Zoom G9.2tt

The setup on this little box is great. It basically gives u a trully intuitive interface with little or no breakdown of tone along the way. You basically assign a preamp, ie a amp sim or a stompbox model. Then you can adjust not only low, mid, high, but also presence, harmonics, and low mid which is the utlimate for scooped settings. The manual is very helpful and I literally studied the thing in order to set up each patch, which is the best part. Because of the way the amp sims are set up, you can dedicate each patch to have a certain amplifier's clean and distortion. In other words you can have 2 mesa cleans, 1 pure clean, 1 with echo, then 2 mesa distortions, 1 pure dist, 1 solo function. This interface is the best I've seen and this is like pairing a Line 6's simulation ability with great tube warmth. Because I use this as a preamp running straight into a Carvin power amp, the need to adjust room eq's is vital and eq'ing this thing is as easy as dialing in an amp eq. Plus in addition to the 6 band eq, you then have individual tube dials for the two 12AX7's in this thing. You can adjust your preamp tone between tube and solid state and then adjust your post effects tone with tube and boost knobs. The benefit to the tubes is not only the warmth but with the dials, you can virtually adjust that warmth and add clarity through the solid state circuit.

Awesome!!!!! I use a Schecter C-1 Exotic w/a Dimarzio tone zone pup in the bridge and a Schecter 006 Blackjack w/a Dimarzio D-Sonic pup in the bridge. I run the Schecters through the G9 and then into my ART HD 2-15 equalizer, then into the Carvin TS100 power amp which is sent out to a Peavey 412MS that's it. SIMPLE. The reason for getting this unit was to cut down equipment and boy did I. All I need is my cab, rack unit, guitar, and processor. The amp sims are simply incredible. Mesa, Marshall, Diezel, Jazz Chorus, Acoustic, Fender, Hughes and Kettner, Vox,,, their all there, packed into this tiny unit. I use mostly a distorted Mesa Modern which just gives you that high headroom, harmonic filled tone. The effects themselves are pretty solid. Delay is absolutely fantastic, I like this delay better than my boss dd-6. You have your choice of chorus, flange, phase, and pitch modulations that are standard with all the other effects processors. I find that the chorus is great for lead and rhythm settings while the flange and phase work good for more of a clean setting, but again, if you know not to overpower your effects, you'll get any sound you want from this thing. Now the only thing I don't love about this unit yet is the clean sounds. There a little harder to dial in then a great crunch tone but with time I'm sure I'll find the niche. Don't like the Z pedal but I knew that before I purchased, otherwise standard wah is pretty solid and I love the two pedals, 1 for volume/gain settings and the other for frequency changes, all easy to set up and manipulate.

Had for 3 months and have had no issues at all. NONE.

I purchased the item through Carvin. Their staff is aquainted with Zoom products and it's easier talking to them then someone over in China. However I did send them an email concerning a question I had about the patch editor software and they responded the next day.

I play mostly heavy metal type stuff, anywhere from old metallica type stuff all the way up to new and upcoming type bands. This thing covers the gammet. I've been playing for about 7 years now and I have been through solid state and tube heads. I've had a custom pedal board with anything imaginable, the G9 is just simpler and easier. I hate being limited to 1 tone from 1 amp and the G9 eliminates that all together, I now have over a dozen amps to choose from that FEEL like I'm playing through them with limited coloration. This thing is an incredible value for anyone to use. The options are limitless and cannot be found for this price.

So far so good. The manual is clear and the midi-linked patch editor is pretty much a no brainer.

I absolutely love it. I owned the Zoom GFX-8 for almost 2 years and managed to tweak and finesse the thing into getting some good clean and distorted sounds that worked well with my JCM900. Within 10 minutes of playing around with some of the features I was getting that fresh organic type of sound that means to me that digital effects have come of age. This pedal is a watershed in my opinion.

The GFX-8 was absolutely solid throughout and the G9.2tt is built more solidly so I'm sure it will be great. I've already hauled it in and out of cold weather going to gigs and it's been fine. On last note. I bought the pedal from Music123.com and had it shipped via fedex. The box looked like it had been dropped off the truck about 10 times. Even the FedEx rep. wrote down the condition so that in the case of damage I could get some coverage. Came home, plugged it in and it's been working fine. Even left it on all night by accident and still no overheating of the pedal or powersupply.

Haven't needed it. Doubt if I will.

I play everything. And jam with a lot of varied players. For the first time since I have known him, a gear head buddy of mine actually called me up to say he was blown away by the pedal. If there's better out there , I haven't heard it yet.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
Really easy. Actually, the factory patches aren't too bad (which is unusual for most factory patches). With my setup, I needed to tweek the high end a bit as all of the patches are pretty flat. Editing is also fairly easy (until you get into the effects and assigning to the pedals, etc).

How about Editing patches?
Fairly easy. The Zoom manual is a pretty simple read. Also, you can go to the Zoom website and download the editing software to do it with your computer (need a midi interface for editing).

How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
Pretty easy. Zoom likes to use a lot of little pics and diagrams and they always start their manuals with quick how-to guides.

Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded? Look out. I had the G7. Tried updating from 1.04 to 1.05 and it hosed the operating system on the G7. Heard of others having the same problem. It doesn't work well with all midi interfaces. In my case (and at least one other), it was a Tascam US-122.

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I don't like the fact that the low-mid and harmonics section of the EQ are under the editing section and not the amp section, but I guess there is only so much room for knobs. Also, the amp and distortion models should have been on seperate banks instead of sharing the same one.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?
I'm less concerned with sounding like someone versus getting good sounds. Yeah, there are patches that sound like certain audiences and it's easy enough to create a Brian May sound, etc. but ultimately, this unit is capable of achieving good, useable sounds whether you are in a cover band or doing originals.

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
Yeah. Some are really good, others are ok. Nothing that's really bad. I think some of the effects do lack some sparkle and don't quite compete with some of your more dedicated processors (Like the TC Electonics chorus or even the Digitech multi-voice chorus/flanger) but they still sound good and are quite useable. The unit could actually stand to benefit from running a BBE processer.

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
Lot's of different gear. The good thing with this unit is it's one of the few that actually sound good through both the amp input (through the preamp and power amp stages of the amp) and the amp FX return (the power amp stage). I primarily run it into a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp feeding two 2x12's with Eminence Texas Heat speakers.

Is it noisy? On what settings?
An extremely quiet unit. The Zoom Noise Reduction is actually very good.

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
In regards to tone, some are ok (such as the chorus mentioned earlier). In regards to the effects available, great. Sure, it would be nice if, like the Line 6 stuff, if there were half a dozen different flanger models available, etc. but what is offered is pretty good plus there are some effects offered here that aren't available on other units (the synth is pretty impressive). Plus being able to assign/control effects, etc. with the Y/Z pedal is great.

What amp are you using it with?
Peavey Classic 50/50 primarily, but I have tried it with a Peavey JSX and a Rocktron VTM60. Worked well with all of them.

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Of note, if you demo this thing at your local store, DO NOT BASE THE SOUND OF THIS UNIT ON THE HEADPHONE OUTPUT. The headphone output is some of the worst tone I've heard on a modeler. Even my Zoom PFX-9003 sounds better than this. This unit needs to be demo'd with an amplifier and you need to turn the volume up a bit and let it breath. Like a real amp, you need to drive this unit. The sound really opens up as the volume increases.

Can you depend on it? I think so. Heavy duty construction. My only comment might be that it seems like one of the footswitches on mine (button 4) seems like it needs to be pressed on pretty heavy sometimes.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Yeah.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they? Well, when my G7 OS got hosed, I was able to speak with support right away. They weren't really able to help me but I pretty much figured that given the problem, the only thing that was going to work was getting a different midi connection somehow to update the OS.

Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired? As just mentioned, be careful with your system update. The G7 just did not like to work with my Tascam US-122 and I don't expect the G9 to be any different.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Play mostly hard rock and classic rock. I think it would be a good match for most any style (well, maybe not Jazz....not enough cleans). Very flexible unit. I hope Zoom follows Line 6 in offering updates that provide additional amp and effects models.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own? I don't know, 20+ years but I still suck. I've owned and own way too much gear. I've owned about 80% or more of the modelers on the market. The only one tonewise that beats this is the Tonelab/Tonelab SE. This (the G9) is what the Line 6 XT would sound like if it didn't have that horrible fizz.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
I think so. I may be done buying modelers in fact until the next generation Tonelab.

what do you love about it?
It sounds fairly realistic. The Zoom doesn't try to mess around with cabinet modeling. It functions more like a preamp. Less coloring of the sound.

What do you hate?
That the amp and distortion models are loaded on the same bank, so you can't run an amp model and a distortion pedal at the same time. When running a distortion pedal, you are essentially running it into a clean channel no-name tube preamp.

What is your favorite feature?
Well, that cabinet emulation is simply on or off (with mic placement). I've got my own cabinet, I don't need one modeled.

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
Heck yeah...nearly eveyone of them (Boss GS-10, GT-6, Tonelab, Pod, Pod XT, V-AMP PRO, J-Station, SansAmp, SansAmp GT-2, GNX3000, GNX3, etc. The G9 doesn't necessarily win at any one thing but excels at a lot of them. The Boss stuff tends to have more effects and control but the distortions sound a bit digital, the Tonelab sounds great, but is really aimed at classic rock, blues, etc. Not really a hard rock modeler and it offers fewer effects and editing. The V-AMP sounds fantastic for direct recording but can't compete with a real amp for live work. The Pod XT offers great flexibility, huge number of effects and amp models but it sounds fizzy. The G9 is like the second place winner in every category. It's not a one trick pony is probably the best way to describe it.
Anything you wish it had?
Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
Anything else you'd like to share?

This unit is fairly easy to use...If youve used a Multi Effects processor before then you'll find this a doddle. The presets are in 9 banks of 5 and have channel A and B for all presets. The two pedals come in handy..especially when you want one for stand alone Volume leaving the other free for Wah etc.

Editing patches is fairly easy....while in the patch you simply press the effect button you wish to edit and edit the parameters you feel need changing...couldnt be easier really.

The manual is very good....it is the annoying blue text colour on white pages you get with all Zoom manuals unfortunately...but the manual is concise and clear and gives you all you need to be able to get the G9 working how you want.

For me, the G9 was a Jeckyl and Hyde Effects unit....Straight through the front of an amp with the Pre-Amp settings off this sounds simply amazing...the tubes really give your sound the edge and you can get pretty much ANY sound out of it...All the effects sounded good through an Amp..I have a really cheap Kustom 50 Watt amp and it really brought it to life.

Here is my gripe with the G9...i plugged my headphones into it...and it all changed....the sounds became sterile...weak...lifeless!!!..where had all that amazing sound gone that id gotten from it thru the Amp!??. I am strictly a beedroom player and so most of the time i play through headphones (so not to annoy the neighbours) and the G9 dissapointed me in this area. I tried everything to get a decent sound with headphones, i made sure i switched the cab sim on and tried to create a patch from scratch...but after 3 days of trying i finally gave up and returned the G9 and got a refund.

You CAN get the sounds of your favourite artists..and many of the presets have artist settings..ie Satriani,The Edge, Santana ,etc etc and they do sound quite like the intended artist.

The effects all sounded good to me...the only weak effect i would say is the Delays...i couldnt get a perfect one time delay at 200ms without getting some mush coming back at me in the delay.

My Main guitar is an Ibanez RG2550 Prestige with a Dimarzio Paf Pro in Neck and Tone Zone in Bridge...backup is a Yamaha Pacifica 112...My Amp is a Kustom 50 Watt Solid State.

This unit is dead quite..there is no noise at all between pauses and whatever noise there may be can be got rid of with the ZNR.

Ive had to give this section a 5...not because it is bad...but because through an AMP id give it 10 but through headphones its a 0...so 5 is the average score between the two.

The G9 is built like a brick...and weighs a ton so i cannot see why it wouldnt be reliable..

It should withstand live playing no problem.

The one problem i did have is that there are two button switches under the two expression pedals which should be able to click on and off when the pedals are pushed down..BUT the pedals do not press down far enough to click them on and off....having spoke to Zoom,it is apparently a design flaw with which they suggested rolling a piece of tape up and sticking it under the pedal so it actually comes in contact with the button!!!....not an acceptable thing to have to do to a new pedal!!

Emailed Zoom customer service about the pedal switches and they replied pretty quickly...no worries there.

I play mainly instrumental Rock...Vai , Satriani, Petrucci, Gilbert and this unit can replicate all of those artists with ease with a bit of tweaking. I have been playing 18 years and have tried almost ALL multi effects units ever built....the G9 through an Amp is the BEST MFX unit on the market today by some way....the tubes really make the difference and push it to the next level....through headphones the G9 is just average.....The tubes are the best thing about the G9, they give your solid state amp a real tube sound...worst feature on the G9 is either the pedal switches ot headphone sound....I chose this G9 because id tried most other MFX units and the Tubes really appealed to me as ive never owned a Tube amp before and love the sound....Through an Amp the G9 keeps you wanting to come back for more...you simply dont want to turn it off....through headphones it makes you sound bad and you cant wait to turn the thing off and even made me sound bland and toneless and a bad guitarist!!....through the Amp i felt i could be Vai Satriani or anyone!!

IF you play in a band or can play mostly through an amp or speakers then this G9 unit is a real beauty...you wont go wrong with it..the sounds are just devine. If you play a lot through headphones the i would look elsewhere...maybe the Boss GT8 or Vox Tonelab.

fairly easy to use, having owned a zoom 2100 for 5 years previously. so its fairly similar. get yourself a midi cable, and it s too f**king easy. you can store patches on your computer so if the unit dies, or you acidentaly delete a patch, you got a back up.
the Expresion pedals are awesome, being able to assign almost anything to them is realy good, the boss GT8 only lets you assign voloume, wah, pitchshifter.
i do have a few small problems with the unit:
1) you need a midi device to be able to use the software, would be great if you could just do it over USB.
2) the Switches beneath the two expresion pedals dont trigger properly, i had to put a piece of gaffer tape over the switch to get it to work.
3) the midi implementation is not very versitile, might be useful for connecting 2 of the same units together, but not for what ild like to be able to use it for.
4) the amp knobs range is missing... the first and last 10 degrees of rotation do nothing.
5) the effect knobs are all digital encoders, which is fine for some things, but trying to get your delay up to 5000ms from 10 ms takes about a minute of turning.
6) the effects seem to be missing some parameters, each only has at most 4 parameters, and anything in the wah/EFX1 module only has 3.
7) both the pedals creak when moving up and down.
8) changing the order of the pedals (pre amp chain) will kill anything being delayed
there are probably a few otherthings, just dont remember atm.

apart from those things, i realy do like the pedal.

sounds alot better then my zoom 2100, imediatly i noticed the bottom and high ends were alot fuller. the distortions are quite varied, and with the EQ you can shape the sound so much that it doesnt sound like the original distiortion anymore.
compared to my 2100, i think all the effects sound superior, except the phaser, and flanger. they sound alot cheaper then in my 2100, and you dont get as much options with the phaser.

i love some of the weirder effects in this unit. the fixed phaser lets you use the phaser like a wah pedal, and the combfilter is the same, but a flanger.
the Z-Oscillator is ok, has a few tracking problems, but the sound isnt versitile at all, it would have been nice to see some of the synth effects from the B2 (it is a bass pedal)

the volume is almost un useable. i can hear tiny clicks. so it means i still have to use my seperate volume pedal.

only thing i can potentioaly see is it runs on a 15V power suply, so if it breaks just before a gig, it would be alot harder to replace then a 9v power suply.

before i bought the pedal i emailed zoom, asking some questions about the unit.. after 2 weeks no reply, i re sent the email and had a reply in a few days. apart from that, havent dealt with them

For the money, its well worth it. has alot of different 'normal' effects, and alot of 'weird' effects. its quick to learn to use, and has enough controls to easily change on the fly, unlike some of the rack units avalible.
i play many different styles, and i think this suits most of what i play, metal, rock, prog, ambiant.

Not to Hard to get good sound because that tube...
Editing Patches From PC need Midi Connection...
but i don't care about that...

