Tony you are the best gear reviewer I believe in the world. Your knowledge and how you take every piece of gear apart and explain is incredible. No one can compete with your channel. Hope all is well! You are the man!!
Dear Bobcat... very kind opinion... and I understand completely. I like these reviews too, but some out there simply just watch either only playing (which is OK) or sales videos (take your pick). In fact that was the main reason for making this type of review - often reviews are shrouded in benefits to the reviewer or are made simply to sell gear. I try not to be biased and to present the best opinion I can about anything. But the internet and social sites are what they are, I'm often dismayed at what some call reviews showing 1/2M views in just a few weeks and I look at those and I question the whole thing about how those videos get that many views. Some of those type of 'review' are really simply sales videos as I said and seemingly some people like that sort of thing. Oh well. It can be frustrating to say the least. But with guys like yourself at least it's worth the effort... thanks for watching. Stay safe.
Firstly there is no amp in the GE300 of course, so an suitable amp and FRFR speakers should do it. That's rather like my Kemper really. Use the main outs, but it also depends on what's on the chosen amp for connections I guess. You could put the GE300 through almost anything... even your hifi :) input to that and play :)
Correct for the tone. But the simulator in these things does not simulate the amps wattage output - just the tones so to speak... so if you have POWERED speakers they have an amp in there designed to accept that sort of input. You could send the GE output to many different amps of course - with some varying results depending on the amp... but speakers with amps in is a good choice. Thanks...
Sure... I get that and I'm sure there are many guys that use this stuff in that way... I liked this pedal in any case and seemed a great bargain for the price... stay safe.
Contents: 0:00 Start 0:12 Preamble and Introduction 1:01 The GE300 Secrets no one talks about 4:05 The Main Processing Advantage 6:42 Inside Technology & Quality 9:16 The I/O of the GE300 13:09 The Firmware Upgrade 13:32 About Editing Software 15:35 The Manual 16:17 Possible Firmware U/G Issues 18:38 Why the GE300 Really IS Different 22:27 Silly Plastic Parts! 23:11 Hardware Overview 35:45 Main Screen View & Features 50:13 The Effects Block in Use 1:20:59 The MOOER Studio Software 1:22:57 Using the Editing Studio Software 1:31:18 The GE Labs Software 1:33:45 A GE Labs Problem 1:35:16 GE Labs Features 1:45:30 MOOER Studio Downloads 1:48:17 Summing Up & Conclusions 1:54:41 Review Score 1:57:40 Playing Track 1 09D Liquid Lead 2:00:15 Playing Track 2 13A Plexiii 2:05:42 Playing Track 3 02D Dream Lead 2:11:12 What I failed to demonstrate... TBC!
I actually bought one and really love it. Most TH-camrs don't like this or it isn't popular . You do some great videos and I'm learning a bit more about my GE#300.cheers
Ignore the haters there are many that don't like product A or product B. What matters ALWAYS is that the unit works for you and you like it! I liked the pedal too :) and thanks for watching and your informative post.
Just found your channel Tony and Thank God! This is the kind of review these items need not sponsored influencers who make a living doing “Honest” 😉 reviews. Cheers
Well I know exactly what you're saying and I started to make reviews after listening to sales reviews for years. I have always tried to not be one of those, but I guess that 'real' reviews actually sell the products anyway :) Thanks for watching.
When Tony gets his chopstick out. You know that we're going deep into the guts of something! I've been looking at this thing for a couple of months and I think I'm going to buy one. Because from what I've heard, it's well worth the money. So thanks for the review and reinforcing what I thought.
Now listen... not many people have seen my chop sticks :) Clearly more useful when I'm just messing inside a real tube amp, but they work on anything - even noodles :) The tones I have on here were literally pre-sets with very slight adjustment generally in reducing maybe an effect or something. I liked the tones for this pedal but they might or might not work for others. But when it was right then you can just tell it. I could have shown lots of pre-sets and I did record some just a few chords on some of them, but in the end I left them off because that's what all the others do :). I set it up for me and those were the sounds I got with very little messing about. BTW I did not use the software other than to demo in this video... there was not much point as most stuff can be got at right on the unit - which is pretty much a first from all the units I've checked. If you get one... do let me know your thoughts too - I always like to see what other guys think compared to what I found. Thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks Tony, I'd like to thank you for putting the effort into these 'deep dives' and demonstrations. It makes purchasing things [or not] a lot less complicated when you've answered practically every question anyone could have about a product.
Well much appreciated. After I have completed one of these (and this one is as long as any) it's easy for me to sit back and watch it myself :) There's always far too much to take in when I'm creating the videos and harder to remember as I get older for sure. So I go back and watch it a few times when I have a spare bit of time. I see to many products really and it sort of mingles together exactly which one did what :) In any case thanks for watching this stuff.
You're right most reviews skim over lots of stuff. While the videos might be long there are sections so I'm sure it helps many either looking for a specific or want the whole info about the product. Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial you're totally right! After watching LOTS of reviews, yours helped me make the decision, I just bought this unit. Thanks again, have a great day.
Great video Tony the prices just went up lol this is why I love your videos because you show what’s going on inside and explain things that other people don’t or won’t do for that matter.
This has actually been a labor of love in some ways. It has taken literally weeks to create it and although I could be criticized by some for this video, actually I think that going through it in this way does show the unit in a better light than many who ONLY play to sell the unit, and they often never show the reality of things. Try and find a video that tells you that the expression pedal has no switch under it and you have to assign one of the others to shift in the wah (for example). I'm so used to just clicking the wah? But you're right... and the research I did not a single 'review' out there told the story of dual processors right there for all to see - and that equates to more power (as fractal audio once said) to use for effects etc. Ha I did not know the prices went up? I only bought this a few weeks ago. Thanks Ricky for watching... and for what it's worth I think this one sounded pretty good really. Stay safe.
Invaluable Northern soul, bless for the transparent and the insight, the dry humour and the flashes of wit, what a depth-charge of a review of this powerhouse box
The last 10 years I used a GT-100. Still sounds incredibly good, but still I don't know, where to find some features. Quick editing a sound on stage is impossible. Bought an GE 300 and I am happy with it. Sound good, easy to use, all parameters are on the front, on dark stages you can identify the switches. Great. The software might be simple, but it does its job and the display doesn't show you the amp as a picture and that is good. You decide with your ears, not you eyes. I see only one minus: The lettering on the front panel (light grey on dark grey) is nearly illegible
The GT-100 was/is still used by many. This GE-300 is good value for the money really, but it does have a few awkward things re usability going on. The lettering is abysmal and not really designed with being used in mind I completely agree. Agreed, the tones (and the feel) are what is actually important... thanks for watching.
The "silly plastic parts" (transparent buttonheads) are actually very smart and useful. SInce I use them, I hit the buttons much more easily, especially on a dark stage. These transparent mushroom shaped buttonheads increase the buttonsurface and the light underneath them, since they reflect these lights too, making it much better visible in a live situation. And when programming the Ge300 at home on a desk, it`s more comfortable to press the buttons with the fingers with these plastic heads, than pressing the bare metal knobs, which really annoyed me at the beginning, when I had my Ge300 brandnew. My Ge300 came without these transparent buttonheads, so I had to buy them separately and I`m happy with it, I don`t wanna miss them! Just my two cents. 🙄😄
No - its great that you took the time to post your opinion - its a cool pedal and the more guys that post opinions the better actually, so thanks for watching and that post!
It is not only a dual dsp, but also that infenion arm mpu on the right down corner of that dsp board is also acting as a third dsp .Due to the ge300lt which without the arm dsp and still working,I think the arm core is only for the programmer to do the synth part of the job,the ge300 has multi string synth engine,and is done by the third dsp.
Hi Tony, I just purchased the GE 300 from GAK, the first thing I did was to update the firmware as recommended. Well it didn’t work I downloaded the app and followed the instructions and I started the download and had a message MCU timeout. I tried a number of times to update and had the same message, I then changed USB cables and tried a different port and still got the same response. So I messaged Mooer support no response and I sent three more emails. So back to GAK and spoke with a representative and explained the situation, they came back to me and requested I send back to them and they will send a replacement. However having trawled the forums, which is a pain it would seem that it could be the Windows Operating System and others have had a similar experience. Namely that I have Windows 11 on my laptop, so sorry about the long message have you come across this issue? I have asked GAK to update the replacement before they send me a new GE 300 to me.
No I did not have that problem... but listen to this. I have had massive trouble with a Sony camera update. By the way, when you update it, you can't un-update it on the camera. Silly me updates to V2 (FS3 camera) and it was horrible with many faults. Well over 1 1/2 weeks for support that did not answer it until yesterday... then ah we now have 2.1 version install that. I downloaded it and went to install - I followed the procedures and have had practice so to speak. It would not install. In my case, it turned out to be the CABLE - even after going through two... the third cable (a tatty old thing) worked, the shiny nice-looking ones were rubbish. Check those cables, and I doubt its Win 11 I have been on that for ages. Come back and post what happens - it will help many. So that was my Sony story, and I have seen cable issues historically on music gear... Thanks for watching and I hope it helps in some way.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks Tony for responding, still waiting for GAK to send me the replacement, I have asked them to update before they send the GE 300 to me! Watch this space! Have a great weekend.
Hi Tony, Recently found out about your channel through the Headrush MX5 video that you did. I was so surprised to see that you take a very unique approach (literally inside out) for every piece of gear you review. I’m in the market for a multi fx/modeller and I’m having a really hard time deciding what to purchase. I am a firm believer of keeping things simple and not lug around heavy hardware (amps/cabs) and I’m all in for 100% mobility (I have a hernia and can’t get it fixed at the moment). I see that you rated the Mooer GE300 a 9/10 and the Headrush MX5 a 6/10 and I understand the conclusive scores are subjective, but it’s unexpected for me to see that you scored the GE300 so high. Given the fact that it does not show parallel processing, does not have a global EQ (i might be wrong) and sounds slightly thinner to me. That being said, option paralysis is also a thing and if you’re assured about quality control you just need to use what you have to its full potential. I think I’ll be going ahead with the GE300 on the basis of your review. Thanks for all your hard work!
