Zoom 505

I bought this effect unit 7 years ago, still very unexperienced with effects and that kind of stuff.
Still after reading the manual and trying out a few things I got on very well with the 505 so it can't be very difficult to use.
From the point of view I'm having now, being used to much more complex machines, I can only say that the 505 is VERY EASY TO USE.

I've used my 505 with various guitars, mostly with an Ibanez Ergodyne.
Sometimes I used it with a small Marshall Valvestate Combo (V30R) but most of the time I didn't use an amp at all, plugging it directly into a recorder for recording, using the phones out or even plugging it into the aux in of my stereo.
The clean sounds are okay, even quite good if you consider the price of this little thing. Chorus, flanger etc. are okay and with the pitch shifter and harmonizer effects (and an expression pedal connected) you can do some pretty cool stuff that sounds quite good.
However, the distortion sounds are aweful!
You'd rather not use the 505 for high-gain sounds.
It's okay for playing around a bit, but the distorted sounds never worked with any setup I tried.
But as long as you keep it clean, the 505 doesn't sound that bad, although, compared to what I'm used to nowadays, this isn't much more than a toy.
But I got to say that I'm still using this 'toy' from time to time and I'm still having fun with it.

For years I didn't have any problems.
After 4-5 years there was something wrong with the power supply via battery.
But I think the reliability of this thing is really okay.

The Zoom 505 is a nice little and very affordable toy.
I you have never used multi-effect units and want to start slowly or if you just want to play around with a few weird sounds or so you should try the 505.
If you're looking for something to use seriously or if you're looking for a good distortion sound this isn't the right thing for you.

very easy to use

like all poducts i tried an worked with from zoom, this pedal also offers a lot of functions for less money. for starters or for people who are looking for a little box they can carry around (to the beach, while you?re sitting on the toilet) to play guitar with common effects, it?s a nice box. if you?re looking for performable and recordeable sounds - beware. this box is (like every product from zoom) just a piece of shit made from 100% plastic. you get 100% plastic sounds. do yourself a favour - don?t buy this or other gear from zoom. i?m always disappointed from zoom shit. get good stuff for cheap - don?t buy cheap stuff - one day you?ll have to get rid of it!!!

not useable forlive- not useable for recordings.

don?t know.

forget this piece of crap.
don?t buy zoom shit!!
it?s cheap - yes!
it?s worse - yes!

It's pretty easy to mess around with the sound and then save your own combinations of effects.

Very noisy, and the range of tone you get from the effects is pretty lousy. Very digital sounding.

A plastic piece of crap. Has got noisier and noisier since I bought it and now it's pretty unusable.

Have not dealt with Zoom and don't intend to. It's a cheap product, and will probably be used simlpy for messing around with noise.

This is quite a fun toy as a first effects pedal, but nothing more. Once you start really exploring each effect you realise you need much more than this thing has to offer. It served me well when I started messing around with effects about 5 years ago, but on the whole the effects sound poor. But for such a cheap, compact unit, what do you expect?

It's pretty easy to get a variety of sounds, labeled from "a" to "f" and "1" to "4" on each letter, so at least 24 sounds not including custom ones. I've never edited patches, it looks intimidating- although it does have lighted LEDs for WHAT effect you are using at the time(reverb, chorus, flanger, etc). Manual?- well, it's pretty descriptive but I like the papers I received that were downloaded and nickname the effect, which letter/number it is, and a brief description. It does have a button to skip letters which helps speed up navigating very well. I just stomp it until I get the sound I feel like monkeying around with.

I have used it with a Dean Markley K20 practice amp and it totally brings it to life, as this amp has no reverb and sounds very cold(besides that it's solid state/cold enough). I cannot STRESS how much you NEED a combined effects pedal if all you have is a basic practice amp. It's cheaper than buying a big amp and will motivate you back into playing harder. I also use it on my big amp, a Crate Tube Drive TD50C but don't use it as often because the Crate has chorus and soaking wet reverb and a nice warm tube overdrive so why comprimise my amp's clean tone? I like the range of sounds it makes, it has at least 4 different overdrives, an auto-wah, 3 different choruses, and at least 2 reverbs, and even an acoustic guitar mimic function. I am not so ear-tuned to find sounds of different artist. You can most probably find any sound you are looking for- the tunability OF that sound?- I don't know, I leave it like it is. The main GRIPE I have is that it goes from low to noisy loud depending on the effect you click on, so BE prepared to lower the volume on your guitar. I guess this is normal though, every effect is combing the sound in different ways and different ends of the pitch. Oh, by the way, I play at home, or the finding a selection at a live gig or getting a fistfull of feedback because you didn't turn the volume down on the guitar before you clicked the next effect could get a tomato thrown at you.

