Zoom 505

Overall, for the price, I think this is an excellent buy for the beginning guitarist, or the singer/songwriter who records out of the home. Although I have played percussion and piano for about 15 years, I started guitar this year and have found numerous other uses for it, such as running vocals through it. I found the manual (sheet) to be very easy to understand (I have a Roland E-70 synth, though..if you can read THAT, you can read anything). It is easy to edit and create patches, though I would state that the resident patches are WAY too high in general. Turn 'em down !! The restore factory settings feature allows one to start all over again, if one needs to.

Overall, I think the distortion is less flexible and pleasing than the chorus, compression, etc, but I was able to resolve a lot of this with my amp. I have noticed some noise problems with certain voicings. Still, for the money, its hard not to argue in its favor.

So far, other than dreadfully short battery life, it's worked like a champ. I am a little unsure of its lifespan on a stage, but I am planning on building a protective platform/box for it so that at least it can't be kicked around. At least it is cheap enough to replace easily. My first few gigs, it will be all I use until I really decide which direction to go....it allows me to play, I like that.

haven't talked to Zoom

Overall, I would keep using it, for the fact that I can preprogram a whole set s worth of songs and have them ready-to-go. I use my synth's sustain pedal ($15, Yamaha) as a bank-to-bank pedal and it keeps me flying through the different patches. I wish it was a little bigger (am I the only one who sometimes hits both by accident, thus activating the tuner ?)and made of a slightly denser, tougher casing. Overall, though, its cheap and fast and versatile. Again, I think great for a beginner. at netresult.com/~jay, I found a database of voices created by users to get different effects, a good place to start.

I could program it straight from the box. Everything is straightforward execpt the EQ which is coded with cryptic numbers so I have to get the manual out every time I change an EQ setting. It is still usefull though. I am prone to changing settings on the spur of the moment so the speed with which editing can be done is great. It does display E-D-I-T on the screen letter by letter though which slows me down a little.

The unit does sound great but you do need to tolerate some noise. On clean patches the unit is completly silent but on distortion settings, even the acoustic simulator, the unit starts to hiss. The noise reduction doesn't help very much. The sounds themselves though are so proffessional sounding that this gets 9 out of 10.

I haven't had it that long so I don't know. It looks tough enough. I do treat my stuff fairly roughly and seeing as it's floor mounted it's going to be bashed a bit. I do trust it though.

Havn't had to deal with the company. I did hear a story that a local music shop near me had sold an unauthorised import and the distributer had gone through the room because it was a substandard unit. I have played it and it seems alright to me (It is shown in the window for #79 and has no warranty, the local dealer for Zoom sold me a good one for the same price). The company must have pretty tight quality control.

If I had my way I would make all of my band buy one as you can use it on vocals, keyboards and drums as well. I think that it is better than my friends 3030 and that costs #350+. I would definately buy it again. I do wish it had tremolo or an auto swell effect but I can use other pedals for those.

pretty easy to figure out. took about 10 minutes in the music store. manual is pretty good, nice and clear, good layout, nifty little foldout thing (i hate booklets, you can't see everything at once)
wish it was easier to get from a1 to d4, though

acoustic distortion is great ... just what i've been looking for. only problem is that the Acoustic distortion has a funny "fuzzy" sound when you strum hard, but it's not that noticeable. been trying for months to get an acoustic sound out of my alesis q2 & 3630 ... nice to see that a cheap $110 pedal could sound so cool
reverb is a little weak ... compressor/limiter is very cool, especially when strumming hard with a humbucker. nice
pretty quiet, too (but i only tried through headphones)

i tend to be a little gentle with my equipment, so i don't think there is a worry. since it's light, i can stuff it and other junk in my backpack without feeling like i'm going hiking. feels sturdy and well built for a plastic piece

never needed to, yet. they don't have a website, which is kind of odd since most major manufacturers have a website now.

would definitely buy it again. i needed a small, good-sounding and portable(but not necessarily batter-powered, since it sucks juice like mad) unit that i could play through headphones, and this was perfect. actually, i was pretty blown away by the price, since i bought a Boss MT-2 metal zone pedal about a year ago for about the same price, and i think the distortion on this sounds better than the boss!! (and this does so much more)

The Zoom 505 is very easy to use. I got the hang of it while testing it out at the local music store. Everything you need to know is right there in the manual. Switching between effect is easy, just make sure they are programmed together.