My advice is this. Each device I look at is sort of 'similar' in the areas of simulations and IR's. The effects are generally all good on all the devices. But there is one thing that actually does stick out... and it relates to compromise and/or complexity. Firstly, compromise: You would find, if you take each one and try and use it, that each device has this or that (let's not be too specific) that has been generally cut or changed from the top end units out there. So for example the GT-1000 is 'similar' to the GT-1000CORE, but there ARE operational differences that can affect the work flow. Some guys will tell you 'what work flow' but when you own one then the work begins. In the case of the CORE it has near enough the same number of slots for effects/simulation etc. that the GT-1000 does. But there are cut backs in the hardware that are in plain sight and maybe some of the connectors are different (they are) etc. In the case of the GE300 I could not get on with the wah not actually having a switch under it and you have to program it for a wah. Might not bother many, I thought it was horrible. I won't single out any specific brand really but what I would say is firstly consider VERY carefully the size of the unit and the connectivity. Then the free slots and the power of the device. The above CORE was pretty exceptional for the 599 it cost. But that's not always the case. Think of the GE300 as having TWO separate software apps which to be honest IMO should have been just one. It's a pain. Once you have all that out the way then we turn to the second problem from what I have seen - complexity. Complexity will rear its ugly head when you buy a device that is probably offering more than you actually need. From what I have seen the so called 'professional' devices (no names) are generally offering a huge plethora of things you can set and it is likely that MOST guitarists would not understand the term, let alone use the feature. And as the complexity increases so does the then massive learning curve unless you just use the presets... you know, the presets from ANY maker that users always tell me are rubbish! Those presets. It all becomes hard work. My advise is get the hardware right first for your exact needs. Listen to the tones off the device with the setup that you have or that you want it for. Look on forums for problems being reported. (Don't waste your time asking users if they think 'brand X' is the best (that they own) because not one of them will tell you their gear is anything but the best... and that's a fact.) ALWAYS consider what is used for the making of the device including the components if you can find out and where it's made sometimes (but not always) has a bearing on longevity. Try and determine that where the device is made and if the production is managed by the actual name on the product... for example Apple manages the Foxconn production? Western management regarding the quality aspect and QA is I think sometimes better than some unknown company from some far off land production because often they have no one to really answer to... (that is just an opinion). And you know what, even then you might get the wrong device. Onl;y YOU can tell whether the device you buy is right for you. I try very hard to create a video that tries hard to show what others do not - like the warranty length and many other aspects that are actually important but no one from the sales videos will ever mention. Longevity relates to hardware, warranty and importantly how long that operating system will be supported for the specific device. I have Apple gear today that CANNOT be upgraded to later OS versions. Hope it helps a little and I can assume most likely that I have mentioned some aspects that are obvious but most people never think about them. Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial unless I'm misunderstanding you, Tony, the GE300 does have a toe switch under the pedal to switch to and from wah etc. The amount of pressure can be set by the user (if I remember rightly, it came set requiring rather a lot of pressure to activate...but if you go into the settings you can adjust it to taste.) I agree that it's a pain if there is not always a wah available in a patch...I think it should have one in every single preset. (I believe the Pod Go that has that?) It's easy to go through each patch to add a wah and then save it, I suppose, but it would have been better if it had come like that. Great review...and a relief to see/hear that you thought it was so well made and the 9/10 rating. I am slightly nervous that if it develops a fault it will probably have to go in the bin, because Mooer's customer service is pretty poor and I don't think they'd entertain it being sent back for repair. I think it's a great unit, though...and not just for the money. Cheers, Tony!
Thanks for the info... maybe I missed that somewhere :) I never got it to operate as I expected it though and seemingly you have to program the switch you mention or another... Ha I honestly went around in circles on it. But I'm not perfect for sure... :) On every single pedal of this genre (i.e. lots of them) I see the things inside even like switch rails etc. and I do comment that 'maybe' we could buy another replacement if it failed... but you know what, I don't REALLY think that. I could see me or some repair guy either fixing a board in a not too easy way or even getting on made via China as the cost is less for that now... but then there's the drawings etc. hassle. Yes I like the Mooer GE300 but I also thought that the program(s) they have should have been integrated in to one rather than two sort of alien to each other apps. That was a bit weird, when I see everyone else having in general one app. MX5 has no apps and that can be fun. But yes I liked the Mooer unit as well. In fact great for the money... and thanks for watching... appreciated.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks for the reply, Tony...and keep up the good work! Your reviews are unique and give much more insight than the vast majority that are done by "influencers" who are sent the item by the manufacturer! Rock on! 🤘😎
THANK YOU TONY!! This is the BEST review I seen so far (and probably will ever see) on the 300. I have the 300 lite and I was about to send it back since it sounded so bad right out of the box. Now that I watched your review I think I will keep it. Thanks again..
Well DJ thanks for those very kind words. These long ones really take a toll on me and as I get older they are harder to complete... ha by the time you get to the end you forget what you did or did not say! But I try and create the best I can. Unfortunately it makes them long. Just FYI I only tweaked the pre-sets I used for about 20 seconds each! So in my book with little change it can sound pretty good (and from a guy that loves tube amps that IS a compliment to them. It is not perfect in the way it works on this one and you do have to sit a while with it, but most are like that. In any case... I trust yours is good and thanks for watching. Stay safe.
I finally watched the whole thing, your reveiws are long, but great :-). The physical build of the GE300 looks really high quality, i say this as someone that has worked with electronics as a service tech for over 30 years. The GE300 seems like a good deal now that it has gone down considerably from what it cost initially.
I know that is a long video and well done for watching it through. I tried very hard to create a definitive review of the GE300. It's an impressive piece of gear and for the price its great value. Here in the UK cheapest as of May 16th 2021 its about £510 but for what it offers that's a low cost. I thought the two applications idea was not perfect and if they made one out of those two they would improve the product no end... it extended the video review because I wanted to show BOTH of those as each has its merits and the software is really an integral part of the whole pedal. Thanks for watching this and stay safe too.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I agree about the GE labs app, it seems strange that while you can load the "profiles" that you can create in the GE labs into the GE300 (and others) which also seems like a great feature, there is no other real connection. As im not an Apple user I dont like that it only can be used on those devices, would like to see a windows app, like a VST it would be great if you could profile amps with the computer and use them in the DAW as well as the GE units.
You get all the virtual stuff in some mega-package which you call the Helix, or Headrush, or Boss GT-1000, and you have to give up a kidney and a lung to get them. Then, comes Mooer with its GE300, costing a quarter or maybe a third of what those cost, and justice is served, the stars are aligned once again, the universe is back in order, and no banks have been busted! Go Mooer!!
Woah what is that, who dare to doing surgery to devices that will be reviewed, really inside out, this is definitely the best Mooer GE 300 review I’d ever watched By the way, may I asked your opinion? Mooer GE 300 vs Helix Rack that you owned (assuming with the latest 3.11 firmware updates that have increased oversampling feature that supposed to increasing the audio quality also), regarding the sound quality solely for comparing each unit, which unit do you prefer, more pleasing to your ear? Which amp simulation that you thought to be closer to the real amp? Can you give each unit score based on that (maybe score scaling from 1 to 10 for each unit) Really appreciate sir 🙏🏼
Thanks for the kind words. I already own a Kemper Rack and a Helix rack. While the GE300 is pretty good in it's own right, I do NOT personally buy the Helix for the tones of simulations (for example). I use the Helix as a master rack controller and for effects and use a real tube amp with the 4CM for the tones that I want. The GE300 is a good pedal for it's price and I thought the sounds were very similar to most in this genre. But there are a few funny things going on re the slots available as I showed in the video. For me that was important and I never got used to choosing a wah from an allocated button.. weird. The best unit IM
Glad you like this stuff. I always thought that as well as hearing the gear, it IS important to see exactly what you are buying in any product. Honestly if I believed everything I saw on the promotional and sales videos then every product would be perfect... but sometimes I find less than perfect things that should be disclosed. Put another way, had I known on some of it I absolutely would not have bought it. Thanks for the kind words and for watching.
Really awesome in-depth review! The only thing I have to address are the 'silly plastic parts'. I haven't looked into it but I would assume they are for home use where you often use your hands and bare feet to press the switches. There the plastic things come in quite useful since it's just a lot more comfortable with these things on there.
I was surprised to find them 'in the box' and they did seem at the time a little gimmicky to me. But good point with the hand use etc. which I did not really consider in the review. A great point I missed - ha I'm not perfect and that shows it right there :) Thanks though for watching this was a difficult review to complete because of the huge amount of stuff to cover.
Well it's good to know that this video has helped you with questions etc. about the GE300 unit. I thought it was not a bad piece of gear. Thanks for those kind words.
@@tonymckenzieofficial i finally got my mooer ge 300 I have a fx level switch on the back of my marshall amp i was wondering what setting you would choose be best for my new mooer ge 300 processor should the FX level switch be selected on +4dbv or -10dbv its a valvestate 2000 avt 150
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thankyou Tony i have been finding my self going back to your review on the mooer from time to time just to refresh my self with as i'm finding it quite a lot to take in. Cheers
Oh I know what you mean... there was so much to the unit. I spent a long time on the manuals and messing about and still could not remember the stuff (blame my age!) but as you use it more you'll be fine :). Thanks.
Hey Tony, excellent in depth review. If you are still wanting to check out some modelers, I would highly recommend checking out the Hotone Ampero. They are inexpensive, but a lot of the reviews I've seen show that they can hang with the higher end modelers like Helix and Axe. It would be very neat to see the quality on the inside. I will say that I have owned a few Hotone products and while I did not open them up, I will say that they were great in terms of sound quality and reliability
Thanks for the recommendation about the stuff you have experience with... always a good idea to listen to guys that watch my channel and often I do travel that road. I'm going to continue to look at the technology because well, maybe I should. And of course I always open the stuff up to ensure no sneaky nasty things hiding inside. Scarily over the years I have found many in different products. So thanks for that and I'll bear it in mind for future review materials for sure. Stay safe too.
