Zoom G2.1u

It's very easy to use. It's difficult to patch a bad sound. It's a surprise because the demo from ZOOM page sounds horrible. Editing patches becomes a second nature after two days of using it. The manual is great - I found every single information I wanted to find in it. I don't know the firmware version, it hasn't been upgraded.

I wish I could change the patches via PC and store them in files. That would make life a bit easier. It uses USB, however only for audio and that is why it's not getting 10.

One more thing - this unit can be supplied via the USB cable. Great job. It consumes 300 mA and sounds great. POD 2.0 needs 1200 mA and is definately not 4x better sounding. Read on...

I use it primarily for homerecording and practicing.

It has an absolutely pristine quality sound. Forget the noise. Sounds amazing.

Compared to Line6 products line this thing is far far better. It's ten times less fizzy and harsh. The simulations are not as far realistic however being much nicer to ears they win.

A/D/A are 24 bit/96 kHz. Recording is limited to 16 bit/44 kHz or 48 kHz. Still sounds far better than TonePort GX, UX1, UX2, POD XT Pro. I tried them all - they all suck, unless you are deaf and cannot hear the highs.

Really cool wah sounds. The audo-wah is useful, too.

Fanstastic booster!

The simulation of MESA - not so close to the real thing, but very decent.

5150 - this thing has balls in G2.1u!

Extreme Distortion - ZOOM's original. This is the most tight, dynamic, sharp and clear distortion ever.

Fantastic low range.

Effects - fairly tweakable. Sound pleasant. I like the pitch shifter and harmonizer in this unit. You are able to set the key.

Delays and reverbs - very nice.

Cab simulations - cabinets are automatically matched with amp simulations. They are fine. What you can change is the mic type between dynamic and condenser. Mic placement is also adjustable. Each setting is satisfactory.

Noise reduction algorithms are great. I've been always a noise freak - this thing is more than satisfactory.

It's a decent piece of hardware. Seem able to last a lifetime. I would use it without a backup, yeah.

I *really* like the form factor of this unit. It's small enough to put in your jacket pocket (only about twice as big as a standard stomp pedal), but has two solid-feeling metal footswitches and a nice little expression pedal which you can easily assign to whatever function you want. (Some people find the pedal too small too be useful, and yes it's not a $99 Ernie Ball volume pedal, but I thought it was pretty well-made). It even has a battery option, which is HUGELY cool if you are busking or just want to jump onstage in a hurry (without looking around for a power outlet).

I found it pretty easy to use-- once you get used to the quirks, you can pretty much dial in what you need in matter of a few seconds. (Way easier to use than the POD 2.0, which has the worst user interface I've ever seen).

Cons: 1) you have to get used to the weird abbreviations that show up on the display (PU for wah pedal, etc); 2) it would have been better if they had used a chicken-head knob so you could see at a glance what effect you were selecting (a lot of reviewers have pointed that out).

Comments about tone don't mean anything unless you're making a comparison with similar products, so... for most of what follows, I A/B'd this unit with a Pod 2.0, which is a similar unit (amp modeler + multi effects) in the same price range.

* Amp modeling-- Really bad. Worst thing about the unit. The POD (which, once again, costs about the same) immediately blows it away. On the Zoom, distortion tones were flat, unmusical and full of digital "fizz"; clean tones lacked warmth. I rarely use the amp-modeler part of the Zoom.

* Reverb-- OK. The Pod sounded a little better, but it took careful listening to hear the difference.

* Phase, chorus, flange, delay, ring modulator-- OK. Usable. (I admit I don't really know what a "good" ring modulator is supposed to sound like).

* Pitch shifter-- Usable, and not the worst I've ever heard, but definitely cheap sounding-- "watery" tone, tendency towards artifacts and mis-tracking especially in polyphonic mode. Put it this way: I A/B'd it with the Digitech Whammy Wah, which is a widely used pitch shifter (and a VERY overrated one by the way-- the Electoharmonix POG blows it out of the water). The Zoom sounded somewhat worse than the Whammy, which is itself mediocre. But hey- it's still usable, it's a nice feature to throw in there (the low-end PODS don't have it), and the auto-harmonizer is fun.

* The good news: This thing is quiet as a mouse. No hum or hiss at all, even with the noise filters off.

No problems yet. It feels very solidly built.

Never found out.

