Zoom 508 Delay

Very easy to use, just NOT while your playing!

8 bit stereo sound, state of the art back in 1987. Sounds great as strictly a 'delay' effect for guitar, bass, or home recording. For some reason, this works really well w/ cassette multi track machines. For a "2 FX sends mixer", Use this in one FX channel, use the reverb Zoom pedal in the other FX channel, and you're set!

I only wish they made these w/ steel chassis. Someone, someday, is gonna cast a buncha metal cases for these in high shcool metal shops class, sell them on ebay for a few bucks, and people will line up to buy them. He'll get rich (and probably start his own plastic-to-metal gtr pedal upgrade business). This series of pedals was (and is) vastly underrated for what it does: multiple programmed delay FX at the touch of a foot. Line 6 came up w/ their version, but it only offered 4 FX programs, and they wanted you to pay $280 for theirs! Zoom sold these for around $50 when they were in the stores. Do yerself a favor; pick one up, especially if you can't afford the Line 6 version. And; you get 24 programs, not just 4!!!

never had to, this never broke. and if it did, I'd find another $25 and buy another...

I love these Zoom plastic pedals. I only wish they woulda kept making them, only w/ better chips as technology got better throughout the 90's. They're stuff now is good, but they're trying to have their pedals do too much at once. They should get back to making pedals that specialized. Like Line 6 learned. Everyone knows you spend the biggest part of yer sound budget (after yer guitar) on an amp. You buy the oldest, coolest tube combo or head you can afford, then start picking up cool "one-effect-at-a-time" pedals. And when you get to a delay pedal, you either buy one that does one effect at a setting, or you go w/ a programmable one. And if you go for a programmable delay, and you got $250+; go for the Line 6. If you got $50 or less, go for this one. Remember: it's only a delay pedal, if you suck on guitar (like me) yer still gonna suck no matter how cool/vintage/boutique yer gear is!

Not too bad to program. It actually has a few different modes that it will run in, so if you goof up it can get confusing. My son has really messed this up before and I had to flash all my settings. Oh well, it's cheap and you can download the manual from ZOOM, so it's no big deal. I have had to completely take it apart before and disco everything to make it work. Static must have built up and rendered it inoperable, but it worked again after rebuilding it. I usually edit the A1 & A2 patch, then use the tap-tempo function w/ a Boss pedal to set the times. It's also my tuner. I have it in an effects loop and bypass it when not in use.

Everything in this category is subjective.

1) You MUST use the Zoom (or equiv.) 300 mA power supply! A Boss PSA-120 or Visual Sound 1 Spot, or Godlyke or whatever will not work properly! I'm not going to argue that a pedal only takes the minimum amount a PS gives, yada yada. I'm saying this pedal wants EXACTLY 300 mA!

2) You must use good quality patch cables. I use George L's for everything. This pedal is ridiculously succeptible to static. Since George L's are "anti-stat" I have not had a single issue with pops, crackles, distortion, etc. using them.

Using the proper PS and Cables, I would give it very high marks. It's clean, solid, flexible, can set tone on delays, can set feedback to 1 or 50. It's just great!

Using the wrong PS and cables, it's noisy, unreliable, will sometimes lose programming (scary) and can really screw things up.

I won't rate this category because of the variables.

I must give it bad marks. Like I said, using any other power supply introduces noise, program glitches, can cause the components inside to get hung up. You have to use the right PS & cables or your hosed. I don't know if this will hold up forever, but I must admit I've had this for probably 8 years and it is still running. Now that I know how to baby it, it should be fine.

I'm not "depending" on it as my main delay, so I won't fall apart if it dies.

Couldn't tell ya.

It's too bad it's so sensitive to static. Otherwise it would get a better review from me. I want to have more faith in this pedal, but it's so lightweight and cheap feeling... I just don't know

On the other hand, it has lasted me 8 years. It does what I want quite well. It has a great built in tuner. If I lost it and found a cheap one to replace it I probably would buy it. I do like it at the end of the day. :)

Not the easiest thing in the world, but if you already had another zoom, or if you own the manual, you can live with this unit and get nice delays.

My signal chain is Ibanez Sabre goin thru Dunlop Cry Baby -> TriAc (please, read my review) -> Zoom 509 -> Zoom 508. Honestly I'm not a professional player. I just like to around and record some stuff. It's no noisy at all, but eat some signal. The facotory effects are just a "showroom" and hardly will fit any real situation. You'll have to create your own effects to truly enjoy this unit. But remember: it still a cheap and not professional unit, but better than a Boss DD-x or Digitech DigiDelay (my opinion. I'll explain later).

Well if you take good care and don't put all your weight when you step to change the preset, you can trust the pedal. I don't think plastic is a good box for an FLOOR unit but it will do the job fine. I don't like to gig without a backup, but I'm without one right now.

I have no idea.

