Behringer Pedal Clones: Which $30 Boxes Are Actually Worth Buying

Quick read: Behringer's pedal catalog is a mix of legitimately good clones (where the chip family overlaps with the original and Behringer didn't cheap out on the surrounding circuit) and clones that miss what made the original work. The pattern is consistent: when Behringer used the same chip family as the source pedal, the clone gets within 90% of the original sound. When they substituted a different chip, the result is "an effect," not "the effect." The verdict for twelve common Behringer pedals is below. The build quality is what you'd expect at $30 — plastic enclosure, thin paint, jacks that won't survive a tour — but if you're playing through headphones at home, on a kid's first board, or carrying a budget backup rig, several of these are real.

I have an HX Stomp on the coffee table after the kids go to bed and a backup rig that lives in a drawer because I don't have anywhere to leave a real board out. The drawer rig is six Behringer pedals in a soft case. They cost me $180 total. Some of them are surprisingly real and some of them aren't, and I've spent more time with cheap pedals than I'd care to admit because the budget is the deal — twenty minutes after bedtime is the time I have, and a $30 pedal that I don't have to feel guilty about leaving on the floor is worth more to me than a $300 pedal I have to put away.

This is the honest verdict on twelve Behringer pedals, ranked by whether the budget actually buys you the sound.

The Pattern: Chip Overlap Is the Predictor

Behringer's good clones and Behringer's bad clones are separated by one variable: did they use the same chip family as the original pedal, or did they substitute something cheaper?

When the chip overlaps:

• The VD400 uses Cool Audio V3205 BBD chips — same chip family as Boss DM-2 and the modern Way Huge Aqua-Puss. The analog delay sound is real because the analog delay circuit is real.
• The TO800 uses a JRC4558 op-amp clone — the same op-amp family as the TS808. The Tube Screamer sound is right because the clipping section is right.
• The CC300 uses MN3007-family BBD chips — the same family as the Boss CE-2. The chorus sound is real because the chorus circuit is real.

When the chip doesn't overlap:

• The HM300 uses a TA7136P op-amp instead of the TA7136 the original Boss HM-2 used (and Boss has since switched to digital anyway). The high-end voicing is wrong and the buzzsaw character is missing.
• The EM600, RV600, and UC200 are all generic DSP-based pedals. They have "an algorithm" but not "the algorithm" — they don't clone the source's specific voicing, they just provide a similar effect category.

This is the single rule that predicts whether a Behringer clone is worth the $30. Look at the chip. If the chip family matches the original, the clone is probably real. If the chip is generic DSP or a substitute, the clone is "in the genre" of the original but not "of the original."

The Real Ones (Buy These)

VD400 Vintage Delay

The VD400 is the surprise winner of the Behringer catalog. Real BBD analog delay using the Cool Audio V3205 — the same chip family that's in the modern Way Huge Aqua-Puss MkIII. We covered the VD400 vs. Aqua-Puss head-to-head in detail; the short version is that the VD400 sounds like an analog delay because it is one. The build quality is plastic and the switch will eventually fail, but the sound is the real thing.

What it sounds like: warm, slightly modulated analog delay with repeats that decay into a soft mush. About 600 ms maximum delay time. The modulation isn't adjustable but it's there, and it's tasteful.

What it's wrong for: tight slapback (the modulation gets in the way), digital-precision dotted-eighth (it's not that pedal), or anything where you need delay times above 600 ms.

SF300 Super Fuzz

A three-mode fuzz at $25. The first mode is a Boss FZ-2 voicing, the second is a Univox Super-Fuzz mid-scoop voicing, the third is a more aggressive distortion. All three modes are usable. The build is plastic and the switching is mushy, but the sound is real fuzz.

What it sounds like in mode 2 (the Super-Fuzz mode): octave-tinged scooped midrange fuzz, the sound on early Stooges records and J Mascis solos. It's a $300 pedal sound for $25.

What it's wrong for: anything that requires gentle pickup-cleanup behavior. The SF300 cleans up acceptably with the guitar volume but not as articulately as a Fuzz Face would.

TO800 Vintage Tube Overdrive

The TS808 clone. JRC4558 op-amp, symmetric clipping diodes, the same circuit topology as the original Tube Screamer. At $30, it gets within 90% of a TS808 sound. The 10% that's missing is mostly in the smoothness of the diode clipping — the TO800's diodes are slightly harsher than the originals — but at $30 it's a real Tube Screamer voice.

What it sounds like: midrange-pushed soft-clipped overdrive, about 6 dB of midrange bump, soft compression at higher gain settings. The classic blues drive sound.

What it's wrong for: if you already own a TS9, a TS808, or a Maxon OD9, the TO800 isn't going to give you anything new. This is a pedal for a player who doesn't have a Tube Screamer yet.

TM300 Tube Monster

Boss MT-2 Metal Zone clone. Same JRC2068-family op-amp, same midrange contour switching, same gain stage architecture. Behringer cloned the Metal Zone faithfully and the result is — well, it's a Metal Zone. If you want a Metal Zone, the TM300 will get you there for $30 instead of $100.

What it sounds like: heavily scooped high-gain distortion with a parametric mid control that lets you reshape the scoop. The classic 90s metal sound that everyone has opinions about.

What it's wrong for: subtle drive (it doesn't do that), or any application that doesn't fundamentally want the Metal Zone voicing.

CC300 Space Chorus

Boss CE-2 clone using MN3007-family BBD chips. The CE-2 sound — that lush, warm, slightly seasick analog chorus — is the result of the BBD circuit specifically, and the CC300 has the right BBD circuit. At $30 it's the cheapest way to get a real analog chorus.

