Zoom G2

It's actualy very easy to work with. If you read the manual there will be nothing missed to know.

Sound quality, eh?
Well...let me first show that I am pretty delighted with Zoom back on stages with a new range of multi-effects units.
To be honest, as I am owning a music shop in the UK, I tested this unit and I have to say, this is really an improvement for Zoom. As their previous units sounded digital, G-2 sounds more realastic. It's actually a cheap fx with good sounds, I recommend this to guitar intermediates. I have used other range of Zoom FX unites before like : 707/707 Mk2 , GFX-3 and GFX-5, and this one is much better.
However, comparing to Line 6 PODxt Live, BOSS GT-8, Vox Tonelab SE, KORG AX3000G, it is not as versatile, but a lot cheaper.

Zoom customer support is very good in the UK, as far as I know. Haven't seen a Zoom user having his/her gear damaged yet, though.

I play from Punk to Metal, and I have been playing guitar for almost 12 years. I won't buy G2 as an expert, but it is a good FX unit for an intermidiate or starter as I said. And more important, it's very cheap.

It's a very simple control format. It works a lot like stomp box pedals with a simple 3 dial lay out.

You'll likely only need to refer to the manual so you know what effect the letters stand for.

Very easy to get a good sound out of. Plugged straight into the PA out of the box, the presets were actually useful!

AMAZING. Let me first start by saying that....
IT TAKES BATTERIES!!
Unlike the POD or V Amp 2.

The drum machine alone sounds absolutely incredible. If it had a sequencer, you could compose and record your albums with this thing on a PC. The cabinets, amps, pedals and effects all genuinely sound analog and will simply blow you away.
It's basically everything the POD's and V Amp's are missing in a pedal format that runs on batteries.

It's the best compact processor I've ever heard, seen or used.
It's just a much more dynamic and versatile amp/cab/stmpbox modeler compared to anything else on the market right now.

BUILT LIKE A TANK.
It must weigh 5-6 lbs. The sides are rubberized and the bank select stomp switches are genuinely metal.
It just looks really heavy duty and badass.....

My Zoom 505 still works and it's construction is total shit compared to this thing.

It's everything I've been waiting for from the company I expected to produce it. I sold one of my V Amps and a Digitech RP-80 the moment I saw this was available.
I knew ZooM had done it again.....

The 32 bit processing and 96khz sampling rate really shines. Your tone is incredibly rich and responsive all while sounding completely organic. Digital is finally rivaling analog.
The drum machine is absolutely fantastic and the units compact size makes it about the best piece of equipment of it's type that I have ever seen, used or owned.

Buy it again?
How could I not?

Not too hard, just not as convenient as the Zoom GFX-1. You have to use your hands to switch between patches quickly. Was this meant to be a tabletop or floor unit? Seems to be both but not very good at either.

Still very easy to program.

Absolutely stunning sound. I have tried numerous multi-effects units and the sound from the new ZFX-3 chip is amazing. Nothing compares to it. Look at the specs. It is particularly good at acoustic or light distortion sounds. Don't believe me. Close your eyes and listen to the acoustic simulation. It is so close, it is a bit scarry.

The G2 is very well built. All metal with rubber end bumpers. Should hold up.

Never liked Samson's distribution of Zoom products. I have had to call them for a copy of items and they are clueless or unacceptably inconsiderate.

Drum machine, patches, the ability to contour effects, and the incredible sound quality make the G2 an amazing value at $100. The upcoming releases that use the ZFX-3 chip will have more foot controls and be a bit easier to use.

Like anything if you understand what the various available effects do to your sound you'll find editing pretty darn simple. There are 4 main knobs and two recessed push button switches for editing along with a big red LED display. With only the LED's some of the abbreviations are a bit cryptic but a quick view of the very excellent manual clears things up quickly.

Editing is a breeze and it took me about 15 min to get deep into the unit (in the store) and about an hour at home before I was really going full steam making and saving my own completely new patches. Only looked at the manual a few times and kudos to Zoom for an excellent user interface. Again, LED is big but a bit cryptic so take off a few points.

I am a old professional synth and effects sound desginer and a farly new guitarist but have been recording for over 30 years and have very good ears. Note that I do NOT play live and have not pushed the unit at club or stadium volumes. Tried with US Strat and Tele at home and am VERY impressed.

Unit has a TON of effects and every block can be used at the same time! Chain looks like this:

Comp -> Noise Reduction / Noise Gate -> Vol/Filter EFX (Trem/Auto Wah/Phaser/Booster/Step Filter/Slo Gear) -> (16) Amp/OD Pedal Models -> 3 Band EQ -> More EQ/Mic Placement -> Mod EFX(Chorus/Flange/Pitch/Echo/Dly)-> Long Delay/Echo/Ping Pong -> Reverb/Multitap Dly

The effects sound quite good on first pass and there are usually 3-4 tweakable parameters available for EACH effect in EACH block alowing for amazing variety! Got some really great presets quickly.