Seems reliable but it's plastic, so don't treat it like a battered spouse, treat it like a newborn baby or YOU might be the one crying. I've been having mine over 5 years and it was second hand when I got it. Even the LED display still works. Unplug the battery though just to be safe. It will however auto turn off if you unplug the output to the guitar from the pedal.

No experience, never broke.

I play rock, a few oldies, Clapton, Otis Redding, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and whatever else I can figure out. I've played for 20 years but as a novice hobbyist, never live. I'd probably get another or consider the same Line 6 multi-effects pod that the guy I bought the Zoom from bought when he sold the Zoom to me. That even has different amp models, as well as the SansAmp multi-effects pedal.

Using the 505 is fairly simple once you've read the basics of the manual. Its not the sort of kit that you can just plug in the day you get it and start strumming away - twisting a few knobs here and there. Oh no - you need to work out how the thing works first.

I use a 100W Marshall valvestate amp.
The sound quality is my main gripe with this thing. Really poor and destroys the tone. The distortion/gain effects are nothing other than appalling, and wouldnt even come close to the quality of a Boss pedal for example. If i use the thing (which is rare nowadays) i bypass the gain features and use the amplifiers own gain channel instead which is miles better.

To be fair, -its reliable and has never done anything out of turn since i've had it.
On the other hand, -because the sound is so bad, -i rarely use it, so my opinion here is hardly reliable.

I play rock/funk/blues music. Have been playing for about 15 years.
If it got lost, i'd not even notice.
If it got stolen, i'd laugh.
Does anyone want it? - No? -i thought not.

With in an hour of getting it home, I have the sound I was looking for. Editing presets is a breaze, manual ( downloaded ) give the gist of how to use the pedal.

Ibanez Rx - Peavy Audition Plus
I am not hearing the hiss that others are saying prob cause I just use a little amp.
I am liking a few of the presets but they are there just as an example I am figuring and I have already filled f1-4 with my own sounds and they are the way I want them.

While not of course as good as the boss stomp boxes that I have had experience with this fx unit is a nice little accessory.

So far after a couple of days I havnt had a problem, no gigs in the near future for me, while I have been playing guitar for 18 years, I do not play professionaly, so this little puppy is good for what I use it for.

no contact

For what I am guessing this pedal is for ( home bedroom use ) this pedal is a great value, I saw one at teh music store used for $100 Can and I paid $31 can including shipping I say I got a good deal.

Its a small pedal when compared to other multi-effect pedals. Once you play with and get the hang out its very easy to use and fun. The manual that came with it did its job and that was give all the basic understandings of the pedal. Its good for a beginner in the multi-effect pedal area.

I have used this pedal with many guitars, it has always worked well for me. It has covered up bad sounds of cheap guitars, and added some new tones to nicer guitars. Some effects are weak when compared to the quality of a single effect pedal ( ex. boss pedals). The chorus & flanger could have much more range. The distortion isnt the greatest but it can be tweaked to sound pretty damn good. I have used this through small 15 watt amps and larger 100 watt marshalls and sounds good in my opinion. You can in many cases clone your favortie artists sounds with this, but dont expect it to be perfect.It isnt very good for recording at all, it can have static noise and reduces the overall quality of your sound.Its fun to practice with but I would depend on it for a live show.

I depend on this pedal for practice in my room and with music buddies to play with. And for that its been very reliable. The biggest drawback is having to cycle through with a bunch of taps to either of the 2 pedals to get to a certain sound you want, making it useless at a gig if you have more then 2 sounds in a song. However , for instance if all your doing is going from "clean to distortion" or something of a one two switch, then it can be done. Its only plastic so you dont want go stomping on this thing with your boots adn crush it. I have had mine for at least 4 years and I have enjoyed it very much and it remains 100% working condition as it was when I first got it.