This Unit has good quility of sound overall is good but... USB recording not too good for me... the USB output volume is cliped....and i can't config vol. of recording from USB... if someone know how to fix that problem please tell me how... ( my system os is winxp )
and noise from USB output very high for me ( in bypass and close all tube it still sending noise -69db ) only this USB Recording is my problem i can't record that good sound - -"....

Great...

I Don't Know... but there likely nothing on it's website... it likely not need to upgrade .... ? ( why it has version... of software ? ) ...

I playing on Heavy Metal , Hard Rock for 12 years if i have lost this ... i'm not sure to buy it again.... i like this unit ... the H.P.S very useful for me ZNR not too bad and i very like it's Pedals ...

I LOVE THIS PEDAL! I was running a Digitech 2120 Artist through my Rivera TBR-2SL into a set of Celestion G12T-75's. Nice setup, but I had four different pieces to deal with: the 2120 rack unit, the J12 foot pedal, a Cry Baby and an Ernie Ball Stereo Volume Pedal (because using the J12 for volume control was not working well. The 2120 had a lot of clipping in the noise gate, but was doing the job. But this thing is awesome. The tension control on the pedals is great. The Editor/Librarian is simple but does the job just fine. Two tips: If you are running into a Rivera Stereo amp as I am, you have to adjust your input so that you do not overdrive the pedal. This can be done in a number of different ways. My volume control on my Strat Ultra actually works like a gain control on this setup. I could not run my volume on my guitar at less than 10 with the 2120 or it would not have enough juice to drive the processor. This setup is much better. One big tip: SWITCH OUT THE TUBES IMMEDIATELY! The low end was very muddy and you could overdrive some preamp patches to the point where they just gave up and started erupting with noise. It's the cheap Chinese tubes. I put JAN Phillips 12AX7's in this thing and it made a world of difference.

Outstanding. Pegs a Mesa Boogie Modern sound, has good clean sounds (best with a bright tube amp). The effects are good, but I think the Digitech 2120 did this slightly better. However, the effects are very usable, just have to find a happy medium between distortions and effects levels. The Zoom has 2 patches per footswitch, GREAT ZNR noise reduction, etc. Like I said, replacing the tubes with some high quality tubes made all the difference. Be careful when doing so, as the electronics inside the case are pretty delicate. The tube circuitry does what it advertises (gives you great tube distortion and harmonics out the wazoo!

I think this unit would hold up to about anything, and look good doing it. The looks of this thing are one of its best attributes. Very sturdy construction.

No dealings with them.

This is the only multi-effects pedal (or rack unit) that I have ever used that had all of the appointments that I wanted in one package. The Cry Baby Wah is good enough for me to sell my real one. There are a lot of really neat effects that I am planning to use in new patches. This is a really fun piece of gear. A purist may be able to pick it apart, but I have been playing for 32 years and I love it. A am going to sell about $750.00 worth of gear and replace it with this $400.00 unit, cutting down my hassle factor substantially in the process!

I have owned this unit for about a week and I have been tinkering with it for several days. Right out of the box, I could tell that I could get good sounds out of it for playing through my amp, a Rivera TBR-2SL. But I was not convinced with the sound when run through headphones. Since tinkering with it, I have discovered the following, which may be helpful to some. The Rivera has all kinds of controls for line and amp output, as does the G9.2tt. If not adjusted properly, you will get a lot of clipping, miscellaneous feedback, background noise, etc. This pedal is clearly designed to be used as a dedicated preamp, fed into a power amp. However, if you use the setting "Front" under the "Amp Select System" button, then turn your volume and master volume to about 5 each, you can get great sounds through the line outs of the amp (both clean and dirty). I would have to say that this device would be great for people who like to tinker with knobs, settings, etc. If you need certain sounds at your feet consistently, this may not be the device for you. I plan to set up a couple of sounds for consistent use initially, then gradually build other sounds. I have been using a Digitech 2120 Artist (with RPEdit) with my Rivera. It is always touchy when you are running one preamp through the stereo effects loop of an amp that also has a preamp. When I got all of the clicking, feedback and background noise, I plugged my headphones into the phone jack on the back of the G9.2tt. The sound being output to the phone jacks sounded clear, so I knew that my amp settings were not right. You have to play with the line out levels, send and receive levels, and as mentioned previously, the volume and master volume need to be set at about 5 each. I backed my pickups away from the strings. With the 2120 Artist, I had the problem that, unless my volume knob on the guitar was all the way up, I did not drive the 2120 enough to get consistent input level. With this device, the volume knob on the guitar is actually usable again. If you have all of the settings right on the G9.2tt and the amp, and you are overdriving a particular patch, you can back off of the volume knob. There are two sets of tube controls (one for tube drive and boost and the other is for tube (volume and distortion) and solid state (volume only) input levels. Zoom definitly needs to wire the next version of this pedal so that these controls can be built into each patch. They are independent of the patches now, which means that you have to tweak a patch with the tube controls manually every time you switch to it. You can find settings of each set of controls that will suffice for all patches, but that kind of defeats the purpose. My 2120 has these controls built into the patches, so it can be done. The effects are adequate, but not as good as the 2120 Artist. Digitech's effects can't be beat in my opinion. If Digitech had a newer pedal that had tubes built in like the older ones did, I would own one, but the new Digitech pedals do not get the harmonics that I want. This pedal does. A lot of the patches sound really godd, and I think I am going to be able to set up several good clean sounds as well as all of the dirty ones. One other beef I have with this pedal is that the different effects are set up half under FX1 switch and the other half under FX2 switch. So if you wanted to have two effects that are under FX1 switch available to you in one patch, you would have to come up with a work-around (like two patches next to each other with the desired effects one in one patch and one in another. The next version should allow any effect to be put in either FX1 switch or FX2 switch. Also, you have to hold down one of the upper foot switched for 1 second to switch the bottom row of switches from patch selection to effects selection. This is not good, because if you pick a patch when playing live and you want to turn off an effect, you have to change the switch function (1 second delay) before you can turn on or off the effect. Then you have to hit the switch again to change back to patch selection mode. This is probably not going to go well for a live musician, unless he is thinking about his pedal rather than what he is playing (not a good thing). Having said this, you can get some really great sounds out of this thing, and it is very dynamic sound (the guitar rings through when patches are set up right).

Sound quality is awesome when all parameters are set up properly. Sound is god-aweful if they are not. This device is much less forgiving than others I have used. As I mentioned, my setup is much more complex than most, because I like using the amp controls for tweaking on the fly, and I like utilizing the tube preamp in my Rivera to get all the tube humanly possible. The manual tube controls work much better than those on the Valvetronix unit (which I sent back after trying it out - the tube in the front of it was just for show in my opinion). These tubes really make a profound difference in the sound of the unit. But they have to make the patches control these tube settings and then allow a manual override using the knobs on the pedal with the next version. I would not let that stop you from buying one though. I still plan to sell my 2120 and make this my only unit. It also seems that the output is not well stereo balanced, and when I switch from the 4-db to the +10 db on the output control, the balance of the stereo changes, and not in a good way. I am able to overcome this with the send and receive controls on my amp. This may not be the unit, but I think it is. I can live with it, I have VU meters in my Sansui QRX-9001 Quad Receiver that I use to balance the stereo levels with (a one time setup type deal.

Heavy duty construction, thoroughly pleased with the look and perceived quality and craftsmanship. It will definitely get attention at a gig. No problems with the unit.

No experience with them

I play mostly hard rock in my home (jamming with records, etc.) This pedal gets great hard rock sounds and I have heard it do some good heavy metal sounds as well. It can peg a lot of the trademark sounds (rectifier, grunge, hendrix, etc.) With my current setup, I use a Strat Ultra dressed out with Lace Sensor Chrome Domes into a CryBaby 535Q into the Rivera amp, out to the 2120 Artist with a J12 foot pedal, then into a Ernie Ball Stereo volume pedal. I can replace all of that with this one pedal. The wah on this is adequate but not quite as good as the real thing. I do feel confident that, with a lot of experimentation and trial and error, that I can get this unit to do what I want it to do, and ultimately give me a better setup. The ZNR Noise Gate is awesome, A&B patch per switch, are all things that I wanted. The volume pedal is butta (not so with the 2120/J12 setup, that's why I had to add the Ernie Ball [a real tonesucker]). I'm willing to put the work in to get it to sit up and spin.

