Zoom Multi Stomp MS-70 CDR

First off, this is the perfect pedal for anyone who wants to start exploring effects. It has a ton of effects, you can chain up to 6 of them, and it's very easy in use. But it's also very overrated in the community.

I started out with this pedal for my synths, and it has been a great help understanding FX chains, and effects in general. But don't expect this little buddy to have the same quality output as a pedal multiple times the prices for a single effect.
It has much less processing power, and this power has to be shared over up to 6 effects. Compared to the original pedals it emulates it's often lower in bitrate producing a much more lo-fi sound (which some people want). This is especially noticeable in the reverb department, if you want long lush and clear tails it's probably better to buy a dedicated reverb pedal 3 times the price.

For me it was a stepping stone into the world of pedals, but i have since sold it to buy dedicated pedals with higher quality output. When you start to pair it with high-end pedals you start to notice the difference in output pretty fast. And all of a sudden this brave little multitool that felt like magic before now started to feel like the weakest link in the chain, dragging the sound quality down.

All in all this is a great pedal, lots of features, stereo in and out, easy to use and very reasonably priced. Great to start out with learning pedals (or everything you will ever need to shoegaze in your room), or for on the go, but i would avoid it for recording, soundscaping or if you already have premium pedals in your chain.

About the Zoom MS-70 CDR:

1 - It's the size of a Boss pedal. Well built, tough yet compact.
Has 2 ins and 2 outs [stereo] and a usb port for firmwear as well as to power the unit [quite handy, I would say].

2 - The effects in this unit are time-based mainly [a lot of Choruses, Delays, Reverbs, phaser, flanger...] and some extra goodies [such as Guitar and Bass EQs and a noise reduction that works like a charm].

3 - You can pair up to 6 effects in any order you want, even repeating the same effect.

4 - You'll get the hang of using it in a heart beat.

So, why getting one of these handy units instead of spending the same amount of money on just one effect?

Here is how I see it:


1 - Lets say you are new to effects. You don't have much of an idea about them and you'd like to know what they do and sound like.
You aren't sure you want to spend a lot on effects you may not enjoy that much over time; so you get the Zoom MS70-CDR because it has a lot to chose from and use [and the price tag is very... very... very reasonable].

2 - You start building your own pedalboard from scratch. You get the basic pedals you need for your core sound/tone first [assuming you already know what you want].
After that you get one of these Boss sized pedals to experiment with different "extras" that you may not consider to be fundamental to what you are aiming at, without braking your bank account.
Soon enough you find the quality of the effects in this little box are pretty good and you give it a place in your pedalboard to goof around with it.

3 - On the other hand, you may already have Chorus. Delay and Reverb units in your pedalboard but are somewhat curious about what it would sound like to pair them with - lets say - 6 extra choruses or 6 delays or any other mix of time based effects the CDR is full of.
Again, you find the quality of the effects in this little box are pretty good and you give it a place in your pedalboard to goof around with it.

4 - As a fourth example lets say you gig [occasionaly or professionaly] and have a pedalboard with enough time-based effects on it that cover a good portion of realestate and you are considering making it lighter.
You get one of these units and replace all your individual time-based pedals for this handy little box... because they sound quite good [and the single sized box takes less realestate on your pedalboard].

Bottom line:

It's a win-win scenario. Get one and enjoy.

my biggest worry when i bought the pedal was that it will be extremely awkward to use. I'm very pleased to report that it is very intuitive, I got the hang of it almost instantly with no manual reading, I still had to take out the booklet to understand how to make an effect chain and how to tap tempo, but other than that very intuitive.

that sounds are very good for the price, it's definitely no strymon big sky (hence the four stars) but for the price, in my honest opinion, best bang for the buck, it's almost a no brainer. It can produce a wide range of sounds whether it is coupled with a guitar or synth, either it is used for lush pads or banging leads, traditional guiatr effects (plate, spring,hall etc.) to washy chorusy ambient guitars, its use is very wide and practical. I primarily use it for synth purposes (hooked up atm to a volca fm) and it really is incredible what it can do.

in conclusion, for the price I'd be hard pressed to believe that someone will not be happy with the sounds, build quality and intuitiveness of the pedal, it is a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none, but honestly i prefer that over a one trick pony :)