I have a zoom 505, just recently upgraded to a Yamaha DG-STOMP. Really , really good pre-amp with effects. Worth checking it out.

I was tired of my zoom because it's really noisy for recording like you said Tweak. I had to clean the sound after every recording.

Personnaly I'm not a fan of bying new stuff, Id' rather go on ebay and find a deal. Since My needs changes through time, it gets rough on the wallet to always buy new. I know all the "what about the waranty" thing but I never got a bad peice of equipement.

Just make sure you have a built-in pre-amp in your pad, otherwise you'll struggle to get a good sound. If it doesn't have a pre-amp and you still love the effect, try buying a Red Box cabinetulator by H&K (no not gun manufacturer lol). This will soften your sound by emulating two types of cabinet. Schmange recommended that to me and it saved me a lot of time.

good luck