Ease of use:
I only needed to read through the manual once, after that, the uner-friendly concept makes editing lightning-fast. Example: Bought the G9 around 14.15, went through the manual, and had all sounds programmed for rehersal at 16.30. Rehersal started at 19.30 and all the band was happy about good sounds, that didn't need to be worked on (!!!) during the rehersal. The USB port is good for direct-to-PC/Mac homerecording, if a sofwareupdate brings it to 24bit it'll be even suitable for professional studio work. The "double Pedal" is an absolute killer feature!!! Take a clean guitar, and control Chorus AND Delay with one foot! Take a soft crunch sound and control Gain and Wah simultaniously. you see: I love it :-)

Setup 1: Worship Band in church: Ibanez JS 100 -> G9 (Cabinet Sim ON) -> DIBox -> Mixer/monitor.
Setup 2: Rock Concert setup: Ibanez JS 100 -> G9 (Cabinet Sim OFF) -> Dynachord Bass King T Amp -> Orange 4x12 Cabinet
Noise: The G9 "produces" less noise with all effects on than my old Boss SD-1 alone :-)
Sound: Best All-in-one on the market. I agree with the comments that it easily beats the Boss GT8, Korg G3000, POD XT Live. Two tubes are more than no tube! You can come to 100% satisfying results in short times, and for a fair price. I especially like the crunch sounds, which are warm and full of dynamic.
Effects: Tons of them on board. Some strange, but interesting. All are easy to edit and of good Quality. (I could replicate my CryBaby, Visual Sound O2 & Route66 so well that I sold them for some good money :-)

Reliability:
All Metal case. Very solid. I would not stand with all my 160lbs on the pedals, but who would? I'd gig with it without backup and would not get nervous about it.

Customer Support:
Yet to be experienced
Upgrade:
Not yet.

Overall rating:

I'm professional in praise&worship, and the G9 gives me all sounds I need with outstanding Modulation capabilities at a good price. It replaced my old big heavy floorboard (H&K Tubeman, Vis.Sound O2&Route66, CryBaby, Little Alligator, Boss SD-1, Tuner, Loads of short cabels...) with more&better sound(s), less weight and more effects. I'd buy it again without hesitation. I love the easy to use interface, and like best the horizontal/vertical Pedal. This is an incredible feature. The Price seems to be a bit higher than in the USA, but is still fairly low for the worth you'll get.

It was (i think) 50 or so pre amps, with some crazy number of other effects built in and you can intertwine all of the effects... IF you cant find your sound you are either deaf or shouldnt be playing guitar. Havent tried editing the patches. The manual isnt that straightforward but is aceptable. Looks very impressive too.

Im using a ZOOM fire-15 (an older one) in conjunction with a Godin SD. Sounds very nice, very professional. It has 3 different kinds of noise cancelling, ZNR (zoom noise reduction), Noisegate and Dirtygate, all with changeable settings so if you want noise you can get it, if you dont want noise you dont need it. The effects are pretty awesome! ive yet to find a sound that i couldnt be able to use. Within the effects there are lots of different kinds of effect (for example, the wah pedal has a choice of a voxpedal, crybaby, etc for really specific sounds) and you should be able to find what you want. If comes prebuilt with patches for various artists like santana, hendrix, blackmore etc and sound good when playing their stuff, as well as others. I have only had the box for a few days but am very happy so far. with the amount of effects you could easily lose days finding them, and ive been told that people have lost days finding them... all the effects sound good so far though.

It is solid as, rather heavy and the pedals are very sturdy. Everything that can be made of metal has been made of metal. All of the knobs feel sturdy and are well weighted. Youd have to do something pretty drastic to scratch it let alone break it, however im not going to perform any tests to prove my theory... I would gig this without a backup, it just feels that solid.

As mentioned before my amp is also zoom. My input jack broke when the amp took a fall some time back, it put it in to my local shop and it took 4 weeks to get repaired. Whether this was the shops or the manufacturers fault i do not know but i have never dealt with them directly. Never had too either.

I play mainly metal but i have ben expanding into blues, classical and psycodelic rock... groovy. It sounds good with anything i play. I have found all the effects ive tried usable, and the amount of preamp settings is astounding. I love it! If it were lost or stolen yes i would buy one again especially since i got it sourced for the price of a lesser boss unit which i looked at before purchasing this on advice from someone in the business. I love how i can have ANY SOUND I WANT!! The 7 band eq is fabulous! The Z-pedal which has vertical AND horizontal movement, and theres another pedal ontop of that, which means you have THREE PEDALS!! Its great! However i have found some of the functions hard to get as the manual isnt very clear. I havent quite figured out how to make presets and that stuff.. the manual isnt clear. I havent compared but i think this is the best in the business. It truly is. Anything i wish it had? A better manual! Other then that no it is truly perfect, and helps master any kind of music you want.

If you want a truly universal effects console, just buy this. Spend that little bit more and get something that has everything! If you are willing to learn to use it a bit, it is very rewarding.

This unit has been used by us - a new band from UK (Sub Sahara) - www.myspace.com/rickpressuk (my myspace b4 bandspace) on our EP which is going up hopefully on iTunes once we get artwork sorted out - you can hear our demos up on there which were done in a local studio in England using this unit....

I own both the G2, GFX5, B2 and also this G9.2tt unit and chose this for the superior tech specs and price point advantage of competitors units - basically it was cheaper than Line 6 and had 96khz sampling - all others in class I have seen for floor board modellers are 44.1khz and cost a LOT more....

Ease of use for this unit is very easy, the high sampling rate makes it easy to use and get sounds easily.... its all analogue feel to it and its a great unit. Ease of use I have to give this a 10!

Guitar wise we mainly used HumBucking guitars into this unit from Epiphone and Gibson and also Yamaha. The sound quality of this unit is very very good. Obviously the amp modelling is going to be hard to judge unless you have used the original models. The Marshall modelling on this unit is spot on it. Esp the JCM800 and JCM2000 models which sound just like a Marshall should (think early era Oasis you can get their sounds easily).

There isnt really any band we could not get the sound of on here... Creed was easy - the Mesa Boogie modelling seems to be totally in the right tonal ballpark here... the Marshall amps sound so close its ridiculous... its worth it for just the MS DRV / MS CRNCH and also BG and PV modelling...

The cleans on here are excellent. The Wah Wah is very authentic, flange and chorus are both good, the delays and reverbs are all highlights, the cabinet sim is also excellent for recording direct line in or headphones and trust me when you use this with the amp modelling you have a great sounding amp sim. Obviously how close the unit sounds to the original is going to vary according to how one knows the original and also personal perception. But to me all of the models seems very authentic. The amp modelling is great. The stomp box modelling sounds a bit samey - e.g. some of the stomps sound similiar to each other but the amp modelling is a definite highlight. The Metal zone sounds like a metal zone but its cool... the amp models the exact amp - but stomp how it interacts with - e.g. what cab is it combined with????? ZOOM PLEASE??? But its cool - for amp modelling it kicks... ass....

There is cool tones either way with the stomps. There is no reason no one cannot get any sound they want here. This unit models all the top names such as PEAVEY, MARSHALL, MESA BOOGIE, FENDER, HUGHES AND KETTNER, DIEZEL HERBERT AND ENGL AND EVEN MATCHLESS, HIWATT with precision... its a great unit. The higher end 96khz sampling really helps the unit shine through and the new processor is kick ass.

ZOOM products to me seem reliable. I have owned them for ages and not had any real problems. A MRS8 has been dropped a few times badly but still works no problems. Its built very strongly... provided its not treated with total force and you are just using it within reason this should be as strong as any other unit out there...

One thing ZOOM expression pedals are tougher than KORG counterparts...

ZOOM have always answered emails quickly however there is a lack of forum and other stuff on there website which is necessary but they are more a creator of great products.

All their products are great, and provided with any digi fx they are tweaked any sound can be obtained. This is where tweaking and experience just enables you to get better with fx. They take their time to learn like also guitars.... and when recording it can take time to get right guitar sounds.