I like to play Vai, Satch, Hard/Heavy, etc... I won't write a lot in here. Just like to say the following: This is a good solution if you have the following pre-requisites: 1. Don't want to spend much money, 2. Want to have more than one or two delay effects, 3. Care for your stuff, 4. Are OK to lose a little of your sign.

Remember this is not a Line-6 Delay Modeler or a rack unit, but is very usefull. I was thinking about buying a Line6 Delay Modeler, but i don't thing it's worth the price. If you play at home, or do some gigs with your band and play at night just to have some good time, then this is all you need and for an awesome price.

Please feel free to contact me if you want to share your toughts about these unit or another one I've commented in this review. Will be a pleasure to help and be helped! ;)

Easy to use once you read the manual. acetually, I already had the 507, so this 508 wasn't that new for me

Well, so many years after purchasing the 507, I decided to give this one a try. I knew it had been discontinued so it was " get now or never " and since the DigiDelay of Digitech was 2 times the price of this one and didn't had patches, I immedialtely snnaged it. I felt for a long time that I wouldn't need another Delay unit since Zoom 507 is ALREADY a Delay unit, so for 5 years, the only source for Delays I had was on the Zoom 507 and I used them most for solo stuff. But one day I just decided that I was needing a independent Delay so my Reverb unit ( 507 ) would be concentrated to work on Reverbs and I could have a wider range of Delay + Reverb possibilities. My first impression about this pedal while testing it on the store wasn't good, but then, I think it was because of the amp they where using there. the delays on this unit are quite satisfying, and even better than those on the 507 unit. I rarely use anything apart from a basic 480 MS Delay, because I am not that fan of this effect, but to create a wide, spatial " trippin' " atmosphere to your sound Delay is indispensable, and you have infinite possibilities with this one, just edit the stuff. The Ping Pong Delay is a funny fearture. I still use some of the Delays on my 507 , but for the basic Delays this is the one pedal use

Not really reliable, but if you take care of it, it will last. I have mine for a bit more than one year. I have my 507 since late 1997 and it has worked perfectly.

Zoom is helpful

Its a great Delay unit with infinite possibilities, unfortunately Zoom have discontinued this and have not re - issued a " II " version ( not yet at least ), so I wouldn't search for another one like this if it was stolen or lost. I'd probably get a DigiDelay of Digitech or a Zoom 606, I don't know. But If I found this one used for a good price I'd give it a try.

On the whole this unit is fairly easy to use. Keep or download the manual. You will need it. The presets cover a large array of sounds and with a little tweeking you can usually get the desired effect.

OK, lets get one thing straight. This is not a 400 pound dedicated delay. You get a whole lot of toys for very little money and it does show. If you wand crystal clear 'digital' delays this is not your unit. But is does do a very good 'analogue' impression, even in the 'Digital' modes. The access to multi-tap delays and (Yahoo at last!!) tone controls on a foot pedal delay was brilliant. The only real down side is that even when on bypass the there is a slight loss of signal quality. This unit will not give you the true warmth of a real analogue delay but the versitility and the ability to use multiple delay patches in a pedal setup is brilliant.

never had any problems, even using batteries.

Never called but its good being able to download the manuals easily.

You get a lot for the money you pay and I have never since seen anything like it. No the sound quality is not 100% but with a good guitar and decent amp it wasn't the end of the world. I do a line in 80's goth and it was exelent for that. I have lost mine and am realy quite desperate to find another one.... Which has to say somthing.

Not bad. I don't do anything fancy with it other than some basic delays, but I need to get times and feedbacks right, and it's easy enough to do that. I'm not a huge fan of the friendliness of Zoom's 5xx range when you want to edit things, but they're bearable.

The tap delay ups the ease of use, although having to get an extra foot (piano-esque) pedal on the stage can be annoying because they're too small and kick away too easily.

I'm not a huge audio-phile. I play pretty noisy stuff so I've taken much time to get beyond 'is it hissing?' checks. Anyway, I've got:

DeArmond can't remember -> Akai Wah -> Zoom 508 Delay -> Zoom 509 Modulator -> Boss OD -> Ernie Ball Volume Pedal -> Akai Headrush -> Fender Twin (with a Korg KAOSS Pad in the amp effects loop)

The 508 sounds fine as a basic preset delay unit -> never had any problems. I can use for Edge type delays, but generally use it for low-volume atmospheric stuff. Sounds great.

I had a problem with a Zoom 509 once where I lost one of the rubber pads on the bottom, so the pedal was always a bit wonky on stage. Months of uneven use then managed to wear out the pedals so that one of them no longer hit the switch inside. It's predictable with a plastic pedal, but it's made me realise you've got to check plastic pedals regularly 'cos any wear in one place is going to wear it out in others.

As for the 508, with a weekly check for the badly glued rubber feet (and a bit of superglue), it's been fine! Gigged without backup for years.

n/a

I bought this pedal because I was bored with my Ibanez delay, and I wanted something with tap tempo. It's been ideal and although it looks a bit fragile, it's never broken, even when I'm being less than careful.