N/A

If you want a multi effect pedal that can be found for a fairly decent price nowadays and its fun for messing around with for room playing then give it a shot. There better units out there and this model is rather old compared to whats been coming out but untill I aquire something better I will continue to use it. I wish it had more effects. I also wish some of the effects on it could be stretched even further. It has helped me enjoy playing guitar everytime I play by myself and I do rely on it for creating new sounds to experiment with or to clone an artists sound so I can along. If it was stolen.... I would probaly just get a newer pedal thats out there, maybe give Digi-tech a try.

Insanely difficult to customize patches. 4 buttons is not enough. Most of the effects are not adequately customizeable.

Quiet. But limited.

Individual effects are mediocre. This is a toy, not a real guitar effect unit.

The sample rate is actually low on this unit. I really noticed this when I compared it with a really good multi-effects unit like the GT-6. Guitar amps tend to kill high-end, so you may not notice it at first.

As an example, you cannot set the rate of the chorus or flanger or delay continuously, but only select from 10 different pre-selected rates (most of which aren't realistically usable). These effects have distinct sweetspots that produce characteristic sounds. Whether the detuned tones of a particular chorus setting are audible or not is a function of rate*depth. The limited number of rate and depth settings mean that, in practice, there's only one usable chorus setting (maybe two or three, but you get the point).

Not exactly built like a tank. Unlike boss pedals which will probably survive as long as cockraoches survive, this one will probably survive for a few years at most.

n/a

Much much better than the Digitech stomp boxes (which are comparable in price, but even more limited).

A nice way to get a sense of what various effects do, in a limited sort of way. But, if you buy this unit you should consider it nothing more than a stopping point along the way to buying real effects.

You should buy this unit with the knowledge that you will throw it away once you know enough about effects pedals to want to buy good ones.

I'm not crazy about devices that try to get many functions out of a minimal number of buttons, but this one makes a good job of it. I had to look up a couple of things in the manual, and after that everything was self-explanatory.

I have an old Kustom K-200 and a little Peavey club amp, and the 505 adds a nice element of fullness. The unit itself doesn't seem noisy, but when you add enough compression and gain then you start really hearing unwanted sympathetic vibrations in the guitar.
The distortion is easy to modulate, but it doesn't give you that juicy, throaty Clapton/Bluesbreakers sound.
If you turn any of the effects all the way up it sounds ridiculous. The equalizer isn't great, and the amp models appear to do very little. On the other hand the flange sounds very good, and some of the reverb settings are much better than the reverb on my amplifier.

Mine is already broken after very little use, but I got it used and I don't know how the first owner treated it.
If I were playing in public regularly I'd have a different effects box, mostly so I could get the distortion I want. In that situation I think that the 505 wouldn't be a bad backup.

The company responds promptly to e-mail, and they answer their phone. Then they tell you that there's a one-year warranty, and they quote you a price on labor. I'd be happier if the 505 had a lifetime warranty like a Skagen watch, but I really can't fault the company.

I play blues and a little classic rock, but mostly I'm just practicing by myself and waiting to get called as an emergency replacement for Joe Kubek or Tinsley Ellis. It's not stolen or lost, but it is broken, and if I can't fix it I might very well buy another one. If I ever get the chance to compare effects boxes I'd be very interested in the different distortion sounds. For the price and for my purposes it would be close to perfect if it were still working.

There will be a learning curve, so sit down with it and play around with the preset patches until you think it sounds better. I own both the 505 and 510, so I picked up pretty quick.

The 505 can do anything from clean with chorus/reverb/delay to smooth slight overdriven to all out smash your nuts with a hammer! Though the 505 is a great little processor, tuning, tweaking amp settings and a separate EQ may be required! The distortions are great although the Acoustic sim is a bit weak. The chorus, flange and reverbs are pretty good. The delay could be a bit stronger but thats why I use a separate delay unit. The EQ is setup a bit strange so I use my Boss GE-7 and turn off the EQ on the 505 entirely.

It is plastic, gig without backup at own risk! But other than that, the inner workings seem pretty solid.

Never needed

The Zoom 505 does alot of things from one little unit. I haven't tried anything but Zoom processors so I can't say it's better or inferior to anything else out there. Every processor has their selling points and their downsides. If you're just starting out and want a nice processor to toy around with. Do research by reading reviews here at Harmony-Central and go with your guts. Thats what I've done.

Once you've got your head around editing one patch, you can edit them all in the same way, so not much of a learning curve there. Manual is good as manuals go, but surely they're for putting to one side?!