We do our own music....

Our influences range from Madonna to Oasis to Slayer... this unit as with most modellers out there can do everything. The amp modelling is vast and the basic G2 offers three great amps - MESA / MARSHALL / PEAVEY for high gain and for medium there is also FENDER.... and a VOX CLEAN... but the G7 and G9 add more tonal landscapes here by offering more....

There isnt really any band here from CREED to ASH to OASIS to BEliNdA CARLislE to anything we cant get here. The unit was fascinating to spend 48 hours just with it and njust going through the amp modelling and different modulations... every 80s band is here as it was with GFX5 it just needs tweaking.

Dont forget lots of bands change their amps as well - you can get their sound via MESA / Marshall or whatever. But its all here. We could get our practice sound up to Oasis in WEmbley Arena or any other band...

ZOOM make fantastic guitar boards.

The KORG units such as Ax1500 never lived up to the GFX in terms of amp modelling in my opinion.

Thise goes along with LINE 6 products and higher END BOSS units as a great guitar unit. ZOOM are up there with BOSS and LINE 6 most definately. This is a great unit.

This unit is very easy to use. No deep menu items or things that are not very obvious. The only sections of the manual that you need to read is the TOTAL/FUNCTION button (for use of Auto-Repeat Real-time Modulation functions) and the "Accelerator" and "Energizer" sections for controlling the Tubes/Solid-State/Boost tones. The manual itself is not very well organized, but it is acceptable as manuals go.

Let me say that as far as modelers/multi-effect units go, this is one of the better ones. That said, it is not up to par with a good preamp, dedicated rack-based multieffect units or pedals, or real amps. But hey, what can you expect for only US $400?

To determine whether I would keep it I made a comparison between the Zoom, a Vox Tonelab, and a Rocktron Prophesy preamp. I tested it with a Parker Nitefly Mojo, a Gibson Les Paul Standard, and a Fender Strat Deluxe Player. I used a Voodoo Lab Amp Selector to switch between the Zoom, the Tonelab, and a rack with the Prophesy. On the rack I also have a Rocktron XPression, Lexicon MPX1, and TC Electronics G-Major multi-effects units going through the Prophesy effects loop. Stereo outputs from the modelers/preamp where pluged into a Rane SM82 line mixer on the rack, and the output was routed through a BBE 482, a Samsom headphone amp, and to a pair of Tech 21 Power Engine 60's (no tube amps for this test). This allowed me to use both headphones and live sound.

First I started with the clean sounds. In this category, the Zoom did not fare so well. You are limited to only three clean amps models, and none of them are very convincing models of the originals. I really could not get a real clean sparkly sound or a convincing warm Jazz sound out of it. The Tonelab shines in this department, and the Vox AC 30 model on the tonelab pretty much kills the Zoom.

Next came the crunch sounds. Here the Zoom fared better and was comparable to the Tonelab (though the Vox AC 30 is still better on the Tonelab). However, for crunch sounds the "Texas Blues" model on the Prophesy was better than both.

Next I moved to the vintage distorted amp models. Here the Zoom did better than the Tonelab and was close to the Prophesy's "British" model. I managed to get some good classic rock type tones a la Hendrix and Rush. Note that with every test I tried both cabinet and no cabinet on the Zoom and also tweaked the "Accelerator" and "Energizer" sections that control the mix of tube warmth/distortion. While the Zoom only has one cabinet emulation with limited control of the two mic placements, I noticed that many variations of cabinet type sounds can be produced by tweaking the "Energizer" tube and boost controls.

Finally, I tested what the Prophesy calls "Mega" distortion models. Again, the Zoom did better than the Tonelab here. I especially liked the Diezel model and managed to coax some convincing tones. However, the Prophesy still had an edge in this department as far as harmonics and dynamics are concerned. On the Zoom I did detect minor occasional fizz that is so prevalent in current digital modelers like the POD XT and Boss GT-8. Overall though, the Zoom sounds pretty good for blast your brains out playing.

As far as effects, this is where I most dissapointed. The quality of the effect is all over the place IMHO. Don't get me wrong, they are all adequate for average use. However, there is a lack of depth and clarity when compared to the aforementioned rack effects. My biggest dissapointment was with the Reverbs. They are barely adecuate for live playing. It may be unfair to compare them to the much more costly but superb Lexicon or G-Major reverbs, but even the limited Tonelab reverbs sounded better to my ears. Likewise, the modulation effects such as chorus, phaser, and flanger are fairly weak. Maybe I am spoiled with the Rocktron and G-major modulation effects, but the Zoom just did not cut it. I even plugged the US $299 Rocktron Xpression into the effect loop of the Zoom and immediately noticed a huge difference in the quality of effects when I punched in and out the external effects button on the Zoom (and this was running the Xpression in mono!). There are a few interesting effects on the Zoom such as the "Bend Chorus" and the Big Muff distortion in the preamp section, but none of them was anything to write home about. One interesting aspect was the pedals. The Wah-Wah's were decent, though you have to play around with the order of effects to get the right sounds. The Z-Pedal allows you to move your foot horizontally in addition to vertically to modulate effects. This feature is innovative but it does take some practice to use the pedal in a vertical motion without moving the pedal horizontally (you can lock the horizontal motion if it is a problem).

I only had it for three weeks, but it is built like a tank and would probably last a couple of decades.

Never dealt with them. However, I believe they do need to get a handle on their online offerings. I am baffled as to why more manufacturers do not follow in the steps of Line 6 that has built a superb community of users by simply deploying well designed web sites and forums where people and the company can share information. If at this stage of web development they have not figured out that the web can drive large amounts of sales, then they need to pack up and go home.

I have been playing for 30+ years. I have played just about every type of music and have had (and still have) more gear than I want to think about.

I had this unit for three weeks and then returned it. This was not because I felt it was a bad unit. It simply did not offer anything that I could not do with the equipment I already have.

I believe that Zoom has upped the bar in the all-in-one modeler/multi-effects market with this unit. It will not replace dedicated/expensive multi-effect units, the better pedals, or tube preamps/amps. However, it is good enough to use as the only unit in something like a cover band or for younger guitarists that will limit their exploration to a few good mega distorted sounds. I think that the tubes in this unit do make a difference and push it past the offerings from Line 6, Boss, or Digitech (all of which I have owned and tested). The only thing that is comparable is the Tonelab SE. It is too bad that you cannot store your tube/solid-state/boost settings along with everything else in your patches. This is somewhat odd and a weakness in a unit that should allow you to press one switch and get the exact setting you originally saved. Nevertheless, I believe that Zoom has produced a winner and a serious competitor to the bigger boys out there. If you don't want to spend thousands of dollars in gear, this is the unit to get. That is, until the next better thing comes out...

This pedal is simply amazing. No other words to describe it. Very Very simple to use.

Dont be confused about too many buttons and control. Changing the tone with this model couldn't be simpler and with the extent of tweakablity available on this model the sky is the limit.

The Pedal are of very high standard and the Z-pedal allows you to take your sound to next level.

When i got my pedal, i didnot refer to the manual. I mean 40 pages of just instruction, well it doesn't make a good read. Infact I went straight into tweaking the pedal. Its very simple to use and trust me if you can operate a toaster, u can use this thing.

I mainly play at home, my setup is an ibanez rg550 with dimarzio evolution in bridge and neck to g9.2tt to marshall mg30dfx.

All effects on this model can be very easily controlled and Znr ( noise control gate) is superb. At rest, there is no buzzing, no hissing etc. At high output you can just increase the setting on ZNR.

The effects are very impressive. The modelled amps are as close to the original sound u can get. I am using my marshall simply as speaker and using its gain and effect setting and there doesn't seem to be any deficit in sound quality.

The g9.22 has came with built in patches to match the sound of famous artist like joe satriani, santana and brian may and certainly the satch patch is very close to the tone satriani had in the extremist.

Virtually any sound can be created with this model, even acoustic and acoustic jazz.

My main reason for getting this was to avoid money in indivual effect. The built DS-1 patch in this model is exactly identical to an original boss DS-1. So why spend #500-600 on individual effect pedal , tube amps, recording gear when you can have it all combined in one processor for a fraction of the price.

