
Custom .ZDL effects for Zoom MultiStomp pedals, plus the reverse-engineered
toolchain used to build them — no Zoom SDK required.
This was a good amount of work and tokens, please consider to Sponsor this project or Buy me a coffee
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New here? This is a pack of 22 extra effects plus a free browser-based Patch Editor for adjusting knobs and arranging effects in your patches. On the original MS-70CDR, you install the ready-made files from dist/ over USB using Zoom Effect Manager—no custom firmware reflash, coding, or compiling needed. Back up your patches and effect list first. The Patch Editor edits patches; Zoom Effect Manager installs the effects. See the installation guide.
Pedal compatibility:
Load your own amp captures (NAM) and speaker cabinets (IRs) onto the pedal. Everything runs in your browser — no compiler, nothing uploaded anywhere.
Beta — testers wanted. Only tested on one MS-70CDR so far. Other models may hit
DSP fullsooner or crackle. Keep a backup of your patches, and read If the pedal freezes before you install anything. Please report what you find with the NAM / Cab report form — results from pedals other than the MS-70CDR are especially useful.
How to use it
.nam file, give it a short name, pick a slot,
download the .ZDL. Tick Eco if you want it lighter on the DSP (see below)..wav (44.1 or 48 kHz). The loader fits it to a
small filter the pedal can afford and gives you a .ZDL.NAM-<name> and CAB-<name> on the pedal.Slots. 16 amp slots and 16 cab slots, each with its own effect ID, so you
can keep several installed side by side. Putting a new capture in a used slot
replaces the old one (patches that used that slot pick up the new sound).
Filenames encode the slot so they never collide: NAM4smok.ZDL,
C01sm57.ZDL. Names must start with a letter.
Knobs.
| Effect | Knobs |
|---|---|
| NAM | Input, Output, Mix, Bass, Mid, Treb, Gate (noise gate; 0 = off) |
| CabIR | Mix, Level, Reso (low-end resonance), Pres (presence) |
DSP budget. The pedal refuses a patch (shows DSP full) once the summed
cost of its effects goes over about 225. Patch Editor now has a DSP meter
in the toolbar that adds up the chain for you (amber from 80%, red when the
pedal will refuse it).
| Effect | Declared cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NAM, full rate | 194 | Best sound. Leaves room for one light effect (a drive, a cab). |
| NAM, Eco | 177 | Runs the model on 6 of every 8 samples. Slightly darker top end. |
| CabIR | 10 | 32-tap filter + 6 EQ bands; fits next to any NAM. |
What works. A2 Lite captures only (the small standard NAM architecture). Larger NAM models don’t fit this DSP. Captures trained at 48 kHz work, but retraining at 44.1 kHz (the pedal’s rate) is closer to the real amp; we used NAM ReTrainer by Leemuzhko for that. The cab fit follows the Hybrid IR idea, also from Leemuzhko: a short filter plus a few EQ bands instead of a long IR, so a cab costs almost nothing.
Your captures stay yours. .nam files, fitted cabs and the .ZDL files
built from them are gitignored (dist/NAM*, dist/C[0-9][0-9]*, archives).
The templates in tools/nam_template*/ and tools/cab_template/ hold no
capture data — the loader only fills in the weights and the name.
See the loader guide for details, docs/NAM-RUNTIME-INVESTIGATION.md for how the engine was made to fit, and src/hardware_probes/cab_ir/README.md for the cab engine.
Plug the MS-70CDR in over USB, click Connect, and edit patches live — no install, no clone, nothing sent anywhere (it is one self-contained HTML file and your patch library lives in your own browser).
tools/midi_check.html confirms it in isolation.![]()
▶ Open the Cover Editor — draw the 128×64 image an effect shows on the pedal’s screen. Drawing, PNG/JSON export and the device preview all work from the link above; the one-click Update ZDL button additionally needs the local build server:
git clone https://github.com/themanro/ZoomMultistompZDL.git
cd ZoomMultistompZDL
python3 tools/serve_editor.py # opens the editor, wires up "Update ZDL"
Loading new effects onto the pedal still goes through Zoom Effect Manager — the browser can edit patches, but it cannot install effects.