This was my first effects unit (on to stomp boxes now), so I was running it through a '1st' guitar and amp set-up. This isn't a unit for running mid to high-end gear through, so assuming it's a starter effects box, the sound quality is ok, if a little too digital. It's not going to match your favourite artist's overdrive sound or WAH'ed up solo though. In terms of noise, again, the digital nature comes through and it has a tendencey to hiss.

I used it for bedroom / small room practice only, and it never failed me. A little battery hungry perhaps, but addition of power supply didn't alter noise levels or anything like that so use it where you can. Wouldn't gig with it personally (bigger sound systems will only show up the inefficiencies of it more).

Never had to deal with them. Heard good things about Zoom in general though.

This is really a beginners all-in-one effects unit, best suited to bedroom or practice room use. These days, it's a great cheap way to learn about different kinds of effects before you (inevitably) decide upon the higher quality effects you actually want in your set-up. Because of this assumption that it's a beginners piece of kit, I give it a good overall rating.

This is the original Zoom 505 so theres a little less features compared to what they got now.Very easy to use pedal as I'm not much of a tweaker guy I like playing instead of wasting time trying to get a sound.I think theres something very wrong when it takes weeks and months to get good sounds out of somethign you should be able to get something good the first day or 2,and from their tweak it precisely as you play to perfect the sound you want.

I use a Peavey Bandit 112 and Yamaha/Ibanez guitars and play mostly heavy/death metal but a decent amount of clean stuff too.It seems everyone doesnt like this pedal too much but I think it's better then what its given credit for.Although far from a great pedal it is usable for most situations,I've even used it in recording with great results.Now for live thats another story,its quite trebly and digital sounding and doesnt sound too good overall although I keep it as a backup now.For practice this little thing is handy,easy to use and small.The compressor/limiter is ok,drives are mostly crap(especially the fuzz and metal ones uhhh)but the overdrive and lead are ok,as for the distortion(dist)I think this is the only reason I keep it as this is a brutal distortion thats great for the stuff I play.One thing which I agree with everyone and its hard to deny this thing is noisy no doubt about it.Eq is not really good as its only a boost for certain areas and the noise gate is a joke.reverbs are pretty good for a cheap multi fx,especially the hall,rest of the effects are ok,nothing I would use other then to mess around(why do companies still make auto wahs in multi fx are beyond my comprehension)

Although it is only made of plastic I never had problems with it at all,I used it to gig in my early band days and it stood up well but I had many friends who had some and they all broke down so maybe I was lucky.I wouldnt be aggressive with it though.Buttons on the side to edit get sticky which is annoying but thats not a big deal.As for playing without a backup,not a good idea ever so always make sure you got something to cover your ass incase something goes bad.

Never needed it so no rating for customer support

Overall I don't think it's that great a pedal,but for someone just starting to play like when I got it and great sounds isn't a issue it's one of the only multi fx for this cheap and makes a good upgrade when you can't afford expensive amps or pedals.I use a Digitech Rp2000 now which is a great pedal to use,so I would think the Rp50 and Rp100 for the price would be pretty good probably better then the Zoom I got,but I haven't tried the new Zooms and I've heard they've improved considerably.As I've mentioned before,you can use these in band/live situations but I would highly recommend getting something better in that case or a better amp.For practice though Zoom pedals are great solutions if you don't feel like paying big bucks for Line 6,Boss or higher end Digitech

easy to use.
bobo lang talaga mga kano kaya nahihirapan.

all factroy settings are lousy.

EDIT THE PATCHES. do not use more than 2 fx per patch. it will eat up your tone and will make it hiss a lot. why do some people use all the fx at the same time?? thats crazy.

the distortion is bad
the auto wah sounds bad
the modulation fx are ok.
the tuner is ok
avoid using the amp sim

ANG PROBLEMA KASI SA IBA, PINAGHAHALO YUNG LAHAT NG FX SA ISANG SETTING. KAYA SOBRANG INGAY.

never failed on a gig. no back up.

PARE WAG LANG SADYANG SIRAIN, HINDI TO MASISIRA. DIBA??

never dealt with them

ive been playing for 13 years now. im into hard rock and metal. i only use the 505's tuner, chorus and flanger . i get my distortion sound from my boss ds 1 linked to a danelectro eq. the 505 is a very versatile gadget for its price, but i really hope you guys improve the distortion selection.