Most people say they get a lot of noise out of the 505, but I haven't had any problems like that. If you program your patches well (as opposed to using the preset ones) you can get really good effects from this box. Some of the options aren't as configurable as more expensive effects boxes.

It is plastic, but feels like it could take a beating. Even so, never gig without a backup, no matter how realiable you think it is.

I've never had to use customer support.

I would definately but this again. It is so easy to use and sounds great. With the FP-01 Expression pedal, the 505 is a great value.

You have to play around with the 505 for a while (about 2 hours), but then you should have no worries working your way around and will find that you start getting some good sounds out of it (as opposed to the presets which well, aren't good). reading the manual may also help too. I have only ever used 1 other effects proccessor (fx-7)which I understand is fairly easy to use and found this just as easy.

On first impressions the 505 sounded shithouse, but if you have some patience you will find that you can get some really cool sounds out of it. The reason I bought this was not for the distortions at all (I had heard that they weren't too good) and I already own a big muff, but since buying it, I use it for solos and specific sounds that i can't already get. Most noise generated by effects is taken care of by the noise reduction which is cool because it doen't fade out (fx-7 users will know what I mean), but on high settings on high volumes you can hear little computer noises, this could be because of interference from another source however, or could be typical to all effects proccessors. I won't split hairs over most of effects as most people's opinions vary over whats right or wrong with them, the delay is probably a bit limited with it's settings. I have read of people experiencing noise problems which they overcame by putting the 505 in their effects loop, I tried this but be Fender blues deluxe did not take to kindly to it making several very loud feedback type noises, but considering I haven't had any noise problems and the 505 works fine before the amp this isn't an issue.

I havent had the unit long, but it has survived almost one month in my garage and has ventured on stage a few times without falling to bits. It is made out of plastic, which makes me a bit hesistant to give it a high rating as I have trashed all the plastic pedals I have ever owned. I really hope this one is different, it woud really be a shame if it broke.

Cosidering I have no input for this section I would like to say that the Australian band Juice has the one of the best CD I have ever heard (blues, funk, rock sort of music), and features some really, really cool guitar playing.

You can't go wrong, the 505 is as cheap as a regular pedal and has a swag of effects, sure don't have the control you would with a pedal but how many differents settings on a pedal can you honestly use? Especially when playing live, a major advantage are programmable patches that you can call up without crouching down and twiddling with your knobs. I do however wish it had a tremolo effect, but beggars can't be choosers! I use the 505 on passages which were previously clean, now with some different effects they have some personality. I can write some cool zany riffs a la rage against the machine now too. I would certainly buy this all over again, provided it was borrowed first so I could learn how cool it was. It has it's limitations but unless your intending it for studio use some patience will leave you quite satisfied with this unit.
P.S. could anyone with any good pathces please mail them, this would be highly appreciated and very cool.
P.P.S. Anyone out there who knows anything about "jen" wah pedals please get in touch.

This is one of the most user friendly pedals out there.... If you can't figure this on out, then I suggest staying away from music....

The effects are great except that the flanger setting are always quiet...

This unit is reliable if you are not a moron and put the patches in order, which is simple. Very sturdy to kicks.

GREAT PEDAL

I find the 505 very easy to use, the patches are quite simple to edit. The manual is simple to follow, but it's on a single large sheet of paper, so it's hard to hold!!

It gets a little noisy occasionally. You're a little limited on levels of effects you use (such as there's only 9 settings for Chorus)Strangely it seems to act as an antenna occasionally, so my amp sometimes picks up German radio when plugged in (you have to listen_VERY_ hard to hear it tho')

Plastic! Don't gig without a backup!

Never used it!

I'd buy another, but perhaps a 2020, 3030 next time...

I had trouble figuring out to get this thing out of edit mode without pressing the Store button. You have to do stuff like hold the button for 2 seconds to get out of modes & various other little things that are a bit annoying. You gotta hit both buttons down for it to bypass & that's a little annoying too. Also, if you wanna change an effect from something that's in (let's say) D3 to A1, it's really hard, cos you gotta go from D4, E1, E2, E3, E4, F1 etc...all the way to F & then back to A again. You can always change the effects to what you want so it's one press away, but that all takes pre-planning & you really don't have time to sit there between songs & figure out which settings you're going to use & what not...