I've tried other potential replacements e.g. Line6 delay, Boss DD-something etc. but it's the presets on this that do it for me. It's got some weird delayed-delay effects which are pretty special, and the normal delays are fine, but I always need one delay pedal filled with per-song presets, and one with lots of dials to muck around with ad-hoc on stage when the last chord is spinning around and noone's got a headache yet. This is great for the former....naff all use for the latter.

This follows the patterns of all Zoom pedals, so if you've used any, it's a breeze. Manual is concise and easy to read with nice diagrams.
Patch editing is only confusing until you figure out the parameter routine, not too bad.

I use this with all my gear, guitar, keys, drum machines. For the price this is hard to beat. I use it to experiment with loops. What other cheap delay offers 4 seconds of delay time plus hold and tap tempo and stereo out. I love laying down 4 second loops and playing over them. I have an Akai Headrush which I use for more precise loops but this is the poor boys alternative.

All the Zoom gear I've ever had has been surprisingly reliable, plus they always come with the adapter and all their gear run off the same adapter type so I'm never at a loss for being able to plug in.
I would gig without a backup but if I find another one cheap I'd love to double them up for some bizarre delays.

Good customer support. They have several manuals online and I've never had a problem dealing with them.

I love this little box and for $35 I'll never dump it. 4 seconds of delay is great, hold and tap tempo are the frosting on the cake. Oh and stereo output for great ping pong delays as well. How can you argue with that. One of the great unsung heroes of the Zoom clan.
If this somehow broke I'd be on the prowl immediately to replace it.
I've had many delays, all the Boss pedals, Korg 301dl(exceptional in it's own way), Danelectro, DOD, etc. I've only ended up keeping the Zoom and the Akai, though I want my Korg 301 back.

Its tough to figure out. Not some simple dial up the sound pedal

I think its a good sound for the money. Tinny. Metallic sounding but that is digital for you. It can do some cool stuff that makes it worth the price but the big problem is you can't adjust the tempo on the fly so everyone in your band will have to play around you. I think its made for people who just wank around at home.

My buttons stick. It hasn't broken or anything but i'm not tough on it.

Well its good for experimenting at home but hard to use in bands because of the set tempo thing. Patches are hard to adjust. I've kept it for 2 years so I like it but its not great.

Extremely simple, if you have the manual that comes along with it. The presets themselves are pretty varied, so if something catches your attention, but you feel like it could be tweaked just that wee bit, it won't take you long before you have. Simple

The sound quality is actually very good. I have a noise problem with my set up, but i strongly believe that it's because of my adaptor, which is badly grounded. My current setup is Squier strat -> Monarch Octaver -> homemade Distortion -> Nobels Overdrive -> Small stone -> Sansui Stereo graphic EQ -> Zoom 508 -> Snsui stereo system, but i used to use this with a Peavey Rage 158 before I sold it. Will be looking at tube amps sometime soon, i hope.

The effects are pretty good. you can switch patches either directly or opt for a sound-on sound mode, which i accidently discovered and wasn't sorry at all about it. I'd sample and hold some phased mutes (which sound like mutes played through a narrow-freq. range wah), switch patches, sample a bass riff and... instant one man funk.

You can make a lot of ambient music with it.... 4 seconds of sample time isn't really that much if you plan to do moreambitios Fripp/Belew style stuff... you'd prob. need an Akai Headrush or EHX Memory Man for that... but till 4 seconds, this one works jes' fine...
Oh, it has stereo output. So on your stereo tap modes, you have two differently timed delay lines, which is useful for people with two amps. I don't have any - yet. Sounds good through headphones though.

I can dial in a lot of pink floyd settings (e.g. One of these days - normal delay, 296 ms, approx 65 feedback, 30 tone, 30 mix... also for run like hell, happiest days of our lives, coming back to life, and a couple more), some u2 settings, micheal brook's "ultramarine" setting.. the echo mode is very nice, very lush, open, like you were playing on a mountain top or something. Mail me for settings if you want/have any.

Very low noise, practically none while i was using it on batteries.

Follows my other effects pretty well, good reproduction. doesn't react to perversely to any effect, though the octave is a little funny on delaying....

Hmmm. Its made of plasic, tough plastic, but still plastic.

I baby my equipment, so it shouldn't be a problem... if i ever gig at all.

Eats batteries. Well-grounded AC adaptor use only, please.

One of the buttons gets stuck at times, which is irritating.

Never had to....

All in all, a nice pedal. Extremely useful to people using a lot of different delay setings on the same song. Changes patches very nicely. Remote controllable too.

My only complaint is that the sample time is too short. I can't complain for this kind of perormance from a pedal costing $50 used though.

If I lost it.. I'd buy a headush or memory man if i could afford them. Otherwise, I'd buy this immediately. I wouldn't even look at the boss DD-5.

I play blues, funk, ambient, noise/art/heavy rock/psychedelic etc...
and this rellay helps in almost all of these areas. Not the most vital tool for metal, but then, I don't play much metal.