NO DIGITAL FX CAN MATCH THE SOUND OF AN ANALOG

The pedal is fairly easy to use once youve practiced the editing, getting a good sound takes quite a while. The only thing i like about it its that it has no preprogrammed patches that cannot be edited so if im in A1 i can co to F4 (the last patch) and edit it, i use this pedal mostly for the reverb and the modulation effects.

Here is my complain, this pedal is based on presets for everything, so you have no control for the chorus rate depth or anything at all, you have to stick to using 9 presets it has already programmed. The pedal is noisy has a lot of hiss and it seems to be conflicting with a distortion pedal i have because it creates digital noise (a disgusting blobbling sound ) when the dist is on instead of the normal hum, if you step on it tooo hard the input jacks become crakly , overal the sound is a piece of crap.

Even its made of plastic it has stood up to 6 years of practice and live gigs (didnt have the money to buy all the effects apart) so i guess it is realiable and i have gigged many many times without a backup even on the worst conditions (rain)

Never dealt with them

With the advent of other digital multifx like the Digitech Rp 50 and other, this unit is basically useless, and even the 505II is not worth the money ( the 20-bit depth is just not enough when for a little more you get 24 bit and much more efx), personally im dropping the whole multi fx and im going stomp pedal,( i already own a pedal board with a morley wah, an Ibanez Ts9, and a Boss Ds-1) but i bought it as my first pedal and it wasnt so bad .

It's pretty easy to use although getting a good sound out of it depends largely on the supporting equipment such as amp and axe.
The Pedal itself is a cheap practice unit, nothing more. If your serious about emulating Satch or Morse then you should look at an expensive DigiTech, they're the best.

The Pedal itself is noisy, I have used Boss and DigiTech pedals as well and the Zoom 505 makes too much noise. The distortions are absolute crap, if you have a stand alone Distortion pedal your better to not use the Zooms.

Never use the Zoom 505 in a gig man, it's a practice pedal. The buttons stick too so no you can't rely on it.

Never had the inclination.

I like Satch, Blues (any), Metal - Metallica etc, the Zoom dosn't cut it. I've been playing 25 years. I wouldn't buy a replacement. I bought it at the time because it was within my budget and I wanted to forge a style. I wish it had better distortion and less noise. It helps only because it beats a totally clean amp sound.
If you havn't bought it yet I'd suggest you don't bother, go and guy a digitech, anything but a Zoom 505.

The 505 is easy to use, edit, tweek, etc; The manuel is laid out in easy to understand way.

The 505 guitar processor is noisy. A noticable hiss, the effects are
not weak in my opinion. Some of the effects tone is deep. I like mid tone but not quite that much. It is usable nontheless.

I only use the 505 with an adapter. It is reliable enough. I have used it without a back up.

Never tried to contact Zoom

I really only liked 1 or 2 distortions, the overdrive was clippy, Wish the pitch pedal effect moved only the played note and not hold the origianl. I have the expression pedal for pitch bend and wah.
The unique thing is the step effect. It is a rare find in my opinion.
Line 6 has it on their modulation pedal and not found much anywhere else. to my knowledge.The Digitech RP50 has 10 times better tone and warmth, The rp50 seems to be based on the Zoom 505 . The saying,"You get what you pay for" does not apply to the RP50 by Digitech. It rated #4 on best multieffects in Guitar Player magazine, over a 300$ Korg AX1500G! The Zoom 505 is a poor man's multieffects, kind of fun
but lacking tone and warmth, but for 60$ what does one expect?

Firstly, it is hard to edit without the manual in your hands if you are operating it for the first time. However it took me half an hour to figure out what those four small buttons and those two "small" large pedals did (of course with the manual).

There lies the flaw of a system having buttons that can do multiple stuff in different modes. It's hard to edit quickly on stage. However editing patches is relatively very very easy. I'll suggest the user to double check the patches before going with it for a gig (Actually I wouldn't an advice like that.... Read On!).

The manual is Great, really very detailed. Even the website has the manual on it in pdf format. Or else you can download the manual from "http://www.safaricomputers.com/505/505_manual.pdf".

I use it with a Gi"V"son guitar (in case you think this is some cheap imitation of Gi"B"son, you might be right but have a look at the reviews of GS 1000 before developing any premonitions. It's available here "http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Givson/G-S-1000-01.html") and I use an AMD Athlon XP powered computer with nVIDIA nForce chipset as an amp. I have also used it in gigs and short shows but it disappointed me badly.