For the distortion I like (heavy bass fuzz) with the gain pumped up to 30 (max) you get a lound humm & that's quite annoying. :\ You can get a decent fuzz out of it w/some fussing w/various other modes, but it's nothing compared to a GOOD petal (Big muff, Blue Box, Fender Blender...). The doubling effect sounds really bad. It's just some LOUSY reverb w/ a dash of delay. it's bad!!! The octave feature is also a bad sound. I wish there was a way to tweak the amount of octave I want, but there's not. It's either octave yes or octave no... :\

I would not depend on this petal for anything! it's more of a sampler petal so you can see for beginners what various things you can have for effects. After a few months of owning it, the edit buttons started to stick & i couldn't get them up again for a long time. Also, sometimes it gets really quiet & I can't get the volume back up. That's frustrating!

For such a cheap petal, I wouldn't bother going through the trouble of calling for support. Just get a nice petal that does your favorite effects. If you like a phase, I like to use the DOD DFX20-B Stereo Phaser & for a great distortion, invest in a Fender Blender. If you like delay, I use a DOD DFX94 Digital Delay. It does what I like it to & it does it well. The Mu-Tron octave divider is a really cool octave also. You really don't need this petal! Fun to play with, but don't waste your cash on it!

I absolutely would not buy this again! Concider it a waste of money! Get *real* effects & stay away from this trash!

Really simple. I figured out how to use in the store without a manual. Just plug and start shredding away. Editing is pretty easy. It's a bit cumbersome with the limited number of buttons and knobs, but once you get the hang of it, "Oh, well, that make's sense." The manual is a nifty fold out sheet. I figured it out in the store so the sheet was just neat to look at.

Yeah, it's a bit noisy, but you usually don't notice it if you're playing a loud distortion. On some of the quieter settings with more dynamic range, you'll notice it more. The effects are pretty nifty. Some are frivolous, but some are really cool! That depends on what you want. Everyone says that the default effects are pretty lame. Some of them are, some are mediocre, some blow my mind. Either way, you can easily change them and make your own.

It has a plastic covering, but it does have a solid metal base. I'm not a live performer or anything, but I think I could trust. Lets put it this way, it hasn't busted, and I don't expect it to.

Didn't have to use it.

For me, it's a neat toy. I love it. Its small, compact, and has 80% of the "professional" stuff. I'd buy it again, definatly. I like the fact that it has a great variety of effects that can be used together. I looked at the flashier stuff like the DOD FX7, Digitech RP-12, etc, and the 505 looked good enough for me. I like to tinker around and I don't have a huge of money to spend. CHeck it out. It's not pro grade gear, but it's definatly cool.

manual is quite good in showin how to use the zoom. editin patches and everything else is quite easy.

most of the effects are good...some of the distortion settings leave something to be desired though..but i managed to make some of the distortion settings sound better by stickin a ibanez soundtank compressor in front of the zoom. it does get abit noisy with high gain on some distortions...then again...which distortion isnt noisy? noise reduction isnt that good...compression isnt that good also..but the limiter is.

had it for more than 8 months with no problems at all... and as everyone has said...use a wall wart...eats batteries in 2 or 3 hours.

n/a

dont think i'll need to buy it again as i think it'll last for quite a while. for the money nothing can come close to the zoom 505.

Although, as everyone else has said, some of the preset patches are a little gaudy. It is very easy to reset the patches. It took me all of 15 minutes to figure out how the entire unit worked (no previous multi-effects pedal). Although some complain that with only two pedals it is difficult to switch to a far away patch, I have found it extreemely easy to set the patches up so switching is a breeze

O.K. This is why I am submiting this evaluation... Almost all the effects are very good (except the distortions but I have a Proco Rat and a Boss Blues Driver to take care of that) but there is way too much hiss that comes out of this thing. I tried using it with a battery, an adapter, in a chain of effects, and by itself, and every time it had this unbearably loud hiss. When you plug the out put into the amp, you could automatically hear it, even if the unit is on bypass. I tried it in my friend amp through the pre-amp section and the hiss is non-existent (by the way, I tried lowering the output but it had no effect). I am very upset because I loved the unit (it has great effects, is small, and very friendly).