Infact to tell you the truth initially i wanted to buy zoom gfx-8 and when i went to try it in shop, the guy in the shop encouraged me to have a go at g9.2tt. Funny enough it cost #300 for gfx-6 and #230 for g9.2tt.

Very very reliable, i can not see it getting broken but be sure not to spill any fluid on to it because there is vent on front for the tubes. I am sure if you spill anything it will damage the circuit inside.

Very very good. I emailed them once very specifically asking them how can i change a perticular patch to my exact liking. they replied back same day with the detailed instruction.

I am going to rate it highly because i had very high expectation from this pedal and it has fully delivered. I feel that i have saved a lot buying this model and not spending on individual effect.

The of my main reason for buying this pedal was to be able to record what i play. No other guitar processor lets you do it, not through USB anyway.

I really feel its the best money i have spent in any guitar effect.

Here's an update to my first impression post below.

Very easy to use. I had it up and running within I'd say an hour but I'm used to using multi-FX. Still, this seems to be the easiest to understand and to edit since there are no deeply embedded menus.

This thing sounded amazing through headphones (Grado SR-60) but then I hooked it up into a BBE Sonic Maximizer and then into a Mesa 2:90 and I was very impressed. The unit seems to favor metal which is great for me but it also sounds sweet for cleans and crunchy sounds. It has a growl that can be a little too predominant unless you tweak the EQ.

It looks really solid but I've only had it 5 days.

Never dealt with 'em.

I play Dream Theater and Rush type of music. I've played on many stages in the past but now I've got the old ball and chain and kids so I appreciate a unit like this that sounds killer live or through headphones. I'm an Engineer and was immediately impressed with how much thought went into this thing both from an ergonomic standpoint and from a tonal perspective. No I don't work for zoom and I think the PS-04 sucks big time. My main rig is a Music Man Axis into a JMP-1 into BBE Sonic Maximizer into TC Electronic G-Major into a 4x12 stereo cab.

The G9 came incredibly close to the above mentioned rig with little problems. The reverbs and delays of the G9 are extremely good as are the stereo chorus and the overall tone. The unit also looks bad-ass! I really like it so far and usually I'm not immediately thrilled with any gear until I tweak the shit out of it. For the price, this thing replaces my $300 foot controller, $1000 tube preamp and $400 effects processor. So in other words, I love it.

Very nice layout and user friendly.
Editing patches is realtime and sweetly easy.
The manual is great and I don't think you'll need it much.

FANTASTIC SOUND...DID I SAY FANTASTIC SOUND? Zoom really caught me here. I've owned Zoom gear before and it always seemed that their smaller stuff was phenominal, but when they went to the bigger stuff they lost something in translation...except the GFX-5..that was alright. But the G9..wow, kicked my butt around the block. It is very quiet and has very strong effects. The delay is the only thing that is a tad weak, BUT I've not had much chance to tweak that stuff yet, so I'm guessing I can tweak it where I want it, so that may be a mute point. I use JSX, Fender and Mesa amps with Wolfgang and US LP's... I play in a rockin' worship band and we play straight into the system and Denny the sound guy came up to me the first time I used it and said "man, do I have a nice signal on you now..and your tone is awesome"!...well, that told me the story. All the effects are wonderfully designed and the R side pedal will pivot to the right and back to give even more modulation sounds..that's just TOO cool and sick !! and it works like a charm. I love the knobs for tube and solid state that are on each of the 2 channels and they control each of the 2 tubes in the unit...and the tubes sounds fantastic. I run one of my Mod Sd-1's into this so I get that tone as if I'm playing into an amp while playing into a direct box into the system...the tone is exactly what I get in my studio. Ya can't beat that!

Zoom gear is very tough and this guy is built like a tank..solid metal case..not cheap at all..very very well built, pedals feel rock solid and I wouldn't hesitate to gig without a backup..in fact that's what I do now. :)

I've never needed them..probably won't, so I'll givem' a 10.

I play Christian Rock, Worship, blues, Crunch...this will do them all. I've been playing over 30 years.
I own the Tonelabs SE, Pod XT Live, Boss GT-Pro, digitech GNX-4, GNX3000, 2150 artist series, Peavey JSX w/412xxx, Fender Cybertwin, Mesa f50. Guitars: 4 Wolfgang USA, 4 Les Pauls (Gibson), 4 taylors and Fender mandolin, and a lot of individual pedals.
If this were stolen I would buy another IMMEDIATELY. This is my weapon of choice. I don't see anything else taking it's place right now. If I HAD to choose another it would be the Tonelabs SE.
There's nothing I don't like about this pedal. My favorite feature is the tube and solid state knobs..adjustable for both channels with 2 seperate adjusters..that's just WAAAY cool. I compare it to all the above products and it kicked their butts around the block and all the way home. Sorry guys but that's the truth. Zoom did their homework here..talked to guitar players and spent the time to "catch up" with the rest and then hit the nitrous...Awesome Job Zoom !!
This will be a major production tool. You can eliminate the amp miking and the worry of noise..I know, you amp mike guys are saying...it won't sound the same..yes it will, this has tubes! Besides, you can still use a cab if you want. The G9 has: USB - MIdi..send loop...on & on...dual gain switches for sends and main..that's just sick !! I'm rambling on here, but I'm one happy buyer of this Zoom product. They blew me away with this one.
I don't see anything down the road that will dethrone it..but then again, if Line 6 did this to their PodXT Live...hmmmm....but I wouldn't wait for that. The G9.2tt is the best of show for me...and I have a lot to compare it to! Don't get me wrong, the above multi pedals are awesome in their own right..this one is just..better.

I just received my G9.2tt and played for only 2 hours through my Grado 60 headphones. Here are my first impressions:


1) Whoever designed this thing is a freakin' genious. I love the whole design concept. In fact, I'm a rocket scientist (well, design engineer for Altas V rockets so I'm trying to say that I'm into high tech!!!) and couldn't be more impressed with the layout, the editing, the foot pedals and of course the tones. I love the external effect send and return concept as well as the 3 pedal idea. I think this company finally made something that's THE BEST in it's class. I'll spare you every effect system I've owned but I've used the Pod, PodXT, the Vetta combo, the Digitech RP-7, GPS-2101, GT-8, Korg Pandora PX4. The only thing that comes seriesly close is my rack's JMP-1 and GMajor combination but that combination costs about $1500 new.

2) There are many great tones that are so easy to obtain. I love how there is one usable distorted tone after another and you don't have to saturate the [bleep] out of them to hear all the harmonics.

3) The ping pong delay and stereo chorus sound great!!! I'm in heaven inside my headphones. The phaser is just OK so far but I did find that color=1 sounds a little more organic (like Rush, Fountain of Lamneth organic).

4) The Function buttons and the ability to have two switchable amps per patch: Genious. Also this thing really does switch fast with no annoying click or anything. I find myself hitting the next effect too early because I'm used to compensating.

5) The cleans are just OK so far although I just made a breakthrough (I stupidly had the boost effect on so everthing started out crunchy.) I was about to return it until my discovery because cleans didn't really strike me the way the distorted sounds did. I'm still looking for the cleans I get with my rack rig though. Maybe through my power amp I'll get it. I'll keep you posted although I'd give the cleans and 8 out of 10 after trying for a half an hour.

6) As far as palm muting with my Axis guitar: It sounds perfect. I wouldn't want any more or less. I forgot who had that problem on this forum but just don't use the metal zone. Use the Engl. I can do some nice Hetfield style palm muting (almost) with no problem.

7) The output of the headphone jack is a bit lacking. My Grado headphones are low impedance and very easy to push but I find that when I'm listening to an external CD source, I have to have everything cranked. It's not that bad though.

Cool The way the EQ is broken up where you adjust the second band and the sixth band in another area on the board is either educational or silly. I'm not sure which one yet. I guarantee everyone says what the [bleep] the first time they adjust it.

9) Last but not least, did I mention that this thing has incredible shredder tones? I find myself playing better, cleaner, faster with less distortion, less chorus, and less delay just because my tone stands on its own. I can nail Petrucci tone and Macalpine type of tone so easily!!!


