Sam Spoons wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2025 2:57 pm
I'd love to read a review when you have time, it looks like a useful bit of kit for jam sessions, no need for mains plugs etc...
A quick review of the Leo Jaymzzzzzzz
Silverbox:
Overall:
Small footprint, metal case, feels pretty solid. Rechargeable internal battery, claims 5 hours playing time. Most I've tried is 2 hours continuous and the indicator looks like it dropped to 75%, but this may not be linear.
Connections:
- Gtr in 6.5mm TS
- Mono out 6.5mm TS
- Headphone out 3.5mm TRS (but signal appears to be mono - haven't checked every patch though)
- USB C for charging and input to computer (assume this is acting as a basic audio interface)
Module Architecture (all mono I think):
Gtr in->
OD/Comp/Noise Gate->
Amp sim (15 guitar, 5 bass)->
Modulation (choose Chorus, Phaser, Term, Flange, Vibrato, Univibe, Filter)->
Delay (choose Analog Ducking, Tape, Dual, Lofi)->
Reverb (choose Room, Hall, Swell, Spring, Shimmer, Cloud)->
IR Cab (15 guitar, 5 bass)->
Signal Out
Front panel:
Footswitches for patch up/down (press both for tuner)
Module selection buttons - light up when module on, and used to select module for editing
Master volume
Rotary parameter knob, push to select, turn to edit, hold to save patch.
Small colour LCD screen showing patch and status of each module, and when in edit mode show parameter values.
In use:
I found it very easy to edit and set up patches. Manual is small but clear. There are 40 factory presets and 40 user locations. My use case is not for gigging live, but if it was I would set it up like my first multifx pedal with adjacent patches for a couple of clean sounds, a crunch/rhythm, and overdriven. What would be difficult would be to switch particular effects in and out during a song unless maybe you had the unit on a stand (it's very small and light) and could reach by hand. Either that or set up patches specific to songs eg Fender Twin with delay and Fender Twin without delay.
I'm finding it pretty easy to find sounds I can use. So far I've paired it with my DAW setup and a portable Bluetooth speaker (Bose Soundlink mini). In the DAW I tweak amp parameters by playing along with known material. For some reason the cabs are all initialised as 20Hz-18KHz, I found I needed to reduce the speaker bandwidth quite a lot e.g. to 40-7K depending on the IR as the HF was painful, especially on distorted tones. A problem I've had in the past with digital multifx is getting a satisfactory clean tone, both in terms of basic sound and comparative level with higher gain patches, but that hasn't been a problem here. I'm still fine tuning the crunch and high gain sounds, but even through the little Bose they are very workable for quietish jam sessions. I did a quick test of the bass amp/cabs into the DAW and found them very usable. But I'm not a bass player
I haven't got a FRFR speaker to try this with, it would be interesting to hear how it scales up. Maybe later. For now I just need something quick to set up, runs on batteries and gives decent sounds, and this unit does it.
This thread was about latency - I should say that when playing on headphones I don't experience any latency, so there is some other psychoacoustic thing going on.
I can't promise but will try to put a few sound samples up.
