New modeler for cheap :)

[Phantasmagoria]

I've wanted one but been on the fence & never actually got around to it ever since I bought the little brother a couple years ago..

This showed up for peanuts practically untouched yesterday in my local classifieds so I rushed over to the guy's house and picked it up asap

What's to say...works great sounds fantastic ...like the little brother on steroids

Clips obviously to come ...but yeah, despite the price tag this box has some really nice realistic tones in it and sounds (and feels/responds) very, very amp-like to my ears. Tbh I like the way it sounds a whole lot better than the newer ZOOM G6 & G11 models that were released last year cuz, bottom line, it just sounds better ...minus all the bells and whistles











Demo's ( not mine)

^^ That guy could make anything sound good though. What can I say ..tone's in the fingers

[Phantasmagoria]

Here's one I did with my Zoom G1X Four ~ (Baby bro in action....)

This one (G5n) sounds like it has a bit more girth, presence & harmonic richness to it..and a bit more tweakabilility plus an "ouput booster" that is pretty effective as well, but I believe the amp models are pretty much the same in both units..

[Top-L]

I like my Zoom G11 very much. The on board cab sims are great. I'm not surprised the older ones without IRs also sound good.

The ouput booster can be loaded into the G11 too, and adds some special sauce.

[Phantasmagoria]

I did'nt realise the output booster was a feature of the G11 as well. I did think that that was what was lacking (a bit of girth /harmonic richness compared to the G5n) with the new Zoom unit's.

Tbh, from the demo's I thought the G11's tones were more in line with a lot of other modelers around and this one (G5n) has it's own mojo going on possibly in large part cause of the output booster (?). It's very organic sounding & amp-like..

I can hook up my Mooer Radar to it if I ever require third-party IR's..so that's not a problem for me. Plus I got It for less than the price a new G3n goes for (in fact for not much more than the price of my G1X Four ).so it was a no-brainer..

I'm happy with my Mooer GE300 and my Ampero. They're both great units, so the G6/G11 were never actually under consideration..

[Top-L]

I'm not exactly sure what the output booster does. I think its a power amp SIM, but it doesn't have things like sag or resonance. There is a voice control with multiple voicings.

Imo the zoom modeling is better than line 6 and boss.

[Phantasmagoria]

It's got some special mojo

[Phantasmagoria]

Actually , after some fiddling I realized that the output booster has a "sweet spot" and hitting that is what really opens up the sound and makes it more 3D , harmonically rich & amp-like..

The amp sims (and even the cabs) are great even without it engaged but the booster really pushes them OTT

[Phantasmagoria]

And like the G1X Four it still has that ridiculous quirk where you have to turn the cab miic "on" or it sounds like ****

[Phantasmagoria]

I discovered that unfortunately the previous owner seems to have got rid of ALL the high gain/lead presets on the unit. So I'm going to have to do a factory reset or firmware update or something to get them back. All my fave presets from the G1X Four (that should be here too) are pretty much gone wtf??

Anyway, if life gives you lemons...

Recorded this w/ a mid-gain preset that sounded decent. "Carlos"..(ie..Mr. Santana)...There something really 'authentic sounding' (amp-like) about these Zoom amp sims..

[Phantasmagoria]

And after just checking ..I forgot to set the damn cab mic in the preset to "ON"

Yeah, looking at the FX chain , it's currently "OFF". Still sounds fine though...might re-record if I can figure out how to switch it on here..

Anyway..^^ that's a demo of how it sounds with he mic switched off..

More to come.

[Phantasmagoria]

There's already a video someone's done showing the difference with the mic's on and off. Plus he explains why it's even setup that way. I think it's a pretty dumb feature especially since the default is "OFF" and it's a pain having to turn it on w/ every single new patch you scroll over to but w/e..not that big of a deal as long as you remember to make sure the mic's on before you record anything (^^ which I did'nt do )

[Mincer]

I haven't kept up with Zoom. It is great that they've improved from the 505!

[Phantasmagoria]

Oh yeah...newer Zoom's have definitely come a long way. Don't be fooled by the price. This baby can hang w/ the big boy's, no problem...

[Phantasmagoria]

Same track as above butw/ the Cab Mic switched ON (everything else is the same)

Definitely gets brighter w/more presence & bit sweeter overall..but cab OFF works fine too...a bit more middy is all..

[Top-L]

Oh yeah...newer Zoom's have definitely come a long way. Don't be fooled by the price. This baby can hang w/ the big boy's, no problem...

Its obvious the G5 era stuff sounds great. The G11 adds some creature comforts. An additional pedal box, more dsp, dedicated amp controls, makes it easier to use. It also has midi out and two programmable loops which means its possible to integrate with tube amp rigs using 4cm. And of course IR loading.

IDK if the G5n has syncable drum machine and looper, which is quite good on the G11.

Does it sound better? I think its a small incremental improvement like the Helix was over the HD500. (In fact, probably less than that because the zoom cab sims are realistically quite as good as IRs.)

I've never played the G5, so why do I think this? There are eight new flagship amp models. IMO, when compared to the models that were in the G5 (JCM800, Diezel, etc), I think they sound slightly better. I like the Krampus better than the JCM800. I like 7Heaven better than Diezel. Its hard to put a finger on exactly why though, and its not night/day. Its not possible to compare the Krampus in the G11 to the Krampus in the G5 because it wasn't there.

Also, the converters in the G6/11 are newer generation, with 123db s/n. I don't know how much of a difference that makes, having never played the G5.

If you have a G5, I wouldn't upgrade "just because". You'd probably have to A/B compare them personally to decide if extra features are worth it.