I REALLY wanted to like this unit. On paper, it offers a combination of features that nobody else has: small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, BUT with stomp switches and a useful expression pedal; easy real-time control over parameters; option of battery power; generous array of effects INCLUDING a pitch shifter. Nobody else makes a unit like that!

Unfortunately, although it does a lot of things, it doesn't do any of them really well (and does some of them really badly).

With that said... I've found it useful as a sort of "beater" unit, like if I am going to play on the beach or at an open mike and can't be bothered to carry around a lot of equipment.

(Oh yeah, one more thing. How come there are no good review sites for guitar equipment anywhere on the Web?)

The features of the zoom are numerous but limited, such as there are alot of effects but tweaking them can be tiresome.

The sound of the acoustic settings are great , some of the best I've heard for digital,but the distortions are just bland and poppy, not much clarity. some ppl will like it especially beginers.

the expression pedal is cool,but thats about it

here is what got me i have had it a little over a year b4 it messed up, can't click down anymore so I have to bank up , from clean to dirty,clean,dirty,clean very frustrating because the warranty has expired , so I took it apart to look at the switches very cheaply made with not much ability to take abuse, hence you buy cheap you get cheap!!

as I said above, the warranty is out so talking with them is not really an option. dont think I'll be buying anymore zoom products!!!!!!

I've been playing for over 20 years and I was dissapointed,the guy that sold it 2 me said it was the shiznit, how true,literally

It's complex, not complicated. Being new to multi-FX units it took me a few minutes to get my head around the idea, but it's simple enough. The preset patches are not good, and the sooner you get inside this thing and start fiddling around with it the more fun you can have.

I am not a huge fan of digital effects, specially when they claim to reproduce analog sounds. Digital always sounds to me like digital. However, it helps if you think of this thing not so much like something that is going to replace (or stand in for) your collection of beautiful analog stompboxes, but as a sort of small synthesiser that you can use to make interesting noises. Some of the effects here were new to me, like auto wah and auto resonator, which change the tone of your sound depending on how hard you pick - not yet sure what it's good for from a musical point of view, but nice idea. The 'ring modulator' patch is fabulously ugly-sounding, as is the 'digital fuzz'. The more you ask this thing to do things that old school effects can't do, the more fun it is.

The manual is clear enough. It took me about half an hour to find my way around this thing, and there are a lot of things you can do.

What can I say? Digital is digital. I love the sound of my hollowbody Ibanez AF-75 played through my Marshall combo, and nothing is going to beat that. The trick, as I see it, is to tame this device so that it messes with your clean sound as little as possible but enables you to make the most unguitary noises imaginable when you want it to. And that, it can do.

I use it with a Roland MicroCube (a second level of amp modelling, right there, which is irritating) and a Marshall AVT 20. I agree with Nels Cline that you can never have too many fuzzboxes, but most of the distortion options on this are not very interesting. I'll stick with my OD-3 and Rat for those purposes. The digital fuzz, as mentioned above, is one of the sickest sounds I've ever heard, though.

I bought this mainly because I wanted a volume pedal, a pitchshifter and a USB interface and was too poor to buy them all separately. This includes each of them, although you can only use the built-in pedal to shift one parameter at a time. The pitchshifter isn't quite as glorious as a Digitech Whammy, but it shifts pitches all right.

Hasn't gone wrong yet, but I haven't had it for very long (only a few weeks).

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

This was a bargain. It does a lot of things that I wanted to be able to do plus a lot else besides, and for a player like me who isn't wealthy that means a lot. I play mostly jazz and improvised music, and for the latter I like to be able to treat the sound a lot - this is perfect at that. If it were stolen or lost, I think I would probably save up and get a Boss volume, a Whammy pedal, some sort of loop station and a more portable USB interface.

Having said that, as a pitchshifter I compared this to a Digitech Whammy 4, and this does nearly everything that does, but at half the price. It also functions as a USB interface and as a lot of other things besides. My main concern is about the extent to which it sucks up my tone. I like a good clean tone which I can then modify at will, and this is not about that. This is about remaking the sound of your guitar into something else entirely. That's cool, but I would like the option of maintaining my basic tone without having to tweak a lot of knobs in order to reproduce something like it.

This unit is fairly easy to use but you MUST read the manual. The pre-sets on here sound ok but they are only meant for demo purposes to show what this unit can do. You need to tweak these settings to get your desired sound. The maunal is pretty straightforward and after reading it once I have just reffered to it a few times for minor things. The patches are pretty much fully configurable. The only drawback initally is the small two digit LED display. It would be much better with a display whereby you could name each patch descriptively rather than having to remember numbers and letters.