September 14 display update: all 22 effects now have individual laboratory-inspired graphics, corrected LCD proportions, and shorter pedal labels. Mode controls show names in PE and supported custom effects show short names on the pedal. Reinstall the updated files from dist/ to get the pedal artwork and labels; refresh the Patch Editor for its UI changes. Existing patch values and effect IDs are preserved. See the display update notes for details.
This fork ships a curated library of 22 effects — all grouped under the Delay category, each with a custom on-device cover. Eighteen originals, three Airwindows-derived ports (Galactic reverb, Oxide tape, Spool tape echo), and one contributed effect (Dustbox). Full knob layouts, caveats and sound demos are in CUSTOM_EFFECTS.md.
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Knob lists are read from the shipped dist/ binaries, so they match what the
pedal actually shows.
| Effect | Knobs | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Microlm | Pitch, Regen, Tone, Mix | granular pitch-shimmer cloud; grains are pitched and fed back, so it builds rather than repeats |
| Flower | Rate, Mix | Korg-style random sample-and-hold step filter — the “Digital Bath” sound |
| Shatter | Chance, Mix | stutter / beat-repeat glitch for drums |
| Arrakis | Detune, Mix | Dune-style detuned sub-octave drone, two subs beating against each other |
| Corrupt | Sub, Tone, Wave, Mix | EQD Data Corrupter-style PLL square synth with tracked sub and divided harmony |
| Klang | Freq, Sweep, Mix | swept-carrier ring modulator — sirens, dive bombs, clangorous metal |
| GenLoss | Wow, Tone, Hiss, Mix | tape/VHS generation loss: wow, head-bump tone shift, hiss |
| Scorch | Gain, Mix | aggressive high-gain amp with a cab-style filter (cab baked as biquads, not an FIR) |
| Howl | Tune, Annihil, Mix | DBA Total Sonic Annihilation-style feedback loop that self-oscillates on demand |
| Taffy | Speed, Chance, Depth, Glide, Mix | Red Panda Tensor-style tape warp — reverse, stop, double-speed, random slips |
| Dissolve | Chance, Smear, Glitch, Mix | OBNE Parting-style glitch delay dissolving into a reverb wash |
| Mangle | Time, Feedbk, Crush, Tremolo, Pitch, Mix | delay with three blendable per-repeat mutations; all three at 0 is a clean delay |
| Rooms | Mode, Time, Freq, Depth, Mix | DBA Rooms-inspired multi-mode reverb: ROOM / DIGIT / PEAK / GATE / WAVE / GONG. Freq and Depth are re-purposed per mode |
| Hydra | Div, Tempo, Fast, Slow, Tone, Mix | tempo-locked double-time and half-time ghost layers on one delay ring; built for drums |
| Spiral | Div, Tempo, Feedbk, Rise, Glide, Span, Tone, Mix | tempo-locked delay whose repeats climb or sink in pitch, compounding every repeat |
| Stasis | Length, Blur, Decay, Tone, Mix, Capture | footswitch-triggered freeze — the note you just played is held while you play over it. Capture selects stomp or explicit capture |
| Dustbox | Dust, Motor, Filter, Power | DOD FX33 Buzz Box-style fuzz with a flip-flop sub-octave — contributed, MIT |
| Rewire | Route, Bits, Drive, Ring, Comb, Shift, Tone, Mix | five lo-fi blocks — crush, drive, ring mod, comb, frequency shift — in a chain you can reorder. Shift is a true single-sideband shifter (−51 dB image), so it moves partials off the harmonic series |
| Gyre | Size, Feed, Decay, Rise, Glide, Span, Tone, Mix | granular feedback loop; two grains half a window apart with complementary windows, so the loop is unity-throughput and holds instead of running away |
| Galactic | Replace, Bright, Detune, Bigness, Mix | lush Airwindows reverb, wet path boosted for pedal levels |
| Oxide | Input, Tilt, Shape, Flutter, FlutSpd, Bias, HeadBmp, Output, Mix | Airwindows ToTape9 saturation. Input is a 0–4× drive compensated above unity, Tilt the Dolby-style encode/decode balance, Bias an asymmetric even-harmonic drive |
| Spool | Tempo, Div, Feed, Flutter, Wow, Wear, Drive, Spring, Mix | tempo-locked tape echo with flutter, wow, head wear, drive and a spring tail. Feed reaches self-oscillation above ~90 |
Every effect ends with a Mix knob (dry/wet, default 50), so levels and controls are consistent across the pack — an effect is audible as soon as it is selected. Dustbox is the exception; its fourth knob is Power.
