My friend bought 6 pedals from China lately. The prices were really very low. Together with shipping and customs costs, they did not exceed 15 dollars per piece. I was curious about how they sounded and whether it made any sense to buy such equipment, so I tried them out in my small studio.
The build quality is not worse than most pedals made in the West, but it is not at the highest level either. Most of them (except flanger and EQ) do not have any information about the manufacturer, nor they have current draw amperage labeled.
These are my brief conclusions about each of the pedals, in order from best to worst:
1. Channel switcher M-Vave ABY
- Probably the best pedal from all 6. It does what it was designed for without any problems.
There are no background hums or switching sounds. Also, the signal passing through has no modifications or drops.
2. Ultimate Drive
- I could live with this little pedal in my pedalboard. It would surely find use for some song or situation. What's important to me is that there is no loss of bass frequencies when the pedal is engaged. Also, it has a very good sound when the drive is added just a little, so it can also be used as always on. With drive boosted to maximum, it can also be useful because the Tone pot has the ability to define the sound nicely.
3. AHAJII Soul Eater Flanger
- Not a bad pedal with interesting functions that are a little different from classic flangers. What I noticed is that as soon as it turns on, it raises the volume by about 2-3dB, and adds a significant amount of bass to the sound. In any case, I think I could create one or two interesting sounds for some songs at a live gig.
4. Stax analog Delay
- This pedal is analog and has all the functions of a delay. It could be used in a live situation, but I'm afraid that for more serious studio recording, it simply doesn't have the nice sound that I'm used to hearing from more expensive pedals of this type.
5. Classic Chorus
- Mixed opinions on this pedal...Although one setup can satisfy my needs of a bass guitar chorus sound (rate at 11 o'clock and Depth at 13 o'clock), this pedal would not find a place in my board. A very unpleasant pop sound is heard when the pedal is turned on and off, and on top of that, it greatly amplifies the signal when it is turned on - in my opinion, over 4dB.
6. EQ Equalizer Moen Effects Lab
- This pedal was my least favorite, but for no particular reason. The 5 EQ frequencies offered work pretty well, as does the Vol pot. What I failed to understand is the function of the Gain pot. It is completely unusable. If you ignore Gain, a fairly usable EQ pedal for live situations, not so much for studio and more serious needs.
What I would like to add is that I tried all 6 of them in a chain, with the drive pedal before the other effects, and then the signal was completely unusable. If the drive is active, and after that I turn on the Chorus or Flanger that are behind it in the chain, the signal gets incredibly loud. If I put the drive at the end of the signal, then everything works ''as it should''.
Here's my video. I'd love to hear what you think about these pedals?
The build quality is not worse than most pedals made in the West, but it is not at the highest level either. Most of them (except flanger and EQ) do not have any information about the manufacturer, nor they have current draw amperage labeled.
These are my brief conclusions about each of the pedals, in order from best to worst:
1. Channel switcher M-Vave ABY
- Probably the best pedal from all 6. It does what it was designed for without any problems.
There are no background hums or switching sounds. Also, the signal passing through has no modifications or drops.
2. Ultimate Drive
- I could live with this little pedal in my pedalboard. It would surely find use for some song or situation. What's important to me is that there is no loss of bass frequencies when the pedal is engaged. Also, it has a very good sound when the drive is added just a little, so it can also be used as always on. With drive boosted to maximum, it can also be useful because the Tone pot has the ability to define the sound nicely.
3. AHAJII Soul Eater Flanger
- Not a bad pedal with interesting functions that are a little different from classic flangers. What I noticed is that as soon as it turns on, it raises the volume by about 2-3dB, and adds a significant amount of bass to the sound. In any case, I think I could create one or two interesting sounds for some songs at a live gig.
4. Stax analog Delay
- This pedal is analog and has all the functions of a delay. It could be used in a live situation, but I'm afraid that for more serious studio recording, it simply doesn't have the nice sound that I'm used to hearing from more expensive pedals of this type.
5. Classic Chorus
- Mixed opinions on this pedal...Although one setup can satisfy my needs of a bass guitar chorus sound (rate at 11 o'clock and Depth at 13 o'clock), this pedal would not find a place in my board. A very unpleasant pop sound is heard when the pedal is turned on and off, and on top of that, it greatly amplifies the signal when it is turned on - in my opinion, over 4dB.
6. EQ Equalizer Moen Effects Lab
- This pedal was my least favorite, but for no particular reason. The 5 EQ frequencies offered work pretty well, as does the Vol pot. What I failed to understand is the function of the Gain pot. It is completely unusable. If you ignore Gain, a fairly usable EQ pedal for live situations, not so much for studio and more serious needs.
What I would like to add is that I tried all 6 of them in a chain, with the drive pedal before the other effects, and then the signal was completely unusable. If the drive is active, and after that I turn on the Chorus or Flanger that are behind it in the chain, the signal gets incredibly loud. If I put the drive at the end of the signal, then everything works ''as it should''.
Here's my video. I'd love to hear what you think about these pedals?
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