New Zoom B1on / B1Xon - New Zoom pedal

[Dood]

Hello little tikes! These look pretty interesting! What do you think? It looks like they've taken the the B3 / MS models a step further.



[color=#333333][font=Verdana,]"Here at Zoom we've been leading the way in multi-effects processing for the past twenty-five years. We're especially proud that our innovations in stomp-box effects pedals have become the tools of choice for bassists and guitarists the world over. Now, with the release of the B1on and B1Xon, we're taking bass effects to new heights—and at an astonishingly affordable price. Whatever your level of expertise, whatever your style of music, the B1on/B1Xon is sure to become an instant favorite in your pedalboard."[/font][/color]


Number of effects B1on = 75
B1Xon = 80 Number of simultaneous effects 5 Number of patches 100 Sampling frequency 44.1kHz A/D conversion 24bit, 128times over-sampling D/A conversion 24bit, 128times over-sampling Signal processing 32bit floating point and 32bit fixed point Frequency Response 20Hz～20kHz +1dB -3dB (10kΩload) Display LCD Input [b]INPUT[/b]
1/4" phone jack
Rated input level: -20dBm
Input impedance (line): 470kΩ 　　 [b]AUX IN[/b]
AUX IN: 1/8" stereo phone jack
Rated input level: -10dBm
Input impedance (line): 1kΩ Output [b]Output[/b]
1/4" stereo phone jack
Maximum line output level
+2 dBm (output impedance load of 10 kΩ or more)
Maximum headphones output level: 17 mW + 17 mW (into 32Ω load) S/N (input conversion noise) 119dB Noise floor (residual noise) -97 dBm* Power AC adapter (optional) DC 9V center-negative, 500 mA (Zoom AD-16) Battery AA size (LR6) battery x 4 Continuous battery operation time: 20 hours when using 4 AA alkaline batteries USB USB USB Firmware update External dimensions B1on = 155 (D) x 146 (W) x 43 (H) mm
B1Xon = 155 (D) x 237 (W) x 50 (H) mm Weight B1on = 380g (without batteries)
B1Xon = 640g (without batteries)

http://zoom.co.jp/products/b1on/features/

[Dood]

Nyargh, the formatting has gone a bit weird on the specifications - sorry!

[charic]

Why does it remind me of the NES / Original Gameboy?

[ratman]

It looks like a slightly upgraded but easier to operate MS60B. It seems to have a plastic case though, probably helps to keep costs down but will it survive being jumped on a lot?

[Musicman20]

I've just got a B3 at a decent price, and despite this being a new pedal, I'm glad I went with the B3 for the casing/screens/DI etc.

[dave_bass5]

Hmmm, owning both the B3 and 60B i can see me getting a B1on to replace both boxes if the price is right.

Having tired to gig with each, i found the B3 to work well but the foot switches are placed just too close for me so i dont use it for gigs, and the 60B is really only used in a rack style rather than on the floor.

Cheers Dan, more money to splash out ;-)

[discreet]

Good Lord, Zoom's R&D department must be coked up to the gills! They never stop!

[Musicman20]

The prices (I think) are around £80-£100...

[tauzero]

Looking at the manual, I would say that it's an updated B1 so it loses the flexibility of the multi-stompbox model that the B3, and to a lesser extent the MS60B, has. You just switch between patches without being able to switch individual effects.

[elephantgrey]

I really wish zoom would start adding midi to there pedals...

[King Tut]

Mine arrived yesterday . . . . .

[dannybuoy]

Mine too. Couldn't resist at £59 for the B1XON! Will probably use it mostly for the drum machine, looper and headphone amp with aux in. But some the fx are very usable, especially the filters and compressors.

By the way, update the firmware from the Zoom site and increase the effect count from 75 to 100!

[discreet]

£59? I'm in!

[HowieBass]

I'll be sticking with my built-like-a-tank B9.1ut

[ratman]

What's it like to use? Are the effects any good?

[dannybuoy]

Same as those on the B3 / MS-60B, although the lineup is a little different, this new one has a few effects not on the B3 and vice versa (full list can be found on the Zoom site).

All the effects are pretty good, except the pedal wahs are terrible (pedal controlled Moog LPF sounds ok though!). The expression pedal has nearly all of it's usable travel in the first half of the sweep and the second half does nothing which is pretty frustrating. Pedal whammy is not bad, but not tried a real Whammy to compare. The distortions sound OK but not as good as the real thing. Amp sims - I've not tried through a decent loud full range system to be able to comment, but I don't think they sound very good through headphones or my amp - plenty of people are using the B3 as their gigging preamp though so with the necessary tweaking and powerful PA I bet it could sound pretty good. Compression, filters, chorus, flanger, delay and reverb are excellent. Phasers are either too 'analog'/subtle sounding or too digital/extreme sounding for my liking. Synths aren't bad either!

For £59 it's a bargain, even if it doesn't go on your gigging board, there's a lot of fun to be had.