The pedal can’t hold or run all 22 at once (storage + DSP limits) — install a subset, back up first, and flash one at a time. Run heavy effects (Microlm, Galactic, Spool) one per patch.
The ready-to-load effects are in dist/. Point Zoom Effect Manager at
that folder, or download individual .ZDL files from it. You do not need the
build toolchain unless you want to modify or rebuild effects.
Use Zoom Effect Manager 2.3.3 or newer.
Settings.Read Effects from folder and select this repo’s dist/
folder.
Effects from devices and From Folder.
Back up your current effect list before writing. Experimental builds can freeze a pedal until power-cycled.
Effects must be installed with Zoom Effect Manager first. The patch editor only references effects by id — it cannot install them. Its dropdown is the full catalogue from every MS/G1/B1 model, not the subset on your pedal, so selecting something Effect Manager has never written leaves that slot blank. The editor warns when you pick an effect it has not seen in any of your patches, and tells you if the pedal drops one after a write.
If the effect browser says “No data to display, check filters”: step 3 is
not optional – choosing the folder only tells Effect Manager where to look, and
the browser’s From Folder source has to be ticked separately. Connect the
pedal before launching, and check no category filter is set (everything here is
in Delay). If it still shows nothing, verify the files really are ZDLs and
not saved HTML pages – see
docs/INSTALLING-ZDLS.md.
Gotchas learned the hard way:
Rooms.ZDL and Rooms.png). Keep both files together and
restart Effect Manager after updating them. These thumbnails use the same
artwork as the pedal. PNG files are for the manager; they are not installed
on the pedal.FS.bin size mismatch when writing = too many effects installed (storage
overflow). DSP full = the per-patch processing budget is blown — run heavy
effects (Microloom, Galactic, Spool) one per patch.All INITIALIZE → press the footswitch. Patches reset to
factory, but effect binaries stay installed — then remove the bad one.More detailed install notes live in docs/INSTALLING-ZDLS.md.
| Device family | Status |
|---|---|
| Zoom MS-70CDR firmware 2.10 | Primary hardware target; the release effects are developed and play-tested against this pedal. |
| Other ZDL-based Zoom pedals (MS-50G, MS-60B, G1on/G1Xon, B1on/B1Xon) | Compatible family, awaiting confirmation — hardware reports welcome. |
| Original G3/G3X, G5, B3 and A3 | Share the ZFX-IV DSP family, but this project’s custom effects and Patch Editor are not currently supported or validated on them. |
| Newer Zoom ZD2-based pedals (Plus models; G1/G1X, B1/B1X and A1/A1X Four; G3n, G5n, B3n, AC-2/AC-3) | Not supported by these ZDL builds. ZD2 and ZDL effects are not interchangeable (Zoom Firmware Editor lists which pedal uses which; the A1 Four is assumed ZD2 like the rest of the Four series). |
Does sharing the processor mean my pedal can run these effects? It makes porting worth investigating, but does not establish compatibility. Zoom’s ZFX-IV name identifies a DSP family; it does not establish identical chip revisions, memory or clock speeds across every model. Installing custom effects also depends on the pedal’s firmware and effect format, while Patch Editor support depends on its MIDI messages and patch layout.
