Zoom B9.1UT

Easy navigation if you are familiar with the learning curve on any piece of digital gear. I have never owned a Zoom product before and I was creating patches without even cracking the manual. But that being said the manual is well written and easy to navigate considering the depth of this particular unit. The 2 line LCD is bright and clear, and the abbreviations are easy to remember and translate well. The tri-color led buttons lend a lot of information and they are lined up in accordance with the effects chain so editing is as easy as a couple of clicks and some knob twiddling.

The preamp and EQ knobs at the top are useful but they are CC data knobs so even though the have a start point and an end point, they "jump" when you turn them if you switch patches... potentially a problem onstage but it's a minor quibble... you just have to make sure you get it right before you hit the stage (and possibly rely more on your amp's EQ for acoustic tweaking). Also you can access the EQ data with the LCD edit knobs and those are infinite so it can be done more discreetly.

The "accelerator" knobs are subtle but very useful for getting your instrument volume dialed in quickly. The switches and expression pedal seem very responsive and patch changing is extremely smooth and fast.

I will say this though. If you are a compact, analog pedal type this thing will potentially drive you nuts, so if you are just a player who wants an easy fix this unit may be too much. I have years of experience with all kinds of digital gear and it's dead simple to ME, but I can understand why a lot of folks hate them. That's why I am giving this an 8 for benefit of the doubt.

Right out of the box there were some things lacking sound-wise. First off, like most multi efx this has some stupid, useless patches. But some are a good way to show the power and competency of the machine, but I will never use them, these things are all about personal power, not a quick fix IMHO.

I'm using this with a number of basses from single coil fender types to humbucking actives and such. I have used it with a practice setup at home through an old 2 ch stereo and have also tried it via USB for a recording run. I was able to use it live as well twice and I have to say I'm impressed with this shiny red monster. But I will just touch on each type of effect and some brief thoughts:

Mods: What I bought it for was the mods and the amount and variety. If it didn't cut it there it was going back. Choruses are lush and full, Flanger is a little bitey but there are tone controls for each effect which comes in handy. Vibrato, Tremolo, and auto wahs are all useful and deep in their parameter usage, particularly when used with the "Z" pedal feature (more on that later). The 4 stage phaser in particular is sweet. All in all they aren't as rich as their analogue brothers, but all together here at this price they are very nice.

Delays: Very nice Analog delay emulation. Decent digital delays although not the best feature on this unit. The "Sound on Sound" looping feature is quite nice with clean truncation and 5.4 seconds of loop time. Mod delay is also a cool sounding effect.

Reverbs: Reverbs are useful as an expansion or reflection but are not the be all-end all effect of this unit. Some nice ones are represented and are best used subtly. The reverse reverb has a oddly cool sound to it and the spring has a deep tank sound... nuff said.

Wahs: Pretty cool for a digital unit! I was impressed with the sounds these were producing even though I won't use them much. The pedal "sweep" length makes it hard to pump in rhythm effectively at first, but with some getting used to I could see it making some decent funk. The "talky" curves were the coolest to me, and quite unique.

Preamps: Here's where I get a little picky. The preamp emulation is just better than OK. I mainly rely on analogue sources for any overdrive or tube sounds. But I will say that some of these are very good for recording demos, which is how I plan to use them. The Polytone and Walter Woods models are the most useful to me and are very responsive and solid. The SVT emulation is lacking a bit, but the Superbass is a thick, dense, retro sound. The Big Muff is quite convincing as are all the distortion box models and even though I prefer the real chip sounds, they are good enough to leave them at home for a smaller gig.

Synths: Never use them. I would rather fake a synth sound with mods and clever programming, which I have done successfully with this unit with glowing results! Bass synths never track well but this one does OK. And some people might groove on em' but I don't. It's not what I would buy this unit for anyway. The Octaver tracks pretty good especially on the lower notes, it can get artifact-y on the G string if you don't mute right. It works better if you stage it after a preamp that boosts your signal from behind. The "Mono Octave" one competes with any pedal I have heard and again saves bringing it with you.

Compressors: There again you are better served by analogue but I have to say these pump sufficiently and cleanly. I have been using them in a recording environment and have been satisfied with the results. In a live setting they can serve you well too as any good compressor should and I would use them without hesitation. The 2 band setting is simple and effective and can get you a nice tight sound.

Noise reduction: The ZNR chip does a nice job and gates nicely with minimal tone damage. I personally like noise most of the time if it's part of the effect i.e. fuzz hum or phaser swoosh... but if you zero the threshold it cleans it nice

This a very solidly built unit! I can't say how long the switches will last but they have a nice click to them and could hold up to some stomping I'm sure. The "Z-Pedal" expression pedal is made of aluminum and has torque control which is a nice feature. All the jacks are threaded and bolted down. Knobs are plastic but well out of the way of a stray foot. But if you stepped on them they would still be there for sure.

Haven't had a chance to open it up but after my warranty passes I may swap out the "accelerator" tube just to see what happens... a little curious about the insides on this thing.

Overall I will give the build quality on this thing a 10. It really is a nicely built unit. But only time will tell...

Other than a Mac-based patch editor that's sorely missing support looks to be good. I hope I don't need it though, my experience with china & customer support is just pray it's never needed. No opinion... yet.

Wow - as you can tell by my breathless review I like this thing. I have never had a multi efx pedal board before and I'm liking it so far. I have used everything from Berhinger to Eventide and this one can compete any day of the week... Is it the best thing out there? Probably not. Will it replace all my pedals? No way. But for convenience and sound quality in a solid package it comes through all aces.

The "Z-Pedal" may be the one thing that separates this one from the Boss's and Line 6's because, as highly a creative tool this is, it moves it up a notch by giving you more expressive control over envelopes, LFO's, and swells like nothing else... good stuff!

The "Accelerator" is also quite useful and the tube stage adds a nice richness at the input stage missing from emulators. Subtle but it does make a difference. A bypass would be nice I suppose.

The cabinet modeling is not my thing, and I avoided mentioning it because it seems so inconsequential. Even for recording with this or any other unit I would never use it, it's just like a resonant EQ curve... big deal.

I think I will hang on to this for a while and just like my old Swiss Army Knife. It's shiny, red, and useful in a lot of situations. I'll give it a 9 since they made something I can appreciate and use for years to come.