The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

[Aceman]

The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

So there are a whole field of people making these tiny little pedals now. EVen Fender makes a skinny little TS-9!

So let's throw down some experiences on quality, sound, features, general impressions, etc…

Xotic, obviously represents the high end
Mooer is maybe the "Boss" of the genre?

And Donner, Eno, etc….budgets.

Discuss

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got a Malekko Comp & TC Hall of Fame Mini. The Malekko sounds good and works well, I'd have no reservations buying another Malekko mini. The Hall of Fame mini is pretty awesome. I using the TonePrint software I set up the single knob to be a subtle reverb with increasing mix up to about 50%, then adding more and more modulation with longer decay up to 100%. This gives me a ridiculously versatile reverb in a small little pedal. Again, no reservations buying another TC Mini.

I've only heard great things about the Xotic pedals, I still want to try the SL, EP and SP. Also, I've heard the mini Tube Screamer sounds good as well.

The negative I see with the minis is ability to stomp on the fly. My compressor and reverb are pedals I leave on for a full song or more, so no stomping required. They fit up on the top of the pedaltrain mini and I only switch them between songs. I could see the same with the EP, just leaving it on as a full time boost/buffer. Some of the other minis might be too small if I have to turn them on/off during a song, like chorus, delay, distortion or fuzz. Still, something about the little mini boards look so cool...

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

The exotic ep boost is an beautifully made "everything is now better" pedal. The size is really only an issue if it is not strapped down to a board because the cables going in and out of the pedal are heavier than the pedal, so it flops around.

I have a polutune mini noir that I bought last summer and that is completely full featured with no compromises. That pedal is strapped to a board and I have no issues with it flopping around.

I understand the idea. I appreciate the idea. I definitely see the need.

I prefer a full sized pedal. I think MXR makes small enough pedals.

 

[Matt42]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got a handful of Mooers; Hustle Drive (OCD), Blues Crab (BBv1), Flex Boost (AC Booster), Trellicopter (Tremulator) and a Blue Faze (Fuzz Face). I gave the fuzz to my brother since I don't really like fuzz that much. The Trellicopter is a permanent fixture on my board, the Hustle Drive, Blues Crab and Flex Boost get rotated in and out depending on what amp I'm using at the time. I'm planning on buying the Ana Echo at some point, and possibly the Mod Factory.

To me they aren't much different than regular pedals, I don't have trouble stomping them, and in reality they only save you a small amount of room. I just like the fact that you can find them for about $50 or less on ebay most of the time. At that price, it's hard to beat them. The build quality is good (not amazing, but they are solid little pedals), the sound ranges from OK to amazing depending on your tastes and the pedal in question.

 

[Archer250]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I have a PolyTune Mini Noir. THAT thing is very well made. It flops around a bit, but I don't mind.

 

[JeffB]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've had two Mooers, and the Xotic EP boost.

Quality wise, the Xotic blows away the mooers. The case, the switch, the knobs, pots, jacks, etc. No comparison. Tonally it didn't live up to it's advertised nature, but It did work well if taken as another clean boost type pedal. Professional quality sound.

For Mooer, I had the ReEcho, and the yellow one that is an Xotic AC booster clone. The quality of the boxes is minimal, same with jacks, pots and switches. By the time I got rid of it the ReEcho switch was intermittent, popped like hell.You can hear it on my clips. Tonally the Re-Echo is another pedal that advertises something and fails to live up. It's just a mediocre digital delay with poor filtering. I did not find the sound quality to be very musical, or inspiring. In addition, the mini trim pots are poorly tapered (and thus sensitive) , all were too loose and i was constantly having to -redial the pedal in to what I was going for. Not much real estate there and easy to screw up one or more knobs when you stomp. Used some scotch tape but that didn't last long.