Sources for the shared DSP family:
The “+” models (MS-50G+, MS-60B+, MS-70CDR+) use ZD2, not ZDL, so nothing
in dist/ loads on them. Custom ZD2 effects are now demonstrated on the
MS-70CDR+ by Stomphacks, including a
C-to-ZD2 build pipeline. Our pack and Patch Editor have not been ported.
See ZD2 research notes for the evidence, remaining
memory/interface questions, and proposed next steps.
Step-by-step guide: docs/PROBING-A-NEW-PEDAL.md. Two things anyone with a “+” pedal can check, neither of which risks the hardware:
python3 build/inspect_zd2.py Effect.ZD2 — reports entropy and structure.
Uneven per-block entropy means plain code; flat and high everywhere means
encrypted or compressed. Validated against a known-plain ZDL, random bytes and
a gzip stream.Reload bank with a patch dump, that alone is worth reporting.A working ZD2 build and USB-MIDI installation path has been demonstrated by Stomphacks on the MS-70CDR+. Other models and our effects still require their own validation; readable ELF data alone does not prove install compatibility.
Hard-won findings from getting these effects stable on real hardware. The deep versions live in docs/ and build/ABI.md.
static array referenced from the audio
function (even static const float[]) forces a relocation and freezes the
pedal at load. Bake tables as #define scalar literals or unrolled
macro sums instead — they compile to immediates. A clean build prints
.fardata: 0 bytes and Applied 0 .obj relocations; anything else is a
red flag. (This froze Spool until its 64-tap FIR was unrolled.)/ or %,
or math-lib call (sinf, powf, …) emits a __c6xabi_* helper the
loader can’t resolve — the branch goes to address 0. Use polynomial
sin/cos, Newton-iteration reciprocals, and bit-mask tricks instead of
modulo. See docs/SAFE-DSP-RULES.md.ctx[3],
hardware-probed to ≥705,536 bytes — Lush-class (512 KB) and Spool-class
(545 KB) states load fine. Always bounds-check the descriptor and clear big
buffers lazily in chunks.DSP full above a limit measured at 224.4–228.4. The linker
defaults to 20.0; heavy effects set an honest value (LinkerConfig.dsp_cost)
— NAM declares 194/177, CabIR 10. Declaring too little lets the firmware
green-light a chain the DSP can’t run: crackles, or a hang at patch load.0x31 edits; initialization and
editor-side update behavior are separate concerns.x − x³/6.75) in loops. (Caught twice: Scorch’s output, then
Dissolve’s smear loop.)src/airwindows/common/covers/ overrides the generated cover at build time.dist/ that breaks this.Fx_DLY_*) so the pack lives together in the least crowded menu.Start from a small effect in src/custom/ (e.g. reel or
klang). Copy the directory, give the effect a new name and an unused fxid
in manifest_pedal.json, update the C audio function and build.py, then add
it to build_all.py.
Keep the first hardware test boring: audio_nop: true or tiny pass-through
DSP, no static arrays, no divides, magic shuttle preserved. The safe path is
docs/SAFE-DSP-RULES.md; effect directory conventions
are in src/airwindows/README.md.
Building requires Python 3.10+ and the TI C6000 Code Generation Tools (v8.5.0). Installing prebuilt effects from dist/ does not.
The build scripts expect the TI compiler here (edit TI_ROOT in the
per-effect build.py if yours differs):
/Applications/ti/ti-cgt-c6000_8.5.0.LTS
python3 -B build_all.py # all 22 release effects, with load initialization -> dist/
python3 -B build_all.py taffy # one effect
python3 -B build_all.py --all # + diagnostic/probe builds (-> build/probes/)
build_all.py also re-extracts the patch editor’s inline effect database at the
end, so the editor cannot go stale against dist/. It silently did, twice.
Desktop listening previews for the originals (no compiler, no pedal) are in tools/audio_preview/README.md.
