Ok, I just spent an hour or so comparing the 3 pedals (Joyo Zip Amp, Horse Zip Amp, Caline Orange Burst) playing different styles and with varying levels of gain. Here are my thoughts after a fairly thorough knob tweaking session...
Joyo wins for refinement of sound. It's just so natural in its response and the drive sound with the gain up, as well as the boost tone with the gain down, are really, really nice. It's harmonically rich and reasonably tight, though the bottom can get a bit loose when the bass is dialed up. The comp switch in the middle position is a bit weird and makes it spikey and brighter sounding, a little harsh even. Switched all the way into "comp" mode, though, it's an "ok" compression effect. I strongly prefer the response of the Joyo in "Normal" mode and would pretty much only use this pedal that way. That said, the Joyo is easily the most "amp-like" of the 3 and sounds and feels like a "professional" level pedal for sure.
The Caline is very similar to the Joyo, but not as refined. Still, it's a rocker and crazy good for being one of the lowest cost overdrive pedals you can buy anywhere! The low end is bouncy and lively, but not as tight as I would like. The top end is punchy, but has a subtle roundness to it that gets crisper as you dig in. The gain is higher at nearly every setting compared to the Joyo, but it still cleans up great with the gain all the way down and works reasonably well as a clean boost. The Caline produces a tiny bit more noise due to the extra gain on tap (I wasn't running a noise gate), but very reasonable for a pedal that goes from nearly completely clean to medium-high gain territory with ease. It has a lot of tonal range and I found the Caline to be the most sensitive to knob adjustments.
The Horse, despite hiding very cheap components inside its attractive case, is surprisingly capable. I will say it's the only one of the 3 that really "sounds like a pedal" if that makes sense, but the voicing is definitely in the ballpark of the other orange boxes, if not just a bit more forward in the midrange. The bottom end is tighter than the other two, but you have to dial the bass close to max to really come close to the low end thunder the other 2 achieve at the 3 'o-clock position. The Horse is in no way as harmonically rich as the others, especially the Joyo, but it's also not as busy sounding as a result. It's fairly clear and has the response of a proper distortion pedal with the tonality of the other 2 thrown in. The compression effect is actually very effective and I was surprised how fun the pedal was with the gain down, the volume up, and the compression turned on. As a clean-ish boost, it sounds a lot less boxy and might be fun paired with some dynamic single coils.
So...
- Dynamics: Joyo > Caline > Horse
- Build Quality: Joyo > Caline/Horse
- Gain: Caline > Horse > Joyo
- Noise Levels: Joyo > Caline/Horse
- Tightness: Horse > Joyo > Caline
- Compression: Horse > Joyo > Caline (note: the Caline does not have switchable compression)
Best Value Overall: Joyo > Caline > Horse
)
