Zoom effects processors

Long shot…did you try a different cable from bass to Zoom?

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Another long shot: the AUX volume is set on the device that’s connected to the AUX in, the “drum machine” has its own, independent volume setting. Are you sure the “master” volume is set correctly?

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Yes again several different types and makes of which all of them work fine with other devices I have…

Yes, actually that’s another sign of bad mixing for me. When I connect the bass to B1 Four and then go in to my amp obviously also the drum machine signal gets amplified. In a normal playing setup with B1 Four and amp I set the volume of rythm box to as low as 5/100 otherwise it becomes too loud…

I read the manual of the thing several times front and back for any tricks… As I say for me only reasonable use case with only bass and headphones was by increasing volumes if individual patches…

I will try to make a video for this when I get the chance…

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You might be going deaf? Sorry to break the bad news to you like this :grin:

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I think we are at ‘exchange the unit’

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Yeah I am worried about that as well, my wife almost always tells me that my volume is too high for her…

Yeah that was my point a couple of posts back, alas it is too late for me… I took too long to put the blame on the unit and try everything else, that was 6 months ago…

Again I think this is the perfect democratic discussion for anyone who is interested on the device. 9/10 people on the forum says that it’s OK

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Best to check with a doctor. Better sooner than later imo. I had some ear issues when I was young and like almost all of my hearing problems got fixed.

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I very recently picked up a B1-4x. The headphone output is a bit anemic on some patches in my Sennheisers, but a big part of that is the way the volume is set on different patches - many of them attenuate the signal a fair bit. Between the master volume and individually tweaking patches, the volume can definitely exceed what I want.

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File me under “Use the B1four with headphones (no idea what ohm rating - they’re Beats) for practice and notice no issues”. I much prefer it to practicing with my Vox amplug, although either works well…

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Call them…you never know unless you try.

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Isn’t it under warranty? If it is, Zoom should take care of it.

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That’s actually a very good point… The guy who responded my e mails was not suggesting that but of course I didn’t ask directly that…

I bought it on Amazon, gotta check how that works

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So the thing I noticed with both my B1on and my B3n was you need to be on top of adjusting the volumes of more or less all the effects individually.

There’s the master volume, but also for each effect (patch OR individual stompbox) there is a volume (and sometimes also a gain). It’s a little fiddly but the takeaway is the thing is NOT Unity Gain from patch to patch.

The drum machine is also on its own volume control you need to play with to match.

The master volume is a control that comes after you’ve already balanced the other parts.

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Excellent choice. I did the whole Beginner to Badass course thru my Zoom B1-four. Bass in, aux in to hear Josh, and headphone out. Perfect.
AND
with batteries, you can do it anywhere you like.

I am sure you have gotten plenty of great advice (I have not read thru the answers yet), but one thing to also consider, is, if you go amp-less, and you have to use an amp, to play a venue, or a practice, etc…, You can look around for rehearsal studios that have gear there, and if you go to play a venue with a sound system, you can give your signal to the house sound guy, via a D.I. box. You can get one of those on the cheap also, the last person to get one on the forum paid around $20 on amazon.

That said, the ZOOM B1-four DOES NOT HAVE XLR OUT, which is why you would need the D.I. box, as you need to feed the sound guy an unbalanced signal via XLR (in most cases). Many people use PreAmp / D.I. pedals, and many of those pedals also have Aux in / headphone out (not all of them, but there is a good selection of those that do) and if you plan to be going to practices, and playing venue’s, you might consider this in the future, in place of an amp (or in front of your amp, as many of us do).

The Zoom B1-four is one of the best things I have ever purchased. The knowledge I got out of experimenting with it is invaluable. Once I started getting pedals, I even used it in STOMP mode AS a pedal in the chain, and for the tuner. It is a great thing to get for many reasons, the only thing preventing it from being a SINGLE SOLUTION for going ampless is that id does not have DI. I would advise the purchase of this, regardless if you get an amp in the future or not, other then the convienience of quiet practice, and the good amp and cab sims, along with many stellar effect clone / models, it gives you the ability to experiment with your own pedal chain creations, which will help you if you ever graduate (or move towards, as I don’t mean to imply that pedals are a necessary evolution, but they are the road most commonly journeyed), you have an idea of what Chorus and Fuzz and Compression does, etc… AND how they work in conjunction with other pedals, and how the order of the pedals affects the effect.

I am not the one to help with DAW plug ins and all the ways to get sounds from DAW’s in the computer, as I have not graduated towards that yet, I am still a simpleton on GB, straight in thru my DAI, I don’t usually record with effects anyway, they are mostly for fun, as my Ray4 with the Aguilar upgraded pick up sounds mean and ferocious all by itself, when recording covers, it is usually just fine on its own. I just mess around with the onboard preamp for the most part.

TBH, IMHO and IME, pedals are more for fun. If you make your own band, and create original content, you might dial in some funky to freaky bass tones, but when playing covers (unless you take an oldie and punk it up), you will probably find most of your bass tones coming from your fingers.
That said, all my basses are active, and have onboard preamps, if you have a passive bass, with only a tone knob, you may need a little more to get your bass tones correct, IDK for sure.

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with a computer/laptop and USB, you don’t even need batteries…

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Thank you all for your input! I don’t wish to water-down the topic too much, and if the volume for headphone practice is adequate, it will make a great practice tool for me, and for not much more money than the Vox Amplug. @T_dub , thanks for taking the time to share your personal experience in such great detail - I realise the Zoom lacks an XLR out, which is why I am also considering the Ampeg SCR DI, but that’s an Ampeg-specific pedal first and foremost, and if I need to record with it at home, I’ll need a DI box anyway, as I would for the Zoom. I have to say I like the simplicity of the Ampeg pedal, but it’s significantly pricier and I’ll need to pick up a 9V battery or a power supply whilst the Zoom I can run straight away with my rechargeable AA batteries. So I am leaning towards the Zoom, and hopefully will join you all here again to share my own experience of using it :slight_smile:

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Just FYI, if you can find a used Zoom B3 it has XLR out. Unfortunately they removed it from the new B3n model. Apparently the B3n sounds a bit better though so that’s the trade-off. From what I’ve read the B3 is still very good though.

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I had a B3n for awhile and loved it! The only reason I sold it was because I switched to a pedal board and individual pedals.
BTW, I never found a need for XLR out on either of the Zooms I owned.

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to be clear, the Ampeg SCR DI is a DI box. that is what the DI stands for, and it is complete with XLR.
What you will need is a DAI, a digital audio interface, such as a Scarlet solo or Zoom U-22 or U-44 or Behringer UMC22 (I think thats the model).
This is what connects the XLR input (or 1/4" input directly from your bass) to the computer to use with a DAW like GarageBand or Reaper, etc…
Hope this helps

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I am not knocking the Zoom units for lack of XLR, I am only saying that is something that prevents them from being all in one units. You may be able to connect them to the computer via USB for direct recording, but I never did it that way, so I can’t remember fully if it is capable or not.
If that works, then it could be an all in one unit.

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