Hi Tony, i am about to downsize things to avoid have amps and cabs with me on the road, I know this FX modellers are not 100% the same soundvise as a real amp and cab but I think with a good IR installed you can get this type of modellers to sound really really good. Just give the sound tech of the house one cable and you are all set, well maybe an active monitor to hear yourself on stage. How ever. I am thinking about spending maximum about 700 Euro. I would like your opinion about this: Mooer GE300, Line 6 Pod Go, Boss GX-100, Headrush MX5. I would wanna stay away from a used one due to the fact that I want warranty and be able to return it for something else or money back. This is my first FX modellers since the early 2000 so all this new stuff with IR´s and stuff like that is all new for me. But I see that there is some really good IR´s to get really good sound. Thanks very much.. :D
Well you have a massive choice IMO. Of the ones you mention, the MX-5 seemed to have a small screen (bearing in mind there is no software), the GX-100 I liked at the time although again depends what you want. Mooer have a whole range of gear, but the ones I have seen are good value, but sometimes have quirks that might or might not get resolved and the Line6 Pod Go again offered good value. If effects are not too critical the Kemper Player should be considered because above all the tones can be very good (I recently reviewed that here: th-cam.com/video/kGxDd-Gddn4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hRjGPw6l42mqbMR1 and it was interesting. Bear in mind there are 22000 captured amps with the Kemper player to download and one of the best for that out there. It can't capture, but to be honest there is no need for that. Effects wise its sort of basic, but you can add those to it. Consider them ALL - and absolutely try each one to see if it fits with your style - which I recommend otherwise its easy to buy the wrong thing. Hope it helps and thanks for watching.
You're 'hanging' with the wrong crowds :) and I agree - however when you're reviewing close up to create as decent a review as I can, the tiny manual on the cell phone certainly does not work. The printed manual for that purpose is perfect and I do that for most in depth reviews. There is so much detail that otherwise you really don't always see if its not printed. Good point, but now you know why I say it :) an thanks for watching.
Dear Tony! I really love this video about ge 300. I have an issue with mine, I notice an almost half second latency when I change between presets (factory presets too) I already updated the latest firmware and did a factory restore. Could you suggest something? Any advice would be helpful! Thank you so much!
Take a NEW preset, put as little in to that preset as you can. Then create a second similar but different name (of course).. then see if that improves the latency and or switch times etc... if not get the unit looked at, and if it does are the presets overloading the processor... thanks.
I'm looking to get the GE300 Lite, its less filling, the layout is similar to this GE300, much more intuitively laid out than any processor (owned dozens) I've ever had.
I have seen many... and over time one sort of molds in to another - all pretty similar I guess. In any case thanks for watching if I did not say that before... and hopefully some of it was worthwhile... let me know what you get and how you found it when you have played with it a while...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks for the video. I'm taking one more stab a a good distortion pedal, the Empress Heavy, I need only two OD and distortion but class, not the cheap stuff, if that doesn't work I'll go with the Ge 300 or Ge 250 . The Empress is 300 bucks, I had the Friedman BE OD, and the mxr 5150 , they're in the same price range and awesome, but neither can give both great OD and Great Distortion, so thats why I'm going to try the Empress, one time, and hope, it can give both. I don't believe a processor in the GE 300 price range will ever give the majestic OD and Distortion that comes with a high dollar pedal, but then the processors offer so much more in terms of cool effects. shrugs.... the quest continues. Take care, and thanks again..
Hi Tony, even though this was a very long video, I was hoping this might prove useful because now that used prices have really come down, I was toying with picking up a GE300 as it has some interesting features that I really like. I liked your presentation style, but in all honesty there was a fair bit of repetition and I think you probably could have covered off everything in half the time. But I realise & appreciate the effort you put into it, so thanks for doing it. From my perspective, and I've been playing for some 50 years now, I am interested in the quality of tone & feel, ease of use and gigging functionality in a compact, light-weight unit. The MFX unit I currently use for gigging is a Vox Tonelab SE (I have the LE too as a backup and use for rehearsals sometimes). Whilst old tech from 2003/4, and without complex features such as snap-shots, tone capture, IR importing, latest modelling algorithms etc, the quality of valve-like tone and feel, and ease of use live, with real dials and no issues re DSP limitations, is still hard to beat - the modelling quality still holds up surprisingly well, and these units were well ahead of their time. These original Tonelabs therefore remain the yardstick that I judge MFX units by. However, although built like tanks, these units are big and heavy, especially the TLSE, but I gig with the latter over the LE because it has dual expression pedals, A/B switching in the same patch, and a separate knob for cab models. The ability to change an amp, cab,FX or add an FX in 2 seconds via dial shouldn't be underestimated in a live scenario. But size & weight are a big consideration, hence I wasn't interested in the Helix LT; I want to be able to easily carry gear into a gig in one trip with minimum set-up and packing away time so I wanted something modern, light, compact, easy to use, and great sounding for live use. So, last June I picked up a Pod Go to play with via headphones and through a Headrush FRFR108 during lockdown. It sounds superb, is incredibly light & contact, has a huge range of amp,cab, fx models, space for 128 IR's and has a lot of nice features including snapshots, but as with every MFX unit, some limitations too. I love the ability to kick in a global wah in every setting without having to program this in, and the display is very clear. The current inability to name multi-footswitch operations, change colours, and name snap-shots is a nuisance but Line 6 has confirmed it wants to add these so I'm hoping these will be added in the next upgrade. The short, thin PSU isn't gig-worthy but unfortunately that's true of a lot of new MFX units including Mooer, Boss & Zoom. The combination of fixed and user blocks is a mixed blessing and even one extra user-block would really help its versatility even with no extra processing power - but sadly Line 6 confirmed it won't be changing this. As it's always nice to have options, hence my interest in the GE300 to compare 'gigability' for my needs with the TL's & Pod Go. The greater processing power, assignable multi-control switches that you can name and change colour (sorry if i missed it, but did you mention you can choose colours?), solid build, tone capture, allegedly (and until I have one to play with I won't know) easy tweaking from the unit itself, are some of the features that appeal. But there are downsides too. Whilst the GE300 is a handsome looking unit, trying to see the control labels printed in black on a reflective background is a real problem to see, particularly on stage, and is why many users have had to add their own clearer labels. And as far as I seen from the manual (and I was hoping your vid might have been able to clarify here) I don't think it has the ability to set the expression pedal globally in every patch to switch between volume and wah like the Pod Go. And whilst the unit has dual processors, I think it would have been helpful to have put this in perspective because the Sharc processors come in different 'flavours'. This means that when comparing twin chip MFX units unless you know the type of chip and processing power in each, you don't know if you are comparing apples with apples. Unlike Pod Go, as far as I'm aware, it doesn't have 'snapshots' - the value of these is instant switching within a patch without latency delay when switching patches. I was hoping your video might have had more informed technical detail here. I also have some concerns re Mooer customer service in the UK, based on various forum feedback - have you had any personal experience with them?
Pushed for time right now... too many posts... but thanks as this is a very useful comment Richard - and it IS appreciated. I have zero personal experience of Mooer and warranty so I can't say its good or bad but if they don't reply then its bad. Personally I would expect better than that. Thanks Richard... and for all that info and watching. The wah with no default switch I found strange...
My MAIN concern is where would you get this repaired if needed? AFAIK, it's only available via Amazon in the USA (Amzn has a $79, 3yr & $105, 4yr warranty). I agree that having white text on stainless steel is quite dumb! With most everthing else being really good, I don't get how they missed that? At least the display graphically shows where your modules are so you can scroll to them... but that takes much longer. If you could easily see "Delay" on the unit you press the "Delay" button and make changes between songs or during a drawn out note/chord. The PC software isn't as beautiful as the MAC but it gets the job done! I'll be using the PC Software a lot as my unit will be on the floor... as it is during live use (to ensure the switches are correct), not on my desk.
Thank you for the internal look ... Mooer should market this! I have a GE200 that I keep in a gig bag with a guitar and I'm always impressed with the sound I can get from it ... now I'm very curious what's inside. :-D
It's always good to know what you bought! Often it's all hidden. Some tell me it's irrelevant - that is, until theirs stops working :) In any case sounds like you love yours - they are great value for the money I think. Thanks for watching.
I have a Mooer GE300, but it no longer outputs audio. I took it to an electronics technician for him to check it, but he requires a diagram to see the specifications of the integrated circuits. The technician mentioned this to me: 6 operational with 8-pin A16N. I'll look forward for your answer. Thank you so much.
Great review Tony as always. In fairness to Fractal the Axefx 2 was released in 2011. I’m amazed the processor is still available but I’m not amazed that the price is now lower. I’m sure a second hand axefx 2 is a comparable price to this based on each units usability etc.
I understand that of course... but the Helix was released later and that too has the same SHARC processors... but at a higher price. I don't believe that the SHARC processors at the claimed $500 each ever were that price - it was purely bull***t from others who really had no answers at the time. That's the internet for you :) The FX III has a $68 processor in there! :) oh well... stay safe.
Atomic were selling products with duel sharc around that time for 500 quid ... didn't get the same advertising tho.. I have a AA12 think it was 5-600 quid and sounds brilliant but now this is out I think I'll go for this because it has way more amp models amp capture and tone matching lol
Hopefully by now you realised the GELabs software you reviewed has nothing to do with the hardware? The software is a standalone iOS version of the hardware which is why it needs an audio interface. As an iOS developer of many apps I can tell you that I sell many more on iOS than I would ever do on Android, and since 50% of modern day phones are not capable of running said software it was a wise informed choice to introduce iOS first.
Great comments. In the USA Apple appears to be 'god like' of course. And even in the day job I have Apple was the 'first choice' for apps. For many years I spoke up and mentioned that Apple (at least in my market) was about 10% of the sales of Android platforms and it might have changed a little but I doubt by as much as some might suggest. The general concensus re Android from the various people I know was that the platform was 'forever changing' and unstable and update after update negated some of the gains from Android... I stay generally away from the opinions these days, except to say that many companies that I know stopped ignoring Android and IOS and moved what they do to a browser - then the wars of the apps cease. The cloud and browser await... :) Thanks for the post... and for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Yes, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all the hard work you put into these videos, they are so informative and clearly described, you deserve 100,000 subscriptions!!
Thank you kindly Steve for the very nice comments - alas, it is a slow process on TH-cam when you have a subject matter that is really minority stuff. It might be hard to believe that it is minority stuff until you watch a video of how to clean a car windscreen with 3.5 MILLION views. That says it all. Maybe I should make a guitar brand, sell them on the Internet and through 'famous' dealers, visit the dealers and comment how 'great' my guitars really are and how they are great value? Act like an idiot (some say I do now!) and then just for the fun of it, threaten other TH-cam users... surely that is worth about a million subscribers? :) oops... sorry I think someone else did that... oh well, back to the 26k channel. :) But seriously... thanks for the kind words. Now smile :)
Oh you have to choose! Each unit has it's good and bad points and it also comes down to the style of music you play (just my 2 cents) because they do have variance of tones and other features... of you hate software get the MX5 as it has none... The GE300 has I think most features and the POD Go is still a reasonable buy. GE300 does have some funny things re the usability... thanks.