Was up and running in 5 minutes without looking at the manual. Led an menu text are small but readable. Editing is easy and being able to store 24 of your own presets is great. Manual is useable and tells what you need to know. VERY easy to get great delay sounds of all types.

Using in the loop of a Tech 21 Trademark 10 and sometimes before it. Sound quality is great and unit has a stereo output(!) that will power headphones!! VERY cool for late night looping. Very quiet with most settings. Tone Control allows you to add or remove high end. You can dull the repeats in the echos to get a nice wash and warm the sound up. If you are doing looping and set it at it's full 4 seconds repeats sound pretty identical to the originals. Offres a number of different ping pong and multitap patterns. Amazing that this sounds so great powered by a battery. Incredible really...

Hmmm...not made of steel and if I was a fat drunk maniac and stomped on it it would probably break. Since I am not and treat my tools with care I expect it will last. No much to break. Foot pedals do feel a bit flimsy but acceptable. Nice size pedals though.

I play lots of different styles from metal to ambient. This box fits everthing and with 24 persets I can have something for every style. In fact I acnnot think of ANY style that would not benefit from this thing. It is flexible, sounds great, has a bulit in tuner, presets, stereo, has multiple typrs of delay, works off a battery, drives headphones and is cheap. I'd be a little cautions live and at this price would have a backup. I acnnot think of another dalydevice that does anything near what this can for anywhere near the price. HIGHLY Recommended!

It's fairly easy to get good sounds out of this unit once you set it up. The presets give you a good idea of what the 508 can do. The manual is fairly well laid out. I wouldn't want to edit this unit in the middle of a gig.

I play mostly noise pop and vintage rock (50's 60's and 70's). I own many killer tube amps and several American Fender and Hamer USA guitars. For effects I use mostly fancy (i.e. expensive) boutique pedal effects. I'd go into more detail, but the list is just way too long. If you want to know more, write me.


First off, I want to say that if you think that this pedal sounds just as good as a Line 6 Delay Modeler, you should spend more time with each of these units. I own both of these units (See my review of the Line 6 Delay Modeler), and have spent much time working with them. The Zoom 508 is not even in the same league as far as sound, design, and build quality goes. The only thing these two pedals have in common is the fact that they're both delays. Anyone who thinks they sound the same probably think a Danelectro Pastrami Overdrive sounds just like a Klon, Centaur or a Fulltone Fulldrive 2. Now that that's cleared up...

I bought this unit a few years ago because I was looking for a unit with a long delay time and a repeat hold function for the Fripp/Eno type of delay stuff I like to do (The Line 6 pedal hadn't hit the market yet). Since the old Digitech Delay pedals can be hard to find, I thought this would be my best bet. Now that I have a Line 6 I only use this pedal as a 4 second delay looper and only when I need a second loop when I have one loaded in the Line 6. It doesn't get as much use these days, but it still comes in handy from time to time. I will probably replace the 508 with the new Boss Loop Factory when it hits the market.

For the money, the Zoom 508 is not a bad pedal. It's a bit noisy and it kills your tone a little bit (most people might not even notice), but for $99 it does the job as well as or better than most delay pedals in its price range. The fact that you can store several settings in it's memory just adds to the 508's value. Still doesn't sound as good as a Line 6. You get what you pay for people.

I use this pedal in a MIDI loop switcher. I wouldn't even think of stopming on this thing. If I didn't have a loop switcher, I wouldn't even own this pedal. It's lightweight plastic case can only mean trouble on the stage. If this unit were housed in a metal enclosure I would have been willing to pay more for it. I called the people at Zoom to tell them that and they didn't seem to give a shit.

If this unit were housed in a metal enclosure I would have been willing to pay more for it. I called the people at Zoom to tell them that and they didn't seem to give a shit. I really don't think Zoom is the type of company that bothers to listen to feedback from their customers. They just churn out so-so stuff and hope the market responds. Oh well. Fortunately because I use this in a loop switcher and not on the floor, I have never had to deal with the generally disinterested people at Zoom.

Overall, for $99 bucks you can't really go wrong. I don't know if they still make the 508. They have new pedals with a metal "looking" enclosure. I think that's pretty lame. If it were lost or stolen, I'd apply the insurance money towards the purchase of a Boss Loop Factory. I wouldn't waste the money on another 508.

It's about as difficult to use as most digital boxes with lots of settings. Pretty logical, though the tiny LEDs are not that user-friendly. The manual is very good.

Using three different guitars and a 30-watt tube amp, I found the sound to be consistently weak. Made a fat humbucker sound thinner, and single-coils almsot shrill. It seems as if there's a notch taken out of the mid-lows. The delays themselves were good, and you can set them to do practically anything you like, but the tone of the guitar was affected so much that I ended up not using the thing.

I wanted to like this device, as it is inexpensive and versatile. For some styles the loss of, for want of a better word, "balls" in a guitar's tone might not be a problem. If you use a solid-state amp, the tone might not be as drastically altered -- it sounded okay in the store through a transistor Fender. I'm going to do a little comparison shopping for high-end (and high-priced) delays now.

