Klon Centaur VS Electro Harmonix Soul Food (comparison)

[@thisnameiseitherrestricted6270]

If you can tell an appreciable difference beyond very minute details, then you have either superhuman hearing or you own a Klon.

[@fragtagninja1633]

They are super close. Close enough it's gonna be hard to justify the price of a second hand Klon for a lot of people.

[@mikohenriksson450]

At 0:42 you couldn't really hear a difference. At 1:30 you can definitely hear a difference. Soul Food has a lot less low-mid mid frequencies. But they're close and all preference should be in relation to the instruments you're playing and in the context of the mix. Even playing by yourself you would probably prefer Soul Food when playing with neck pickups or any humbuckers and the Klon when playing single coils because of their sonic differences.

[@kutnersuicide]

@@mikohenriksson450 He's just picking more lightly. There's no discernible difference from the pedals. It's just cork sniffing.

[@kernalkarma4752]

Ditto .

[@dannyharvey7398]

I think the Klon had a more robust housing, highly polished finished, and more solid control knobs giving it the edge over the Soul Food, but only a trained ear could see it.

[@Wi66pro]

You sure that A/B box is working :-)

[@boucharding]

thats what I am wondering, cause there is no way you can dial in those knobs perfectly with that quick of a shift.

[@HandreyAlex]

I know this is just supposed to be a tongue in cheek, but just in case someone genuinely believes it: When he used looper he fiddled with the knobs for each pedal quite often, like at 5:25, 5:48, 6:26, and 7:06. Not to mention 7:27 as well. Beside, if the box had actually been broken then one of the pedal (or both) wouldn't have made any sound anyway.

[@tihomir7]

Of course it's working. You can clearly hear unless you are listening on cellphone. Klon has more depth. But if you cut under 100 Hz tjey sound almost similar

[@ajjay7726]

@@tihomir7 I'm sorry but even with a pretty expensive headphone, i can hear no difference (so how non-musician could during a concert?) ... even if there were one, it absolutly doesn't worth the price difference.

[@ajjay7726]

@super z Yes somehow ;)

[@benbutterworth7584]

Time to A/B a couple of tuners.

[@Ashtn278]

I thought I was the only one who noticed.

[@ocelotl23]

ROFLMAO

[@rikorisu11]

not exactly the comment it self, but the way you placed it

[@HeviNova]

Yeah always tune and check before hitting record. Get your intonation checked... almost unwatchable. If you can't hear your guitar is out of tune I can't trust your ear for reviews. It's that simple.

[@damienlewis7882]

seriously

[@SandroMassarani]

Probably the best pedal comparison I ever saw. Thanks!!

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

+Sandro Massarani Thanks!

[@boobooau]

Got it after watching this video and love it… SoulFood

[@withmygoodeyeclosed]

@@boobooau Yes very versatile boost.

[@pacotores3118]

Now THAT'S a comparison!!!! Best technique I have seen on the net.

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

+Paco Tores Thanks!

[@JHKNVY02]

Agreed! Really great work here and thank you for the effort!

[@sonicwingnut]

Hm, yeah, £40 vs £1500+... I'm aware a lot of guitarists are claiming to hear all sorts here but face it, no normal listener hearing that in a mix or at a gig while everyone else is playing is even going to remotely hear your £1450 investment.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

+sonicwingnut That's how I gauge value. You won't ever listen to Clapton and think "that black strat of his clearly is made with cheap alder. If he only had a nice mahogany strat he would be worth listening to."

[@Spamfriedrice323]

+TheBigMclargehuge exactly... Some things in the music industry are just novelty items... I guess mostly marketed towards people who like to show off what they have money-wise as opposed to real talent and feel.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

+sonicwingnut While you may be right in sense I generally disagree with the "but the kids wont notice" perspective on playing. The thing is - if there IS a difference and the player can hear it, feel it and put it to use, it'll make him feel good, connect better and it will translate into the playing, which consequently the audience will be more likely to actually notice. Further what an audience consciously hears or are aware of if asked is not the same as what does in fact affect them. Many people are unable to tell a good band from a bad if they put on enough of a show, but one will make them want to dance and the other will not. One will create a party and the other a passable evening. In terms of sound, of course you can play an entire gig on a tubescreamer but some song parts will just rise to the occasion so much more in a clearly relatable way if you have a few more options. I realize the post is about two VERY similar drives so I am going maybe a bit further here. Still - if the player hears it and feels it - you will know one way or the other. You will feel it.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

whynottalklikeapirat Looks to me like a Klon owner is trying to justify his shitty purchase.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

***** In which case you probably need some reeeeally thick glasses. Firstly because you seem to have not understood my post, secondly seeing as I am not a Klon fan and wouldn't buy either pedal. Feel free to try again later when you've cleaned the lenses.

[@c00lkatz]

Sounds the same to me. Glad to see someone who actually fiddles with the knobs to get the tones to match up. You can't just set two different pedals up with the indicator at the same spot. Different pots, different tolerances, different sweep, set up the TONE of the pedal not the position of the knobs people! That goes for ANY comparison! Finally someone who gets it! Great demo!