There is a headless C674x emulator (Ziddle) that runs these ZDLs, plus a test rig
in tools/emulator/ that reports whether _init completes and
whether params materialized. It is authoritative about instruction semantics and
cannot see firmware readiness — it passed four _init builds that froze the
pedal. Setup and limits: docs/EMULATOR-TESTING.md.
build/disassemble_zdl.py disassembles any ZDL, ours or one of the ~830 in
stock_zdls/. Diffing a generated handler against the stock
equivalent has been the most productive debugging tool in the project.
This repo builds loadable Zoom .ZDL effects without Zoom’s unreleased SDK:
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
| build/linker.py | Static linker: TI C6000 .obj → complete Zoom .ZDL (header, descriptor table, image info, edit handlers). |
| build/decode_picture.py | Decode any ZDL’s on-device cover + knob-box layout back to pixels/PNG. |
| tools/cover_editor.html | Browser pixel editor for covers, with device-aspect preview. |
| tools/patch_editor.html | Web MIDI patch editor that sees custom effects (names/params extracted from the ZDLs; other editors only know stock). Serve the repo root over http://localhost and open it. |
| build/extract_effect_db.py | Regenerate the patch editor’s effect database from dist/ + stock ZDLs. |
| src/custom/ | Original effects. |
| src/airwindows/ | Airwindows-derived ports. |
| src/hardware_probes/ | Diagnostic ZDLs used to map the pedal runtime ABI. |
| dist/ | Release .ZDL files; never probes. |
| stock_zdls/ | Tracked stock ZDL corpus used for comparison and layout ground truth. |
Known runtime map for custom ZDLs:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
ctx[1] |
parameter float table |
ctx[4] |
dry/guitar input buffer |
ctx[5] |
current effect buffer, 8 left samples then 8 right samples |
ctx[6] |
output accumulator for effects that add instead of processing in place |
ctx[11] / ctx[12] |
magic shuttle; preserve every audio call |
ctx[2] + 0x10 / ctx[2] + 0x18 |
small persistent per-instance state blocks |
ctx[3][0..2] |
large per-instance descriptor: base, end, byte span (≥705,536 B) |
ZoomMultistompZDL/
├── README.md
├── build/ linker, ELF/ZDL helpers, cover decoder, handler blobs
├── docs/ install notes, ABI status, and porting guidance
├── dist/ release ZDLs to load in Zoom Effect Manager
├── graphics/ gallery renders of the on-device covers
├── tools/ cover editor + desktop audio preview
├── src/custom/ original effects
├── src/airwindows/ Airwindows-derived ports + shared helpers
├── src/hardware_probes/ diagnostic ZDLs for runtime ABI experiments
├── stock_zdls/ tracked stock ZDL corpus used for comparison
└── build_all.py release/probe build entrypoint
Several research references are useful locally but intentionally git-ignored:
airwindows-ref/, zoom-fx-modding-ref/, ZoomPedalFun-main/. If you clone
them beside the repo, treat them as read-only references.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| HANDOFF.md | Start here if you are picking this project up: current state, how to test, and what has already been ruled out. |
| docs/PARAM-INIT-INVESTIGATION.md | How the param-materialization bug was actually diagnosed — unrelocated absolute call targets — and the firmware tracing behind it. |
| docs/RELEASE-INIT-AUDIT.md | Rolling the fix out across all 22 effects, plus four follow-up defects found in the audit. |
| docs/INIT-MATERIALIZATION.md | Investigation record for the same bug, including four _init attempts that froze the pedal and the reasoning that went wrong. |
| docs/EMULATOR-TESTING.md | Running ZDLs headlessly against an emulated C674x, and the firmware behaviour it cannot see. |
| docs/EDIT-HANDLER-ABI.md | How generated edit handlers work, and why they delegate to ctx[7]. |
| docs/MIDI-PARAM-EDIT.md | SysEx protocol for live param edits; the slots 1–3 rule. |