Although it is made out of plastic, it feels sturdy

Unfortunatly, I am going to return mine because of the hiss. I have a Jackson PS-4 guitar and a Fender Champion 110 amp. The amp is a little 25watter with alot of punch and by guitar has humbukers. I am used to silence. Even my Ratt pedal is quieter. I am going to look at the DOD FX7 and the Digitech XP200 Modulator (I have a Crybaby Wah 535, a Boss Blues Driver, a Ratt Distortion Pedal, and a footswitch for my amp, I basically only need modulation effects). I would suggest to check out the Zoom unit with your amp (in store) before purchase.

After you dink around with the Zoom 505 for a while it becomes quite easy to use. Its just those first couple of days that it is confusing. If you are a nit-picky person and want sounds perfect than this can take a little time in editing the patches to get the precise sound. If you are just jamming around, its great. The manual could use some help. I think that is kinda why it is confusing at first (cause the manual is too). Overall, it is a quite handy and fairly easy to use.

Some of the factory preset settings are a bit noisy and none of them are perfect at first but a little time in tweaking them out usually solves that. All the effects are pretty good except the metal distortion. It just doesn't really deliver that "metallica" punch that you think it'd give. Putting more mid's and low's does help, but I still haven't found a good setting for pure Metallica crunch. If you're after a more of a metal shredding pedal, this isn't the one for you. The zoom 505 really is a jack of all trades and master of none.

I've had the Zoom 505 for a couple of months and it is really great so far. It is quite small for a multi-effects pedal so it is very versitile. I bought it for just playing around on and practicing on because it had a lot of effects for a good price. After some experience I can say that it would do OK in a gig. Back up for individual effects (like wahwah and metal) is suggested. But for plain old garage band jamming, its a good deal.

I don't think I'd buy it again because so many other good pedal prices are coming down. The two things I really don't like about it are the Metal Distortion and the Auto-Wah. There just isn't anything like the real Wah-Wah (Jimi Hendrix Crybaby). I compared this with as many other multi-effects pedals as I could. It wasn't to expensive and to complicated and it wasn't to cheap and crappy either. I had really hoped it would have delay but it doesn't. I have recorded some stuff with it and it gets the job done. Its fine for me and if your too serious about music, than get something better. If you could care less about music, get something cheaper. Otherwise, its a good pedal to start your career on.

Very easy to set patches and use the machine. Easy to get fairly good sounds - but most of the factory presets are too extreme. I wish it had a little more parameter control in the decay and period of the delay section. Manual is skimpy but it's all there. I think the ZOOM folks made very clever use of the buttons and indicators that are on it.

Some effects are noisy - especially the acoustic sound. Most are pretty decent. You get what you pay for and this is a great value, but it may not be the right thing for professionals.I think the Zoom folks made very clever use of the buttons that are on it.

Everyone complains that it's made of plastic but then again I don't see any reports here of them failing. Too early to say.

Not much experience here. I sure wish they were on the WWW. I have one question in particular, in case anyone knows the answer... Again Does anyone know what the circuitry looks like at the control jack? I want to put a pedal on and suspect it may just be a potentiometer that's needed, but I do not wish to buy the pricey and over-light Zoom pedal.

I haven't had it that long, but I'm really pleased with it. It's a great value! They pack so much stuff into a little box. With some gentle handling I think it will be my only box for a long while. My only complaint would be that it really should have a few more foot switches to get through the banks more quickly - right now one has to reach doen to jump banks; the foot pedals only go up and down the patches. A little more control of the delay would be nice.

After using this for about 6 months (?) I feel obligated to give a final update on the 505. Many people complain that the distorsions are weak when soloing, I also found this to be true, until I sat down one day and played with it for about 2 hours. I now am of the opinion that the sounds (especially the distorsions) rival any good Boss pedal on the market. Infact, I prefer the 505 metal distorsion (with compression = 7) to the MT-2 metal zone by Boss. The other tones possible is almost limitless (well, remeber that it only costs $110). I find that the factory presets are pretty weak, but once you tweak them, look out!

Best bang for the buck, period.