The boost pedal was decent, but I never used it much. Not my thing. Overall, I would give Mooer a D for quality, and a C for tone. Cheap, unimpressive. If you just need a inexpensive copy of something that is out of your price range, or a smaller version for your board, go for it. I gave my ReEcho away as part of a sale here. I hope someone else finds a use for it, but I couldn't wait to replace/get rid of it My recco is save your pennies for something of better overall quality. YMMV.

 

[Matt42]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Quality wise, the Xotic blows away the mooers. The case, the switch, the knobs, pots, jacks, etc. No comparison. Tonally it didn't live up to it's advertised nature, but It did work well if taken as another clean boost type pedal. Professional quality sound.

For Mooer, I had the ReEcho, and the yellow one that is an Xotic AC booster clone. The quality of the boxes is minimal, same with jacks, pots and switches. By the time I got rid of it the ReEcho switch was intermittent, popped like hell.You can hear it on my clips. Tonally the Re-Echo is another pedal that advertises something and fails to live up. It's just a mediocre digital delay with poor filtering. I did not find the sound quality to be very musical, or inspiring. In addition, the mini trim pots are poorly tapered (and thus sensitive) , all were too loose and i was constantly having to -redial the pedal in to what I was going for. Not much real estate there and easy to screw up one or more knobs when you stomp. Used some scotch tape but that didn't last long.

The boost pedal was decent, but I never used it much. Not my thing. Overall, I would give Mooer a D for quality, and a C for tone. Cheap, unimpressive. If you just need a inexpensive copy of something that is out of your price range, or a smaller version for your board, go for it. I gave my ReEcho away as part of a sale here. I hope someone else finds a use for it, but I couldn't wait to replace/get rid of it My recco is save your pennies for something of better overall quality. YMMV.

I don't know why, but I've never had any problems with the switches breaking down, jacks failing, or anything like that with my Mooers or Joyos, and I've had a bunch of each. Enough other people have mentioned having problems that I wonder if I just stomp really lightly or something.

I've heard nothing but terrible things about the ReEcho. It seems to be one of their worst pedals. I played it briefly in a shop and immediately put it back. The Ana Echo is far better to my ears.

The booster in question is very temperamental, but has some nice sounds. But it doesn't jive with every guitar or amp. Of the drive pedals I have from them, it's my least favorite and spends the least amount of time on my board. I was recently using it with a Dot into a Delta Blues and it sounded pretty good for a solo tone when the amp was already breaking up nicely.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got the Mooer Eleclady myself. Pedal seems sturdy.

I have no other real life experience with other flanger pedals (long time rack fx user), but judging by a lot of youtube videos it really holds its own against the original and several pricey boutique versions.
Money wasn't a decisive factor for me, pedal board real estate was a bit though. The original is almost as big as my whole booard, so not really an option for me.

Overall the sound is great. I use it in front of the amp and it does the 80's stuff great. From faux chorus Police stuff to flangey new wave goodness to Van Halenesque stuff. It also has the filter option like the original, which can be cool for some different sounds.

Only downside might be the miniature controls (for those who like to tweak while on stage) and the power supply only feature (for those who prefer batteries).

 

[JeffB]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Enough other people have mentioned having problems that I wonder if I just stomp really lightly or something. .

I have destroyed Boss pedals before That was in my younger days when I was lighter too

My father used to tell me in his light southern drawl... "Boy, you could tear up an anvil"

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got the Malekko chorus. It does what I wanted it to do.

I've got a serious boner for the Xotic SL Drive. The clips sound great. Probably my next purchase.

 

[Spudman]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got the Donner Morpher and really like it. There are multiple characters the pedal will produce based upon the position of the 3 position switch. It's just a very good dirt pedal that works well for me.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I have been looking for a skinny Boss DD-3 and thought the Reecho would be it. Maybe not….

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

My father used to tell me in his light southern drawl... "Boy, you could tear up an anvil"

Foghorn Leghorn was your father?


Back on topic...