| docs/LOADER-SAFETY.md | Catalogued freeze causes mapped to their triggers. |
| docs/INSTALLING-ZDLS.md | Step-by-step Zoom Effect Manager folder install. |
| docs/SAFE-DSP-RULES.md | Pedal-safe DSP/linking constraints learned from hardware failures. |
| docs/ZDL-REVERSE-ENGINEERING-STATUS.md | Current map of the ZDL wrapper, runtime ABI, and known state fields. |
| docs/STATE-ABI-PROGRESS.md | Hardware-proven state/edit-handler findings. |
| docs/AIRWINDOWS-EXACT-PORTS.md | Rules for what can and cannot be called a 1:1 Airwindows port. |
| docs/CONTRIBUTING.md | Hardware-test asks and contribution notes. |
| build/ABI.md | Low-level linker/runtime ABI reference for developers. |
| docs/TI-PDF-NOTES.md + TI PDFs | TI C6000 toolchain references. |
| docs/PROBING-A-NEW-PEDAL.md | How to find out whether a pedal this project has never seen — the + models especially — is analysable, talks MIDI, and hands over patches. |
| Project | What it is |
|---|---|
| MS StompCtrl | Browser-only patch editor and backup tool for the MS-100BT, over Bluetooth in Chrome (open it). Reads, edits and writes patches, backs up the bank, and installs .ZDL files. Effects from this repo are untested on the MS-100BT, so back up first and report what you find. MIT. |
| MIDISTOMP | Custom firmware for the original MultiStomps: MIDI Program Change, CC control of every knob, MIDI clock with Start/Stop, a tap-tempo screen and footswitch-hold options. Installed by flashing a modified Zoom updater (riskier than an Effect Manager install). Tested on an MS-60B running MS-50G 3.10; MS-50G and MS-70CDR untested. MIT. |
| Matujuice ZDL effects pack | Free custom effects built on this toolchain, made for synths and drum machines: wavefolder, pitch shifters, a pitch-tracked choir, Euclidean gate, dub siren, glitch, scrub/freeze, distortion, pump, delay, sweep. Release v1.5 has its own Tempo knobs; v1.6 and later follow MIDISTOMP’s tempo (120 BPM on stock firmware). Its effect IDs 480, 490 and 496 overlap an old Howl ID and two of our test probes, so don’t install those alongside it. MIT. |
| repeat98/ZoomMultistompZDL | The upstream ZDL toolchain this fork started from. |
| Leemuzhko/HYBRID-IR | The short-filter-plus-EQ cab idea behind CabIR. |
| Ziddle | C674x emulator used to test ZDLs before they touch hardware. |
| r/zoommultistomp | Community subreddit for the MultiStomp pedals. |
Hardware reports are gold. When testing a ZDL, please include:
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Pedal model and firmware | MS-70CDR firmware 2.10 |
| ZDL filename and commit | Taffy.ZDL @ 864d85d |
| Load result | boots, freezes on startup, freezes on unbypass |
| Audio result | bypass, dry passthrough, effect works, high-pitched tone |
| Parameter behavior | Speed works 0..100, Chance saturates, page 2 knob missing |
Open an issue or PR with findings. Keep experimental claims precise: “boots on my MS-70CDR” is more useful than “works everywhere.”
See LICENSE. The original work in this fork — the custom effects in
src/custom/, the browser tools in tools/, the notes in docs/ and the cover
art in graphics/ — is MIT.
That grant deliberately stops there. The upstream toolchain this is forked from,
repeat98/ZoomMultistompZDL,
publishes no licence file, so inherited material stays under its author’s
default copyright and is not relicensed here. Airwindows DSP in
src/airwindows/ is MIT by Chris Johnson/Airwindows under its own terms. Zoom
firmware, stock effect binaries and the TI toolchain belong to Zoom Corporation
and Texas Instruments; they are referenced for interoperability and
reverse-engineering research only, and none of their code is redistributed
here.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Zoom Corporation. Flashing custom effects is at your own risk.