This is where this unit really shines. The amp modelling is very good indeed. I own a Peavey 5150 amp which is one of the modelled amps on this unit and It nails the sound of it perfectly. The Marshall and Mesa Boogie also sound very similar but I mostly use the Peavey. I play mostly punk and metal and the distortion on this thing is great. You can get anything from an overdriven blues distortion to a high gain, scooped nu-metal sound. Clean sounds are great too, especially the acoustic simulater which adds some meat to a clean sound.
The reverbs and delays are fully configurable as are the chorus and flanger settings - in fact it would be very very difficult for you not to get your desired sound. Ignore the reviews from people who say the sounds are awful, they probably haven't read the manual.
I only really use this for recording direct into my MAC and am very happy with the sounds it provides. Not tried it live but assume it would be ok.
One downside is the pedal. Its a waste of time in my opinion. The wah, although the sweep is configurable is not nice at all. Perhaps I have been spoilt as I'm using a Morley Mark Tremonti Wah which is the dogs nuts. Other effects can be assigned to this pedal such as volume, harmoniser etc but again i don't find them really useful at all. Anyway, this is a minor gripe.
The real highlight for this effect is the distortion and amp modelling. They are great and worth the price alone. Sound quality for these effects is top drawer too.

Seems reliable enough, I haven't abused this pedal at all but its well built, sturdy with a tough metal casing and rubber feet.

Never used them.

I'm giving this unit a 10 simply because,for the money you get a hell of a lot. Distortion and map mods are great, almost identical to the original and the other effects are all fully configurable and usable. Sound quality for recording is very good although I haven't used this in a live environment.
The downsides to this unit, are the display only having to a digit delay and the pedal. These are relatively minor and are far outweighed by the positives on this unit.

I've been playing bass since I was 13 (i'm 38 now) and guitar for just over a year. Guitars I use are Gibson SG Standard, Gibson SG Faded, Gibson Flying V, Burny Les Paul, LTD EX-400 BD and LTD VB-300 Baritone Guitar.

simple for me at home to use, once I practiced with it for a couple of days. I would not use it to play out.

It sounds fine to me. I use it to record guitar onto my PC in the included Cubase 1.08 software

Looks solid enough and have had no problems with it. Again I wouldn't gig with it because it would be too difficult to control down on the floor

have not dealt with them

For at home use, it is really nice.

You pretty much need to have the manual in front of you, due to the large amount of functions assigned to the same buttons, but it is manageable.

What is worse is that the notch on each know is barely visible so very often unless I look at the unit really close it's hard to figure out on which setting each know is. Not very helpful.

Also, the out is pretty crappy: just a single stereo out. Not even two mono outs (I had to buy an extra stereo-to-2-mono Hosa cable in order to record to my sound card).

Let's start with the good stuff: the acoustic simulator on this unit is VERY nice, I really liked the patches with it. This is about the only thing that is any good on this unit soundwise.

As soon as you start getting into distortion this thing starts blowing chunks. The tone is digital, lifeless and requires endless tweaking to get anywhere close to usable. The EQ options are somewhat limited and in a stroke of idiotic thinking Zoom forces you to choose between cabinet emulation or extra EQ...so basically you cannot use extra EQ if you are going direct.

The effects are OK, not bad...but if you play with the drum machine it automatically switches off the reverb, which really kills all your nice clean sounds.

Summary: nice for clean sound, very weak for distortion (especially metal...just mud, lots of weird bassy buzzing if you're using thick strings or low tunings, etc)

Seems to be built very well, no issues here.

Not dealt with them.

I am grateful I bought this unit (the last of many digital modellers that I owned). it finally made me realize (after spending 100s of $$$ on various PODs, VAMPs, etc) that for distortion (especially hi-gain) digital should be avoided at all costs.

I bought a tube Damage Control Demonizer and it kicks the crap out of any digital unit I ever owner.

So, thank you Zoom for this tonally uninspiring product that finally forced me to discover tube-based pedals sounds for direct recording.

Initially when I got it I was a little confused the inbuilt patches put me off and i left it on the bench for a couple of weeks but i was determined to get the thing working. Now i really love getting into creating my own sounds. I really like recording my sounds and assigning the expression pedal to volume, wah, drive etc it allows you to really create individual preferences.