Mooer LoFi Machine (Bit Reduction Distortion). Handy for all manner of NIN nastiness. The three way toggle switch is supposed to select for instrument application. I flip the switch regardless, just to see what results it yields. Great for guitar, bass, keys, drum machines. Not tried it on vocals yet.

I have my doubts about how tough the on/off switch really is. Also, because I tend to use the pedal in an experimental recording environment, I want the ability to make control setting adjustments quickly and easily. The compact and tightly spaced controls are less than ideal for this.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I only have 2 mini pedals, the Mooer chorus and AnaEcho. Both are pretty meh.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I ended up selling all of my mooer pedals. In the end, they were a lot of fun but.. tonally they didn't really reach me like some of the pedals I replaced them with. I've tried some Tone City pedals and they sound pretty darn good, better than the mooers for the most part (designed by an ex-mooer tech so not a surprise).

I keep seeing amazing things about Xvive, I know some pro guys that rave about them though I have no personal experience. Their pedals tend to have some unique features, likely largely because they are designed by an ex-Pigtronix guy. Stuff like a Vibrato/Chorus blend knob on a Chorus. They also have a pro-line coming out, more expensive and higher quality pedals, though what I find really cool is how they attribute the sound engineer and circuit designer who made each one. A really cool step for any company.

Malekko are really cool. All of their mini pedals sound perfect for what they are needed for. Their Tremolo and Vibrato minis deserve to be legendary, it's a shame the brand isn't better known or better marketed. Haven't tried their phaser, but the rest of their mini series are really solid, well made, great sounding pedals. The main downside is that they have limited control, 2 knobs max. Off topic, but I really want to try some of their full size pedals, but the nearby guitar stores only have the minis.

Xotic, I have an SL Drive. I have such a love hate connection for this pedal. 70% of the time I'll have nothing but glowing reviews about this thing, and 30% of the time I can't stand it. It sounds really realistic when you have a slightly gritty amp behind it, it really does that Mid-Late 70s higher gain Marshall thing. I find the lower gain settings on it fairly uninspiring. It responds really well to the volume control, and you can get some fairly realistic Marshall 'clean' tones with it. It's fairly dark sounding, with a bit of a distortion 'edge' which is especially apparent running it into a fully clean amp. It's hard to give a good review of it, its the best distortion pedal I've ever tried and I hate it 30% of the time, depending on how my ears feel that day.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I'll buy a reecho from you cheap…

 

[JeffB]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I'll buy a reecho from you cheap…

You will still end up paying way more than it is worth, Bob

On a serious note- had I know you were looking for one, I would have sent ya mine.

 

[iama]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got the Donner Morpher and really like it. There are multiple characters the pedal will produce based upon the position of the 3 position switch. It's just a very good dirt pedal that works well for me.

+1

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I only have the Mooer AnaEcho & Pitch Box (harmonizer/pitch) pedals and they're both pretty cool ..(the anaecho is a warm pedal & can sound a bit dark with some amps but it can also sound pretty sweet with others..) ...especially love the pitchbox, which I used on every other solo for our just released goregrind project (bandcamp link in my sig )

I just recently bought a pair of 3-in-1 "mini-strip" kinda pedals (I guess based on the Tech 21 Fly Rig..) from donnerdeal & I'm pretty keen to check them out :bigthumb:

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

Re: The Skinny Little Pedal Thread: Mooer vs Donner, Eno, Maleko, etc…

I've got a sorta broken PolyTune...

The switch doesn't work if I tighten the nut up all the way but it works most of the time if I keep it about half unloosened. I mean for what it's worth it's been that way for years & I've never felt the need to replace it? It works almost every time I step on it & I figure that's good enough because my fingers work pretty much in the same way, LOL???

I was going to change the switch one day but it had strange triangle screws & I didn't have a bit that fit so I kinda just stopped caring about it after. As for overall quality I guess it tunes my guitar pretty well? I'd say it's just as good as any other tuner I've ever used!!!