other thing on the planet exept another Zoom. Think Peavey sound and you get the picture. For practicing loudly in the front yard, it sounds O.K. When you're PRACTICING who cares what it sounds like? It's more important for you to be honing your chops than worrying about how ANYTHING sounds.

Seldom used it out, but I take care of my stuff. Had a couple of jacks break loose inside but I am a n electronic repair tech. I've fixed the FEW things that went wrong, but they were all my fault. If you take care of your stuff, it won't break. It ALWAYS turns on; never failed.

Never had a bone to pick with them, as I've always fixed it myself.

I play all original material, exept for praise and worship at church. Even so, it doesn't fit the bill, most times. This stupid thing only has 9 volts on the tube. Anyone who knows anything about tubes knows that HUNDREDS of volts are necessary for them to be freed from the confines of horrible sound. Thus, it is very muddy and constricted. I tried to sell it, but I was a fool for letting myself be talked into buying it. I don't follow anyone elses path to tone. I don't want to be or sound LIKE anyone. You won't find anyone elses tone locked in here to be freed by you. Don't worry so much about being someone else. You are not; you are you. Why bother sounding like this record or that artist. Who cares? stop COPYING them and be the one COPIED! I've been playing for going on 23 years, now. I've seen all the trends come and go, all the gear become "the bomb," then fade away. I don't care about trends. When you give in to the hype and buy this or that because some superstar uses it, all you do is make the companies rich. They GIVE the stars their products! Us mere mortals have to BUY our gear.
This product cannot be compared to anything else. IT IS A ZOOM. Unless you get it for free or close to it, don't buy this. It HAS to have a speaker emulator to sound any good. In the hands of a programming "GURU" it can sound O.K. But the noise kills any incentive. It is average, in the exreme.

Piece of cake! Within no time it's possible to understand almost everything. I bought mine used and without the user guide. It wasn't hard to figure out how to start programming patches.

This unit rocks! The distortion effects are a bit noisy in highest gain settings, and even more if the 'Turbo' parameter is set to 'on'... Sometimes even ZNR can't hold it. By setting your distortions to average gain, no problems at all.

The tube clean sound is simply delicious. It gets even better with the right EQ settings and a little bit chorus (great chorus!). In general, the effects are great, except the 'PdlWah', that sucks so bad when used with distortion. This wah sounds bad, but DigiTech's Valve FX wah is even worst... ;)

As I said, i bought mine used, I dunno how old is it. But it is working perfectly.

I contacted'em by email and got answers to everything I asked!

I found this unid perfect to hard rock and heavy metal. It sounds great, is reliable and is very easy to operate. And it's cheap! :)
I'd buy again if mine gets stolen/destroyed/abducted/dead/etc.

Hard to use... even with a manual. It's a bit tedious having to scroll thru the menu, then select then flip the dial. But I guess once you're used to it... it's fine.

Unreal. I use the 9150 for my electric, acoustic and have even used the chorus/delay for voice effects. I've run it thru many different amps - Fender, Marshall, Yamaha - all with good effect (no pun intended!).

I've had my unit almost since it came out... let's see... probably close to 10 years now. The face place is coming off a bit, but that's because it's been gigging almost weekly. It gets thrashed around a lot - but never dropped yet - and I don't exactly keep it in its case all the time. It spent the first 5 years moving around stuck to the magnetic speakers of a Fender Pro 185. That was the road case...