[@alphanumeric1529]

Listened on laptop, couldn’t hear a difference. Am now listening through our PA, definitely can hear a difference. The Soul Food is definitely thinner and cheap radioy sounding. The Klon is thicker, meaning bassier, smoother in its frequency balance, and literally just sounds better which I PERSONALLY think sounds more expensive, lol, not thousands more expensive, like $50 more expensive, maybe a hundo. The Klon sounds more articulate, like it’s a distortion and gets quite gainy (and grainy) but it’s more nuanced, lots of little details of the guitar’s sound that all add up to a preferable sound. Now, as I started with, on laptop speakers of average quality, no chance, sounded exactly the same. But listening on a PA with a 12 inch cone, not even a good PA, an Alto, I was shocked to hear how different the two pedals sound, as I’ve already watched this video and many others making this comparison, and always felt like the Soul Food was very, very close, if not identical. But I hear what I’ve heard other people say, that the Soul Food sounds thin and cheap. I hear it! Lol! And also, I have and have happily used a Soul Food for several years, and almost as an always on pedal - not always providing gain, but just a little brightness, a fair amount of low end roll off. I mostly play a mid 2000’s mexi HSS strat, always felt the pickups were rather thick, even excessively bassy, so I’ve loved the Soul Food sound, I’ve been in search of a thinner Strat sound. And in general, I like a thinner, cutting sound like a disappointed to an angry AC30 type sound. I’ve always liked the Soul Food because I’ve felt like it delivers that sound, in combination with amp eq, and recently a behringer 7 channel eq that amazingly sounds great (I don’t add any gain with it, no control goes over 0, totally subtractive eq’ing) the pedal sounds great and is quiet. I haven’t played it at stage volume... but loud enough to annoy the neighbors in the next house over and it is quiet. Hearing this Soul Food now, ouch, that cheap radio sound... I don’t really know how to describe it.... it’s not just a low end roll off... it’s a kind of tinnyness... like components in the circuit are being pushed beyond their tolerances and are distorting... but not in that good way, in a shitty cheap radio sort of way! Haha! Not good. The Soul Food is the core of my sound, it goes after almost all my gain, I’ve got some joyo amp sims at the end before some tremolo, vibrato, and reverb. Can I live with the Soul Food sound? Hells of yes. I’ve been happy with it for years... and I’d have to call into a pile of money to buy a higher quality, higher priced overdrive... which I’d do... I’ve been restlessly searching for a really low gain overdrive. My amp has three channels but only the clean channel is useable, and it’s got miles of clean headroom, so all of my breakup has to come from pedals...

[@alphanumeric1529]

Listened on laptop, couldn’t hear a difference. Am now listening through our PA, definitely can hear a difference. The Soul Food is definitely thinner and cheap radioy sounding. The Klon is thicker, meaning bassier, smoother in its frequency balance, and literally just sounds better which I PERSONALLY think sounds more expensive, lol, not thousands more expensive, like $50 more expensive, maybe a hundo. The Klon sounds more articulate, like it’s a distortion and gets quite gainy (and grainy) but it’s more nuanced, lots of little details of the guitar’s sound that all add up to a preferable sound. Now, as I started with, on laptop speakers of average quality, no chance, sounded exactly the same. But listening on a PA with a 12 inch cone, not even a good PA, an Alto, I was shocked to hear how different the two pedals sound, as I’ve already watched this video and many others making this comparison, and always felt like the Soul Food was very, very close, if not identical. But I hear what I’ve heard other people say, that the Soul Food sounds thin and cheap. I hear it! Lol! And also, I have and have happily used a Soul Food for several years, and almost as an always on pedal - not always providing gain, but just a little brightness, a fair amount of low end roll off. I mostly play a mid 2000’s mexi HSS strat, always felt the pickups were rather thick, even excessively bassy, so I’ve loved the Soul Food sound, I’ve been in search of a thinner Strat sound. And in general, I like a thinner, cutting sound like a disappointed to an angry AC30 type sound. I’ve always liked the Soul Food because I’ve felt like it delivers that sound, in combination with amp eq, and recently a behringer 7 channel eq that amazingly sounds great (I don’t add any gain with it, no control goes over 0, totally subtractive eq’ing) the pedal sounds great and is quiet. I haven’t played it at stage volume... but loud enough to annoy the neighbors in the next house over and it is quiet. Hearing this Soul Food now, ouch, that cheap radio sound... I don’t really know how to describe it.... it’s not just a low end roll off... it’s a kind of tinnyness... like components in the circuit are being pushed beyond their tolerances and are distorting... but not in that good way, in a shitty cheap radio sort of way! Haha! Not good. The Soul Food is the core of my sound, it goes after almost all my gain, I’ve got some joyo amp sims at the end before some tremolo, vibrato, and reverb. Can I live with the Soul Food sound? Hells of yes. I’ve been happy with it for years... and I’d have to call into a pile of money to buy a higher quality, higher priced overdrive... which I’d do... I’ve been restlessly searching for a really low gain overdrive. My amp has three channels but only the clean channel is useable, and it’s got miles of clean headroom, so all of my breakup has to come from pedals...