This is a follow-up to my earlier review of the Zoom 505. I've recently added the FP01 Expression Pedal, and would like to post my experiences with it.
The first thing I noticed was that it is awfully light in weight. It's made out of plastic. The only problem I have had with it is that it is so light that it "walks" away from me sometimes. To solve this, I've put right in front of my mic stand (the kind with the tripod base).
While the lightness is fine for carrying it in my backpack (with the 505), I really wish it were made out of metal, with a heavy base. It doesn't have the feel of my Dunlop Cry Baby Wah-Wah, but certainly is usable. The lightness causes me to have to hang my entire foot over the pedal; I cannot keep the heel of the foot on the ground (as with the Cry Baby). This makes it a little tiring (especially when standing while playing).
The pedal is definitely useful for me, as I switch from rhythm to lead breaks with the band, and need to adjust the volume a little. I need the leads to jump out, in front of the band, and then kill the volume a little when it's over. I had been messing with the volume knobs on the guitar, but it was a little difficult. The FP01 makes that a lot easier. I can also do pedal wah-wah with it (although I don't use it much). I use it as a volume pedal for the most part.
By the way, a stereo patch cord is used to hook it to the Expression Pedal jack on the 505. There is a stereo plug on each end. The FP01 also comes with regular in/out jacks for use as a regular volume pedal (with any signal chain).

The nice thing about the FP01 is that is controls the volume after the distortion section, before the modulation and reverb/delay section. So as I turn down the volume with the pedal, the distortion remains strong, but the guitar fades back into the reverb. Very nice and professional, similar to how recording studios would fade it. When turning down the knob on the guitar, it would kill some of the distortion as well as the volume. So now it kind of fades off into the distance. Also, if I turn the pedal down the whole way quickly, it still reverberates -- it doesn't just cut if all off suddenly.
It can also be used normally, as a thru-volume pedal, although I cannot imagine anyone using it this way with the 505 or 1010. I cannot comment on the sound quality of using it this way.
It can also be used for shifting pitches, but I haven't tried it out yet. I don't use the harmony functions, but I'll probably cook a patch next time we run though "Ramblin' Man" (for the solo at the end). However, even then I'll preset the harmony interval.
The sound quality is not a problem; I've never had a problem yet with it scratching, sticking, or glitching.

I've been using it regularly for a couple months, with no problems. I'm using it almost continuously when I play, and haven't noticed anything wearing away. It's not too loose; it retains the setting no matter where I leave it. It uses a gear-and-pot system like most variable pedals, so I would imagine it will eventually wear out. It might actually last longer, since it is only a digital controller (scratchiness from the pedal itself will never be a problem).
As I said before, it's plastic. It's good enough, but I would have preferred metal with a heavy base.

No need to deal with Zoom yet!

This is a tough call.
I can only recommend using it if you're playing in a band, and need to control volume quickly and accurately. I think it's overpriced, considering how light it is. It has a tendency to "walk away" from me, but as I said before, I put it in front of the mic stand when playing out.
Those playing by themselves would have little need for it. I would also not buy it solely for the pedal wah, as the auto-wah is fine for most applications.
If it were made heavier, or priced at least a 1/3 less, I could easily recommend it. As it is now, I think it is way overpriced, and only of value to those using this live, in a band situation. However, it does provide a continuous control over dry/wet signal, since it fades out the signal before the reverb.
By the way, anyone with info on how to modify a Cry-Baby with a stereo plug to accomplish the same thing (I've heard rumors about this going around) -- please send me the details.
P.S. to Zoom: please improve the 505 tuner. I still have to use my old one for any real accuracy. The Zoom can't even tell which pitch I'm using half the time (let alone how close), and I'm using high-output humbuckers. How tough can this be?

At first its a little confusing...the manual could be better. With a little practice you can edit your own patches easily. One nice feature is you can always return to the factory settings by resetting the unit.

The effects seem a little noisy. Some hissing on flanger and chorus and the A-1 patch is way too loud. The original patches sound ok, but you will definitely want to tweek them. Sounds are fair to very good no GREAT ones. (the acoustic patch comes close)

Had it for four months with no problems. Get the A/C adapter...it eats up batterys in three hours.

I wouldnt buy it again...I would save my money for better sounding effects. I love the multiple effects and small package. I hate the fact you dont have a knob for volume control. Its sounds like what I paid for.A lot of Fair effects at a cheap price. Dont buy it for pro-use. OK for fun and practice.