Indeed I might. I have had it a while... but not too easy to play for me... I probably will review it inside and out but hey don't laugh at my playing with that thing :). Stay safe.
Did you find any way to stop the pause/gap when switching between fx or presets? I love this pedal but I cannot believe they do not have a snapshot or scenes - like solution for this issue...
Hi Tony, thanks for this interesting review. I just have one comment to make. I believe that when we pay Boss, Line6, Fractal Audio products we don't directly pay for the processors and hardware costs plus profit but rather, to some extent, for the modelling research being done and the years of experience with such techniques as well their proprietary research on the field. As a person working in (quantum) system identification I can confirm this can be something extremely time consuming and the salary of a researcher/developer in the USA/EU/Japan is definitely an order of magnitude higher than the corresponding salary in China. Would you agree?
That's an interesting point of course. But one I think is flawed a little. Let me explain. Hardware on each and every unit carries a cost. So does the shipping from the Far East to destination. Every single one. In the case of the firmware/OS development that goes on and on and on, my logic says there is an 'element' of the OS cost placed on each unit to arrive at a true cost for the device. Device = device + ship + dev cost = hardware cost. The 'on going' firmware/OS costs are not quite as some might suggest. The OS surely does change, but the cost is almost (if you will) on a 'rolling road' or conveyor belt... that never stops, but the originating 'old' devices can often (but not always) benefit from simply because the maker bothers to support the 'old' devices until they have 'had enough'. And a really good example of this is Apple. That's a company that will support 'old' devices until they have decided it's time for YOU to buy a new one or get left behind until the device no longer operates other software or has compatibility issues, or the hardware fails. IMO that is clearly the only way you can attribute a return on investment. Of course they all build in obsolescence. Look at 'Windows 11' to OS that was never being released... a classic way to make even three year old devices not upgradeable and thus making the owners 'feel' left behind. Factually they ARE left behind because once the 11 gets going the unsupported OS will become rapidly riddled with many issues not the least that other software will cease to run on 10. While in the case of the PC it's clearly not entirely the same, but hopefully you will understand my thinking on that. Trust me, not a single one of those companies does ANYTHING for free, never has, and they never will. I know of no technology business that creates a business plan that includes hardware where the costed time for OS and the like is 'given away' as some people might think. I have been involved in some of the manufacturing process of equipment and there is no doubt that the firmware was never given away, no matter how much someone might 'bleat' about or even brag about it as a company. It's an interesting way of thinking that those companies are somehow 'friends' with the client to the extent that it 'costs the company money' and they simply throw that to the wind. Ha personally I think that's fantasy land and having managed a company since 1981 I guess I have some idea about it all. But an interesting post :) and thanks for waking me up :).
This is old, but I think I once read that Sony PlayStation takes a loss for every unit they sell for a number of years. They make their money by having great games until finally the hardware research and development costs are met, then the profits begin. I have no clue if that even matters in your conversation. I didn’t go to the best college 😂
Good point, but make no mistake they are charging you for every nut and bolt. Not just MOOER, but every brand that makes simulators etc. I have never seen a poor one yet. Thanks for watching.
I love you Tony... these are my favorite videos that you do!! Your guitar spray shed was also top dollar but when you are taking apart multi effects pedals you are in your element... thank you for all of your hard work, intention and enthusiasm... :] playing bass the whole time stu
Listen... someone has to play bass :) my best friend does it too :). But I'm sure like him you do more too :) These reviews like this take such time to make but I also learn from every one I make so likely there will be many more products to see - shortage it seems right now... no 5150 III Stealth or Mesa Badlander etc. :( but I guess they will come and I can't wait for them. Marshall September time. Thanks for the kind words and stay safe.
Wow! I’m very surprised it does have a dial sharc dsp...but Tony, regarding the quality of the effects and scenes/snapshots that the other units have, how would you describe or compare?
In fact how I see it, the GE300 DOES have an equivalent to snapshots... called sub-pre (or something like that) they basically do the same thing. The quality of the effects is pretty much like most out there and certainly better than many. If you remove the VAT at 20% this costs £440.00 or $595... good question... stay safe.
Hi there, when i record overdriven/distorted sounds with mooer Ge300, the recorded sound is too noisy, awful. The hardware is updated. Do you have any clues? I bought it 3 months ago as brand new
I would consider the recording side of things. You don't mention how or what with. Also, back off the distortion/drive somewhat as you probably don't need the distortion/drive you think you need when recording in my experience. Tell me more about how you record? through an amp? Which amp? and how wired? with a mic? which mic? through a cab? which cab? If going direct to a desk, ensure the outputs are setup right in the settings area... and if you're using IR's (should be for that) then find good ones :) but I would look at the distortion/drive and experiment a bit. Let me know how it goes.... and thanks for watching.
The SHARC processor I doubt was ever $500. Indeed the most current processor being used out there that I am aware of costs $68 (I think they were) and I guess like most computer stuff it all moves on. What's todays processor is tomorrows junk :)... remember Cyrix processors? But thanks for the info about the Amplifire 3 which I have not yet got to look at.... so many processors... so little time :). Stay safe and thanks for watching.
Hey Tony. I recently got the GE300Lite and I was wondering if you used USB or a separate audio interface to record your tracks. I'm currently a bit stuck, as recording directly through USB is comfortable, but for some reason all my tracks are really quiet, forcing me to add 8+ db to each of them in the mix. Maybe recording through an external audio interface is a better idea? Cheers.
Actually (many might baulk at this but I have my reasons) I used a good old microphone :) and also just audio out in to the desk... sitting there loading up the studio PC with driver after driver can be a problem, so often I don't use the USB. Check the overall output because you should not have to do that...
I've just bough the GE300 2 days ago and your video has been very useful in guiding me on how to use it! So a massive thanks Tony :) BTW the prototypes were dark in colour, god knows why they changed it - that white text is very hard to read :( But that's the only downside so far! It sounds awesome.
I came across this video (and your channel) looking for what MFX unit to upgrade from my Mooer GE200. Thanks for showing me how great the GE300 is as a unit - it is very impressive compared to the GE200 and it seems to be better than everything else in my price range
Well however you found it - thanks for watching. I have tried hard to show what I found with every unit I have looked at - and I DID buy each one so there's no half truth reviews here. I have never used the GE200 myself though. On the GE300 the switching for the wah was a bit weird... I'm used to real wah pedals in one unit and I never really did solve the wah switch. Other than that it all seemed pretty good especially for the cost. Thanks and watch out for other similar reviews as the gear comes out - but at the moment its all a bit slow with chip problems and shipping woes from generally the far east and not so far east - like Mesa in the USA. Oh well...
Well thanks... it can be very hard on the YT stuff and internet in general but at least I try :). I always felt that most reviews I used to watch were not quite what they should have been... and about 10 or 11 years ago started to make as honest reviews as I could. Ha and here I am still going :) Thanks... and if someone gains from the reviews thats exactly why I make them.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I can tell your reviews are very honest & that you know what you're talking about regarding the internal tech. And your playing is what I would call "very fucking good" so I feel like when you're talking about all the stuff in your videos it's pretty safe to say you know what you're talking about. And your voice sounds just like my dad's lol - which I think only adds to your trustworthiness in my books!
I have always tried to show how a piece of gear is for me - and I buy near enough all of it just like anyone else - I think that is extremely important because all those that get 'free gear' or similar something for nothing then review really are compromising their own reviews by doing that. Me? if its great I say so and if its bad - I say so... many don't like that I show exactly what I got and that I review ina particular way, but there is no point of any review that simply hides the truth of their experience. I'm not perfect, and over the years I can mention something that turns out slightly different of course, we can all make mistakes, but in general over 360+ videos I think I did a pretty fair job and hopefully helped many guys decide if something really is like a maker suggests, or is not what they typically say. It's been a very long ride and I have seen so much gear. Of course it also has cost me a small fortune! Ha I do have an accent from the area where I live - some suggest Liverpool UK but I don't live there. Thanks for watching.
How do you use the triangle loops and the other two by the volume pedal. What what I need to do if I wanted to place a tube pre amp in the mix with my soolid state head. The Moorer doesnt cut it. I would like to use a tube pre amp and the morrer for effects. Thanks.
Well I never said its the best since sliced bread :) and there are some funny strange things when using the pedal. I never got past the fact tat theres no on/off for the wah pedal and I had to use a different switch to turn on and off... weird. So there is compromise I agree, but it is lower cost than some units out there. I do think the GX-100 is a better implimentation of what I would want though. Thanks for the info and for watching... appreciated.
Hello! Can you please tell me?does the mooer ge 300 have a function of mixing a pure signal with an amplifier and cabinets?and also with modules as an example of phaser? I mean to mix drive or auto wah with a pure signal. Thank you in advance🙏
Currently I fell in love with model GE-300 Lite which is much smaller in dimensions without that pedal but retained its power also having two SHARC DSPs on board !!!
Tony, this is an awesome video that I have watched a few times! A keeper! I agree the Mooer Studio is very basic and not at all well designed like the Zoom Guitar Lab software. The realistic amps, cabs and effects coming out of this are amazing and make up for the lame Studio software in my opinion. I absolutely love the amps in this thing. Thanks, I subscribed!
The 300 lite arranges its preset and patch banks into banks of 3 which is not enough sometimes, I wonder if it has a mode 3 like you showed us here where it could throw up on the screen 6 presets or patches at a time, accessible by 6 the 6 corresponding foot switches. The 300 is organized into banks of 4 which is what I like and again, you can go mode 3 and put up 8 presets or patches at a time, that's a lot.
22:55 Those little mint thingy's are a God Send. You don't have to use them if you don't like them, they are good if you're barefoot, and great if you're wearing any kind of waffle boot, they don't get jammed into your shoe. No reason that you are required to use them. I put them on all my pedals. In this case it might put buttons too close to each other though, just to be fair in this observation. You can also get these in aluminum, that's what I have , they look better to me.