[@alphanumeric1529]

Listened on laptop, couldn’t hear a difference. Am now listening through our PA, definitely can hear a difference. The Soul Food is definitely thinner and cheap radioy sounding. The Klon is thicker, meaning bassier, smoother in its frequency balance, and literally just sounds better which I PERSONALLY think sounds more expensive, lol, not thousands more expensive, like $50 more expensive, maybe a hundo. The Klon sounds more articulate, like it’s a distortion and gets quite gainy (and grainy) but it’s more nuanced, lots of little details of the guitar’s sound that all add up to a preferable sound. Now, as I started with, on laptop speakers of average quality, no chance, sounded exactly the same. But listening on a PA with a 12 inch cone, not even a good PA, an Alto, I was shocked to hear how different the two pedals sound, as I’ve already watched this video and many others making this comparison, and always felt like the Soul Food was very, very close, if not identical. But I hear what I’ve heard other people say, that the Soul Food sounds thin and cheap. I hear it! Lol! And also, I have and have happily used a Soul Food for several years, and almost as an always on pedal - not always providing gain, but just a little brightness, a fair amount of low end roll off. I mostly play a mid 2000’s mexi HSS strat, always felt the pickups were rather thick, even excessively bassy, so I’ve loved the Soul Food sound, I’ve been in search of a thinner Strat sound. And in general, I like a thinner, cutting sound like a disappointed to an angry AC30 type sound. I’ve always liked the Soul Food because I’ve felt like it delivers that sound, in combination with amp eq, and recently a behringer 7 channel eq that amazingly sounds great (I don’t add any gain with it, no control goes over 0, totally subtractive eq’ing) the pedal sounds great and is quiet. I haven’t played it at stage volume... but loud enough to annoy the neighbors in the next house over and it is quiet. Hearing this Soul Food now, ouch, that cheap radio sound... I don’t really know how to describe it.... it’s not just a low end roll off... it’s a kind of tinnyness... like components in the circuit are being pushed beyond their tolerances and are distorting... but not in that good way, in a shitty cheap radio sort of way! Haha! Not good. The Soul Food is the core of my sound, it goes after almost all my gain, I’ve got some joyo amp sims at the end before some tremolo, vibrato, and reverb. Can I live with the Soul Food sound? Hells of yes. I’ve been happy with it for years... and I’d have to call into a pile of money to buy a higher quality, higher priced overdrive... which I’d do... I’ve been restlessly searching for a really low gain overdrive. My amp has three channels but only the clean channel is useable, and it’s got miles of clean headroom, so all of my breakup has to come from pedals...

[@alphanumeric1529]

Listened on laptop, couldn’t hear a difference. Am now listening through our PA, definitely can hear a difference. The Soul Food is definitely thinner and cheap radioy sounding. The Klon is thicker, meaning bassier, smoother in its frequency balance, and literally just sounds better which I PERSONALLY think sounds more expensive, lol, not thousands more expensive, like $50 more expensive, maybe a hundo. The Klon sounds more articulate, like it’s a distortion and gets quite gainy (and grainy) but it’s more nuanced, lots of little details of the guitar’s sound that all add up to a preferable sound. Now, as I started with, on laptop speakers of average quality, no chance, sounded exactly the same. But listening on a PA with a 12 inch cone, not even a good PA, an Alto, I was shocked to hear how different the two pedals sound, as I’ve already watched this video and many others making this comparison, and always felt like the Soul Food was very, very close, if not identical. But I hear what I’ve heard other people say, that the Soul Food sounds thin and cheap. I hear it! Lol! And also, I have and have happily used a Soul Food for several years, and almost as an always on pedal - not always providing gain, but just a little brightness, a fair amount of low end roll off. I mostly play a mid 2000’s mexi HSS strat, always felt the pickups were rather thick, even excessively bassy, so I’ve loved the Soul Food sound, I’ve been in search of a thinner Strat sound. And in general, I like a thinner, cutting sound like a disappointed to an angry AC30 type sound. I’ve always liked the Soul Food because I’ve felt like it delivers that sound, in combination with amp eq, and recently a behringer 7 channel eq that amazingly sounds great (I don’t add any gain with it, no control goes over 0, totally subtractive eq’ing) the pedal sounds great and is quiet. I haven’t played it at stage volume... but loud enough to annoy the neighbors in the next house over and it is quiet. Hearing this Soul Food now, ouch, that cheap radio sound... I don’t really know how to describe it.... it’s not just a low end roll off... it’s a kind of tinnyness... like components in the circuit are being pushed beyond their tolerances and are distorting... but not in that good way, in a shitty cheap radio sort of way! Haha! Not good. The Soul Food is the core of my sound, it goes after almost all my gain, I’ve got some joyo amp sims at the end before some tremolo, vibrato, and reverb. Can I live with the Soul Food sound? Hells of yes. I’ve been happy with it for years... and I’d have to call into a pile of money to buy a higher quality, higher priced overdrive... which I’d do... I’ve been restlessly searching for a really low gain overdrive. My amp has three channels but only the clean channel is useable, and it’s got miles of clean headroom, so all of my breakup has to come from pedals...