You must read the manual, but it's easy to understand and after that
you'll have a complete working knowledge of the unit.

Didn't notice any detectable single loss in bypass mode as compaed to going straight into the amp. I found all the factory presets useless. You must tweak the mix setting, feedback, and tone. Once I started tweaking everything became more usable. It's digital so roll off the high end. Better than BOSS, as just as good as the Line6 DL4 (which is over priced).

had it for a week so .......???

never talked to them, but they are part of Samson and I did return a mixing console for repair, though I had to dive it out to their office. No problem good service.

Good for the money, versitile, and very usable sounds. If you want better than you have to pay the piper, nuff said. It's digital so if that is a turn off don't even consider it. Best bang for the buck and some very usable delays with very good quality.

This box is very simple to use and with respect to programming your own sounds and also the ease of switching between different programmed delays. Nice big foot pedals so you can't miss a beat.

I'm running it through a Hyundai Acoustic/Electric through a Fender Deluxe 360W amp and to tell you the truth, it rocks. No hissing, no extra noise. The delay is virtually crystal clear from the feed. You play a note and it sounds like you're still playing it. No feed is lost in the delay. I can immitate Brian May's Brighton Rock stuff as easy as I can listen to it! The sounds quality is just as good with my Squire Strat pumped through tonnes of distortion and othe effects that i run through my DOD VGS50 which I plug right into which is THEN plugged into the 508. 100% no quiality lost!

I've used this box by myself in live solo gigs with my acoustic and it hasn't failed me yet. I'm quite pleased with the Seamless option so you don't lose your final repetitions when you switch to another effect. It finishes off what it started which is KEY to playing professionally.

n/a

I play acoustic jam stuff (ie Dave Matthews Band) and this product is 100% perfect for my style of playing and having fun with delays and echos. Especially for the crazy Tim Reynolds techniques that I'm learning everyday. This Box is the #1 and most important effects box that I have ever owned.

I found the 508 easy to use i only looked at the manual once
to find out what each setting did and I was away. Very simple
and user friendly.

I'm running my 508 though a strat and a vox ac30. I use mine to recreate the classic sound of Hank Marvin and it works very very well.
it can create an aray echoes such as the classic rockabilly slapback type echo. The only drawback of being a digital unit is the cold tone.
A friend of mine has an amtech age-1 echo unit which cost 7 times more and i can get the same sounds and run faster echoes in a smaller and cheaper package.

I have had mine for a year and gig with it and not the hint of a glitch

Don't know read above

Top value you could not get anything under #100 to beat it.
The only thing that could improve it for me(For playing The Shadows and Rock 'n' Roll) would be:
1: Warmer tone
2: A tape flutter control

Other than that its ni on perfect.

Very easy, but keep the manual just in case.

Hey it's digital!

Try to only step on the pedal part of this, I don't think the main case could take it (at the lcd display). Also, the input jack on mine is crackling when I first turn it on, it goes away, but it is weird.

Got a catalog of all the 500 series pedals real fast. Never actually needed them after that.

Alot of people here say that most of the patches suck, but I've only modded one, (B3 I think, only because it was annoying with it's sustain set at 99!)

Easy enough. Patches are simple to edit, all it takes is a little patience and experiment to taste. Themanual is the infamous foldout, but very straight forward.

I tried it first with my Squire tele, then through my home made LPS. It sounds nice, very nice indeed! Agreed, some of the presets are more or less usable, but of the 24, 6 sound just right to my ears with no need to alter: A2 Spacey arpegio, A3 Sound on sound, B2 Deep old delay (my pet favorite), B3 Odd meter (hee haw! I like it a lot!), C1 Dotted eight (Albert Lee, Dave Gilmour, Steve Stevens, Edge etc), and E1 150bpm.

Treat it with respect, it will prove to be very reliable!

Unknown

OK, off the bat, the weak point: it's a pain to put on bypass. A seperate bypass pedal can be adapted easily, so it's not an issue to me.

The big plus, even if 6 presets out of 24 are usable to me, it means that 6 presets match my style of playing. By no means am I saying that the rest are crap, far from it.

Which means that for a unit with the same price as a Dan-Echo, I get 6 delays I like, accessible via foot control ... that's excellent value for the money. Try and calculate a Dan echo times 6 ... see what I mean?

I basically took advantage of my credit line with L&M's and am making affordable monthly payments on it. My timing was flawless: they were just about to increase the price!

I went nuts with the Odd Meter setting: play a chord, let it repeat rythmically, improvise lines on top, whooooa!

The dotted eight is also very useful (just listen to any 80's tune by Pink Floyd, U2 or Billy Idol) but my fave is the Deep Old Delay setting, it's just such a nice rythmic sound ... I love it!

Top marks, other than the impractical bypass switch (you must hit both pedal switches at the same time, and if you do, it sounds dry and sterile) it's a very vesatile unit. I can easily put a few external bypass pedals (one for it and one for my Rotovibe) and solve that.