I've had the 505 for about two months now and I find it pretty easy to use. At first it was a little confusing. The manual is not very good but if you play around with it you'll get the drift.Editing is preety easy within it's limitations. But for 170 Bucks Canadian how can I complain??

It's a little noisy but that's not a big deal. The Wah is not a Dunlop but it's not bad for a multi effects unit..again especially for the price. The distortions are ...well..some good...some bad... the Overdrive and Blues are pretty good. The metal stuff is terrible..but I don't lke that stuff anyway so for me it's OK. One problem is that it does change the sound of my gear a bit. I have a Strat Lone Star and a 160 watt Fender Stage 112SE. I lose a little of that classic Fender sound. However, some very ,very patient tweeking has helped.You'll need patience. You can get your sound but you have to play with it!!

So far so good.. I don't gig any more so I won't be jumping on it!!

Again.. don't know.. its works fine after two months

Yeah.. for the price it's great. I looked at at DOD FX7 which is a better unit but not as good a deal.It's nice and versatile for a home player like me...good for jamming too. If anyone has some good Blues settings please Email me.

very easy to use; effects in 6 batches of 4; only problem is transferring between 2 effects; unless they are adjacent in the batch, you have to skip through the other effects or reprogram the effects; programming effects is easy; based on level of effect; also, small size makes transportation easier (6" X 9" X 2") built in tuner very handy

most preprogrammed effects are interesting but not very practical; distortion types are excellent in sound;

if handled correctly, probably fine; only had it for a month; so far no problems; warrentee included

it is definitely worth it; easy to use, cool sounds, pretty cheap, small in size; its a good deal

Manual is more than what you normally get.. It is a large foldout, so unless you xerox each section as a single page, its best to just tape it up on a wall.. Editing patches is pretty easy if you don't know what sound you're looking for and just want to experiment... to find a particular sound then you need to know the components of the sound.

It can be noisy... The initial turn-on setting of A1 is the loudest sound that it makes and it sucks to turn it on and get a bunch of feedback..It can be easily solved by changing the patch, I've just been lazy.. The effects are good for the money..I wanted an experimental pedal that would not require a big outlay of cash and this is it.. For a great sound, i would get a specialty pedal. Acoustic patch is great tho!

Im not a live guitarist, so I cant answer truthfully...But I have to say it works great in a controlled setting...Looks a little flimsy being plastic and all...But I would trust a Boss over this...

I bought the FP-02 Volume/Wah pedal and the manual really sucked... I tried to find the company and it took a while to find a US number for them and that number never answered (no answering machine either). Also the Internet doesnt have much in way of support either.. Zoom doesnt make it easy to find em....

Definitely would buy it again.. I bought because of the price and the fact that it will let me experiment with a bunch of effects cheaply. This is definitely the "Jack of all trades, master of none (except maybe acoustic)" pedal! I dont know how much I'd like it as a performance pedal, but for me it's the greatest thing out there.. An aside: if anyone has any good patches or good websites - E-mail me!

To change effects you have to scroll through the damn thing(unless you buy a foot switch)And it is hard to find good settings.

It's not noisy but most of the effects are really cheesy.They sound like a fucking computer or something.

It would break in a half a second.

If your in a band don't even consider wasting your money. If your not in aband it's still a waste of money. DON'T BUY IT!!!!

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.

N/A

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.

Easy as. I was using it straight out of the box, and its the first pedal I've ever owned. The manual is very good, it explains what you need to know. Editing is a piece of cake (as I said before its the first pedal I've owned, so if i can use it no troubles it must be easy :) ).

Some of the factory presets aree fantastic, some suck. It is a little noisy on some effects. The volume on the distortions is too high, and on the clean tones it is too low. Not good for songs that make quick tansitions between clean and dirty tones. But for the price, and for my purposes (I've only been playing a year) it is fantastic.

Don't know, only had it a month but hasn't broken down yet :)

Ditto

Fantastic value for money :) Id buy it again no hesitation.

Very good sound right out of the box. Many have complained about hiss and noise, but mine's very quiet with Fender Strat Plus through an old Twin Reverb. Haven't had lot of time to try editing yet, but looks simple enough. Manual written by Japanese High Schooler studying English as a second language, not too helpful. Would like to hear from anybody willing to share creative new patches.