[@alphanumeric1529]

Listened on laptop, couldn’t hear a difference. Am now listening through our PA, definitely can hear a difference. The Soul Food is definitely thinner and cheap radioy sounding. The Klon is thicker, meaning bassier, smoother in its frequency balance, and literally just sounds better which I PERSONALLY think sounds more expensive, lol, not thousands more expensive, like $50 more expensive, maybe a hundo. The Klon sounds more articulate, like it’s a distortion and gets quite gainy (and grainy) but it’s more nuanced, lots of little details of the guitar’s sound that all add up to a preferable sound. Now, as I started with, on laptop speakers of average quality, no chance, sounded exactly the same. But listening on a PA with a 12 inch cone, not even a good PA, an Alto, I was shocked to hear how different the two pedals sound, as I’ve already watched this video and many others making this comparison, and always felt like the Soul Food was very, very close, if not identical. But I hear what I’ve heard other people say, that the Soul Food sounds thin and cheap. I hear it! Lol! And also, I have and have happily used a Soul Food for several years, and almost as an always on pedal - not always providing gain, but just a little brightness, a fair amount of low end roll off. I mostly play a mid 2000’s mexi HSS strat, always felt the pickups were rather thick, even excessively bassy, so I’ve loved the Soul Food sound, I’ve been in search of a thinner Strat sound. And in general, I like a thinner, cutting sound like a disappointed to an angry AC30 type sound. I’ve always liked the Soul Food because I’ve felt like it delivers that sound, in combination with amp eq, and recently a behringer 7 channel eq that amazingly sounds great (I don’t add any gain with it, no control goes over 0, totally subtractive eq’ing) the pedal sounds great and is quiet. I haven’t played it at stage volume... but loud enough to annoy the neighbors in the next house over and it is quiet. Hearing this Soul Food now, ouch, that cheap radio sound... I don’t really know how to describe it.... it’s not just a low end roll off... it’s a kind of tinnyness... like components in the circuit are being pushed beyond their tolerances and are distorting... but not in that good way, in a shitty cheap radio sort of way! Haha! Not good. The Soul Food is the core of my sound, it goes after almost all my gain, I’ve got some joyo amp sims at the end before some tremolo, vibrato, and reverb. Can I live with the Soul Food sound? Hells of yes. I’ve been happy with it for years... and I’d have to call into a pile of money to buy a higher quality, higher priced overdrive... which I’d do... I’ve been restlessly searching for a really low gain overdrive. My amp has three channels but only the clean channel is useable, and it’s got miles of clean headroom, so all of my breakup has to come from pedals...

[@jamestlenahan]

As a longtime pedal and amp builder, I did extensive research on the Klon. I'm also an experienced guitarist. I never did figure out what the big deal was. I have several pedals that I like way better. So, there you go...

[@thebird404]

I built a Klon style pedal from a ebay Chinese kit. The parts quality was excellent the pedal sounds awesome I also have a soul food but prefer my DIY build. The irony is people spend hours comparing old klons and claiming gold is better than the silver etc. The truth is the circuit has been available for years if you believe one person was able to purchase every diode of a certain type from everywhere in the whole world you probably believe in the tooth fairy. The differences people hear is probably components like capacitors ageing and going out of spec at different rates.

[@TakZIG11]

great point, no one ever mentions that.

[@cgavin1]

@@TakZIG11 .. or that they are gooped so once those electrolytics do finally go bad you're shit outta luck on your 5 grand pedal.

[@lucasdaspinheiro]

The best comparision pedals video on the internet. Finally someone who uses A/B box!!

[@exsoundus]

Just close your eyes and after a while you can't tell the difference. kudos ehx!

[@lobster272]

It's not that difficult to clone an analog pedal when the circuitry can be easily replicated.

[@johannesnovak8869]

Kindly remember: the ridiculous hype that offends so many is not of my making. Bill Finnegan

[@thomasramsey6642]

Fantastic comparison, you sold me on the EHX!

[@DrKevGuitar]

This is the best KZbin video ever! Makes me SO happy to see the LED switch an virtually no sonic change at all! Makes me even happier than all the videos of preamp tubes not sounding different either. Emperors and their new clothes. Thank you so much for doing this.

[@shredgd5]

The Soul food cuts a little more bass, otherwise the tone is practically the same

[@tombeggs9606]

I agree. I noticed it mostly at the low-gain settings, where I thought he Klon actually did sound a bit better. The rest of the differences were negligible for me.

[@rocchirodrigo]

If the Soul Food was the expensive pedal, you would say that the Klon has more 'air' and not more 'bass'. They're 2 twin analog circuits. And rolling the knob by hand isn't 100% precise if you're up to that kind of detail.

[@Noisehead101]

Even if it cuts more bass, it wouldn’t make much difference in the context of a recording and mix anyway, often the low end of guitars get sacrificed so they don’t fight with the kick, bass etc.. so in that context, it’d be impossible to hear a difference.

[@JRCGuitarist]

Ride Yer Camel Hence the last part of the OPs comment. There is a difference, and yet, they are mostly the same. I have a soul food, and can hear that the Klon has a bit more bass, but it’s not significant, so, they sound mostly the same.