Hmmm ... tres difficult to say. It's very easy to get a good sound out of it - some of the preset patches are just great instantly. However, it is difficult to fiddle around with. Not difficult actually, just very very slow. If only it had a couple of dials on it ... So on the one hand, I give it 10, on the other, about 4, although the manual explains everything. I think I'll give it an 8. No reason. Just an eight.

It can be quite noisy, and some of the effects I think are weak. Some people might like them though ...
Anyway, the patches I do like (and the ones I've programmed for myself) are very good. They sound as good as the Boss-DD5, and because it's all done with patches, you can change settings very quickly once you've programmed in your patches. I can't criticise it much here ...

Yes, it's plastic, but think about it - it's a delay pedal. Not distortion. A pedal you should really only use on clean sounds. So stamping on it shouldn't be a problem. I've never heard of problems with Zoom circuitry, so I think it should survive. It's also much sturdier than you think. I'd gig without backup.

Never met them. Or spoken to them. Oh wait, I called them and they sent me a brochure of effects they made. They were quite quick and friendly I suppose. I can't fault what they were like.

Bad Points 1) It eats batteries. So you need to buy a 9V adaptor. 2) It would be very helpful to have the footswitch to go with it, so I could tap in delay times. But I don't, so there we go. 3) Some of the patches are really freaky, some are excellent, but as you can change them all, it's okay. 4) It doesn't have a reverse feature ... 5) It doesn't really have reverb. 6) It's a bit noisy. 7) It's a bit fiddly at first
BUT the sound quality is very very good indeed. I can get everything I like out of it, delay-wise (it's a shame about the lack of reverb/reverse). AND it was about 40% of the price of a Boss DD5. So, value for money, it's unbelievable.
If I lost it, would I replace it? Yes, if I could find it for #50 again. I bought it because I wanted something to beef up/add interest to my clean tones, but I didn't want a chorus (although you can set the 508 up for some mean chorus sounds) because they're shit (is it just me, or does chorus just make it sound out of tune?), I din't want a flanger (too limited), I didn't want a phaser (same again) and I toyed with the idea of getting a multi-effects unit, but realised they were cutting corners to produce cheap, numerous effects for impressive variety but pathetic quality. So I got this, and it's really really good. But you HAVE to get a 9V adaptor. I used a brand new battery (not a very good one, mind) and it was dead within an hour.
Oh, and another thing I like about this, while I'm here. The chromatic tuner is quite good. I've never had a tuner (always tuned by ear) and I don't need one to get my guitar in tune with itself, but I don't have absolutely perfect pitch, and it tells you (incredibly accurately) what the note is, intonation wise. I guess this is especially useful for people with a less good ear, but it is still very useful I reckon. Bearing in mind that a good chromatic tuner can cost #20-#30, then that a foot-operated one (e.g. the Boss one) can cost #40, and this Zoom cost only #10 more, I think it's a snip.
So, shame it has no reverb/reverse, but it is INCREDIBLE value for money.

i'm used to digital type, two-million-pages-to-browse-through boxes in the studio, but for guitar work i prefer knobs. if you're gonna buy this thing, you'd better be prepared to have the manual handy for a while (when editing patches it's impossible to decipher the two-letter codes for each delay mode-- and this little thing is pretty feature-packed, but you need to know how to use its six buttons just right to do things). hate the tiny little buttons, too... you practically have to pick the thing up off the floor to do any extensive editing. although, for the bones, i guess you can't complain.

i bought this kind of on a whim, because it seemed to have a ton of features and delay time and i liked the fact that it had 24 patch memories... not only that but it was only a hundred bucks brand spankin' new. in the store i checked it out with one of those new, bland fender all-tube things that people are always trying to pawn off. i expected a certain amount of high-end rolloff but didn't catch much-- it actually seemed to perform better in this regard than the boss pedals i'd tried out (how can Boss charge so much cash for something that sounds so dull?). so i took it home.
thing is, once i got it near a *real* amp (my '64 princeton, VHT 50/ST, gibson GA-5T), it became apparent that it was padding down the input noticeably, even in bypass mode, and made everything sound thinner. the high end still sounded great! (or, i should say, it "stayed intact.") but suddenly my BIG FAT AMPS were all sterile little tinky-tink wussies. back it went.
this is definitely not a sweet-sounding unit and while i bought it for ambient/experimental noisemaking as opposed to retro-moron slapback or, even worse, "PINK FLOYD, DOOD!@#@!", i just couldn't live with what it did to my basic tone when plugged into the chain, nor could i live with the lengths one had to go to merely to change the delay time or HF rolloff on a patch or to invoke the hold/tap mode (external pedal practically a must). if you need tons of different options and loads of delay time, and you need 'em cheap, check this thing out. but don't expect it to sound like, oh, i dunno, an eventide or something. (not saying i anticipated this... but if you did, you're either extraordinarily gear-naive or just a moron.) :)
i think the "thin" factor would probably be less important to those playing through any kind of solid-state amp; not a slam against those boxes, but they do tend to be less sensitive to differences in input level.

