Zoom G9.2tt Review – Twin Tube Guitar Pedal
I once read an in-depth explanation of why digital distortion sounds so bad. The natural harmonic overtones produced by tube circuits are missing in digital distortion, instead replaced with slightly out of pitch tones which, while subtle, evoke pure rage out of me!
As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I hate the sound of digital distortion. Now that you know where I stand, here is a quick look at the Zoom G9.2TT Twin Tube Guitar Pedal. Initial feeling- I like this thing.
The Zoom G9.2TT utilizes both digital circuitry and 2 analogue 12AX7 tubes to produce some wide ranging sounds. What I find unique about the pedal itself is that you typically do not see a mix of digital and analogue in the same box. The advantages of this layout are pretty self explanatory- the digital chipset offers all the effects , customization and more you would come to expect out of a Zoom product BUT the tubes inside this bastard help warm up the cold and thin digital distortion which boils my blood.
Live Results:
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ZOOM G92TT G92 TT GUITAR MULTI EFFECTS PEDAL PROCESSOR POWER SUPPLY |  |
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US $300.37 | 20d 2h 30m |
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ZOOM G92tt Guitar Pedal Swan Flight Case hex | |
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US $110.69 | 27d 16h 45m |
Selected Video:
The following guitarist does a good job showcasing the different facets of the Zoom G9.2tt pedal. Try to look beyond the fact that his amp is the TINY Roland Micro Cube...it still sounds pretty good:
With true 96 kHz sampling and 24-bit A/D/A conversion, the resulting sound (I was using my trusty JCM 2000) is bright, warm, and high fidelity. I read in the owners manual that the new DSP chip was faster than previous models as far as switching between effects. If you follow my reviews you will notice that in the past I have complained that transitioning from, say, a clean effect to a distortion, was slower than expected on past Zoom pedals. Zoom has happily addressed the issue and I'm pleased to report fast, responsive transitions.
As for effects, the G9.2TT has a pretty standard collection of effects (see list below) as well as presets. What I like is that Zoom did a good job of designing their presets. With very little adjustment I could easily emulate a Fender amp, apply some cool effects, or rock out a killer solo drenched with enough sustain to slice the neck off a wildabeast.
Instead of the thin and 80's sounding digital distortion I was impressed tone-wise with this pedal. If your question was whether the distortion sounds good enough to record with or use live, have no fear, the Zoom sounds authentic.
Other features I was pleased with:
Dual foot switches allow you to change presets, banks, transition between effects, or utilize wah wah, and other effects. I found the pedal felt solid under my sweaty feet and very pleasing. What blew me away was that the pedal itself not only moves up and down, but side to side as well. Zoom lets you assign 4 parameters based on this movement. This opens up a world of possibilities and is pretty damn useful at times.
Next, I think Zoom realized that throwing some Tubes into their box would probably interest people who also like analogue knobs, which the Zoom G9.2TT has plenty of. Using the 4 knobs in front of the device lets you quickly adjust EQ, ROM, and anything else useful in a quick and intuitive fashion. Included tuner and noise reduction enhance the overall usefulness of this pedal dramatically. I found both of their performances to be acceptable, those limited in functionality when compared to more dedicated devices, respectfully.
Overall, I find the Zoom G9.2TT to represent the next level in amp modeling based on the performance of the dual tubes. Very satisfying indeed.
Effects:
COMP module: Compressor Rack Comp Limiter
WAH/EFX1 module: Auto Wah, Tremolo, Ring Modulator, Crybaby Wah, Octave
Auto Resonance, Phaser, Slow Attack, Multi Wah, Booster, Fixed Phaser, Vox Wah, Pedal Resonance
EXT LOOP module: External Loop
ZNR Module: ZNR Noise Gate, Dirty Gate
PRE AMP module: FD Clean, HW Clean, Tweed Bass, Z Combo, MS Drive, Rect Modern, HK Drive, DZ Drive, Z Stack, Centaur, DS-1, Fuzz Face, TSF Combo, Z OD, Z Clean , VX Clean, UK Blues, BG Crunch, MS #1959, Rect Clean, HK Clean, DZ Clean, ENGL Drive, Over Drive, Guv'nor , dist?, Big Muff, SDM Stack, Extreme DS, Acoustic Sim., JC Clean, US Blues, VX Crunch, MS Crunch, Rect Vintage, HK Crunch, DZ Crunch, PV Drive, TS808, RAT, Hot Box, Metal Zone, FZM Stack, Digi Fuzz
EQ module: 6 Band Equalizer
CABINET module: Cabinet Sim.
MOD/EFX2 module: Chorus, Modulation Delay, Pedal Pitch, Delay, Dynamic Flanger, Pedal Mono Pitch, Bend Chorus, Stereo Chorus, Flanger, Vibrato, Tape Echo, Mono Pitch, Cry, Comb Filter, Chorus Ensemble, Pitch Shifter, Step, Dynamic Delay, Harmonized Pitch, Reverse Delay, Air
DELAY module: Delay, Ping Pong Echo, Air, Ping Pong Delay, Analog Delay, Echo, Reverse Delay
REVERB module: Hall, Arena, Early Reflection, Ping Pong Delay, Room, Tiled Room, Multi Tap Delay, Ping Pong Echo, Spring, Modern Spring, Pan Delay, Auto Pan
For Z-Pedal: Z-Delay, Z-MonoPitch, Z-Step, X-Flanger, X-Vibe, Z-Dimension, Z-Oscillator, Z-Talking, X-Phaser, X-Wah, Z-Echo, Z-Pitch, Z-Tornado, X-Step
From Zoom:
Effect types: 120
Effect modules: 10
Maximum simultaneous effects: 10
Patch memory: user 100+ preset 100, total 200
Sampling frequency: 96kHz
A/D conversion: 24 bit, 64 times over-sampling
D/A conversion: 24 bit, 128 times over-sampling
Signal processing: 32 bit
Frequency response: 20Hz-40kHz +1.0dB, -3.0dB (10kohmload)
Guitar input: 1/4 in. phone jack (rated input level: -10dBm, Input impedance: 1Mohm)
AUX input: 1/8 in. stereo phone jack (rated input level: -10dBm, Input impedance: 10kohm)
External return: 1/4 in. phone jack (rated input level: -10dBm / +4dBm)
Line output(L/MONO, R): 2 x 1/4 in. phone jack (Rated output level: -10dBm / +4dBm, Maximum output level: +19dBm, output load impedance: 10kohm or more, output impedance: 1kohm or less)
Headphone output: 1/4 in. stereo phone jack (Rated output: 60mW / 32ohm load, 20mW / 300ohm load, Output impedance: 47kohm)
External send: 1/4 in. phone jack (Rated output level: -10dBm / +4dBm)
Tube circuitry: 2 x 12AX7
MIDI: in/out
USB interface: 16 bit, 32kHz / 44.1kHz/48kHz
Display: 2 digit 7 segment LED, backlit LCD
Power requirements: 15V AC, 1.5A
Dimensions: 595(W)x 235(D)x 85(H)mm
Weight: 5.5kg
Supplied accessory: AC adaptor(AD-0012)
* 0dBm=0.775Vrms
