ZOOM G3

[mickrich]

Grabbed a ZOOM G3 today and I must say, I'm very impressed.
I wanted a second DI box and a gate so figured I would give the ZOOM a go since it has both of these plus loads of other stuff and I got a MS60B recently which is fantastic.

The DI can send pre or post fx on XLR out so you can grab a clean di then send through the rest of the fx into an amp, allowing me to get a clean di and record the amp at the same time all in 1 box. It can be used as a USB audio interface too. I won't be using it as an interface but would be useful for lots of people.
DI sounds nice and clean.

Now onto the sounds
I haven't tried the amp sims and will never use them.
The Noise reduction and gate are great. I am using NR before the overdrive then gate after and getting a really clean tight sound.
The screamer like my real ts808 so I am happy to use it. Will be useful to get a slightly different sound for left and right tracks.
The Marshall Guv'nor sim is superb and worth the price of the ZOOM on its own.

I will update this mini review once I have used it for a real recording session.
I can't really see myself using it for more than DI, gate and overdrive boost.
Serious bargain for €150.
Did a quick test to see could I get close to the Heartwork sound which was (depending on what you read) a guv'nor boosting a Marshall 6100 anniversary head. Here is Jaymz' nevermore cover to test. I love the fatness of the sound I got.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2133088/MN_G3_TEST.mp3

 

[BenoA]

Sounds very good!!!

I'm curious, could you test it to see what kind of latency you'll get if used as a USB interface for recording guitar? My Line6 UX2 is driving me nuts these days. Thanks in advance.

 

[mickrich]

I could try it for you but that test would be very system dependent.
I am running an i7 mac mini.

 

[NecroDM]

Sounds good dude,

How's the noise gate/reduction perform on an high gain amp?
That is, have you tried plugging in the G3 on your 6505 and can it tame the noise?
I'm asking this as I'm thinking of getting an 6505 myself, and i have a zoom g2.1u (older model) but I'm unsure if the noise gate works well with it for rehearsal/gig volume level.
I may get a G5 though since it's basically a G3 with an upgrade. Also, have you experimented with the effects besides the TS? Like assigning a wah+delay to the pedal and such?

I'm looking forward to a more in depth review of your G3 unit \m/

Cheers,
Necro

 

[nezvers]

My Line6 UX2 is driving me nuts these days.

My UX2 works grate, without problems with latency and recording -use UX2 asio and set driver with lowest latency buffer it doesn't give you noise and set buffer for recording program max (in same asio driver windows - it will give you fast response with Podfarm sim but will give your DAW big buffer to work without problems and will record DI or padfarm signal in time)


I've been keeping eyes on G3 for reverbs only. You should test them too.

 

[kvoid]

Does it have the MS70CDR algos? There's some nice FX in there. Will be looking out for one of these used and on the cheap

 

[vejichan]

cool thing about g3.. you can use it as an audio interface as well.. how's that for 150$ .. and try it with lepou/ignite/tse plugs and cab impulses