[@JRCGuitarist]

rocchirodrigo Actaully no, I just watched another comparison video where someone compared 5 other clones of the Klon and I could hear that the Klon has an it more bass in it. They aren’t identical, but they are significantly different enough for me to give my Soul Food for a Klon. It’s not all about the cost like people cynically like to assume of others.

[@daveclinton4945]

Time to demo a tuner... :/

[@erenbecomesdovecrying6016]

What is with KZbin guitar players and not tuning their guitars...

[@robertenache8463]

Fart

[@PoorReuben]

If you close your eyes and scroll to a random part of the video, can you tell when it's the Klon?

[@agentsmith7727]

+PoorReuben no

[@thesociophobe8425]

Not really. I have a Soul Food and it's amazing, slight difference in the midrange and bass cut off but it's my always on pedal now.

[@ChinchillupaGuy]

This is literally the first A/B where I can't hear a difference, thank you for that, it's changed my opinion and possibly my future financial life haha

[@kentuckychromedesign]

Love the Trail of Dead lick in there.

[@Harmonic14]

Just build a perfect Klon replica from the schematic for about $30 in parts... Or buy a Soul Food. Both are good options for this kind of sound.

[@DarthEcoli]

Why bother building a clone when in fact the soul food is cheap and already assembled? I have one and love it.

[@bruceshepherdley5270]

$30 in parts ... 13 hours of designing a perfboard layout and building it ... then maybe 30 hours of fiddling around trying to find my inevitable mistakes and get it working :D

[@stevemountford3707]

Great pedal demo. I can't hear the difference other than a tiny bass lift on the klon. Nothing a tweak on the amps input wouldn't fix!

[@voxpathfinder15r]

Sir, this was the best pedal comparison I have ever seen! And to be honest I heard no difference whatsoever between the two pedals. And to all those people reading this who think they can hear a difference and the rest of us are tone deaf - I defy you to tell the difference in a blind test. And any subtle difference I did hear, Erik would quickly tweak a knob on one of the pedals less than a 16th of a turn - and voila instant equal tone. This video sets the standard as to how pedals should be compared on an a/b box and loops, all other comparison videos only prove that substandard techniques of A/B comparisons in other videos bring out differences in tone that do not exist!

[@rRichmoo7]

The Elon does have more low end fullness but the Soul Food come really close. With a tweak of EQ or amp, can get ever closer. Ill spring for the Soul food. Why spend double on the Archer?

[@syduzzamansyd4530]

are you an amp?

[@markplourde3122]

Great demo, quality of recording is superb. While there are slight differences in the context of a band/gig setting no one and I mean NO one in the audience would be able to tell, much less care. I use this line all the time, the people who come out to see you are there to see their friends, have fun and hear some good music. They are not there to inspect and critique your gear. And for $50, the Soul Food is pretty hard to beat.

[@uhdoubleupuhuh6030]

Could not even hear the difference. Outstanding side by side. Best I've seen so far.

[@alarimbaud3155]

Great comparison. I love that you A/B'd them (rather one before the other in the chain), kept the settings the same (and actually went through the range), and played the same thing (even A/B'd with a loop). So many comparison demos clearly try to favor one or the other by fudging one (or all) of those. Also that you demonstrated rhythm and lead - and tastefully, rather than just wanking away. There are slight differences. The Klon seems to have more bass, the Soul Food more of an upper-mid boost. But the differences are very slight and barely noticeable (probably wouldn't be noticeable in a mix, or after being EQ'd on a recording), while the responsiveness and clipping sound pretty much identical. It could even be down to differences in the Treble control itself - and if not, seems Soul Food + an EQ pedal would sound *identical* to the Klon for less than 1/10th the price (maybe even 1/20th with a cheap EQ cheap pedal). Great comparison!

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

Thanks!

[@jerrychadwick3581]

To all those claiming to hear subtle harmonics and overtones and such, I say, "cap." In a blinded test, no way you could tell which was which or probably even that he stepped on the A/B switch if he tried to hide it. Unless you're Mayer or Joe Bon or a trust fund baby, get the Soul Food and work on the tone coming from your hands.

[@camronme917]

I barely hear a difference and that could just be bias. Klon sounds good but it's not magic

[@shadowstorm576]

As a soul food lover I have to say the klon does sound better, more depth, more “tone”. there were some moments where I couldn’t tell the difference, but when I could it was very noticeable.

[@metal571]

Yeah the Klon definitely has a little more low end but it's so slight and if you bought a Klon, who knows if it'd sound the same due to component variation. This is why I just ordered a Soul Food

[@atarirob]

They sound so similar, but the Klon has more presence in the high end and low end. Neither is necessarily 'better', but put it this way, I think £69 is too much for a Soul Food, so you can imagine how I feel about the Klon's price tag! I'll take the old EHX all day long.

[@arnyarny77]

the circuit of the klon is covered with black epoxy or tar, whatever you wanna cal it, the box itself is over sized for the tiny board inside, it looks easy to reverse engineer , remove the tar and identify the components, that klon is in reality only worth $5.00

[@ciroleal]

I just bought my Soul Food. Klon Centaur for 65 USD. Not even the Chinese copies on AliExpress sell for so little cash. Way to go, EHX!!!!