one of my bandmates has a 505 (although i'm not sure why i'm letting him keep it) and it seems to be pretty stable after a few years of use. the whole 50x series looks awfully cheesy to me, but then again they're feather-weight, so it's not like it's going to suffer unless you physically hurl it onto the floor.

if this thing had triggerable sampling onboard, i probably would have kept it. as it was, i took it back to the store after four days, and traded it straight up for an old korg sdd-3000-- one of the most satisfying trades i've ever made-- and i also have a DOD DFX94 on the way for the longer delay times and triggerable samples. it's neat that they can pack so much into this little box, but if they would have added a couple of honest-to-god knobs, and focused a little more on the interaction between guitar and amp to make this sound better in a chain, i wouldn't mind paying another $50 or something. as is: a good deal features-wise but ultimately not useful to me, and if you're picky about your tone... best stay away from this one.
oh, one more cautionary word that has been emphasized time and time again: if you get this, *buy the adapter* while you're at it. i had a pretty neat experience with a brand new manganese battery that this thing literally chewed through in ten minutes flat (i just *had* to ignore the little warning card!), and it ate a new duracell in about 3.5 hours.

Since this isn't a knob-and-switch unit, it does of course take some time to read the manual and see what everything does. After you do that, however, it's VERY easy to use. The buttons are nice and all have (more or less) only one function. There is a display listing all patch parameters, and the cone you are currently editing lights up. There is also a two-character LED which, surprisingly, is a major help. Switching through patches is easy, as well. You just click the pedal through them to the one you want, and you're either switching the patches, or you can make it so it doesn't switch patches untill you find the correct one and "confirm" it, and it will swtich between the present one and the confirmed one.

I am not using this with guitars at all, but with synths. Mainly a Roland MC-202 monosynth/sequencer and a JX-3P poly synth. I usually have the 3P's chorus on, which is VERY noisy, so this unit being noisy wouldn't be a problem with me. However, it isn't noisy at all. It sounds great.
At first, I thought having 24 patches for a single delay unit was silly, but I can get a lot of different sounds out of this one pedal. I usually program patches that are nearly identical right next to each other, with one having the feedback set really hard. Since it has "seamless patch switching" (which is editable per-patch and NOT a global setting!), when I switch back to the low-feedback patch, the residual echoes take a while to fade. Just like thwacking a knob back really quick. It's fun, and quite effective.
One essential feature of the patch structure is "tone", which many digital delay units lack. When set from 0-39, it kills higher frequencies as the echo decays (0 being the most extreme, and 39 being the most subtle), and the range of 40-50 boosts the higher frequencies as the echo decays. Although you can't get it rich'n'syrupy like some old tape unit, you have to consider that this is a digital box that was under a hundred bucks. I do get goin' pretty angelic during those high-pitched filter sweeps. 4 seconds of delay!! That's just awesome, I swear. And you can edit the delay time by 1 millisecond! That was SUCH a win with me. (And it's not even tedious at all! Take my word for it.) I have to have my delay time synced with the tempo or I go crazy. That's why I went with this insted of one of the knobbed Boss units (DD-5, DD-3, RV-3, etc), and those were MUCH pricier, besides.

Well... it seems to be a bit, uhm... plastic. Still, it's sturdy plastic and I'm a wussy keyboard player -- I won't be a stompin' and thrashin'. I'll be clicking with my hands with this thing on my lap, thank you. Personally, I can't bring myself to stomp on anything I paid a hundred bucks for. Still, I'm sure it's sturdy enough for you aggressive types.

I doubt I will ever have to deal with the company at all. I'm nice to my equipment, and it's nice to me.

I play good ol' nerdy synthpop, and the Zoom 508 does me fine. I can get plain delays, ping pong delays, springy reverb, and weird metallic sounds (with very short delay times and high feedback) out of it. I've used it on synth loops, live synth playing, vocals, and drums. It's all good.
For the price and usability, I would buy it again. On top of that, the sound is awesome. it adds a richness to my synth gear that just isn't there dry. It added a whole new dimension. Since my experience with this unit has been so positive, I plan on getting a Zoom 505 (or two) to give me other effects. They're just so cheap and easy to find on the used market. The only reason I didn't get one of those was the whole delay-preset thing. I am VERY picky about delay, and when I found out that they had a delay pedal, I bought it immediately and I have been extremely pleased with it. I can't say enough good things about it. I don't "hate" anything about it. One feature I wish it had was the ability to grant 3 wishes when rubbed.

The manual is absolutely neccesary to start with it. It is a quite flexible stomp box and good delay effects can be obtained with a small amount of time. I have less than one week with it and I guess it is almost totally in the RAM of my brain.