Sound quality excellent to my ears, but then I have little or no exposure to any of the more expensive units.

Built sturdier than I expected for the price, but still wouldn't depend on it too much for professional use other than studio.

No need to deal with them so far.

Would buy it again in a minute - I don't think I have ever seen a better value for the money in over 30 years of buying musical equipment. If I were still playing out regularly I might spring for a more rugged unit, but for casual use this thing is incredible.

Very simple to edit patches, the hardest thing is memorizing the button combonations to do the various functions (they needed to overload the button functions due to the small size and cost). I wrote a cheat sheet and left it on the floor during gigs the first couple times.

I never tried another zoom product, but I bought this from a catalog with out even listening becase of the price and number of effects. (I also own an RP-5 and the distortions, both grunge (TM) and OD are totally useless to me). I liked the sounds particularly A1, B1, and F2, presets. NOTE: as with most effects units the default volume is WAY too high, the power amp is supposed to handle that not the preamp. They do that so it doesn't sound wimpy at first. So if you find the thing noisy, first lower the overall volume to about 22 or 24 which makes the clean sounds only slightly louder than your natural amp, and the heavy settings more as it should be. Digital effects are fine but not too flexible (for the price, I'm surprised you have any choice). Also, no noticible delay in switching which is great (you have to be in skip/confirm mode). Wah is better than digitech, but it still can't vomit like a cry-baby. Expression and Pitch shift are pretty smooth. Before, I would never use anything but a vintage dist, but I found lead, blues and OD pretty good.

Yes, because I always have a Rat and TS-9 on the side; with any digital device, switching programs always requires a tap dance. So you have to step with care anyway. So I stomp on the Rat or real Wah when necessary :-)

N/A

Again for the price I think it's worth every cent, I bought it for rehearsal, now the RP-5 has that spot :-) NOTE: I'm compring it to units in the $100-150 range.

Although the manual is skimpy, it explains the unit well enough. Programming is easy to do, but you have to know what you want.

Sounds great. Has noise reduction on it which helps a bit. Distortions are OK. Be careful not to have too much reverb/delay at the same time as some raunchy distortion type. Effects sound good, but are limited in how m much you can manipulate their properties. Like the phase shifter. Haven't messed around with the eq, but it seems kind of lame. Can't adjust frequencies independtly, have to give an eq rating of 1-50. OK, but I like to have more freedom with my eq.

It seems to be pretty sturdy. It is made of plastic so be careful. Eats up batteries so either have whole lot of 9v's or get an adapter.

Would buy it again, but if I could afford the 4040, or an ART ECC, probably get one of those, but I don't that kind of money right now, nor is a more expensive pedal a neccessity. Most factory presets are crap. There are a couple that are nice though. Programming is hard if you don't know what exactly you want. I would like to be able to just browse through the effects, but instead I have to go through and program it (though not neccessarily save it). Would be nice to have more control over effects. For example: with the auto-wah, you just give a rating of 1-9, you can't specifically control the rate or depth. This is the same amongst most of the effects. Nice features include: jack for expression pedal which can be used for wah, volume, or pitch shift. if you don't want an expression pedal, you can get a foot switch so you can move through the banks easier. The output can be used with headphones which is especially nice because I always wanted a headphone amp, well yeah for me. I strongly recommend this unit for anyone, especially someone just getting into multi effects like myself, or that is strapped for cash, like myself. Its a nice little compact unit (about as big two stomp boxes), and for that size you get a lot.

Editing the patches couldn't be much easier ! But the manual is a bit thin...

Most of the modulation effects ( chorus, flanger... ) are pretty good, but the distortions aren't that good. But then again, what can you expect for $120 ?

Hmmmm... it's a plastic case, and it doesn,t take much abuse. Wouldn't use it on a gig.

Do repairs myself.....

Fair enough for practice purposes, but not a professional piece of equipment.

this is a great compact tool for any guitar player great sound and great reliability You can use the patches that are on the pedal or you can edit and save - there are 24 different effects and and out side pedal can be hooked through this pedal and control it's wah. It even puts out about 6 watts of power and can be used as an amp simulator. no manual though. as far as I know there are others but not of this king this is bran-new and it kicks ass too.

you can have it noisy like an amp's distort or put it on a different setting and have all of the noise cut off in a natural sounding way. The effects are never weak they offere a spot for a battery but It wore down with only two hours of use- just goes to show how much power it has. Every thing is very good - 8types of analog distortitions room reverbs hall chourses auto wha's even sudio type effects.

yes- mentioned above-yes rp-6, a little over my supply of money-pedal on the thing it self-helps-no

The manual, slim as it is, gives ample explanation on how each effect works, and how to change the settings on it. This is my first digital effect, and it seems quite simple to operate.