Firstly, it's noisy and I had a hard time configuring a decent "clean" patch. Almost all distiortion modes sound the same (a bit fuzzy and noisy). Secondly, it sounds drastically different when you play it with low and high volumes. Imagine not getting good amount of bassy region even with an Ibanez on stage when using Peavey amps and speakers. Thirdly, if I want to inceament the bass regions the treble is lost - which means it is not possible to get a heavy and sharp sound at the same time.

That is why I use a computer these days to pre-process my sound before sending it to the final amp (even on stage). I'll say the nVIDIA nV Mixer has greater acurracy and clarity of sound than this small plastic box. In fact it helps me to get full bass and treble and add reverb to the sound after it has been processed by ZOOM 505.

I have converted my small hostel room into a powerful recording studio and I'd rather rely on my Real-Time Guitar FX Software for recording than this one. If I can't rely on it in studio where external effets can be added, how can I rely on it while on stage? In case the small plastic box fails you definately need a backup (I'm sure that no other FX Processor will give out such a fuzzy sound - I've tried and tested some 20 types of them - and so you need another ZOOM 505 as backup!!!). To be frank, I tried using a Real Time FX software for my last two shows and it passed with flying colours as opposed to ZOOM 505. (WHY?? Read On...)

Moral : Never take this to the stage. NEVER NEVER.

The company logo says "ZOOM : Catch Us If You Can"... I guess that explains everything.

During a gig there was some kind of a problem with the adapter port and there was a constant disconnection and reconnection going on in the equipment. By default the patch is initialized to A1 whenever you connect it to the power supply. I tried calling them but as the saying goes "ZOOM : Catch Us If You Can" I couldn't catch them. So I took it to a local electronics shop and replaced the DC Adapter port. After that I swore never to take it on stage again.

I play Metal, Soft Rock and Pro.. It's not at all useful to me, but I made some interesting patches coupled with my computer which gives really cool effects but alas!! such kind of sounds are only avilable in trance music.

If you are planning to buy this look for something else... although it is cheap value for money is 2.5/10

Although entirely possible, it's not immediately easy to get a good sound out of this unit.
Editing patches is VERY advantageous, but takes some practice to learn how to edit.
I had to download the manual from the website to really figure out how to edit the patches.

Using with a cheapo Crate practice amp, Peavy Classic 4x12 stack, playing on an '89 Gibson Les Paul Standard with stock pickup in neck and an aftermarket DiMarzio that the previous owner installed.

OK, the sound quality of this unit is not absolutely mind-blowingly great. None of the preset patches are useful in real-world settings. After you edit things down, and (in my opinion) never use the ZNR, Distortion, or Metal processors, you can get some good sounds out of it. I find that it's best to not layer too many proccesses. I already own a Boss DD-3 delay, a Boss Flanger pedal, Ibanez Soundtank Tremelo, and Boss TU-2 tuner pedal, so my only need from this unit is Overdrive. I use the spring reverb found on my amp. What I've done is to craft a nice series of Overdrive patches in a row. Starting on a high-gain Overdrive, then a rhythm-gain-setting Overdrive with just a tad of reverb, then a moderate-gain Overdrive with a lower octave double note, then finally a high-gain solo sound with the Lead processor, an EQ bass and mid bump and a little reverb.

The Overdrive patch is the only distorted sound I like at all. The other grunge sounds are nasty!

The flanger is decent, but like I said, I use a dedicated flanger pedal. The chorus is ok, but sounds a bit thin. The Step effect is nice, but should be used sparingly, and the double effect definatly has potential, at least until I get an Octave pedal! I don't like the Autowah, but I've been spoiled by a friend's vintage CryBaby.


So, in summary, good sounds CAN be achieved with this unit, but you have to make your own patches, using few effects at a time.

Seems reliable.

I play lots of styles. I only use this unit for overdrive, so therefore it's only having blues, rock, hard rock, emo, etc. played through it.

It's not so hard to understand the system, but the limited number of buttons means they all have too many functions. And I am not particularly fond of using pedals for anything else than turning an effect on or off, but here I have to use it for other purposes too (although that's similar to a lot of other products).
Conclusion: It's easy enough to use, but editing patch etc. is a slow process.
A display with more than just to LED digits and maybe some knobs would have helped.

