Zoom G11 Review

[Top-L]

Interesting . i was on the fence about picking up a G5n after I got my little G1X Four 'cause that thing sounded so good. I still might if I find one cheap/used. I think the G11's amp modelling does'nt sound a whole lot different from the G5n (if it ain't broke...) ) but with the ability to add your own IR's. The amp models in the G1X Four/G5n are pretty sweet. Like really killer.... & frankly I prefer those tones to what I've heard from some of the bigger names as well. .. the models sound (and feel) more like a real amp.

Also, from what you described in your earlier posts, you might have forgotten to turn the mic's "on". That's something you need to do with the G1X Four/G3n/G5n -individually for all patches (default is "mic off" ..fvck knows why.) and apparently the same goes for the G11. It might be what's responsible for the grainy/brittle sound you complained about.

Zoom just announced the g6 which is a smaller G11 from the looks of it. Seems like a pretty good deal as well

When I first got the G11, I didn't realize when you put a cab sim in a patch, the mic is turned off by default for some strange reason. That soured my initial impressions.

That G6 should be a Pod Go killer given its price. It will do well I think. The G11 for $200 more is probably a worthwhile upgrade too.

One thing that I keep reading, there are so many people that have been using, and keep using a Zoom device from years ago. I think that other people dismiss it and say "its good for the price" but I think its good at any price. I dont know if the G11 is a new generation on top of what they had before, but I like it more than the Helix. IMO, if someone is coming from a Helix they probably won't like the Zoom sound.

Here is a video with some great tones from the G11. The interesting thing about this, is that you can see how easy it was to dial in. Just the Krampus, a boost, and an IR. There isn't any tweaking. And there isn't any programming. You don't have to tell the footswitches what to do. Just drag your patches around, drag the banks around where you want them.

[Gtrjunior]

When I first got the G11, I didn't realize when you put a cab sim in a patch, the mic is turned off by default for some strange reason. That soured my initial impressions.

That G6 should be a Pod Go killer given its price. It will do well I think. The G11 for $200 more is probably a worthwhile upgrade too.

One thing that I keep reading, there are so many people that have been using, and keep using a Zoom device from years ago. I think that other people dismiss it and say "its good for the price" but I think its good at any price. I dont know if the G11 is a new generation on top of what they had before, but I like it more than the Helix. IMO, if someone is coming from a Helix they probably won't like the Zoom sound.

Here is a video with some great tones from the G11. The interesting thing about this, is that you can see how easy it was to dial in. Just the Krampus, a boost, and an IR. There isn't any tweaking. And there isn't any programming. You don't have to tell the footswitches what to do. Just drag your patches around, drag the banks around where you want them.

That sounded great!

[Bogner]

I think what everything comes down to 99% of the time is how to use it get the most out of it. I admit, on the tech side, I am not the best and know if I knew more and was more patient I could extract more out of the gear I have.

[Gtrjunior]

I think what everything comes down to 99% of the time is how to use it get the most out of it. I admit, on the tech side, I am not the best and know if I knew more and was more patient I could extract more out of the gear I have.

Same here. I shied away from most of the new modeling gear for years simply because the tech seemed difficult to grasp. Lol

[Top-L]

Same here. I shied away from most of the new modeling gear for years simply because the tech seemed difficult to grasp. Lol

Many of the devices have exploded in complexity.

Alot of the complexity is to work around limitations of the devices. For instance, the Fractal and Helix have long audio gap when switching patches. No one wants that. So they devised a system of "shapshots" that lets you make copies of your preset with parameters changed. And the whole "dual path" design serves the same purpose, to allow you to put two amps in a patch so you can switch between them. So there is another layer of complexity. And another. The *better* way to solve it is to make sure the switching is instant. (Boss does this.)

Another thing that makes them complicated is shared controls. Because there is one set of encoders, to change anything, you need to learn some form of navigation. Its like eating with chopsticks if you are used to a knife and fork. Even when you get good with the chopsticks, you aren't eating soup with them.

The last area of complexity is switching. What should the footswitches do? Boss has a complicated system of assigns. Pedals can be used for switching patches or switching effects, or.... There is manual mode, bank mode, patch mode, etc etc. Helix and fractal equally complicated. The better solution is to have more switches dedicated to the things you want. Have dedicated switches for turning on/off effects. Have dedicated bank switches, and dedicated patch switches.

