New Zoom A1 Four
 

New multi-effects for acoustic instruments announced by Zoom:

https://www.gearnews.com/zoom-a1-fou...c-instruments/

I purchased a inexpensive G1ON Zoom multi-effects to use for my guitar and to check out looping at a low budget entry level.

I waited patiently for Zoom to increase the looper time to something like 3 or 5 minutes, which would cost them next to nothing. Thirty seconds is not long enough to do anything, and they could sell a boatload of these if the looper times were longer.

As a looper it works very well and would get a lot of folks into using Zoom products if they would have bumped up the loop time.

I like Zoom products and own a Zoom R24 multi-track, but it's making me seriously doubt their ability to figure out what prospective purchasers would like to see.

Even 60 seconds would be usable. 30 is way too short.

The G1four convinced me that I should consolidate into a single programmable pedal. After a few gigs I tried out its looper. Looping is not part of my performance set up but something I use at home to practice at times. It had a great two footswitch setup with a very helpful display while looping, but 30 seconds does not cut it.

So I took the big plunge, mostly to consolidate my RC-1 too, into a HX Stomp. But the HX Stomp's looper is single button (without external switches) and I miss the Zoom's display.

Now I'm killing time loading IRs and trying to optimize the EQ...

My downfall with ToneDexter was not understanding the EQ problems it attempts to solve automatically (and does a pretty good job) and not doing the final tweaks myself.

I very rarely loop, and only at home. I do, however, perform solo on occasion and I wonder how the acoustic modeling in this pedal stands up to the AC3.

The 80 second looper in my G3n is just enough for practice, but I'm struggling with shaping my tone - not that I'm performing. I tried an A3 yesterday and it drove me nuts, so that's going back.

I'll buy this one and see how it goes... and continue to use the G3n for it's looper, or ditch it and buy a Jamman or RC3.

If this one did 80 seconds looping, ZOOM could potentially have saved me buying a dedicated looper... I'm a little disappointed in them and it erodes a little of my brand loyalty.

There is also no way to switch into looper mode with your foot. I see the looper as a practice tool and for sound check. I think it’s unfair to expect a $140 pedal with so many features to also be an outstanding looper (although it would be nice!).

Do you guys think it is much different in its tone shaping abilities than their previous unit - Zoom A3?

AeroUSA, love the idea of using the looper to assist with the sound check. That seems to be the difference maker to me.

Hopefully the hints I dropped my wife will result in a box under the tree next month!

To my ear the different Zoom products I've sampled seem to be using the same DSP algorithms and price buys better physical stuff (switches, displays, inputs, outputs, case, etc.).

A great idea I stole from fellow forumite Jon Fields, if u stick a piece of rubber on top of the Looper button so it is above the other buttons, u could switch it on with your foot.

Great idea!

This is the feedback that I submitted to Zoom:

I got your email from the Facebook page. My name is Aaron Short and I’m a professional gigging singer/guitarist in NYC and also have a YouTube channel where I review gear and perform.

I just heard about the A1 Four and purchased it due to the excellent value and the features which sounded very useful to me.

I have to be honest that I was not expecting too much. I own a lot of high end gear and have tried some Zoom acoustic pedals in the past which I found hard to use.

Well I have to say that I LOVE this product. The software editor (I’m very surprised that it works with MacOS Catalina already!) and design of this pedal are excellent. It’s small and light and sounds excellent. I will definitely be reviewing it on my channel soon.

I do have some feedback though and I feel there are some features that could easily be added which would make this pedal incredible.

1. It would be great if you could press the two switches together to enter tuner mode and then press them together again to enter the drum machine and one more time to enter the looper. This would allow switching modes while standing up.

2. The drum machine could be an excellent performance tool. I personally love the kick drum and djembe patterns (I would prefer the 4 kick drum pattern if it didn’t have a high hat on beat one). What this really needs is a tap tempo control. The computer editor has one! Right now the left switch starts the beat and the right switch stops it. The left switch could start AND stop and the right switch could be tap tempo (this could also set the delay tempos).

3. The EQ models are very cool but it would be nice to have an EQ block that has a LPF, HPF two parametric mid controls (with q control) and a bass and treble. This one block would be extremely powerful as a tone shaping measure.

I feel these three firmware changes could really make this pedal even better than it already is.

In future hardware it would be great if a second pedal with 2/3 extra buttons could be connected and also it would be cool if you made a pedal for singers that could be connected to the guitar pedal and work alongside it. TC Helicon used to make excellent vocal processors but they haven’t released any products in a long time. Also a way to load IR’s would be cool.