I used this plugged into a rather cheap amp and with an Epiphone SG G-400.
I don't expect great sounds, when I won't pay the money for it, but especially the distortions,Zoom's own step effect and to some extent doubling are useless as is the amp simulation.
The chorus and delay are very nice sounding at the price.

Nothing broke, but it's a bit plasticcy and doesn't seem too durable. I cannot rate fairly.

No contact with Zoom - didn't have any problems with (aside from the sound quality).

I play soft rock mostly - with some OD/DS or nothing at all
I have played for a couple of years and am far from professional. I sold the 505 already and wouldn't buy it again.
I liked the chorus and delay, but they no better than most.
If you can find a used unit cheap, it might be worth considering, but get some seperate OD/DS.

This is the easiest, most simple digital effects pedal I have ever used. period. If you're retarded, lazy, or just really dumb. This is for you.

I don't know what everyone's talking about. %90 of the idiots that reviewed the 505 say it sounds like shit... I think it sounds great. But you gotta play around with the effects a bit. You can't just put a whole bunch of stuff together and expect it to sound good. If you go to the zoom website it'll tell you some good settings and stuff. Or just play around with it untill you get a nice sound... it can be done.

I've had mine for only about 4 years... It's all shitty plastic but yet it sems pretty durable. I use this thing like a mad whore,and it's pretty much like new. But I wouldn't be surprised if it ever fell apart completely. The edit and store buttons are broken, i don't know why, but other than that... it's alright. Not great, but alright.

I'm gonna give them a 1 just for the hell of it. I've never dealt with them, but giving shitty marks instead of getting them for once is fun. revenge.

The unit is pretty easy to use in terms of scrolling through different function banks and such, but only up to a point. The tiny +/- buttons on the side of the unit remind me of those tiny LCD games from the 80s that would give you major wrist problems within minutes of use. You're going to want to read the manual to get the most out of all the different banks and customization available.

As pretty much every other reviewer points out, this unit definitely sacrifices tonal quality for price and number of effects and price. Realistically, it's only suited for playing through headphones or practice amps - the sound flaws become glaringly obvious at any sort of higher volume. Above all else, you'll quickly learn why digitally based effects sound almost nothing like the real thing.

This was definitely the Achilles heel of the 505. Beyond the plastic construction that is not suited for any sort of giggin or stage work, the unit(s) that I had experienced major electrical problems. At only a few months old, the 505 mysteriously stopped accepting input from the left/right pedals, and would not get out of tuner mode. I also couldn't scroll between effects anymore - it was locked on one particular setting, F1. One day I plugged it in an this was the way it operated. The store that I bought it from sent it back to the manufacturer, and they said that the circuits were fried, and sent a new replacement. Bearing in mind that the unit had experienced no power surge, power blackout or the like, this was quite enexpected. The replacement worked acceptably for about a year, then developed similar electrical/circuitry problems! Again, no scrolling, etc. That, and a second rate wiring job in the AC adaptor that came with the unit frayed and fell apart. The unit still plays, but not in its intended mode. Also, for a 88% plastic unit, I had to laugh when the four screws on the back of the case started to rust.

Didn't deal directly with the company, but they did send the dealer a replacement unit for me when I took it back. But then again, it developed the same problems.

This was the first multi-effects processor I ever bought, back in 1997, and I've finally got around to reviewing it. Since then, I've thankfully moved on to bigger and better things. I suppose for a someone just starting out, the 505 might make a good choice if you're interested in familiarizing yourself with several different effects, albeit some fairly watered down digital versions of them. Still, the overall quality and unreliability of the unit means that I definitely would not recommend it, unless you can pick up a dirt cheap used unit.

Very easy to use as far as a multi-effect can go. Editing patches is really easy too...

Well, the zoom 505 is by far one of the WORST things you can use to get a good sound. I never liked myself digital crap, but the 505 goes really far in the word "crap". It is horribly noisy, sounds decent at low volume but really gets awful when you turn the volume up. There isn't an interesting effect in there, everything sounds cold, digital and ugly with this monster. If you're looking for a good tone, never buy digital crap, but if you still want to use digital things, this things is definately the worst out there.