Edited April 24, 2014 by dannybuoy

[discreet]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1398328173' post='2432834']
Amp sims - I've not tried through a decent loud full range system to be able to comment, but I don't think they sound very good through headphones or my amp - plenty of people are using the B3 as their gigging preamp though so with the necessary tweaking and powerful PA I bet it could sound pretty good.
[/quote]

Yes it could! But there are one or two fundamental adjustments to be made for this to happen. I used a B3 as a pre into a power amp for a while and was able to get some cracking sounds out of it live - particularly by using the compressors, the amp and cab sims and the 'Sansamp'-type sims. There's a whole thread on TB about how to use a B3 as a preamp, I'm sure the advice would most likely be relevant to these new boxes, too.

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/zoom-b3-as-preamp.936505/"]http://www.talkbass....-preamp.936505/[/url]

Edited April 24, 2014 by discreet

[pete.young]

I've got one of these too. Mine arrived without a manual - big thank you to Sounds Live who arranged for Zoom to send me a replacement copy, which arrived fhe following day. Fantastic service.

Agree with Dannybuoy on the range of sounds, and updating the firmware is a good tip. It seems to me that this pedal is quieter than the B3 - some of the amp models in particular introduced a noticeable hiss on the B3, but this one seems almost silent. There are a couple of differences between this pedal and the others in the Zoom range which people might like to know about:

Firstly, the build quality. You can't fault this pedal on price, but the construction is not of the same quality as B3 and MS60B. The case is plastic and controls have a nasty jelly-tot like appearance. I could gig with this because I'm fairly gently footed, but it might not stand up to repeated stomping.

Someone at Zoom appears to have taken note of comments about the pre-set sounds, and they seem to have made a much bigger effort to come up with patches which are actually usable. There are still one or two clunkers, but not nearly as many as on the B3.

The USB interface is only for firmware updates, and like the MS60B can't be used to manage and edit patches on a PC.

The B1Xon has a 30 second looper and a drum machine with 68 preset rhythms, which the MS60B lacks. It doesn't have DI and can't be used as a recording interface, for that you'll still need the B3.

There's no easy way to switch any of the effects in the chain on or off. The easiest option is to copy the patch and then edit the settings to turn the effect in question off. The feature of the MS60B, where you could switch the active effect on or off with the footswitch is not present.. It is possible to select the patch, scroll through to the effect and then turn it or off with the footswitch, but that's rather laborious and I can't imagine that being acceptable for a live setting.

The B1Xon has a setting which allows you to scroll silently through the patches without changing the existing patch, until you find the one you like and select it. It doesn't have the feature of the MS60B which allows you to select a number of patches and put them into a loop that you scroll through.

Dood was threatening to do one of his excellent video reviews for the B1Xon. Hopefully he'll get round to this sooner rather than later, there's nothing much on youtube about it at the moment. ;-)

[dannybuoy]

It's possible to get some really good heavy distortion sounds out of this actually, especially since they nearly all have clean blends and you have a range of EQs and preamps you can tack onto the end. The Bass Overdrive (ODB-3), Bass Squeak (RAT) and Bass Big Muff models can sound really good for the heavier stuff, but they don't quite have the low end thump of my real ODB-3 or BBM. A bit of EQ could probably fix it though, I need to spend more time tweaking!

The only low gain drive I like at the moment is the BB Preamp. Sounds a bit more muffled than a real one, but still a nice effect. The TS808 might sound good after some EQ also.

[Dood]

I've been meaning to post a reply here! I have one sat on my desk at the moment. I've not had a chance to really play with it yet, but when I do, there will be a video in the offing. I'll try, as i did in the last BassChat review I did, to cover everything that the little chap can do!

[MacDaddy]

until they add a few guitar amp sims to their bass pedals (al la Digitech BP355) i'm gonna stick with my J-station.

[Dood]

For the price of these you could have a B3 and a G3 secondhand - or an MS-50G and MS-60B for a tiny two pedal size rig!

I've used the B3 in a guitar rig too and it worked beautifully (drive and distortion coming from the amp in this case)

[DieterVDW]

I bought one last week. I put it on my FX board in a loop of my Boss LS-2 so I can use it for all the now-and-then fancy FX stuff, and keep it out of my main signal path for the rest of the time.
(Consider me biased, but I don't trust a 50$ multi-FX unit too much.. Although that's based on nothing and its probably no problem...)

For anyone who is curious: I measured the actual current draw of this FX unit at 120-130mA.
So it's completely OK to run it for example on the 250mA output of a Voodoo Labs PP2.

[petetexas]

Just bought one £49 incl free delivery from Rocking Rooster on line.
Have had the Zoom 9.1, then went to the B3, then went to the MS60B, and now the B1on !
Wanted something lightweight ( plastic ) with very simular effects ( and editing features ) as the MS60B, but easier to scroll up and down, and not scroll through A,B.C,D,E,F.
Will let you know how I get on

Edited July 13, 2014 by petetexas

[Annoying Twit]

I've bought one of these. It seems to be an order of magnitude better than my B2. The synths etc. track much, much, better. Everything seems to sound better. And, I haven't even started editing the effects yet.

However, I'm pleased* to say that the looper is rubbish. There is no undo, not even for the most recent layer overdubbed. You can't remix layers after you record them. You can't adjust the mix of the layers after you record them. It's about as simple as a looper can be and still work, except that you can use the built-in rhythms underneath loops, which is very useful.

*I'm making my own looper. I was worried that the Zoom would have a super-duper looper and give me a big challenge in advancing my own looper to beat it.