Sonicake Octaver… decent cheap OC-2 clone???

[Texican]

Has anyone tried this little octave pedal? I was considering the MXR VBO, but I rarely use octave effects… and this one costs less than a trip to McDonald’s with the kids.

 

[jazznrick]

Subscribe me to this, I’m hoping it’s great! Looks like the classic oc-2 controls. Buy it and let us know how it is!

 

[Inconnu]

I’m also curious!

 

[DDXdesign]

We did a pretty matter-of-fact review of it. It's decent. You're generally not going to get the best OC2 without spending some dough, but if you're just an occasional octaver it could do ya just fine.

 

[Texican]

We did a pretty matter-of-fact review of it. It's decent. You're generally not going to get the best OC2 without spending some dough, but if you're just an occasional octaver it could do ya just fine.

Can you share a link to the review?

 

[DDXdesign]

Can you share a link to the review?

 

[jw112]

I've tried most of the clones and this was my favorite of the clones BUT it is still missing that last 10% that makes an OC2 an OC2. If you want a clone this is a great buy.

My OC2 is still on my board.

 

[jw112]

Here is a decent accurate demo

 

[DWBass]

Nope

 

[Texican]

Nope

Nope what?

 

[DWBass]

Nope what?

Don't like the sound of it. Not for me.

 

[Texican]

Don't like the sound of it. Not for me.

Do you like OC-2s? The OC-2 isn’t for everyone, but others love them. I’m curious how close to the original this clone can get.

 

[SlapHappy99]

I got one of these because I need a "-1" octave on a couple of tunes in the set and didn't want to spend a lot. I also liked the size - easy to fit on the pedalboard.

As soon as it came in the mail I tried it with my MTD Kingston. The tracking was not very good - even in the upper ranges the -1 octave note would sound and then quickly drop out. I tried another active bass and got the same thing. Back it goes.

Any suggestions for a cheap octave in a small box? The MXR Vintage Bass Octave looks interesting but too expensive. Maybe I just need to suck it up and stop buying cheap pedals

 

[OggyOi]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I've bought one of these recently to replace a broken octave. Here's my two penny's worth, in case anyone is looking for a cheap octave pedal.

I can't believe how good it is for the price. Even without the budget factor, it is a great sounding octaver. It tracks well down to a Bb for me, and nails the OC-2 sound. No volume loss. Feels sturdy enough, but time will tell what the build quality is like after a few gigs.

 

[TaySte_2000]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I've bought one of these recently to replace a broken octave. Here's my two penny's worth, in case anyone is looking for a cheap octave pedal.

I can't believe how good it is for the price. Even without the budget factor, it is a great sounding octaver. It tracks well down to a Bb for me, and nails the OC-2 sound. No volume loss. Feels sturdy enough, but time will tell what the build quality is like after a few gigs.

Totally agree, I have one of these and the Boom Ave which is their version of a flyrig (only with fx you’d use) it’s great and both nail that oc-2 tone.

I did a fair bit of testing to come to this conclusion

 

[Phe]

I have one. Not quite OC-2, but does the job.

 

[OggyOi]

Totally agree, I have one of these and the Boom Ave which is their version of a flyrig (only with fx you’d use) it’s great and both nail that oc-2 tone.

I did a fair bit of testing to come to this conclusion

That's some decent testing! Which of those did you prefer?

What were the other effects on the Boom Ave like?

 

[TaySte_2000]

That's some decent testing! Which of those did you prefer?

Honestly I couldn’t hear the difference between the OC2 (Taiwan), the Valeton OC10 and the Sonicake Octaver. The last 2 are apparently the same circuit after Sonicake acquired Valeton.

The MXR to me is the better octaver but if you want that OC2 sound, that 100% down synthy vibe then the Sonicake is great. If you want the doubled tone check out Michael Leagues use of an octaver as it’s almost always the MXR and it sounds great.

I then tried to replicate as closely as possible with the Zoom, I think I found the Guitar Octaver closer to the OC2 than the Bass Octaver. Neither are exact but I use the Zoom on AA batteries so if I go to a jam night I can throw it down on the floor and just play, no messing with power or anything that costs you your 5 minutes of glory.

What were the other effects on the Boom Ave like?

Compressor/Boost - Works well as a boost, it can get very loud. Compressor is so so, depends how you feel about single knob compression. I cranked it and it was a lot of fun with my Hofner with flats.

Fuzz - Big muff style fuzz, sounds like a big muff, no low end loss, lots of gain and volume on tap but doesn’t clean up (but muffs don’t on bass) as in it’s a fuzz not an overdrive.

Amp - Ampeg style eq I a/b’d this with my Jad Freer capo and felt it got about 90% of that sound. I sold the capo and have since bought it back. Not because the sonicake is disappointing, I just wanted that extra 10%, I wanted that magic.

So for the price I don’t think anything comes close to the Sonicake in terms of quality of sounds. It’s a great grab and go gigrig or backup for you to throw in a gigbag.

It could easily be my main rig but that would be a bit …. boring and I can’t end my rig journey with a $100 all in one from China (open box on amazon for around $80 if you want to try one you can return easily)

 

[Jokubas]

Honestly I couldn’t hear the difference between the OC2 (Taiwan), the Valeton OC10 and the Sonicake Octaver. The last 2 are apparently the same circuit after Sonicake acquired Valeton.

The MXR to me is the better octaver but if you want that OC2 sound, that 100% down synthy vibe then the Sonicake is great. If you want the doubled tone check out Michael Leagues use of an octaver as it’s almost always the MXR and it sounds great.

I then tried to replicate as closely as possible with the Zoom, I think I found the Guitar Octaver closer to the OC2 than the Bass Octaver. Neither are exact but I use the Zoom on AA batteries so if I go to a jam night I can throw it down on the floor and just play, no messing with power or anything that costs you your 5 minutes of glory.



Compressor/Boost - Works well as a boost, it can get very loud. Compressor is so so, depends how you feel about single knob compression. I cranked it and it was a lot of fun with my Hofner with flats.

Fuzz - Big muff style fuzz, sounds like a big muff, no low end loss, lots of gain and volume on tap but doesn’t clean up (but muffs don’t on bass) as in it’s a fuzz not an overdrive.

Amp - Ampeg style eq I a/b’d this with my Jad Freer capo and felt it got about 90% of that sound. I sold the capo and have since bought it back. Not because the sonicake is disappointing, I just wanted that extra 10%, I wanted that magic.

So for the price I don’t think anything comes close to the Sonicake in terms of quality of sounds. It’s a great grab and go gigrig or backup for you to throw in a gigbag.

It could easily be my main rig but that would be a bit …. boring and I can’t end my rig journey with a $100 all in one from China (open box on amazon for around $80 if you want to try one you can return easily)

I'd be super curious to hear a blind test of OC-2 vs Sonicake, both fed the same signal.
I only quickly compared the Sonicake to an OC-3, and it's like no difference, almost. Maybe the OC-3 is less glitchy, but that's good or bad depending on who you ask haha.

Honestly, the Sonicake Octaver into Sonicake CryBot envelope filter are the best 60 euros I've ever spent...

 

[BKMM]

Just got the sonicake octaver for under $50 CAD and yeah... it really takes the cake

Sounds good, tracks well, no gain loss... best of the budget octavers I would think? I'm happy with it.