To those who try this thing in the store or for the first time at home, here's a concept that didn't hit me for a few minutes. There are 4 main section of banks. There is (U and u) and (A and b). They all have the same factory pactches except u and b have the cabinet simulator on. If you try it in the store through an amp, use U or A. If you use heaphones, use u or b. I think. I'll go check. That's a little retarded right there I think. Maybe U and u and P and p would be better for user/preset. I just caught myself nitpicking. It's not a big deal.

Nice job Zoom.

Engin

I like the layout because you can get five quick presets that are
all very different or you can set it up so its like having
7, yes seven stomp boxes side by side. This is because the 5 patch
selecting switches can also turn on and off the pre-fx, the pre-amp distortion, the mod, the echo, the reverb, and then you even have
TWO more function switches that can switch amp channels or the compressor or just about whatever you want. 100 user settings which
have a name and a number and with the software (VERY easy software) you can even write a discriptive paragraph about each patch. They have really gone out of their way to make this user friendly with alot of knobs, etc.

At first I thought it was little too much on the mega high gain side
but when I lowered the gain on some of those high gain amps I got more into my zone which is classic hard rock, I like the sounds of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Van Halen. There
are many amp models to choose from. A lot of great sparkly cleans,
a lot of grinding crunches and a big bunch of the modern ultra gain stuff. I wondered why they need a harmonics control in the 12k region
when most 12 inch speakers only go up to 5 or 6k. But it does make a difference and since real amps put out those ultra high frequencies I guess an amp modeller should to. This is the best multi effect I've got and I like it better than my Boss, or Yamaha, or Digitech, I have not had a line 6. Yamaha was my favorite but not now.

The thing is very cool looking and has big hunks of rubber on the sides. It sort of looks like it came off a modern submarine or something. I can only say it looks and feels heavy and I take along the little zoom G2 as a backup.

I asked zoom a question and got back an email in less than 24 hours.

I play classic rock and when we play things like Rush I need to switch between a variety of clean and distortion sounds without missing a split second. The G9 switches sounds faster than any guitar pedal I've had. It even switches sounds faster than my keyboards!! It is versatile because you can use it for complex preset switching or like a row of pedals. My old digitech rp14 was like that but the zoom sounds are way beyond the rp14. Now the Digitech 3000 I have not heard but I know it does not allow 7 switches
to be used manually. Also I have heard that the 3000 takes a while
to change sounds and I need to switch right in the middle of a flurry
of 16th note triplets!

I bought this unit to replace my Zoom GFX-8 that I've had for the past 6 years. Until now I haven't heard anything nearly as good, including the POD XT live, Vox Tonelab and other various Digitech units. This thing is easily the most versital processor I've ever seen. If you can't get a sound you like you've gotta be deaf. Editing is a breeze and if you've had any of the older Zoom models it's pretty much old hat. The thing that struck me the most is how responsive the eq and tone controls are. Manual is ok if you don't mind reading blue print. Two 12ax7 tubes and two pedals, one for volume and one to morph whatever program you're running into something much more exotic. Comes with Cubebase LE for recording.

My rig depends upon the gig. Large venues and outdoor gigs (can do outdoors most all year in So. AZ) I run 2 Carvin Halfstacks, one with an X100 Series III head and the other with an SX200 head. The Zoom has stereo outs and with the built in volume pedal. I'm able to use less onstage and save room. Oh by the way this thing is big and heavy!
In small rooms I either run 1 halfstack or run into my 1500 watt Carvin sound system. I use a Musicman Sillouette, HSH configuration, a Line 6 Variax 300, an Ibanez AS73 (335) and an Ibanez jazz box. And, finally a banshee talkbox. I used it in rehearsal and then at an outdoor show at our county fair and the sound quality is amazing. Chords ring out crystal clear even with heavy distortion settings. There's no lag time when changing patches and Zoom has the fastest switch time in the business. The program that floored me was the Acoujazz program, somewhat of an acoustic/jazz program. Using my variax with the acoustic guitar patch turned my rig into a genuine acoustic rig. Using it during recording, it was a genuine acoustic guitar complete with the resonance of the body. This thing is dead quiet too, maybe too much cuz some of the sustain gets killed by the noise reduction. Easy to fix, just roll some off.

My rating on this is based upon my Zoom GFX-8. I've had that unit for six great years and it never failed. Unfortunately the switches started to break being plastic and getting stomped on. I don't need a backup because I have on board effects on my sx-200 head. It would get me through if something happened. If running through my PA I'd be at a jazz gig so effects would be minimal anyway, maybe delay or reverb through the mixer.

Never dealt with them, but my keyboard player called for info as he also plays guitar for our jazz stuff and ended up buying the G7.1.

I play anything from classic rock to 60's music to jazz and new age. I've been playing since "yeah, yeah, yeah" was still on the charts. This thing by far blows away the competition. Digitech I think still needs to upgrade their sounds. They still incorporate some from my old GSP-21. POD just sounded bad and the 2.0 is as bad as it gets. The only thing close is the Boss GT-8, but it's more expensive and doesn't come with recording software. The Vox Tonelab isn't bad but doesn't have a harmonizer (for Vai and Boston stuff). Purists will say it's close but not perfect. They're right. But when you have drums pounding, keys blasting, and bass thumping who in the hell in the audience can tell? If you use a crappy rig it'll still sound crappy and whatever you use will color the sound. I'd rather carry this thing around and have a great sound similar to those amps it models than spend all the money on and carry all the amps it doesn't sound exacly like. If you want to play thrash metal this may not be to your liking. It's a little too processed for such a raw sound but I wouldn't doubt you could get something useful. This unit is logically laid out, responsive, easy to edit on the fly (great feature) and genuinely looks great. There's so much thing will do it'll take months of tweaking to find out. Well worth the $400.

Very intuitive ueser interface. I always have a hard time with tweaking modelers. I've had a AX1G, GT3, ME50 and v-amp which all couldn't satisfy me, but this one definitly does the job for me. Especially with the editing software, with works very simple. It does not loos as fancy as the software for the POD but it works great.
The manual is not easy to read as the text is in blue and the layout is very hard to read through.

I use this unit as a preamp by using the 4-cable methode on my Marshall TSL100 that runs into a 2x12" cab. This way can use teh G9.2tt as a preamp, but I can also use the channels of the TSL with effects only. This gives me a great variety of sounds. I play Ibanez JS1 and a Fender strat+ with lacesensors and a fastrack2 in the bridge.
The unit is NOT noisy at all! In fact it is so silent that you sometime swonder if it is on. The ZNR function works great with high gain settings but you have to turn the level of it down on the factory presets to let your notes ring out clearly.
In my opinion the effects sound great. At least, it does the job for me so I'm satisfied. Distortions are great and not only in the high gain region. You can get great mild distortions or crunch sounds with out any problem. Cleans are great and all have a nice sparkle.
The tubes in the unit definitly makes the sound more tubey.
I've simulated the 3 channels of my TSL and couldn't hear the difference. It was done in 10 minutes!

I only have this unit for one week now, but I can tell you it will last forever as far as the mechanics go. This is plain heavy steel. The switches are metal and feel very decent. As far as the electronics goed... time has to tell, but I feel very confident in Zooms quality.
I will definitly use this on a gig without any backup. My TSL has 3 channels and I can always play straight it through without it if the G9.2tt breaks up on me.

Not dealt with it till now

I've been playing for 14 year and have played some crap guitars like suzuki lespaul copy and epiphone somewhat. Since the last 10years I have a decent set of guitars which I wouldn't trade for the world. A '87 Fender Strat in Grafity Yellow with lacesensors and a fasttrack2 in the bridge and a black '92 Ibanez JS1 with single coil in the middle. For acoustics I use a Yamaha APX5A. My amps are 4 channelsome self build tube amp (based on: 2 fender cleans, tube and transistor, JCM900 leadpreamp and a GT trio preamp), a Valvestate 8240 (which I think are the best valvestates ever made, better then the crapy valvestates Marshall makes now) and a Marshall TSL100 which is my main amp. I play all kinds of styles as I play in a cover band that covers all except metal stuff. We play a lot of blues-rock, which fits great to my setup.