Notable Items:
- Amp/stomp box models favor high gain though the clean Fender and Roland JC sounds great
- Ton of EQ possibilities w/ ability to choose if EQ section is for direct or cabinet use and the EQ paramaters change based on this
- Great compressor that can be used to further overdrive the amp models
- Mod FX section besides chorus and flange also offers delay/echo (2 seconds)
- Main delay block has up to 5 seconds(!) with a "hold" funtion
- Reverb has Hall, Plate, Room, Early Reflection AND (9) Stereo Multitap delay patterns (up to 2 seconds)
- ALL delays can be used at the SAME TIME at full time settings (incredible patterns can be created along with looping)
- Wet Delay / reverb only mixing for EFX loop/return use
- Tap tempo setting for all effects (mod rate, delay time)
- Real time control via external switch/pedal input
- True stereo out that doubles as headphone out
- 30 or so internal drum patterns
- (4) AA battery or AC Adptor(included)

Bottom line - tons of tweakable effects with great fidelity and sound.

Seems very well built with rubber sides, big recessed display, knobs are up high away from (2) footswitches which have a very sturdy feel. Input jacks are recessed along the back with the On/Off and AC Adaptor.

If I were gigging I'd likely buy a back up...especially since I only paid $95 for it!!!!

No idea...

Sets a new standard for cost/performance in my mind. Sounds great, well designed, really flexible, easy to use and program, best delay capabilities I have seen anywhere except for maybe the Yamaha DG Stomp. Would be good for use at home like a Pandora/Pod. AC/Battery power (use rechargeable AA's!. It's an amazing box!

This is a step up fron the 505II series. pretty easy to get a nice sound out of it. Editing patches is realy easy with the knobs insted of scrolling through a menue.The manual is good.This has the new zoom proccesing chip in it and to my ears its better than the 707 and 505 I have had in the past.

I run this through a Peavey XXL 212 and a Peavey studio pro and so far it has a good sounds to it. The acustic sim is about the same as the boss sims on the GT-3 and GT-5 units.The effects all sound good but I'm having trouble finding the right reverb that I like. You have alot more control over the effects on this than the zoom 505 and 505II. I only use an acustic sim,clean,distortion and lead sound for gigiing so this would be nice if it holds up to live playing. I dont like bunch of stuff at my feet when playing live so we will see how this does.

All the zoom units I have had in the past held up well so I give it a 9

Never had to deal with them.

I play alittl bit of everything in the band I'm in right now www.fulltiltparty.com and this seems to be a good match. If it was stolen I might wait and find it used but it did come with the power supply for the $99 bucks so that pretty cool on zooms part. I like the size of it just alittle bit bigger than the 505II and its metal with rubber sides. The foot switches are also metal, big plus for me.The 6 band EQ is a plus also.It also has a drum machine if you want to call it that. Has 40 presets and its ok for what it is. I have a POD,10 boss stomp boxes and have had GT-3/GT-5 digtech and some others and this is a pretty cool units for the money. It looks like a littl tiny POD live unit because its black with chrome knobs.For $99 bucks it a good buy.

Easy to get a good sound, this is basically "the 505 for 2005", manual OK and simple to edit patches. Onboard basic PCM drum machine, similar to the 707 models, good apart from the reverb is defeated when the drum machine is on, not the best solution.
Very easy to use overall though!

Superb sound quality, with 96khz sampling rate and 24 bit conversion (120db S/N quoted) - compare that to the Behringer units with a mere 31.25 khz sample rate. Zoom have made a huge leap forward with this unit, essentially a "super 505". As usual with Zoom stuff, ignore the presets and make your own if you want to be really happy with the sound.

Metal casing and jacks fitted to the case (although probably still PCB mount) will make it more reliable. Runs off 4 AA batteries or the usual 9v so no power issues either.

Zoom are always good, very good website with manuals always online

Fantastic VFM, as I said it's a super 505 with the drum pachine of the 707 model included. The only issue I've noticed is that the reverb is defeated when the drum machine is on, a bit of a pain. The floor based units that have been shown in the press using the chipset in this will be very popular as Zoom have been making much more robust and reliable stuff of late in metal cases - I keep all my units like these in small cheap padded laptop bags, a good solution that stops them getting damaged in a "gear bag". Finally, the other thing I thought it could do with is an "aux in" jack - odd that this kind of thing is missing on a unit aimed at headphone practise/recording!. Can't knock the value for money at all though!