Mini pedals and cheap clones (Mooer, Rowin, etc.)

[ibarakishi]

These seem to look like they are getting better and better as the years roll on and are crazy cheap. Is anyone here using them? What do you think of them? Ive always been interested in trying a dead cold sterile delay like the Rowin LEF-3803 - Pure Echo and also a tremolo like the Mooer Trelicopter Optical Tremolo. I know that price wise you can find a dd3 or a tr2 for about 40 usd if you look hard enough, but for the form factor and sound are these at all comparable? Also interested how things like MOSKY XP Booster and Mooer Pure Boost compare to their originals. Also are their any decent spring reverbs in mini form?

[kevdes93]

My girlfriend got me a mosky black rat for Christmas, sounds just like my rat2 only a little darker, and it appears to have a real lm308 chip inside

[D.o.S.]

That mooer rat ognoy has sounded 1:1 with a real rat, but I forget which one it was. (edit: I think it was the mosky indeed. Rad thing).

[UglyCasanova]

That mooer rat ognoy has sounded 1:1 with a real rat, but I forget which one it was. (edit: I think it was the mosky indeed. Rad thing).

Ognoy had/has the Mooer version. Sounded great. I had the Mooer Tender Octaver mk2 for a while and it was quite similar to EHX POGs. Tracked well and was snug, but I just couldn't find much use for it at the time. Would probably get another if I needed an octave pitch shifter.

[Confuzzled]

I have the e7 (birthday present) it's a fun little synth pedal. I'm not a fan of the enclosure (which it was a bit sloped for easier access) but it will work fine in my super ego effects loop.

[echorec]

I had the Mooer Tender Octaver mk2 for a while and it was quite similar to EHX POGs. Tracked well and was snug, but I just couldn't find much use for it at the time. Would probably get another if I needed an octave pitch shifter.

That's because they stole the software right out of the original EHX designs.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/electro ... inst-mooer

[UglyCasanova]

If you think I'm surprised you've got another thing coming

[ibarakishi]

Thanks for the input guys, keep the reviews coming. interested to see what else people have or haven't enjoyed using

[ck3]

I have quite a few of these scattered throughout my pedal drawers. Every Mosky dirtbox amongst them is decent with the Mini Muff and D250X being the most recent arrivals. Their XP Boost clone has internal dip switches for treble and gain (never tried the original pedal, so unsure about accuracy). Mooer analog modulation including the E-lady and Trelicopter has consistently proven satisfying. The Tender Octaver MKII was excessively noisy with my rig and seemed defective. Valeton is another brand worth mentioning. Their Loft Series is classic Boss clones (tried all but the analog delay and compressor) in a mini form factor and Coral series models other than the reverb rock verily. An F-pedals Robotaholic also arrived in the last week, which is essentially a self-oscillating tremolo overdrive that enters pseudo-ring-mod territory. The Hotone Krush was the best mini bitcrusher of the two I've tried to date. Xvive has seemed hit and miss for the most part with the Tube Squasher being an okay metal boost, Sweet Leo providing fizzy and overly-compressed overdrive, and Echoman decently approximating the EHX DMM.

[K2000]

I've had a bunch because I play tabletop noise and I fit as much stuff as I can, into a limited space (suitcase which I can carry on the subway). Small means more toan options for me. A mini delay opens up room for other things.

Mooer Trelicopter - I wanted hard chopping, but I discovered it was pretty subtle. My fault for buying the wrong thing.
Mooer Pitch Box - like Boss pitch shifter (?) I use the Harmony setting for thickening & dissonance. Don't know or care about tracking. Like!
Mooer Reecho - I like this a whole lot, but then I like simple delays that are not hard to dial in.
Mooer Repeater - like this but I like the Reecho more. Has longer delay than I need, so dialing it in is more careful.
Mooer Shimverb - hated this, YMMV. Sounded metallic in a bad way. Didn't want the shimmer either.
Mooer Mod Factory - good way to get a bunch of modulation options into a small box. I only use a couple settings. No idea if tone sucking or not.
Mooer The Fog - supposed to be a Wooly Mammoth clone? Adds nice grit in my SuperEgo effects loop (not tabletop)

I'm really interested in the Mooer micro pre-amps, but I think they work best on amps with an effects loop (which I don't have). Make your amp sound like a Vox, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, etc etc.
Mooer released a bunch of new pedals (reverbs etc) which look interesting.
When they launched the line originally, they were priced around $40. I use that as a benchmark and I try not to pay more than $50 for anything

Mooer, Eno and Mosky rat clones - I like and use them. I don't have golden ears, and I'm not a rat expert though. I never A/B'd them against each other.