[@marc-olivierjohnson8569]

Soul Food is definitely close enough. in the context of a mix with some drums and bass going it would be impossible to tell the difference. High quality comparison, loved that towards the end u used a pre-recorded loop that way your guitar playing doesnt change. all comparisons should be done that way. and too many people use the Camera's cheap Mic

[@pranavkamath4329]

I’ve listened to both in person and I feel they can achieve the same sound, but the soul food needs to have the treble and drive turned down a hair from the klon, though it’s close enough that it could all be in my head and I certainly would not be able to distinguish anything meaningful outside of an controlled A-B test, the natural variance that occurs in actual guitar playing is more than the difference between these two pedals

[@1airsoftboy]

I don't see a difference. Do you see a difference? you're soaking in it now Madge

[@maurizioferegalli6850]

In a crazy world of madmen, only those who have a lot of money could buy a Klon Centaur at certain prices... Soul Food sounds good anyway, it's practically very similar and with the difference in your pocket you live better.

[@Themology]

To me, it sounds like the Soul Food is the clearer, more transparent one.

[@RH-5482]

Thanks for posting this demo. I was thinking about building a Klon clone, but now I see it would be a total waste of time and effort. The EHX does just fine.

[@CA10Z]

A very good shoot out, regardless what the difference's MAY be. Thank you for your format and this demo.

[@calebdyer9425]

I think it's very clear that the Soul Food sounds pretty solid compared to the Centaur.

[@jer0051]

Great comparison video, I’ve had the Soul Food when it came out for like $66 why pay 6-10 grand for a pedal that you can get that close to the sound at a fraction of the price.

[@twidget59]

Best comparison of the two.

[@JordanAF808]

So I had a gig coming up and I didn’t have an overdrive pedal, I usually use the overdrive of my amp. So anyways I had barely an hour to test out a couple pedals and move on, so I picked out a few pedals, the Boss super overdrive, the plim soul, and the soul food. The boss was too bright, the plim soul was cool but more aggressive, the soul food was just what I wanted. It goes from a clean boost to thick overdrive and anywhere in between while keeping the tone of the guitar. I was really impressed. Later I check out youtube and see all these videos comparing it to the klon... ok! I can barely tell the difference! Pretty stoked on my buy. Good job ehx

[@theblessedmess6339]

The Klon's superior tonality is quite obvious @7:30.

[@mattmatthews5414]

The Blessed Mess dammit. I watched the whole video waiting to hear a difference.

[@svT647]

The sound I hear is Klon owners weeping!

[@ade2064]

That is close, there is maybe some tiny differences on certain settings, but really minute, ehx did a great job, especially for £50!! Might pick one up today!

[@baldbearded9601]

The a/b switch makes this the best comparison of a Klon vs a Klone online.. great job!

[@bram3205]

well, the klon sounds great. but the fact that the EHX sounds just as great makes the klon look silly :P

[@gabrielvigneron1710]

They are very similar, but the Klon has a little bit more body, which doesn't justify the price. Nice demo, by the way!

[@shakeyperspective3981]

Well done man...great comparison! My vote is for the Soul Food.

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

Thanks!

[@ljm_2011]

my good sir, this video is one of the best i have seen to date. Either you are really good with tone, or the Soul Food is supposed to sound like the klon and you are still really good with tone. Either way, it is a fantastic video

[@stephen9944]

Nicely done! Should be a video everyone looking to spend $250-$3000 for a pedal EHX kindly sells us for $60-90 uses for reference. Love mine right in front of the JHS Muffuletta, pushing it over the cliff of craziness.

[@fflazerus]

In terms of tone, what you get for the price of a SF is unbelievable!! Great demo!

[@theothersideisjustashard3237]

wow-im going to get my 60 dollar centaur tomorrow-ie soul food!! yeah! thank you!

[@simonr7097]

You can often hear bigger differences between two units of the same model (because of variations in component values, notably pots)!

[@theothersideisjustashard3237]

this is one of the best side by side tests on youtube-thank you

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

+56 strat Thanks!

[@RevMishka]

Excellent Comparison video! Solves the question of why would I spend 5K now for a Horsie Klon or nearly 3k for the plain Klon when for $65 I can get a Soul Food (which I Have)? Duh....

[@mikenorman6697]

Very often in comparison videos (amps, pickups, guitars, basses etc etc) - I can normally hear the differences - even when others say they cannot. I'm really struggling on this video to tell these two pedals apart. It might be more obvious "in the room" - but on this KZbin video it is very very very close. I think I can hear a little more body/presence/clarity on the Klon and perhaps the Soul Food is a tad more fizzy at the top end...but it sounds more than acceptable. It would be interesting if you had an identical amp for each pedal and set up each amp slightly differently to get the best out of each pedal - and then see if you get the Soul Food to sound even closer to the Klon....

[@froloffanton]

Literally no difference in tone. I'm absolutely amazed.

[@Bwitish]

Dig the Trail of Dead riff. Thanks for posting this!