What it sounds like: warm, wide, slightly modulated stereo chorus. The Andy Summers / Robert Smith sound.

What it's wrong for: tight, fast, modern digital chorus. That's a different effect; the CC300 is unapologetically vintage.

BSY600 Bass Synthesizer

The Boss SYB-3 clone, and possibly the most underrated pedal in the Behringer catalog. The SYB-3 went out of production years ago and used pedals run $250+. The BSY600 is $50 new and the synth voices are surprisingly close. Eleven different synth modes, an envelope follower that tracks well at low and middle range, and a wet/dry blend.

What it sounds like: bass synth voices ranging from analog square-wave growl to filtered sweep to octave-down sub. The mode 1 setting is the canonical "bass synth" sound and it's the right voicing.

What it's wrong for: high-position lead lines (tracking falls apart above the 12th fret on most modes) or hyper-precise modern synth voicings.

AB100 A/B Switch

A passive A/B box at $20. Nothing to mess up. It's a metal switch and two jacks. The build is acceptable for stationary use; not great for tour but fine for a home rig.

The Mixed Ones (Buy with Caveats)

VT999 Vintage Tube Monster

Behringer put a real 12AX7 tube in this pedal. The marketing leans heavily on that. The problem is the rest of the circuit — the tube is operating at 9V (starved-plate, not full power), the circuit around it is generic op-amp distortion, and the tube isn't doing the heavy tonal lifting. The result is a high-gain distortion pedal that has a slight tube character on top of an otherwise plastic-sounding clipper.

What it sounds like: aggressive high-gain distortion with a slight harmonic complexity in the midrange that the all-solid-state competition doesn't have.

The verdict: if you specifically want a starved-plate tube character at $40, this delivers. If you want a real tube preamp pedal, save up for an Effectrode Blackbird or a Catalinbread Belle Epoch — those have full-voltage tube circuits that operate the way tubes are supposed to.

HM300 Heavy Metal

The Boss HM-2 clone. Behringer used a different op-amp than the original, and the HM-2's signature high-end buzzsaw character — the part that makes it the sound of Swedish death metal — comes from the specific high-frequency clipping behavior of the original chip. The HM300 gets the gain structure right and the EQ controls right, but the buzzsaw character is dimmer.

What it sounds like: high-gain distortion with the HM-2 EQ contour (low and high boost, mid scoop) but without the full harshness of the original.

The verdict: if you grew up on Entombed records and you want the actual buzzsaw, save for a real HM-2. If you want a high-gain distortion pedal with HM-2-style controls and you're playing at home through headphones, the HM300 will get you 70% there for 20% of the cost. That trade is reasonable for a home rig and unreasonable for someone trying to get a specific record sound.

The Skip List (Don't Bother)

EM600 Echo Machine

A multi-mode digital delay aiming at the Strymon El Capistan / Boss DD-7 territory. Generic DSP, ten "tape echo" and "modulated delay" voicings, none of which are convincing. The latency is audible at fast settings, the modulation is unmusical, and the high-end voicings are veiled. The VD400 ($30) is a better delay pedal for a fraction of the price; if you need digital delay, the Boss DD-3T at $130 is the real entry point.

RV600 Reverb Machine

Same problem as the EM600 in the reverb category. Generic DSP with seven "modes" labeled Plate, Spring, Hall, Room, Modulate, Gate, and Reverse. The voicings are flat and the algorithms feel synthetic. A Boss RV-6 at $150 is the real entry point for digital reverb. The Mooer R7 at $100 is a better budget alternative.

UC200 Ultra Chorus

Why does this exist when the CC300 is the same price and uses real BBD? Skip and buy the CC300 instead.

The Build Quality Reality

I'm not going to pretend the Behringer build quality is what you get from a Boss or a Way Huge pedal. The enclosures are plastic. The paint chips. The jacks have been known to come loose. The footswitch on my SF300 started getting flaky after about a year of casual home use.

For a touring rig, this is a problem. For a backup pedal in a soft case, for a kid's first pedalboard, for a home rig that lives in a drawer when you're not playing, the build quality is acceptable. The cost-per-sound calculation works out fine if you're not stomping on the switch a thousand times a year.

A $25 pedal that lasts two years is the same effective cost as a $100 pedal that lasts ten. Sometimes the cheap pedal is the right deal.

The Honest Recommendation

If you have $200 to spend on a starter board and you don't already own any pedals, here's how I'd allocate it:

• Behringer SF300 — $25 — fuzz
• Behringer TO800 — $30 — overdrive (or skip if you have a Tube Screamer)
• Behringer CC300 — $30 — chorus
• Behringer VD400 — $35 — analog delay
• Boss TU-3 — $90 — tuner (don't buy the Behringer tuner, the Boss is cheap and reliable and has a polyphonic mode that actually works)

That gets you fuzz, overdrive, chorus, delay, and a real tuner for under $215. It's not a pro rig. It's not going to last a tour. It is enough to play music on, learn what each pedal type does, and figure out which categories matter to you before you save up for the real versions.

For a more sophisticated approach to budget rigs that uses fewer pedals more thoughtfully, our $500 gigging rig guide puts together a small board with a couple of mid-tier pedals instead of a full Behringer collection. Both approaches work. The Behringer route is the cheapest entry; the mid-tier route is the longer-term investment.

The pedals you buy when you're 14 are not the pedals you'll be playing through at 30. They're the pedals that teach you what you actually want, on a budget that lets you keep playing while you figure it out. That's the deal, and the deal is still worth taking.