This is why I like the Zoom G11. It eliminates all the complexity of the other modelers by providing a ton of knobs/switches and really fast patch switching. It may look simple, but only because it doesn't need to be complicated.

[Gtrjunior]

Many of the devices have exploded in complexity.

Alot of the complexity is to work around limitations of the devices. For instance, the Fractal and Helix have long audio gap when switching patches. No one wants that. So they devised a system of "shapshots" that lets you make copies of your preset with parameters changed. And the whole "dual path" design serves the same purpose, to allow you to put two amps in a patch so you can switch between them. So there is another layer of complexity. And another. The *better* way to solve it is to make sure the switching is instant. (Boss does this.)

Another thing that makes them complicated is shared controls. Because there is one set of encoders, to change anything, you need to learn some form of navigation. Its like eating with chopsticks if you are used to a knife and fork. Even when you get good with the chopsticks, you aren't eating soup with them.

The last area of complexity is switching. What should the footswitches do? Boss has a complicated system of assigns. Pedals can be used for switching patches or switching effects, or.... There is manual mode, bank mode, patch mode, etc etc. Helix and fractal equally complicated. The better solution is to have more switches dedicated to the things you want. Have dedicated switches for turning on/off effects. Have dedicated bank switches, and dedicated patch switches.

This is why I like the Zoom G11. It eliminates all the complexity of the other modelers by providing a ton of knobs/switches and really fast patch switching. It may look simple, but only because it doesn't need to be complicated.

The AA12 has very nice patch switching. But I’m sure it’s not quite as complicated a piece of gear either.

[Top-L]

I received the G11 from Sweetwater yesterday, and it's defective too! On this one, the LCD screen was popped out of its housing. Looks like a manufacturing defect.

It sounds great, but I've decided not to keep it. I don't think this is built for the long haul, and resale will be horrible. I pushed the screen back in the slot, but its not clear what is holding it in place, if there is supposed to be a clip or if its an adhesive. Dont know, dont care.

Regarding my overall opinion of the G11, I think it has(had?) great potential that could be fixed with a software update. The problem is that EQ blocks take away from the nine FX slots. Its something we take for granted, but versatile EQ is MANDATORY in an effect processor in 2021.

To get my tone, basically in any patch that I want to dial in, it requires a graphic eq (low shelf), and two bands of parametric (to find the mid frequencies). That is four of the FX slots gone. Noise reduction is another. Then you have boost pedal (which is almost mandatory given that the amps by themselves dont have a ton of gain. That is six. And if you want to play with input compression, that is seven. And the cab sim / IR is eight.

So after that, you are left with one slot for FX. Reverb or delay, you choose.

The workaround is to print the EQ into an IR and use the IR loader. This would be a completely acceptable workaround, except its pretty high tech for most people and you would need to burn another IR every time you need a different EQ curve.

The way that Zoom could fix this, is to attach an EQ section to each patch that is adjusted using the touch screen. An EQ block only takes 2% cpu, so they could put a global EQ and PEQ in every patch, for only 4-5% hit to cpu. That would free up multiple FX slots and totally fix the issue of running out of blocks. If it had this, I would gladly keep it.

Its a shame, otherwise I really like it. Getting two defective ones is the sign I need to go another direction.

[Rizzli]

I got to try the zoom G11 for a short time and it seemed a little digital sounding , but i didn't put a lot into dialing in a tone , but i'm sure it can get a good tone with some work , as i owned a Zoom G92tt for a long time and was able to get good sounds out of it. To me the Boss GT 100 sounds better out of the box , the presets i mean. And the Zoom G11 touch screen is nice as the flow for creating patches is pretty straight forward , and it's nice to be able to turn effects in a patch off and on from the stomp switches, but the thing (as far as i could tell) , was i could not find a way to switch to whole different patches with the stomp switches ,where i could set up 5 patches and assign one to each stomp switch. It seemed i could only use the up and down arrow black pedals at the bottom to scroll up and down patches. Where on the GT 100 you have 4 right in front of you. I mean if i set up 5 or ten patches , i don't want to have to click 5 or ten times to get to another certain patch. Unless i missed something. I asked Zoom support directly about this , but still have not received a reply as of yet.