[@stevebell4853]

Thinking about copping an SF. Only difference I can really tell here is that the centaur seemed to be a bit fuller, due to what sounded to me to be a slight lift in a bass frequency that the SF didn't have. It's only minor and most people wont be able to tell. Give me soul food over a myth any day of the week. The centaur has become to pedals what Dumble is to amps and neither is worth it compared to what else is out there at more realistic cash levels. Video just about convinced me that copping an SF is the right thing to do.

[@RandyRugarMusic]

The soul food is the best investment I have ever made musically. I used a ts9 for years found this last year it's unbelievable sounds just like a Klon in my opinion

[@barry3045]

Yeah, they sound exactly the same. Great video.

[@bluesman5049]

The difference, of course, is in the price. What do you think if the contents of the components were simply moved from one box to another? I believe that even then there would be those who would say that Centaur is different-better. Do you use your ears or your eyes, "that is the question now"

[@ericvan955]

the AB box may the most efficient way to test tones :)

[@orlandopelletier5036]

agreed...way to many dudes run pedals in series which is no way to do it in my opinion. Ideally, I think people should play a riff and save it on a looper pedal..like the boss rc-1 which has dual mono/ stereo outputs...then patch the signal into the boxes your trying to compare then run it into a ABY box and then on thru the to the amp... I always wondered why no one botheres trying to save the riff onto a looper when comparing pedals - it seems like a no brainer to me that way you can assure the pedals are getting the exact same sample riff to give the listeners a fair and unbiased idea of what each pedals sound like...not to mention it frees up your hands so you can fiddle with the knobs and try to match tones as someone in this thread mentioned before you cant compare pedals by just matching the knobs positions on both pedals, it simple does not work that way.

[@ericvan955]

+Orlando Pelletier cannot agree more haha

[@Min4Mass]

Give this guy a medal!

[@orlandopelletier5036]

Andrew Harrington lol, screw the metal ,gimme a pedal!

[@ryusin1]

이정도로 차이날줄은 몰랐네요 영상 잘 봤습니다 고마워요 ^^

[@riniones]

superb comparison, really well done. Very useful, thanks!

[@wadeguitars]

I have an original Klon, KTR and the SF on my board...the SF is the so close and sounds great. I highly recommend the SF.

[@pensive_]

The Klon has more Bass and it was how I could pick it out accurately. Klon does sound nicer in the end, but they are very close.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

To be fair - things have more of a tendency to sound similar if you hammer away at them full tilt all the time, that's not likely to bring out the dynamic differences and the nature of the response. I do hear a difference. The soulfood is like a "lower resolution" version of the Klon. A little less chimy, a little less defined, a little more harsh, dirty or cardboardy here and there. Is that subtle difference worth the difference in price tag? Probably not. But soundwise it is the difference between a passable and and a fully realised version of the same sound.

[@Yohootie]

Great video. They both sound good. Very little difference. I see you use the Mulder patch cables. He makes the best speaker cables too.

[@Subtle-System]

Very good video and very good comparison but the dudr messes with the output on the klon at the begining of the video and they both sounded identical, after tha the Klon sounded louder and fatter... But you achieve the same tones with the soul food for sure... Even though as it is now, I still think is highly underrated. Can't wait for the Peacekeeper conparisons soon... I just got my first thorpy the "Muffroom Cloud" and it's the highest wuality pedal both in built quality and amazing tone and dynamics... Truly impressive, his peacekeeper is the Klon Killer . But I love my Soul Food and I love how cheap it is!!!

[@stevesheroan4131]

Maybe not EXACTLY the same,but I agree this the best video comparison I've seen. The notion that the difference in these two pedals is worth more than 100 bucks (let alone $2000+) is laughable to me, but maybe I'm just too old and deaf, lol.. Hey, if you can tell THAT much difference, have that much money, and it gives you that much more mojo, then by all means get yourself a Klon. I guarantee that the guy who built the Klon is laughing about it to himself.

[@ripilot17]

Best A/B pedal comparison on KZbin. Great job man, I'm buying that EHX pedal now

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

Thanks!

[@Tommy712rus]

Some difference is not in the sound but in the dynamics.

[@strassercaster]

the Klon is warmer and fuller by a slight bit. I would say the only difference is from the diodes. The electro doesnt come with the germanium diodes and the Klon does that's the warmth and the fullness right there. I was going to buy one of the the 95 plus dollar kits . I think i will just get the soul food and swap out the stock diodes for a couple germaniums.. great demo

[@pizzapie4me]

I heard the opposite. Not about to run this through a frequency analyzer to find out who's right, though. No point in paying the price for the real thing, when the ehx is so cheap.

[@strassercaster]

+Brett Arnold i HEAR YA, i HAD AN ORIGINAL FOR A WHILE I have made 9 of these and done tons of experiments.Its a great pedal for mild overdrive. I do think it sounds best with the russian d09 diodes .350 forward voltage . It sounds good with lots of different diodes. I actually have mine with assymetrical set up

[@megame9564]

Some of these tones may have matched perfectly with a little adjustment. Seems you were comparing with knob placement, but there's variance from pedal to pedal what values those knobs are actually putting out.

[@megame9564]

Great video BTW, not a complaint, just an observation.

[@holzy2360]

The ehx is ever so slightly more flat but its hardly noticeable. It makes every bit of sense to save your money.