I do find mine to be really noisy on some patches and when in rehearsal can annoy both me and my band if i leave it on an amp module (which by the way I really don't like!) I really like the subtlety of sounds that you can produce and use wah and phaser in minimal settings which give a really nice effect. I do get over the digital sound and have been known to grab my lead out of the zoom and jam it straight back into my amp in desperation to get some nice analogue tones.

I am gigging with it next week and I am apprehensive of this. Take away the portability aspect I would prefer to have stomp boxes with a true bypass any day. There is so many things that can go wrong and despite the fact they are not badly made they are still made out of plastic.

N/A

I use the zoom in an alternative/independent band and with some unusual sounds that I need to lift the song in some cases it does it well. In other cases I would use stomp boxes or directly into my amp. I don't love it but I love the amount of possibilities it does offer. I really don't think I would replace it if it got lost or stolen.

As has been noted by others, the interface takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it you're good to go. I've gotten to where I'll even tweak settings right on stage. The manual isn't bad and the USB is plug and play so I think this is a pretty user-friendly pedal.

This is why I'm still using this thing after a year. Honestly when I bought it, I didn't think I would have it long. I got into a financial bind and needed something cheap to tide me over until I good afford something "good" again. However I have been very happy with this little pedal.

I was drawn to it after reading about it -- the 24-bit 96K sampling rate and 32-bit Motorola chip inside are impressive in this price range. It's competitors mostly offer the CD standard 44.1K sampling. I think you can hear it in the delays and modulation effects. Nice clear highs. I'm also reasonably happy with the compressor. I'm a compression freak, I like to play clean, clean, clean with lots of compression and I can do that with this pedal going into either my Peavey Classic 30 (very nice rich clean channel) or direct to the PA (thinner sound obviously, but still nice).

I have not been happy with the overdrive sounds and I really need to get in there and tweak it some more. As others have said just delete the presets, you won't be missing anything. Learn how to build sounds up from scratch and you'll fall in love with this thing. It's also easier to make adjustments on stage when you've created the patches yourself.

My sound quality rating is relative to other similar products in this price range -- what's out there that's any better?

I've had mine for about a year now and have used it in about a dozen gigs, numerous rehearsals and dozens of church services without a backup and haven't had any problems. Sometimes I run batteries, mostly I use the wall wart. It worries me that others have had problems with theirs, but I certainly have got my money's worth out of this little guy and would probably just buy another one if this one died or started to get flaky on me.

Never contacted.

I'm a versatile player (rock, blues, jazz, worship, even a little country) so I need gear that provides a lot of bang for the buck and I really found it in this little Zoom pedal. I've never owned anything Zoom before, always assumed they were junk, but when I read the specs on this I had to try it and now I'm hooked. I also really appreciate how small, portable and light this thing is. I've been playing over 30 years and I don't have the stomach for hauling lots of equipment around plus all that setting up and tearing down. I've owned a lot of modelers (DG-Stomp, Line6 Pods, Tonelabs, Pandoras, etc.) Each has their strengths and I've always been able to get usable tones out of pretty much whatever I use (unless it's just a piece of junk, and even then I can sometimes make junk sound better than it is :-)

I'm not going to say this is the greatest product since sliced bread, but I like it, it works for me, I like the form factor, the sound, the interface. There are always compromises in equipment, I've not yet found every feature I always wanted in any piece of gear, but this one offers some pretty reasonable trade-offs for the money. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

easy to figure out, editing is ok, manual is well done really hard to decide if setting eq's first and then adding effects is a good idea as sound is affected rather than complimented by each effect

hard to get a nice metal sounding type distortion sustained lead, chorus is a little weak and the standard chorus is far better than the so called stereo chorus, wah pedal does not have really good range cause the pedal has a limited radius from up to down. I have a noise problem when playing next to the computer on distortion settings. i run an aria w/ sngl coils into headphones and I don't get a real spacious reverb sound. another major complaint is that the reverb is cancelled when using the drum machine. Can get muddy. Too many vol controls. I use headphones and found that thru a fender champ type small practice amp all of my setting have to be redone. Does have some organic tones

The scroll up and down buttons are on the fritz i have pushed them one too many times but am going to send it back to them to get this fixed when i get a roundtuit hopefully

emailed them and have to send for repairs

I had a yamaha magicstomp and that was way too much editing so i like this somewhat. Probably best in it's price range, better than the Tone Works Pandora Cubase included i have had little patience