Would love to hear from anyone else that has actually tried this pedal out live.
I am worried that Zoom tried to pack soooo much into this pedal at such a low price point, that there just has to be a bunch of show stoppers, such as the 30 second looping limit or the inability to turn the looper on and off with your feet.
The fact that it has all these effects, plus modeling, plus a looper, plus a tuner and all for only $129 is mind blowing to me. My skeptical side says that they must have cut a lot of corners.

I gigged for a few months with the A1 four version (intended for electric guitars, but for acoustic only missing the acoustic guitar impulse responses). I think once you pick it up you will understand what they cut out :~). If you are reasonably careful it should be fine. I found the UI and menus classic cryptic Zoom. But from the sound of the effects, and the same selection as more expensive products, I am pretty sure that part is the same.

More or less features these days is a bit more or less read only and random access memory. Basically free compared to the total cost of the product.

Clearly they want you to buy up if you want a longer looper. I think this choice of theirs was a marketing error.

Care to elaborate instead of leaving it up for guessing?

It is a cheap plastic box with a metal plate bottom.

The various knobs just protrude through the plastic and are not nutted down, but neither are the knobs on my $500 HX Stomp :~(.

It is a low end physical design compared to a Boss product, for example. But I think not a problem if you are careful.

Ahh OO...so just plastic instead of metal. Not too bad. Just don't bang it around. For folks that don't take it on the road, shouldn't be an issue.

Since it can run on batteries, it clearly does not have the simultaneous effects DSP horsepower of their more expensive pedals, but in my usage of the G1 four I can't imagine running out using the A1.

the sheer number of effects in this pedal is mind boggling and could be overwhelming to many users. I mean there's like 20 different compression choices alone. Not to mention all the stuff online for download.

Will be interesting to see what public opinion on this pedal ends up being after it's been out for a little while.

I bought the A1 Four in spite of my reservations about the limited looping time (I'll probably buy a Boss RC3 for longer looping). I found the A3 impenetrable and couldn't find any settings that really made my guitar sound natural and balanced.

Within a few minutes of fiddling with the A1 Four, the 000-18 and Baggs settings gave me what I was looking for - it's more intuitive than the A3... the manuals for both are dire, which is odd because the G3n manual is excellent.

The A1 Four isn't the toughest of units, but that's fine with me, as I only play at home - and once it's set up I'll probably only tweak by hand.

I picked this one up. Looper, drum machine and a million effects all for $129.
Don’t know how they did it.

Guitar models are pretty good. Drum machine has some useable beats.
There’s even a distortion effect which is pretty cool.

Anyone know if there’s a way to save drum beats within presets?

Thanks Arther. I purchased mine today. I am hoping the software on the PC is helpful as well. Looking forward to a more simple user interface than the A3. Like you, I could never get a good sound.

Anyone compare this to the Zoom AC-3? I know they are kind of different pedals, but are the effects similar (reverb, chorus, etc)? Is the AC-3 worth the xtra $$$? I don't think the AC-3 has anything not found in the A1 Four.

Hi Jack,

I can tell from the title of another thread that you are worried about the complexity of the A1 Four. Don't be. Once you've programmed EFX patches for your guitar, or chosen your favorite patches from the factory-programmed ones, you can put them all in the same bank and use the foot pedals to easily switch between them when the box is in "Memory" mode. And when the A1 Four is in Memory mode, those four knobs are always available to adjust bass, midrange, treble and output level on the fly.

What you can't do without going out of Memory mode is to change the EFX in a particular patch, or change the EFX parameters in a particular effect.

Anyone using this in a live setting? If so, please let me know your findings

The A1 Four isn't very complex at all....I agree. It's just the choice of effect and how to set them up that is a little daunting. The order that you put them in. I'm guessing compression, then EQ, then anything like reverb or chorus?

Can anyone tell me what the 2nd effect in the #25 Preset ('AG 80s Cho") is?
I deleted it by accident and I tried a reset but it's still missing. Apparently a factory reset won't replace any effects you deleted...it only resets all the presets to the way they were. Individual effects can be re-downloaded though.

Hi, if the pic doesn't work the 4 effects on the screen left to right are Comp, Adamas, Cho and Mod Reverb

Alan

Thanks. Adamas was the one I deleted by accident

I don't think that's possible with this peddle

https://www.zoom-na.com/sites/defaul...1_FOUR_top.jpg