Its fairly easy to use. The sw editor is very handy. However you cannot control the Energizer and Accelerator Tube functions with the sw nor can you save their settings in a patch. This is plain DUMB.
The manual is too small in size and has their trademark blue ink print (which I dont like) but it has all the relevant info.

LCD screen could be a bit bigger.

I have an Ibanez S470 (stock pickups)--->Zoom G9.2tt ---> Event monitors. I was hoping to use it for direct recording but it does not sound good when recording direct. Its cabinet siumulator is very limited. It has just has one cabinet model. You can choose between a condenser and dynamic mic and their position (3 of 'em) to the cabinet. I also have a Roland VG-88 V2.0 and it blows this thing away (its also more expensive than the ZOOM).

The effects are decent but nothing exceptional. You might get better sounds if you have a Cabinet and/or Amp. in your sound chain. It just did not cut it for me.

The USB only does 16 bits and 32/44.1/48 KHz output. The 96 KHz and 32 bits processing is internal only.

Looked real solid. Nice shiny metal buttons. Excellent finish.

None needed so far.

I have been playing for 23 yrs. I play Rock, Funk and Flamenco styles. I was hoping their direct recording (USB) would be useful but I just dont like the direct sound so I am returning it in a couple of days.

I like their Z-Pedal. Its pretty solid and it wont break if you slide out the Z-Pedal to the right and do up down motion simultaneously. But its very easy for the Z-Pedal to be shifted to the right so you gotta be careful when you play.

This is my first modeller working like a real tube amp !
I can hardly get a bad tone out of it - only differnt ones.
All is very easy to use, even the factory presets are quite nice.
I miss a channel A/B copy feature I am used from the GT8. So here I have to set everything for both channels.
But there is a software editor available - which I did not test until now.

Yes ! That's the point. Sound - this one sounds very sweet !
I own a XTLive, GNX3000 and GT8 - and like this one most. I was very surprised - since the old Zoom board were not able to compare to the other ones. But this one sounds killer. Clean, Crunch, Heavy all possible.
The reverbs, delays and chorus are fine too - the others are ok.
Since I am used to the flexible effect routing of the GT8 - I miss this in the Zoom - but the basic effect settings are possible.
I miss a Pre amp EQ.

The basic amp sound of this one is the best of all modellers I tested.

Build like a tank - all metal !
To early to say something about it.

Zoom allways answert my emails very fast.

I play all styles form clean blues to high gain stuff. This one can do it all. We used it in a band with another tube amp - and the Zoom cuts throu (unlike many other modellers).

Did I say that this one is easy to use and sounds very good !
Time to play again - instead of spending all night trying to tweak the boxes - well done.

I am happy I bought this one - don't get fooled by the bad .mp3 demos - it's much better sounding !

If it would be lost - I would get another one.

Within a few minutes I had an excellent sound, so easy is this unit to use. I would advise reading the manual before hand obviously, as this unit's preset patches come in both recording mode (which has a cab simulator) and live mode, and if you select the recording mode when playing through a normal guitar amp, it will sound a bit fuzzy. However, if you're sensible and read the manual (even just the sheet that shows you all the patches), you'll have no problems sounding amazing in no time

I normally use my BC Rich NJ Series Warlock with this, but have also used my NJ Beast and my 20 year old Washburn. It all goes through a Crate 120 watt half stack (or two if I'm feeling saucy). All I can say is that I've never heard anything else like it. Its truly amazing, perfect for what I want to play (mainly Thrash metal, also Iron Maiden style metal), and with the ming boggling array of effects and presets available, I'd wager this could fit every musical style out there. Never before have my pinched harmonics screamed as much. Every single effect is amazingly good, and with the excellent noise reduction, its totally free from noise.

Well, I havent gigged it yet, but I can tell by just looking at it that this will stand up to the test of time. Its incredible rugged, and weighs a tonne as well, so may be useful for bludgeoning promoters when they wont pay up. I would certainly use this without a backup as (aside from the fact that I couldn't afford a backup!) I can't see this failing, it seems extremely well crafted.

Not had to deal with Zoom, don't think I'll have to either

For playing metal, this is the perfect effects console. Even though I've only been playing for 6 years, I can safely say that this is the best effects consol I've ever seen. Kicks the crap out of my mates Boss unit, and he'll be switching as soon as he has the cash. Having a USB connection (though I haven't tried it yet) for recording straight onto a computer is pure genius, as I've got a terrible memory when it comes to writing my own riffs, but since I can just plug this baby in and record, it'll make writing songs that much easier.

Overall, this is clearly the best effects unit I've ever owned, and will be selling all my other effects gear (including my Lexicon rack unit). I have to say, if it was stolen I'd have to buy two to replace it. One to play with, the other to bludgeon the thief to death with!

This unit is pretty simple to get up and running, Users who have already been using Zoom effects units will find it works in pretty much the same way as the older models. I would suggest new users to Zoom multi-effects units actually read the manual because it gives some pretty good connection help as well as tips of quicker navigation..

I replaced a Zoom 8080 Superplayer with this unit so my current setup is an '82 Gibson LP with an EMG 81 & 85 ran into the G9.2tt and from to the front of a Marshall 1959SLPX full stack with 1960 cabs. Once you set the G9.2tt to the type of AMP its being used with it sounds amazing. Since the unit has an "ACCELERATOR Tube" & an "ENERGIZER Tube" it can help those users using solid state amps acheive a pretty conviencing tube like sound along with pushing all tube amps a little harder for some great natural distortion. I must say that their have been alot of effects unit come and go that simulater popular amp models and stomp boxes but by far the G9.2tt is as close as you can get with out actually owning them. This unit can produce some of the best vintage overdrives but can also provide some heavy distortion as well. I think that users who are already using Zoom multi-effects units are going to be blown away and those who because of past experiences feel that Zoom effects unit sound very synthetic are going to be surprized as well.

I was really surprized at just how much this unit weighs, It pretty much all metal construction, even down to the rear input/output jack. It doesnt feel fragile and totally leaves the impression that it could actually handle the "Real World" abuse from the road. I haven't actually started using this in my live performances but i dont see using without a backup a problem.

I have owned a number of High End zoom model for about 10 years and have never had a problem with any of them, I hope the G9.2tt continues this trend as well.

Ive been playing guitar for almost 15 years and Overall I think this is the best multi-effects unit on the market as of now. They have definiatly created a monster in the G9.2tt. The quality of effects are some of the best on the planet at the moment and i think alot of Boss & Digitech users are going to be using the G9.2tt when they hear it. Its definitly more user friendly for actual stage use in its disign and layout. One thing worth mentioning is the 3D Z-Pedal, I dont think Zoom is going to create a trend among other manufactures with this design anytime soon. The side to side control of this feels very un-natural or at least to me anyway. All in all i think Zoom has done it this time around and if i hade it to do all over again knowing what i know now about the unit. I would have most likely paid twice what i did.

After checking out the specs I couldnt wait to get this pedel, possibly the 1st in the UK as everywhere is 'still witing for stock'! Very easy to use, just read at least some of the manual 1st! All editing is done by a multitude of well labeled dials, the LCD info panel tells you pretty much all you need to know. I had good sounds within the first 10 minutes. OK its a bit more involved than a simple FX pedel, and the sight of those 2 valves just makes you want to plug in a scream but you really do have to check out the manual to get the best results, for example the ZNR default settign can kill you sustain so needs backing off slightly.

I use this with an Ibanez JS1200 and RG1527 7 string, the unit is silent when not playing although I do run through a couple of Marshall DSL100's which hum slightly when turned up (as expected)! the G9.2 should not really be used in the FX loop of the amp as it is essentially a pre-amp in its own right.
Some effects were slightly muddy with the default EQ settings but this was easily sorted with the tone dials on the 'Pre-amp' section of the pedel.

Too new to know!

Never had to use them.

I play rock/metal Iron Maiden to Vai, some classical and ambient stuff when I cant be bothered to exercise my mind. I compared it to all other multi FX boards on the market at the moment but none even came close. I also use Lexicon rack effects but am now considering selling the whole rack after buying the G9.2tt. If it were lost I'd get another striaght away! The price is fantastic too!