Amplifiers and speaker sets that are what they call FRFR basically flat response type of gear will work. If there is coloration on the internal amp or speakers offer similar features well you can get them and they will work. Ha I even used an HH PA amp once for the Kemper amp I have. Sounded fine to me at the time. Today I have a 100w stereo amp that really is FRFR type and to be honest, you need good ears to tell differences - many will tell you they always hear anything which may or may not be true... so if you can try some then I would. Great question BTW and thanks for watching.
Thnx for reviewing this ge300...ive been eyeing for this product but never have the guts to pull the trigger because still searching for the right product for my back up gear. Since ive been coming from fractal world especially an old ax8, im impressed with the i/o of this ge 300. Might be the best for its price range. And this more compact than the ax8. How is the built of the ge300 is sturdy enough? Btw have u ever reviewing a strymon bigsky? Is that thing can be repaired?? Mine had a glicthing screen. I know its old but i wont have another strymon cos it soo expensive. Keepmup the good work Mr Tony and keep safe 🍻🍻🍻
The build I think is pretty good. Take another look inside and compare directly with the POD GO that I also recently looked at. You will see very similar components but this is dual processor... the POD Go is not. I think this hardware is more nicely finished too than the POD GO. Compare the POD Go finish - you see unfinished embedded screws in the top of the POD... finish on this GE300 is excellent. There are some 'funnies' though. For example from what I see the wah needs a control pedal assigning for the on and off of the wah. I'm used to pressing the exp1 pedal and hey presto... but I never made it work that way - seems the exp1 is exp1 only. I think the software is nicer for the POD GO... BUT - you can do most stuff from the hardware on the GE300... a bonus for sure especially on a gig. I liked the sounds of the GE300 too. The POD GO is not junk tones though although I found the GE300 tones pretty instant and the POD GO less instant although they are there. I did 'buy' a pre-set or two for the POD GO but they never sound like the guy that created them :). I never had to buy any tones pre-sets for the GE300 but did download a few free IR's which proved unnecessary for my sounds you hear on this video. Hope this helps. I have NOT reviewed a Strymon Big Sky... In fact I think I only ever reviewed ONE Strymon item - too expensive to me. I remember the days when they were some other company name and that gear was nothing special for sure. However, seems many latched on to the Strymon brand (but maybe less so to the previous name) so who am I to criticize! Most gear can be repaired these days - but I always consider if you can buy a sub assembly in all my reviews because changing the board might often be cheaper than the labor involved. In any case... thanks for watching this and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial "you see unfinished embedded screws in the top of the POD." if you mean the hexaganol shapes it's not actually 'unfinished' Tony it's the manufacturing technique that actually adds strength. Interestingly, there are other units out there that are similarly made with the 'hexagons' including the Vox Tonelab SE/LE's - and they are built like tanks. And whilst the GE300 looks great with its brushed satin finish, as you, me and many others have agreed and commented on, the graphics are virtually unreadable - the Pod Go's white lettering on matt black is eminently more practical and so much easier to read. It would be nice though if all these units had fibre-optics to light up all the graphics so you can read easily on a dimly lit stage. And the Pod Go's ability to switch globally on any patch between wah/volume without programming is a godsend for live playing, as are the snapshots for seamless lag free changing. For all its dual-chip processing power I simply don't understand why Mooer didn't add global volume/wah and snapshots to its flagship MFX unit - just seems bonkers. Perhaps they'll add these in a future update.
What I meant was easy enough re the inserts... you see them! Like should not really be seen on the top of a unit like that - its less aesthetically pleasing and just IMO made the POD Go look 'cheaper' made than say other similar gear. On the rest of the GE300 I agreed... the text colour was horrible and I said so - along with the brushed surface top. The pedal is not perfect, but for the money it cost, it was without doubt a very exceptional deal. I have owned Helix since it's release personally and the Line6 equipment is in general better than the Mooer equipment (just a personal opinion), but ALL of the lower end devices are cut back in one way or another it seems. Something less cut back was the Roland GT-1000CORE but again, it costs more and offers in other respects less than other actual hardware... but it does have 24 blocks that can work at once and with basically a free reign of what they are (well almost). Snapshots on the Helix (mine is a rack version) are a great idea of course. I do think that now the market is getting very full of so many different pedals and brands that for anyone looking at the less than £600 ($750) sector of the market that it would certainly be a very confusing time for them especially if they are new to simulators. Generally guys will buy this stuff from sales reviews (I'll call them that) that show lots that the buyer might never actually achieve and so the buyer then 'falls back' to how the units look and make choices that way... which is a pity really. Anyway thanks for the info.... all useful stuff.
This is educating me on something I've had for 3 months lol and it's only making my purchase further appreciated.. I only wish I got a doggone 2yr warranty :c
A number of guys say that - but achieving subscribers and viewers remains a hard task... maybe the 'sales reviews' would result differently. Stay Safe... and I doubt I'll 'sell out' anytime son. :)
Great review - thank you! Is there an effect or patch that changes the pitch (to avoid a capo)? I tried the Mono Pitch FX 35 but it fed in the original note and didn't sound at all good.
I have the GE300 and our other guitarist has the AxeFX II mk2 XL+. There's worlds between them. Also the Mooer isn't reliable (at least mine), it just went off during a gig, and another time it raised the switch time between presets to 2 seconds (could only be reset by switching off/on). I'm going for a Line6
There is five times the price between then when the Axe II was new? MOOER don't always get it right I agree, but neither does Fractal. I own a Line6 Helix and that is very good. The Kemper is also excellent and I don't have trouble with either really. Thanks for watching.
Im stuck between ge300 and pod go. Im gona use mainly with power amp, and for recordings. Im a bit scared for pods go plastic bottom and expresion pedal though.
I have never heard of the plastics breaking though... each has their curiosities for sure... and I did also review the Pod Go here: th-cam.com/video/kXEnbBHPPDA/w-d-xo.html and hope it helps...
Thanks for this Tony. I'm trying to find out if this thing can store loops and recall them later? And if so can they be recalled by the foot switch is how do you have to kneel down and find them somehow. Would you happen to know?
Looper sessions can be stored and backed up for import /export of audio files they say. I did NOT try it because I don't really use loops but there you go - in their words :) and thanks for watching.
Can you put two of the same effects next to each other like two of the same distortions with different settings so you can go back and forth same effect different settings live in the same patch ? I just got the Valeton gp 200 and you can't do that. And how does it compare to Boss GX100? Thanks
Honestly I did not try that. I later sold the unit to get the cash to buy the next item for review. I did review the GX-100 here: th-cam.com/video/yeNSRYmm_rE/w-d-xo.html and hope it helps... thanks for watching.
You know JJE , that's exactly why I make video reviews... so guys can appreciate them. Some don't but hey this is the 21st century of the wild west :). Thanks.
Thank you for this in depth review. It was the reason I purchased this unit. I like it very much but I think the buttons are too close together and I find my foot hitting two at a time, many times. I hate being so careful. Is there a way to use this as a pedal board only? I can not seem to find the info.
Yeah I get that, and I can see that it could be a problem. Maybe this bit: th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html could be the answer but it does not placate the close switches. Of course you could use a midi switcher that has better layouts etc. There are many on the market... but then it all starts to cost, and the complexity increases where sooner or later something might well stop even at a gig. But you raise a good point. If anyone else has any ideas do post them... and thanks for watching...
Yes you can, using the 4 cable method described in the manual to bypass interna amp and cab simulation. You can then affect desired effects to footswitches (and even choose each color)
Very interesting video sir! Any chance you 'd review the GP200 from Valeton as in depth as you've done here? Its a great up and comer and alternative to the POD Go.
Tony, I have tried every Amp modeller out there and when it comes to playing through an amp they all fail. Wondering about the GE300? Most of these uunits have good effects but sound way to processed and scratchy for amp and drive models. Every you tube clip sounds great but I will assume they are all through powered FRFR. Have you tried this 4 cable through an amp?
Don't be surprised... you're generally right! :) I have tried most of them very close up. Check the reviews of the units I have looked at because my reviews try and show the real tones as most ordinary guys might get initially at the very least. The GE300 is interesting especially for the money, but it (like all of them) does have some funny things that you could come across. The Wah had to be turned on and off with a switch... as just one example. I never solved it and gave up on that. I did NOT try this 4 cable and although I sometimes take some units and do that, generally I don't. But I either simply go in to an amp, or I go direct to desk depending on time. If I go in to an amp then I say so in the video... and then always use a mic to record from that. For the 4 cable method I use on a Helix rack with its controller pedal in to a Marshal JVM410HJS Satch amp and then I don't use the amp sims. To be honest, in the studio we generally use tube amps but have on occasion used these types of effects units... but not really that often. Obviously for reviews I try and create a very simplistic approach as many guys would when initially using the gear... but there can be some good sounding units and of course the 4cm helps considerably with tones if you are going to use the simulated amps. Check those reviews as I have looked at most of them and always played at least something at the end - sometimes good and sometimes less so, but it's not put together in a way that makes the unit specifically sound perfect - as I don't think that many guys get that particularly early on. Here: th-cam.com/play/PL6E22694F35860D41.html you might well have seen them? or not... there are many and the last one I completed was the GX-100 - a pretty interesting pedal, but it all depends what you want to do with it... hope it helps Dave...
Thank you Tony for your time and this valuable video. I am currently looking for this kind of unit and it looks like my choice will be set on that one. also because I am reselling the Boss SY300 - I found many similarities with the synth function provided by the GE300 - but also for once, seems that programming this unit is probably one of the easiest as far as I can see (and with my experience of other units I had in the past like HD500 pod, Boss MS3 and some more...)
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks. I've been comparing to this one, but the GE300 seems to work better for me. the only funny thing is... all them pedalboards with a pedal, they all have the same problem for me : pedal is always on the right handside... and I'm left handed :) (my wah pedal is always at the extreme left on the pb) so I will have to get used to it . seriously, just ordered the GE300.
Great point on the LH approach - and its something RH guys probably never even consider - I didn't for sure. Do let me know how you get on with the GE300 - it is an interesting pedal. On the Wah, I never got used to the 'on/off' for the pedal being a main switch. Maybe there's another way, but it was weird for me - I use a wah a lot. Thanks for watching too.