It's made of cheap plastic... I would never gig with it

who cares? better waste your money on another pedals than wasting your time with the guys that made this horrible thing

A friend of mine lent me his zoom 505 several years ago. I was looking for some effects, and I thought I could begin with a zoom to test and then buy anything better. If you want to play at home, the zoom isn't that bad. But never try to play it loud, you'll be frightened. After testing the zoom I got scared of effects and didn't buy any. Fortunately a couple of years later I began to buy single pedals (wich is the best option to get a good sound) and I learned an important lesson: there are two types of guitarrists. The ones that sound good and the ones that sound bad, no matter how they play. The ones that sound good use single pedals for specific ambiences; the ones that sound bad use digital crap. Period

A retarded dislexic monkey could operate it

Distorion, modualtion etc.....the usual

Killer unit for for practice amps

Decent depending on YOUR rig. Best with SOLID STATE amps that's for sure. Tube and digital are very unfriendly with one another typically.

Typical electronic sound with the distortions but not to the point of a synth....quite digital sounding but the right set up usually filters it out.

The effects sound great through my effects loop and distortions are fine as long as I only use them for voicing by setting gain at 2 and using my amps gain control.

Like I said, the effects sound awesome through my amp. The distortions can vary and not all are usable but the Fuzz is awesome as is the acoustic simulator. The amp simulator can be useful but too electronic sounding sometimes and the noise reduction works great for me.

I must continue though. This and other simular processors can give a 10 in performance granted you don't expect to play some major venue.

These little units were made for practice amps honestly. Take a 15 watt thru an 8 inch speaker amp and hook any of these affordable floor units through one. It will sound amazing period. You can get a good
20 dB of undistorted volume gain by using these type of units. That's a hell of a lot of volume increase.

Great for smaller single speaker combo amps 50 watts and under. For the time it came out, it deserves an 8 period.......
IT SET THE STANDARD.

Very reliable. almost 10 years old and just today one of the pedals finally came off. It's plastic but it's been stepped on, jumped on, kicked around, thrown, numerous liquid spills on it....you name it!

never met um'

Great unit for the beginner or simplist. FOr the most part the distortions aren't performance or recording quality but for my rig the effects sound great. If you were to hear them through my rig you would assume I was using all analog.

Get one of these for like a small Crate or Behringer you can pick up for around a $100 USD...or just whatever practice amp you may already have. You'll be getting close to the volume output of a two 12 combo amp with some of them not to mention for some reason practice amps just seem to work ten times better with these types of units.

DIgital can sound as good as analog this way!

It's quite easy to set up, and you do need to set it up...the stock patches are pretty bad

Ok...For the most part i use a samick going into a p.a.
Depending on the effect it can get noisy mostly on the Dist. and Thrash patches. I play mostly slow, fuzzy & heavey. Along the lines of The Melvins. All the effects are good eccept for Dist,OD,Thrash & Fuzz.

You CANNOT depend on it....I squashed mine.....Cheap Plastic

Never delt with them...

I play stoner metal/grunge This was a mistake
I've been playing for 9 years, now I use A samick-KorgA5-Boss Metal Zone-500 watt Powered Mixer
If it were stolen...Time to move on get something different
For the most part it's for beginers. Not profesionals

not hard to use, editing etc pretty easy. that said getting a good sound is phisically impossible for the device...

I've got a mid 70's riviera SG (aledgedly made by ibanez?) and a frankenstein (built it myself from 3 different amps) 150w tube amp.
the noise in this 505 unit makes mining equipment sound wisper quiet.
my amp and guitar sound kick ass, if I ever want to sound muddy and shit I hook up the ZOOM. none of the effects sound ok in any combination.

It'll stand up to a healthy battering (unfortunately) so there isn't even any satifaction to be had in beating the shit out of it.
gig with whatever backup you have, a poorly taxidermed goat would sound better live.

I'd commend them on a waste of plastic and a valuble contribution to land fill.

I play, punk/ rockabilly (bout 10 years). got a dano daddy O overdrive (surprisingly good pedal).
if it were stolen, I'd enjoy not having this pedal around to remind me of a wasted 70 bucks.
I bought this, when I had no experience or amp. I played through a mixer into my stereo at which time this pedal sounded ok. I've been pretty harsh in this review, but I'd like to emphasize that this is not a good bit of gear for anything other than playing at home through your stereo. If you can find one (but don't actually look for it) under 20 AUD consider it but DONT EXPECT MUCH.