I have an Ibanez RoadStar II 440, a Crate G60, a DOD Tec8g multieffects system and some other stomp boxes with this Zoom 508 Delay. It has many kind of delay effects that can go from 1 ms to 4 seconds. In the settings you can control the kind of delay to be used (normal, twin 4, twin, 6 echo etc.) and some of them can be adjusted to be stereo. The delay time is divided into two individual settings (one that multiplies a 100 ms scale and the other multiplies a 1 ms scale). The feedback can be adjusted from 0 to 99, this is like a damping factor (higher damp for smaller feedback values), and at 99 the delays almost never decay. Using the feedback set to 99 the instrument start acquiring data, mixing it up and replay it again up to a total sound mess (maybe somebody will find an use for this, I don't). The tone of the replay can has a different equalization to that the original segment (it can be the same brightness or lower equalized, 50 to 0 respectively). It has a mixing setting that can goes from 0 to 50, and this parameter is for the amplitude of the replayed (in percentage I can guess it goes from 0% to maybe 110%). This is another good reason to buy it. The last two settings are for the mixing between banks (you can select an overlap between the switching of the banks to make them smoother) and for the hold/tap (the tap is still not clear in my head, but the hold can be useful to record some very small (under 4 seconds) riff and play it again indefinetly). To hold the samples an external pedal is neccesary. I constructed a cheap hold/reset pedal by just using a momentary switch connected to a 1/4" plug to the ZOOM 508 pedal (the cost of this can be around $ 3.00). It works nicely for long delay settings. The sound quality is very good. It can be from a warm to a brigth delay. With some different settings you can "simulate" a reverb, chorus like sound and some strange distortions (with normal delays of less than 20 ms). Warm distortions can also be helped with this pedal. The combination of the Tec8g and the ZOOM 508 I think is very good for any afficionate guitar player. I am very happy with the sound of this effect and I recomend it.

I do not know yet, but I hope it will be good. I read many articles of people getting worried about the plastic shell of this effect. I personally think is much better constructed that what I expected, but of course it will never survive a free fall from the top of the Empire State Building.

I recomend it over a normal delay stomp box, because it is flexible and also provides 24 different patches to store your favorite settings (from helping a distortion, helping a chorus, helping a reverb effect or doing any good delay effect). The sound quality is very good for my needs. It is also very cheap compared to other delay effects and maybe the only one under $ 100 that can be programmed.

After you've read the manual, it should be no problem at all to edit your own patches. What's a little confusing are the doble functions of some of the buttons. But those are for functions I rarely use, so it doesn't really bother me.

Sound seems OK to me so far. You probably won't get anything better for the price. I mostly use the long delay settings (for looping), so I can't really say a lot about the other stuff. I've been using it with a Fender Strat and Chapman Stick (melody and bass strings) over my Fender guitar amp and a PA system. No annoying noises, at least live, don't know about recording.

No problems so far. It's plastic, but seems pretty robust.

N/A

I have bought the pedal about 1/2 year ago, and I'm not disappointed. This is really good value for your money. My main use has been for some looping stuff. The 4 sec Delay is COOL! I have the additional footswitch, if I press it, the loop goes on to infinity. And with the seamless mode I can set up two loops simultaneously. Another very nice application is the use as a headphone practice amp.

Easy to use, most factory presets are setup well enough to just use out of the box, although I had to reset some of the mix levels to keep the delays from running over the signal. Editing Patches is just too easy. Manual is o.k., at least gives most of the info you need to get into the edit system and figure out what param does what. Not sure about firmaware, and nothing regarding this at Zooms web set.

I've used this with a strat plus, les paul std, into either a crate VC30 or a Marshall JTM60. (That's all I've had time to test with anyway, but I doubt it's gonna be a problem with my archtops) the delays are fairly clean and well defined. Some of the preset patches (that I wouldn't use anyway) a bit noisey.

I can't see what could go drastically wrong with it. But I'd probably have one of my old delay pedals in my cable/junk case anyway.

Given all I wanted was to replace an old Rack mount Digitech that was giving me constant headroom problems, I'd say this 508 is a decent pickup. I'm not crazy bout a floor pedal, but as long as I can keep it in the fx loop, and not be draging it all over the floor on a gig, I guess it's a compromise.. At least it's a better match than my dsp128+ has been...

Navigating linearly through the patches is somewhat difficult-- users of the 500 series that have this difficulty should turn the Direct Load feature off so you can switch without changing the effect until you confirm it. In edit mode you can enable the Hold feature for sampling and looping, or the Tap feature to adjust the delay time according to the tempo you're playing.

Actually, i use the 508 with a didjeridu, a rhythmic woodwind from Australia. Sound quality is excellent, although most patches intentionally degrade the sound by default as the echo fades. The 4 second delay is amazing when used with the Hold feature, I can layer rhythm upon rhythm indefinitely.

This thing takes a severe beating and it always comes through.

All the 500's don't seem to require technical support because it's really well built.

The didjeridu is a rhythmical instrument, not a melodic instrument, so the 508 delay is great for layering rhythms to simulate a multi-piece rhythm section.