Hi, I just received the ge300 second hand... I am looking for the software Mooer Studio ..I found it on the website but it is the new version 2023 and is not working with the ge300. I am wondering if you can help me. Thanks a lot for your video it is amazing. Regards Renato
Have you ensured the firmware is completely up to date? Firstly check that... then try the newest software AFTER its up to date... that might help. Thanks
Indeed I am not. Please let me explain... Firstly, I see loads of these types of products, some I keep if they work for me and some I sell later to then be able to buy more gear to review (I buy it all!). In the case of the GE300 there was a reason I sold it. I use a wah a lot in how I play, and not just as a wah but as a sort of drive element too. On the GE300 the pedal did not have the usual control button with toe forward if I remember correctly... you have to assign a pedal to turn on or off the wah. That was very off putting to me and to be honest, it was distracting to me after using wah pedals since 1971. So I sold it. However, I also reviewed the GT-1000CORE around that time and I kept that one, firstly because the operation is different and secondly because you can have up to 24 effects etc. through the audio path. I trust that little explanation helps... it's not really a reflection of the gear, but really just about how I play. Thanks for watching and for the post.
I've just looked into it on one forum where people said this unit has two ADSP-21469 DSP SHARC family chips (model from year 2013)... Anyway, it would be great you confirmed that info personally here for us. ))
This is what I said and showed: th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html and all is revealed... thanks. I don't bother with forums... I open it up and show you :) Thanks for watching.
I guess you could use headphone out for monitoring if you're using the main outs to an amp or FOH... th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html shows the I/O. Thanks for watching.
I have never owned the GE200 :( so sorry I can't answer that question) Anyone out there know the answer for Marcello? Come on guys... and Marcello thanks for watching.
Really liked the review. At least I know now whether to buy or not to buy. I loved the lead sounds you got but I still like my pedals and Marshall combo to hand. I could have it on the side in between practice sessions. Just so I don't get bored. Love the mooer products so we'll see.... The winter and months of cold weather and long nights on the way. Christmas is coming so who knows !!! Oh yeah I will be watching more of your videos.
Well thanks for watching this one... I have a whole raft of effects unit reviews, amp reviews and so much more... been doing this stuff since 2009 so it has accrued all on my channel. I like the amps too :) Marshall are pretty good amps and I have rarely ever had any problems with them... great sound too. In any case, if you get one do come back and post what YOU think of the unit whatever it is... the more the better I think. Thanks.
Hi Tony, Yesterday I purchased the Mooer Ge300. I turnd it On want to test the presets via Headphone Output. It worked, but if I choose the Buttons, AMP or REVERB there are no more sounds coming out of the speakers. When i shut them down the sound coming out normal. Is there any Explanation for this akward occur? Thank you for the Response!
Very informative. How many signal chains does it have and can it process the input in two separate chains and output them to the left and Right channels?
Oh Alex I forget... it was a very comprehensive review at the time and I see so much gear I just forget... but remember you can only change about 4 items in the chain (if I remember right)... which was a bit of a shortcoming... on the Boss GT-1000CORE there are about 24 items in the chain and you can have anything anywhere which was a better proposition. Thanks for watching.
Great video. Can you open ge300lite too? It should be the same but I think that there is only one processor inside light. I do have them both right now and when you start them at the same time, lite needs 11s more to start (the same 3.01 version and all the same settings at start). Also, you can get processor colaps with lite and with bigger brother, you can not overload it (the same effects + synth on big one). FxA - Harmony takes 30% of processor on big and more than 50% on lite.
Ha great to see you here. Hopefully the visit was enjoyable... I could have spent hours with you guys :). In any case I trust you get it all going well.... and I'm sure your son will get along fine with the GE300... and yes Alan did buy this one... Thanks for stopping by...
I have a problem with the Mooer Ge300... every time I press the footswitch to switch presets 1 to 2 it takes 3 to 4 seconds to switch to the patch/preset program, this applies to all parameters, but there is no problem for sound... can someone help me fix it This??? Terjemahkan
@@tonymckenzieofficial yes thank you so much. I give a 9 same as you and for me there is little point negative that you don't tell it's for the screen. It need to be protected because it's not glass it's plastic and you can ray it very easely bye let down a jack on it ( it's happened too me..) so it's better to put a glass protection for phone that you can cut at the exact dimension to use it. And it's true they should wright letters in black as the old hifi we have got in the early years. Or put the face in black and then the letters in White... I think they did it for the lite version... Another little deception was also they took off the rythm section they have in the ge 100 and ge 200. But finaly i can manage that with the loopers i have who got a batterie in. So well i'm finish that's all. Thanks a lot again for the really good review.👍🙂🎵🎶
It is a bargain really. There are some anomalies that you have to get used to, but not really many. Certainly a bargain price... software is more basic than most... but that can also be seen as a good thing. Stay safe and thanks for watching!
Tony you are the best gear reviewer I believe in the world. Your knowledge and how you take every piece of gear apart and explain is incredible. No one can compete with your channel. Hope all is well! You are the man!!
Dear Bobcat... very kind opinion... and I understand completely. I like these reviews too, but some out there simply just watch either only playing (which is OK) or sales videos (take your pick). In fact that was the main reason for making this type of review - often reviews are shrouded in benefits to the reviewer or are made simply to sell gear. I try not to be biased and to present the best opinion I can about anything. But the internet and social sites are what they are, I'm often dismayed at what some call reviews showing 1/2M views in just a few weeks and I look at those and I question the whole thing about how those videos get that many views. Some of those type of 'review' are really simply sales videos as I said and seemingly some people like that sort of thing. Oh well. It can be frustrating to say the least. But with guys like yourself at least it's worth the effort... thanks for watching. Stay safe.
Firstly there is no amp in the GE300 of course, so an suitable amp and FRFR speakers should do it. That's rather like my Kemper really. Use the main outs, but it also depends on what's on the chosen amp for connections I guess. You could put the GE300 through almost anything... even your hifi :) input to that and play :)
Correct for the tone. But the simulator in these things does not simulate the amps wattage output - just the tones so to speak... so if you have POWERED speakers they have an amp in there designed to accept that sort of input. You could send the GE output to many different amps of course - with some varying results depending on the amp... but speakers with amps in is a good choice. Thanks...
Sure... I get that and I'm sure there are many guys that use this stuff in that way... I liked this pedal in any case and seemed a great bargain for the price... stay safe.
I agree!!! Tony you are the best!!!!
Contents:
0:00 Start
0:12 Preamble and Introduction
1:01 The GE300 Secrets no one talks about
4:05 The Main Processing Advantage
6:42 Inside Technology & Quality
9:16 The I/O of the GE300
13:09 The Firmware Upgrade
13:32 About Editing Software
15:35 The Manual
16:17 Possible Firmware U/G Issues
18:38 Why the GE300 Really IS Different
22:27 Silly Plastic Parts!
23:11 Hardware Overview
35:45 Main Screen View & Features
50:13 The Effects Block in Use
1:20:59 The MOOER Studio Software
1:22:57 Using the Editing Studio Software
1:31:18 The GE Labs Software
1:33:45 A GE Labs Problem
1:35:16 GE Labs Features
1:45:30 MOOER Studio Downloads
1:48:17 Summing Up & Conclusions
1:54:41 Review Score
1:57:40 Playing Track 1 09D Liquid Lead
2:00:15 Playing Track 2 13A Plexiii
2:05:42 Playing Track 3 02D Dream Lead
2:11:12 What I failed to demonstrate... TBC!
;-) Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial 😁😁😊🤝🏼 my pleasure
A great ,no messing ,old school review that is quite refreshing to hear in todays world.
Thanks for the kind words. These things take a long time to make and I appreciate every viewer spending time to watch. Thanks.
I actually bought one and really love it. Most TH-camrs don't like this or it isn't popular .
You do some great videos and I'm learning a bit more about my GE#300.cheers
Ignore the haters there are many that don't like product A or product B. What matters ALWAYS is that the unit works for you and you like it! I liked the pedal too :) and thanks for watching and your informative post.
Just found your channel Tony and Thank God! This is the kind of review these items need not sponsored influencers who make a living doing “Honest” 😉 reviews. Cheers
Well I know exactly what you're saying and I started to make reviews after listening to sales reviews for years. I have always tried to not be one of those, but I guess that 'real' reviews actually sell the products anyway :) Thanks for watching.
When Tony gets his chopstick out. You know that we're going deep into the guts of something! I've been looking at this thing for a couple of months and I think I'm going to buy one. Because from what I've heard, it's well worth the money. So thanks for the review and reinforcing what I thought.
Now listen... not many people have seen my chop sticks :) Clearly more useful when I'm just messing inside a real tube amp, but they work on anything - even noodles :) The tones I have on here were literally pre-sets with very slight adjustment generally in reducing maybe an effect or something. I liked the tones for this pedal but they might or might not work for others. But when it was right then you can just tell it. I could have shown lots of pre-sets and I did record some just a few chords on some of them, but in the end I left them off because that's what all the others do :). I set it up for me and those were the sounds I got with very little messing about. BTW I did not use the software other than to demo in this video... there was not much point as most stuff can be got at right on the unit - which is pretty much a first from all the units I've checked. If you get one... do let me know your thoughts too - I always like to see what other guys think compared to what I found. Thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks Tony, I'd like to thank you for putting the effort into these 'deep dives' and demonstrations. It makes purchasing things [or not] a lot less complicated when you've answered practically every question anyone could have about a product.
Well much appreciated. After I have completed one of these (and this one is as long as any) it's easy for me to sit back and watch it myself :) There's always far too much to take in when I'm creating the videos and harder to remember as I get older for sure. So I go back and watch it a few times when I have a spare bit of time. I see to many products really and it sort of mingles together exactly which one did what :) In any case thanks for watching this stuff.
That's a deep review on stuff people normally don't do. It's of great help for me since I'm planning to get one ge300. Thanks a lot.
You're right most reviews skim over lots of stuff. While the videos might be long there are sections so I'm sure it helps many either looking for a specific or want the whole info about the product. Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial you're totally right! After watching LOTS of reviews, yours helped me make the decision, I just bought this unit. Thanks again, have a great day.
Great video Tony the prices just went up lol this is why I love your videos because you show what’s going on inside and explain things that other people don’t or won’t do for that matter.
This has actually been a labor of love in some ways. It has taken literally weeks to create it and although I could be criticized by some for this video, actually I think that going through it in this way does show the unit in a better light than many who ONLY play to sell the unit, and they often never show the reality of things. Try and find a video that tells you that the expression pedal has no switch under it and you have to assign one of the others to shift in the wah (for example). I'm so used to just clicking the wah? But you're right... and the research I did not a single 'review' out there told the story of dual processors right there for all to see - and that equates to more power (as fractal audio once said) to use for effects etc. Ha I did not know the prices went up? I only bought this a few weeks ago. Thanks Ricky for watching... and for what it's worth I think this one sounded pretty good really. Stay safe.
