Zoom effects processors

Awesome! Yeah, the Tonelib forums have tons of patches to download. It’s amazing.

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oh :frowning: did you ever try this previous B3 ? the DI and audio interface are great functions indeed !

also I don’t know well the Zoom range but in the case of Line6, some old devices happen to have interesting tonal chacarcteristics. the newer is not always the better, depending of the particular tone you’re seeking. for exemple the UX1 I use is the modeling generation of the very old red PODs. those things sound pretty bad with a guitar but for some reason I prefer the bass models on those old devices.

What I want to say is, despite the fact it’s not the current model, the B3 might be worth a try ?

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Oh the B3 is more than worth a try. It’s a great choice. It’s arguably just as good a choice as the B3n and a lot of people stuck with them for the reasons you note.

It has basically the same effects as the B1on, with a nicer user interface. I actually might like its displays a little better than the B3n’s, too. The B1on is actually more powerful than the B3 in ways, though - the B1on can stack five effects in its chains while the B3 can do only 3. The B3 also does not have an Aux In.

The B3n has the aux in, more knobs, and can stack seven effects in a chain.

Since I already have a DAI and am getting a separate DI anyway I went with the more powerful, newer model. However - if you want the audio interface and/or the DI, the B3 is still a great choice. Used gear is best gear :slight_smile:

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Yeah, it seems like for recording/studio work the B3 would be a great choice. I don’t see the need to stack more than 3 effects on a bass in most cases, and the Aux in has no use either in this case.

But, yeah, I understand the B1on and B3n have their own advantages too :slight_smile:

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The only bummer is the amp and cab sims take up effects slots too. So if you are planning to use them (which for recording you would be 100% of the time) then you get basically one or two effects at a time on the B3. Still not a dealbreaker though.

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yeah it all depends of the use, for me it would not be a problem at all for exemple. anyway it would be possible to plug analog pedals before the B3, or even a B1on or a B3n for the effects chain only :slight_smile:

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Yep and then the problem goes away and the B3 is a fine choice. You’d want it last in the chain if you were using its DI but that’s fine.

Running the B3 through something like the BDI 21 would take that problem away too but then you don’t need the B3’s DI. But this is exactly what I am going to do with the B3n.

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about the DI it all depends of your sound : if you only use pure clean tones, the integrated DI on the BDI21 would do the job. but, as there is no cab simulation, it does sound pretty bad with saturated tones. in this case the cab sim on the B3 could be precious (if it sounds good :slight_smile: ).

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Yeah I think the amp and cab sims on the B1on/B3/B3n sound great. Things like the BDI21 and the Ampeg SCR-DI give you the nice amp tone but not the cab, that’s true.

I was all set to buy a clean sounding preamp/DI like the SpectraDrive and get a BDI21 for the dirt, but then I ended up picking up a used SCR-DI I found at a really low price. Looks great in the pics and the person assures me it works fine. We’ll see :slight_smile:

(I’ll probably still get a BDI21 later too because at that price why not?)

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seems like you’re on your way of creating a “modular preamp” as I plan to do for myself :grin:

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Yep that’s exactly the plan :slight_smile:

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on the B3, do you know if it’s possible to use only a cab sim without an amp sim ?

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Good question. It’s not possible on the B1on but it is on the B3n.

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Oh man. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

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I like it! It sounds like an Ampeg. Not a SVT exactly and it is subtle. But thats what I wanted.

So far the scrambler seems not super useful except to add a little dirt, but thats fine.

Plus it has an amethyst colored LED. I didn’t even know that was a thing. It looks awesome :slight_smile:

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The only complaint I’ve heard about it was that the headphone connection didn’t sound very good. Can you confirm one way or the other?

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Mine sounds great. In fact I think it sounds like it has a light cab sim.

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What is the technical reason why we can’t just plug the B1on output/phones into a computer using a 3.5mm jack to usb cable? Is it signal strength? Sorry, I know it’s been discussed but my brain is struggling to understand why it can’t given that the phones are an output.

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You can, if your sound card has a line in jack. It also works with a mic in but less well and usually needing adapter cables.

However when I did it it was pretty noisy compared to a dedicated interface. It works, but not as well as a DAI.

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Thanks. I’m on a 2012 iMac and as far as I know I only have a couple of Firewire and USB sockets. Nothing else other than phones and SD card, so I guess I’m out of luck with the sound card direct option. I’m just frustrated to have all this gear and be unable to do the most basic connection without spending even more money that I can’t really justify at this stage.

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