Zoom recorders and effects

I am a long standing fan of Zoom products, I had quite a few recorders and effects from Zoom and was always generally happy with their products. 

The very first Zoom device I had was a Zoom GFX 707 II, and all I can say is that I loved it and I still miss it. Every now and then I still fire up Ebay in search for this brilliant multieffect pedal.

Zoom GFX 707 II

•  Effect Programs: 48 Types / 95 Variations.
•  Max Simultaneous Effects: 9
•  Patch Memories: 60 (User 30/Preset 30)
•  Display: 6-digit alphanumeric LED, 2-digit 7-segment LED
•  more info: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/bfx708_gfx707/

Unfortunately, I sold it together with an electric guitar, something I have regretted a thousand times. After a while, I wanted to buy it back, but the new owner had also sold it buy then :-(.

The second Zoom device I had was the Zoom MRS-4, originally announced in 2002, I bought mine used in 2003. It was somewhat limited in capabilities (recording only in 32khz), but still opened up a whole new digital multitracking world for me, one without a computer.

My first, near CD quality recordings were all born on the MRS-4, something I sold after 7 years of ownership, only to upgrade MRS-8. While MRS-4 was really great, I had to cope with 3 limitations:

• Sampling rate: 32khz
  This was not a worry at that time + due to a special compression being used, the quality was very close on an average listening to CD quality
  
  
• Media storage: Smart Media Card
  Due to the outdated technology, these cards are limited to 128 MB in size, and were pretty hard to source after a while. An SMC to XD card adapter bought for 7 euros allowed the usage of 256 MB XD cards, which solved the issue for me.
  
  
• No stereo recording capabilities 
  This was a real show stopper for me. My digital piano produced a beautiful, though fairly noisy stereo output that I was just unable to capture with this device properly + I think the 32khz recording was the worst when a digital piano was the source for recording.

My third Zoom device was / is a Zoom B1. I cannot write too much about this, I consider it as a very cheap, low-end bass multieffect with a very poor sounding built in drum machine. For the price I paid for it, and for the 5 sounds I use from the available patches, I think it was a good deal, but if it went wrong, I would purchase a different model most likely.

I also had a Zoom MRS-8 for two months, but whilst it had two dedicated stereo tracks, a built in drum machine and was using SD cards for storage, somehow it did not really talk to me and we departed after a short time. I think it is a good recording device, the internal mic is also very good quality, the larger LCD screen and the jog wheel are all very handy, but you know how it is, sometimes it just does not work for you. So I sold that as well.

Apart from spending a few sentimental moments on my past Zoom devices, I just wanted to give a historical snapshot of why I am currently looking at buying a Zoom R16. But this shall be another post.