I couldn't tell whether the noise was from my amp or the box, but some of the more subtle patches needed a volume boost on the amp, causing som ehiss. The distorts were great, although the metal setting was a bit thin. (The again, so are all the metal distorts I've heard, analog or digital) I was amazed at the range of sounds my crummy old guitar and amp could make.

Plastic case. Plastic pedals. Disaster in the making. This box'll last forever with me, because even in my most frenzied solo, I don't *STOMP* on any of my pedals. Maybe I'm just old. Oh yeah, plug in a battery adapter, or you'll be paying loads of money to the Energizer bunny.

I fix 'em myself. The company'll never hear from me.

I like it. I'd like to convince the other members of the band to buy one, so that we won't have to swap all the time. The case could use some beefing up. The effects could have more settings to adjust, but hey, it's only got six push swiches on the whole box, and any more settings would make it impossible to program quickly. A steal for $100.

The manual is clear and editing patches is very easy. I've never had a multi-effecs box before and I was surprised how easy it was to use.

It has just about every effect imaginable. 8 kinds of distorions, EQ, chorus, phaser, flange, delay, 2 kinds of reverb. The distortions have a 1-30 adjustment on gain. All the other effects have a 9 fixed settings. They all sound decent but you don't have the adjustability of individual stomp boxes or higher end multi-effectors. The only problem is noise. The thing is noisy even in bypass mode. This is a very big design defect as far as I'm concerned. On a noisy amp (like my Traynor) the hiss is noticeable and objectionable.

Only had it a week. It's all plastic. It will eat a 9 v. battery in about 2 hours. Can't really tell.

Never had to use it.

The store where I bought it has a 2 week return policy and I'm seriously thinking of returning it due to the noise. The effects and programmability are great for the price but it shouldn't be noisy in bypass mode.

Very easy to get a good sound. Very nice and clean. Although it is not possible to "finely tweak" the effect. The variety of parameters is extensive and covers most of what I want. Controls are pretty intuitive.

Great sound. (it is a zoom after all !). Good noise gating.

Great little piece of equipment. Could be built into a sturdier case. But hell, for $120 it is the best value you can get. 24 effects, 24 patch locations (user writable) and it comes with the famous zoom step effect. Very cool.

The 505 is easy to use, but it takes to much time fideling through the menu's. It's my first digital effect, so I can only compare it with my other analoge effects.

It's quite noisy. The sound is shit. Period. Im selling it.!!

Made out of plastic. Compared to my proco rat, this unit looks like a bycikle compared to a tank.

Dont know.

I wouldnt by it again. ... The tuner is quite okay..!

It took me about 30 minutes to learn how to program this thing. I was pleased with how easy it was to edit patches and store them. Maybe easy programming is what ironically brings to the downfall of this unit. It's so damn easy to program, because each effect has only one parameter you can change. An example of this is the flanger module. The only thing you can manipulate is the speed of the flange. There's no controls for depth, regeneration, etc. The same goes for chorus and the phaser.

Certain effects are better than others. The compressor/limiter did'nt seem to do anything to the overall sound, even when I put compression up to 6.\ The metal distortion sounds artificial and weak. The fuzz sounded plain and boring. The "blues distortion" was pretty good, but it didn't sound bluesy to me. The delays were decent, as well as chorus and the pitch shifter.

It's made of plastic. So you people who go beserk while playing pumpkins or nirvana might destroy after one gig. To tell ya the truth, I really don't know how reliable it is. I sent the unit back after 2 days of receiving it.

Never dealt with the company.

For a 100 clams you cant' beat all the effects and programming power the ZOOM 505 gives. But that's if you're into cheesy effects and are not a conisseur of great guitar tone.

A compact multi effector we all need!!!

It is as good as other zoom effectors.

The body is made of plastic. You cannot abuse the effector like when you do on BOSS.

Good! Easy! Powerful!