Invaluable Northern soul, bless for the transparent and the insight, the dry humour and the flashes of wit, what a depth-charge of a review of this powerhouse box
:) Thanks.... hope you got something from it...
The last 10 years I used a GT-100. Still sounds incredibly good, but still I don't know, where to find some features. Quick editing a sound on stage is impossible. Bought an GE 300 and I am happy with it. Sound good, easy to use, all parameters are on the front, on dark stages you can identify the switches. Great. The software might be simple, but it does its job and the display doesn't show you the amp as a picture and that is good. You decide with your ears, not you eyes. I see only one minus: The lettering on the front panel (light grey on dark grey) is nearly illegible
The GT-100 was/is still used by many. This GE-300 is good value for the money really, but it does have a few awkward things re usability going on. The lettering is abysmal and not really designed with being used in mind I completely agree. Agreed, the tones (and the feel) are what is actually important... thanks for watching.
The "silly plastic parts" (transparent buttonheads) are actually very smart and useful. SInce I use them, I hit the buttons much more easily, especially on a dark stage. These transparent mushroom shaped buttonheads increase the buttonsurface and the light underneath them, since they reflect these lights too, making it much better visible in a live situation. And when programming the Ge300 at home on a desk, it`s more comfortable to press the buttons with the fingers with these plastic heads, than pressing the bare metal knobs, which really annoyed me at the beginning, when I had my Ge300 brandnew. My Ge300 came without these transparent buttonheads, so I had to buy them separately and I`m happy with it, I don`t wanna miss them! Just my two cents. 🙄😄
No - its great that you took the time to post your opinion - its a cool pedal and the more guys that post opinions the better actually, so thanks for watching and that post!
The MOOER GE300 Lite at 550 USD also has dual SHARCs. I am glad you reviewed this as I was curious on the internal build quality. Thanks.
Thanks for the info and the quality is there on the unit as you see. The Lite is probably the same unit inside is my guess. Stay safe.
It is not only a dual dsp, but also that infenion arm mpu on the right down corner of that dsp board is also acting as a third dsp .Due to the ge300lt which without the arm dsp and still working,I think the arm core is only for the programmer to do the synth part of the job,the ge300 has multi string synth engine,and is done by the third dsp.
Very useful info and good contribution to the posts - thanks. And thanks for watching.
Hi Tony, I just purchased the GE 300 from GAK, the first thing I did was to update the firmware as recommended. Well it didn’t work I downloaded the app and followed the instructions and I started the download and had a message MCU timeout. I tried a number of times to update and had the same message, I then changed USB cables and tried a different port and still got the same response. So I messaged Mooer support no response and I sent three more emails. So back to GAK and spoke with a representative and explained the situation, they came back to me and requested I send back to them and they will send a replacement. However having trawled the forums, which is a pain it would seem that it could be the Windows Operating System and others have had a similar experience. Namely that I have Windows 11 on my laptop, so sorry about the long message have you come across this issue? I have asked GAK to update the replacement before they send me a new GE 300 to me.
No I did not have that problem... but listen to this. I have had massive trouble with a Sony camera update. By the way, when you update it, you can't un-update it on the camera. Silly me updates to V2 (FS3 camera) and it was horrible with many faults. Well over 1 1/2 weeks for support that did not answer it until yesterday... then ah we now have 2.1 version install that. I downloaded it and went to install - I followed the procedures and have had practice so to speak. It would not install. In my case, it turned out to be the CABLE - even after going through two... the third cable (a tatty old thing) worked, the shiny nice-looking ones were rubbish. Check those cables, and I doubt its Win 11 I have been on that for ages. Come back and post what happens - it will help many. So that was my Sony story, and I have seen cable issues historically on music gear... Thanks for watching and I hope it helps in some way.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks Tony for responding, still waiting for GAK to send me the replacement, I have asked them to update before they send the GE 300 to me! Watch this space! Have a great weekend.
Hi Tony,
Recently found out about your channel through the Headrush MX5 video that you did. I was so surprised to see that you take a very unique approach (literally inside out) for every piece of gear you review. I’m in the market for a multi fx/modeller and I’m having a really hard time deciding what to purchase. I am a firm believer of keeping things simple and not lug around heavy hardware (amps/cabs) and I’m all in for 100% mobility (I have a hernia and can’t get it fixed at the moment).
I see that you rated the Mooer GE300 a 9/10 and the Headrush MX5 a 6/10 and I understand the conclusive scores are subjective, but it’s unexpected for me to see that you scored the GE300 so high. Given the fact that it does not show parallel processing, does not have a global EQ (i might be wrong) and sounds slightly thinner to me.
That being said, option paralysis is also a thing and if you’re assured about quality control you just need to use what you have to its full potential. I think I’ll be going ahead with the GE300 on the basis of your review. Thanks for all your hard work!
My advice is this. Each device I look at is sort of 'similar' in the areas of simulations and IR's. The effects are generally all good on all the devices. But there is one thing that actually does stick out... and it relates to compromise and/or complexity. Firstly, compromise: You would find, if you take each one and try and use it, that each device has this or that (let's not be too specific) that has been generally cut or changed from the top end units out there. So for example the GT-1000 is 'similar' to the GT-1000CORE, but there ARE operational differences that can affect the work flow. Some guys will tell you 'what work flow' but when you own one then the work begins. In the case of the CORE it has near enough the same number of slots for effects/simulation etc. that the GT-1000 does. But there are cut backs in the hardware that are in plain sight and maybe some of the connectors are different (they are) etc. In the case of the GE300 I could not get on with the wah not actually having a switch under it and you have to program it for a wah. Might not bother many, I thought it was horrible. I won't single out any specific brand really but what I would say is firstly consider VERY carefully the size of the unit and the connectivity. Then the free slots and the power of the device. The above CORE was pretty exceptional for the 599 it cost. But that's not always the case. Think of the GE300 as having TWO separate software apps which to be honest IMO should have been just one. It's a pain. Once you have all that out the way then we turn to the second problem from what I have seen - complexity. Complexity will rear its ugly head when you buy a device that is probably offering more than you actually need. From what I have seen the so called 'professional' devices (no names) are generally offering a huge plethora of things you can set and it is likely that MOST guitarists would not understand the term, let alone use the feature. And as the complexity increases so does the then massive learning curve unless you just use the presets... you know, the presets from ANY maker that users always tell me are rubbish! Those presets. It all becomes hard work. My advise is get the hardware right first for your exact needs. Listen to the tones off the device with the setup that you have or that you want it for. Look on forums for problems being reported. (Don't waste your time asking users if they think 'brand X' is the best (that they own) because not one of them will tell you their gear is anything but the best... and that's a fact.) ALWAYS consider what is used for the making of the device including the components if you can find out and where it's made sometimes (but not always) has a bearing on longevity. Try and determine that where the device is made and if the production is managed by the actual name on the product... for example Apple manages the Foxconn production? Western management regarding the quality aspect and QA is I think sometimes better than some unknown company from some far off land production because often they have no one to really answer to... (that is just an opinion). And you know what, even then you might get the wrong device. Onl;y YOU can tell whether the device you buy is right for you. I try very hard to create a video that tries hard to show what others do not - like the warranty length and many other aspects that are actually important but no one from the sales videos will ever mention. Longevity relates to hardware, warranty and importantly how long that operating system will be supported for the specific device. I have Apple gear today that CANNOT be upgraded to later OS versions. Hope it helps a little and I can assume most likely that I have mentioned some aspects that are obvious but most people never think about them. Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial unless I'm misunderstanding you, Tony, the GE300 does have a toe switch under the pedal to switch to and from wah etc. The amount of pressure can be set by the user (if I remember rightly, it came set requiring rather a lot of pressure to activate...but if you go into the settings you can adjust it to taste.)
I agree that it's a pain if there is not always a wah available in a patch...I think it should have one in every single preset. (I believe the Pod Go that has that?) It's easy to go through each patch to add a wah and then save it, I suppose, but it would have been better if it had come like that.
Great review...and a relief to see/hear that you thought it was so well made and the 9/10 rating. I am slightly nervous that if it develops a fault it will probably have to go in the bin, because Mooer's customer service is pretty poor and I don't think they'd entertain it being sent back for repair. I think it's a great unit, though...and not just for the money.
Cheers, Tony!
Thanks for the info... maybe I missed that somewhere :) I never got it to operate as I expected it though and seemingly you have to program the switch you mention or another... Ha I honestly went around in circles on it. But I'm not perfect for sure... :) On every single pedal of this genre (i.e. lots of them) I see the things inside even like switch rails etc. and I do comment that 'maybe' we could buy another replacement if it failed... but you know what, I don't REALLY think that. I could see me or some repair guy either fixing a board in a not too easy way or even getting on made via China as the cost is less for that now... but then there's the drawings etc. hassle. Yes I like the Mooer GE300 but I also thought that the program(s) they have should have been integrated in to one rather than two sort of alien to each other apps. That was a bit weird, when I see everyone else having in general one app. MX5 has no apps and that can be fun. But yes I liked the Mooer unit as well. In fact great for the money... and thanks for watching... appreciated.
The GE300 does have Global EQ. You can individually adjust the three different outputs; 1/4" output, headphone and XLR.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks for the reply, Tony...and keep up the good work! Your reviews are unique and give much more insight than the vast majority that are done by "influencers" who are sent the item by the manufacturer!
Rock on! 🤘😎
THANK YOU TONY!! This is the BEST review I seen so far (and probably will ever see) on the 300. I have the 300 lite and I was about to send it back since it sounded so bad right out of the box. Now that I watched your review I think I will keep it. Thanks again..
Well DJ thanks for those very kind words. These long ones really take a toll on me and as I get older they are harder to complete... ha by the time you get to the end you forget what you did or did not say! But I try and create the best I can. Unfortunately it makes them long. Just FYI I only tweaked the pre-sets I used for about 20 seconds each! So in my book with little change it can sound pretty good (and from a guy that loves tube amps that IS a compliment to them. It is not perfect in the way it works on this one and you do have to sit a while with it, but most are like that. In any case... I trust yours is good and thanks for watching. Stay safe.