Meathead clone - nice as a dirty boost, etc. Accurate clone? I don't know. Found on Reverb. Like it!

MXR Phase 95 - has multiple phase options (script, block etc) in small format. Like it!

TC Electronics Sub & Up - do not like TC Electronics in general, or this pedal specifically.
TC Hall of Fame Mini- the whole Tone Works concept is flawed IMO (please, don't make me program it). Sold it.
TC Flashback Mini - kept it, but questioning my decision.
TC Electronics Vortex - (vibrato) I found a setting that has 3 different modes/speeds, so I kept it.
Overall, I think TC pedals sound kind of artificial and I hate the Tone Works thing (dozens of presets available, good luck sorting through them). Maybe my least fave company.

Catalinbread Ottava Magus Mini (octave up fuzz) I did not like this. Sounded worse than other octave-up pedals I've tried. (not tabletop)

BYOC has some micro kits now (muffs etc).

Ditto Looper - I like them.
Eno Looper - I just ordered it. The biggest knob slows or increases speed of the loop (or pitch). Looking forward!
Donner Echo Square - it can reduce or increase speed of the repeats (with fun artifacts) but I think it sounds terrible overall. Avoid IMO.
Eno AE-1 Ambient Echo - I thought it sounded terrible, metallic but not in a good or interesting way. The call it "ambient" but the delay time is short. Worthless IMO.

Micro Thumpinator - rolls off frequencies below 30hz for bass players (supposed to clean up your sound) but I find it rolls off some useful frequencies. I like my bass tone better without it.

Hotone tuner - seems to work okay! Has a boost option.

I would like to try the Zvex Fuzzolo but I don't want to pay 80-90 dollars.

If I had a choice between soft touch footswitches in a regular size pedal, or clicking footswitches in a micro pedal, I would rather have the soft switching in a larger enclosure.

F-Pedals makes a micro ringmod: the Robotholic.
MythFX Infinium Delay has a ring mod function.

There are some mini-pedal comparison videos listed here:
http://www.effectsdatabase.com/type/ringmod/pedal/mini

Micro versions of classsic pedals seem like an additional revenue stream for the big manufacturers - EHX should do that with their Muff reissues.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I had a mooer eleclady flanger for a while it sounded great. What made me sell it was how annoying the tiny knobs are. Mini pedals are not for me (except the TC polytune which is nice because no controls)

[frigid midget]

I bought a Mooer OCD, Crunch Box and Rat clones when they just came out. Didn't have a particual need for em, but they were just too cheap. Can't have too many dirt pedals, right?

They sounded almost identical than the pedals they were based on. My original Rats had to be modded to get those clipping options.

I decided that if I were pressed for real estate om my board, I'd better skimp on the pedals I don't use regularly. I found the tiny enclosures to be annoying. They tend to tip over, and the small controls are a pain to quickly tweak, or to even see where they're set.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah. My problem is not the sound it's the ergonomics. But if I desperately needed to add, say, a rat or a big muff to a board that had no space and I knew I'd never change the settings on it, they're good options

[ibarakishi]

when you enter baby pedal land, you know what you are getting yourself into with small controls and enclosures. it is the price of entry.

K2000, does the one mode on the Mooer Reecho do simple and clean digital delay without analog voicing similar to a boss dd3,dd7, etc. ? also what is the delay time on them?

[ognoy]

That mooer rat ognoy has sounded 1:1 with a real rat, but I forget which one it was. (edit: I think it was the mosky indeed. Rad thing).

Ognoy had/has the Mooer version. Sounded great. I had the Mooer Tender Octaver mk2 for a while and it was quite similar to EHX POGs. Tracked well and was snug, but I just couldn't find much use for it at the time. Would probably get another if I needed an octave pitch shifter.

The Mooer Rat(Black Secret) was identical to DRods Rat. I also had a Mosky, which sounded like it had the Ruetz-mod and a tone-control instead of the filter.
Both sounds great though.

I also got a Mosky OCD-clone which sounds fine. Mooer Yellow Comp is great. The Trelicopter sounds good, but mine had a volum-drop when the depth was set high. Only currently on my board is the Mooer Baby Tuner. It does what it is supposed to do.