[@Cesnakov]

do not let absurdity destroy humanity

[@OW79]

Great demo! The difference is negligible, the tone is so close that a 90 euro pedal will win every time. Who brings a 1000+ euro pedal on stage on the regular?

[@mozz7946]

OK, Well...after a significant experience on shoulders about the sound quality as a seasoned player and audiophile I can say you what you do not hear in this video: 1) you don’t hear the amazing open but cristal clean high end of KLON against the SF that makes a huge difference; 2) you don’t hear the mid frequency response character of KLON against the SF that’s different as day and night; 3) you don’t hear that natural push and gritty articulations of harmonics that KLON adds on your amp but SF doesn’t. So this is the difference between 17Usd raw material/components pf SoulFood total cost Vs 750Usd (at today’s money) total production cost of Bill Finnegan. 1N34A legendary non-compressive clipping diods of 1950’s lot of production makes a huge difference. Sait that, I respect so much Electro-Harmonix company since I personally use an original stereo polychorus and big muff to create my main sound texture.

[@davidboyle5763]

Was the buffer switch inside the housing switched on or off for the soul food? The Soul Food stock should rise after this video, best shoot off video I've seen. It was nice to watch this after seeing that recent Andertons video shit all over the Soul Food

[@Mr._Digital_DaydreamZ]

The soul food sounds a bit brighter..which can be adjusted by rolling off the tone knob on the guitar. I think I can objectively say they sound too close for comfort for anyone who's dropped 5 grand on an original klon

[@godbyone]

When jeff beck the klon he sounded smoother ,same guy same eq,but when he started using the klon fatter sweeter tone.i saw him every tour look back at old videos, his playing was a 10 but but a little thin ..

[@martinreid1740]

great comparison. In a blind test I don't think anyone could tell the difference.

[@Pugzley319]

I've always wanted a Klon as they are the Dumble of gain/OD pedals. I really have to listen super hard to hear the difference and it is SO minute. 3 grand vs 85 bucks is an easy choice. I'll be buying a soul food within the week. Way to go EHX for making the best clone of a boutique pedal I've ever heard. I've always been impressed by their products. I have a big box Russian Big Muff and will soon have a soul food now. Best A/B comparison I've ever seen/heard. This is how I choose amps. How a decided to get a AC15 over a AC30. The sound is so similar and a 1x12 is way easier to lug around rather than a 2 x 12. Especially when you run two amps. I use a Bogner Alcemist and a AC15. I run the Bogners clean channel with a bit of gain for a clean with breakup channel two with quite a bit of gain and use the AC15 for cleans. It think running a would food into the vox will be am excellent addition to my rig. Will probably get rid of my Blackstar HT Tube distortion pedal.

[@Tommy712rus]

wdym dumble?

[@ManeshwarSingh]

wow. I guess the end does prove that the A/B box works LOL but that's a damn good pedal. Didn't get the hype until just now.

[@jaylamb1434]

Great side by side. That's the reason why I bought a soul food. Thanks for sharing.

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

Thanks!

[@jotalagarta]

Hi! Amazing video, all pedal reviews should be clones like this!! Just one thing, would you buy Soul Food to play Pearl Jam, Oasis or Sonic Youth stuff?? Any other recomendation? thanks!

[@fiftypeehead]

Hmmm, I'm thinking my bum notes would sound about the same on either pedal

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

+Matt Campbell Stop playing with your bum.

[@fiftypeehead]

+TheBigMclargehuge never!!! A mans bum is his own private Kingdom

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

Matt Campbell No I mean stop using your bum to play guitar. Try your fingers. (on your guitar.)

[@fiftypeehead]

+TheBigMclargehuge okay if you think it might help then

[@CLaw-tb5gg]

+Matt Campbell Bladders references improve everything :D

[@12166971]

The best comparison . Great .Thanks xxxxx

[@2368CHRIS]

Soul Food kicks big ass on the Klon

[@upmarketcrayon]

the only difference is the klon is a bit higher gain when the volume is lower

[@alvaroalarcon6015]

Great review...the ehx soul food is a amazing pedal for the price...i can't hear a significant difference!!

[@rednebb]

Great comparison, they sound virtually identical, apart from the end of the video, when they produce distinctively different high beeping tones with the gain maxed out.. What causes this?

[@LivingroomGearDemos]

+Ketil Strand Not sure - but it's not the pedals. Might be the A/B box or the power supply.

[@Grant_Ferstat]

Had a Soul Food, Klon KTR, Rockett Archer and none of them came with in 20% of my Silver Klon on my settings. I actually really regret selling my Silver Klon truth be told.

[@mauromalatesta]

I think that the Klon bites a little bit more with gain after 12, maybe 1... But juuuuust a little

[@AlexOlivari67]

You need a tuner on this board pretty badly.

[@mateuszkaczmarczyk3645]

I just want something that will bring some light breakage to my solid state sound, but will be fully transparent anyway.

[@raviolitrail]

I could tell the difference in the first few switches after that I stopped caring. Close enough. I have krk vxt's btw.

[@haveguitar]

As far as I know the Soul Food is built on the same circuits as the original? For its price thats a great pedal! Great video too 👍