I finally watched the whole thing, your reveiws are long, but great :-). The physical build of the GE300 looks really high quality, i say this as someone that has worked with electronics as a service tech for over 30 years. The GE300 seems like a good deal now that it has gone down considerably from what it cost initially.
I know that is a long video and well done for watching it through. I tried very hard to create a definitive review of the GE300. It's an impressive piece of gear and for the price its great value. Here in the UK cheapest as of May 16th 2021 its about £510 but for what it offers that's a low cost. I thought the two applications idea was not perfect and if they made one out of those two they would improve the product no end... it extended the video review because I wanted to show BOTH of those as each has its merits and the software is really an integral part of the whole pedal. Thanks for watching this and stay safe too.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I agree about the GE labs app, it seems strange that while you can load the "profiles" that you can create in the GE labs into the GE300 (and others) which also seems like a great feature, there is no other real connection. As im not an Apple user I dont like that it only can be used on those devices, would like to see a windows app, like a VST it would be great if you could profile amps with the computer and use them in the DAW as well as the GE units.
Exactly....
You get all the virtual stuff in some mega-package which you call the Helix, or Headrush, or Boss GT-1000, and you have to give up a kidney and a lung to get them. Then, comes Mooer with its GE300, costing a quarter or maybe a third of what those cost, and justice is served, the stars are aligned once again, the universe is back in order, and no banks have been busted! Go Mooer!!
:) I get that for sure. But also look at that GX-100 as its not too bad... and thanks for watching.
Woah what is that, who dare to doing surgery to devices that will be reviewed, really inside out, this is definitely the best Mooer GE 300 review I’d ever watched
By the way, may I asked your opinion? Mooer GE 300 vs Helix Rack that you owned (assuming with the latest 3.11 firmware updates that have increased oversampling feature that supposed to increasing the audio quality also), regarding the sound quality solely for comparing each unit, which unit do you prefer, more pleasing to your ear? Which amp simulation that you thought to be closer to the real amp? Can you give each unit score based on that (maybe score scaling from 1 to 10 for each unit)
Really appreciate sir 🙏🏼
Thanks for the kind words. I already own a Kemper Rack and a Helix rack. While the GE300 is pretty good in it's own right, I do NOT personally buy the Helix for the tones of simulations (for example). I use the Helix as a master rack controller and for effects and use a real tube amp with the 4CM for the tones that I want. The GE300 is a good pedal for it's price and I thought the sounds were very similar to most in this genre. But there are a few funny things going on re the slots available as I showed in the video. For me that was important and I never got used to choosing a wah from an allocated button.. weird. The best unit IM
Can I change what the stomp boxes do? Swap the compressor for a chorus for example
Watch this section: th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html as its not as simple as you or I imagined it originally... thanks for watching.
Thanks Tony! Excellent review as always. Your 'inside & out' approach is unique in this space and really valuable to prospective purchasers.
Glad you like this stuff. I always thought that as well as hearing the gear, it IS important to see exactly what you are buying in any product. Honestly if I believed everything I saw on the promotional and sales videos then every product would be perfect... but sometimes I find less than perfect things that should be disclosed. Put another way, had I known on some of it I absolutely would not have bought it. Thanks for the kind words and for watching.
Really awesome in-depth review! The only thing I have to address are the 'silly plastic parts'. I haven't looked into it but I would assume they are for home use where you often use your hands and bare feet to press the switches. There the plastic things come in quite useful since it's just a lot more comfortable with these things on there.
I was surprised to find them 'in the box' and they did seem at the time a little gimmicky to me. But good point with the hand use etc. which I did not really consider in the review. A great point I missed - ha I'm not perfect and that shows it right there :) Thanks though for watching this was a difficult review to complete because of the huge amount of stuff to cover.
After watching this outstanding review i will be purchasing one asap thanks for the hard work on helping me decide.
Well it's good to know that this video has helped you with questions etc. about the GE300 unit. I thought it was not a bad piece of gear. Thanks for those kind words.
@@tonymckenzieofficial i finally got my mooer ge 300 I have a fx level switch on the back of my marshall amp i was wondering what setting you would choose be best for my new mooer ge 300 processor should the FX level switch be selected on +4dbv or -10dbv its a valvestate 2000 avt 150
I would set that at -10 because +4 is generally just pro gear - its most likely -10... thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thankyou Tony i have been finding my self going back to your review on the mooer from time to time just to refresh my self with as i'm finding it quite a lot to take in. Cheers
Oh I know what you mean... there was so much to the unit. I spent a long time on the manuals and messing about and still could not remember the stuff (blame my age!) but as you use it more you'll be fine :). Thanks.
Hey Tony, excellent in depth review. If you are still wanting to check out some modelers, I would highly recommend checking out the Hotone Ampero. They are inexpensive, but a lot of the reviews I've seen show that they can hang with the higher end modelers like Helix and Axe. It would be very neat to see the quality on the inside. I will say that I have owned a few Hotone products and while I did not open them up, I will say that they were great in terms of sound quality and reliability
Thanks for the recommendation about the stuff you have experience with... always a good idea to listen to guys that watch my channel and often I do travel that road. I'm going to continue to look at the technology because well, maybe I should. And of course I always open the stuff up to ensure no sneaky nasty things hiding inside. Scarily over the years I have found many in different products. So thanks for that and I'll bear it in mind for future review materials for sure. Stay safe too.
Hi Tony, i am about to downsize things to avoid have amps and cabs with me on the road, I know this FX modellers are not 100% the same soundvise as a real amp and cab but I think with a good IR installed you can get this type of modellers to sound really really good. Just give the sound tech of the house one cable and you are all set, well maybe an active monitor to hear yourself on stage. How ever. I am thinking about spending maximum about 700 Euro. I would like your opinion about this: Mooer GE300, Line 6 Pod Go, Boss GX-100, Headrush MX5. I would wanna stay away from a used one due to the fact that I want warranty and be able to return it for something else or money back. This is my first FX modellers since the early 2000 so all this new stuff with IR´s and stuff like that is all new for me. But I see that there is some really good IR´s to get really good sound. Thanks very much.. :D
Well you have a massive choice IMO. Of the ones you mention, the MX-5 seemed to have a small screen (bearing in mind there is no software), the GX-100 I liked at the time although again depends what you want. Mooer have a whole range of gear, but the ones I have seen are good value, but sometimes have quirks that might or might not get resolved and the Line6 Pod Go again offered good value. If effects are not too critical the Kemper Player should be considered because above all the tones can be very good (I recently reviewed that here: th-cam.com/video/kGxDd-Gddn4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hRjGPw6l42mqbMR1 and it was interesting. Bear in mind there are 22000 captured amps with the Kemper player to download and one of the best for that out there. It can't capture, but to be honest there is no need for that. Effects wise its sort of basic, but you can add those to it. Consider them ALL - and absolutely try each one to see if it fits with your style - which I recommend otherwise its easy to buy the wrong thing. Hope it helps and thanks for watching.
print a manual? now that's something I haven't heard in modern times
You're 'hanging' with the wrong crowds :) and I agree - however when you're reviewing close up to create as decent a review as I can, the tiny manual on the cell phone certainly does not work. The printed manual for that purpose is perfect and I do that for most in depth reviews. There is so much detail that otherwise you really don't always see if its not printed. Good point, but now you know why I say it :) an thanks for watching.
Dear Tony! I really love this video about ge 300. I have an issue with mine, I notice an almost half second latency when I change between presets (factory presets too) I already updated the latest firmware and did a factory restore. Could you suggest something? Any advice would be helpful! Thank you so much!
Take a NEW preset, put as little in to that preset as you can. Then create a second similar but different name (of course).. then see if that improves the latency and or switch times etc... if not get the unit looked at, and if it does are the presets overloading the processor... thanks.
I'm looking to get the GE300 Lite,
its less filling, the layout is similar
to this GE300, much more intuitively
laid out than any processor (owned dozens)
I've ever had.
I have seen many... and over time one sort of molds in to another - all pretty similar I guess. In any case thanks for watching if I did not say that before... and hopefully some of it was worthwhile... let me know what you get and how you found it when you have played with it a while...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks for the
video. I'm taking one more stab
a a good distortion pedal, the
Empress Heavy, I need only two
OD and distortion but class, not
the cheap stuff, if that doesn't
work I'll go with the Ge 300 or
Ge 250 . The Empress is 300 bucks,
I had the Friedman BE OD, and
the mxr 5150 , they're in the same
price range and awesome, but
neither can give both great OD
and Great Distortion, so thats
why I'm going to try the Empress,
one time, and hope, it can give
both. I don't believe a processor
in the GE 300 price range will ever
give the majestic OD and Distortion
that comes with a high dollar
pedal, but then the processors
offer so much more in terms of
cool effects. shrugs.... the quest
continues. Take care, and thanks
again..
Hi Tony, even though this was a very long video, I was hoping this might prove useful because now that used prices have really come down, I was toying with picking up a GE300 as it has some interesting features that I really like. I liked your presentation style, but in all honesty there was a fair bit of repetition and I think you probably could have covered off everything in half the time. But I realise & appreciate the effort you put into it, so thanks for doing it.
From my perspective, and I've been playing for some 50 years now, I am interested in the quality of tone & feel, ease of use and gigging functionality in a compact, light-weight unit. The MFX unit I currently use for gigging is a Vox Tonelab SE (I have the LE too as a backup and use for rehearsals sometimes). Whilst old tech from 2003/4, and without complex features such as snap-shots, tone capture, IR importing, latest modelling algorithms etc, the quality of valve-like tone and feel, and ease of use live, with real dials and no issues re DSP limitations, is still hard to beat - the modelling quality still holds up surprisingly well, and these units were well ahead of their time. These original Tonelabs therefore remain the yardstick that I judge MFX units by. However, although built like tanks, these units are big and heavy, especially the TLSE, but I gig with the latter over the LE because it has dual expression pedals, A/B switching in the same patch, and a separate knob for cab models. The ability to change an amp, cab,FX or add an FX in 2 seconds via dial shouldn't be underestimated in a live scenario.
But size & weight are a big consideration, hence I wasn't interested in the Helix LT; I want to be able to easily carry gear into a gig in one trip with minimum set-up and packing away time so I wanted something modern, light, compact, easy to use, and great sounding for live use. So, last June I picked up a Pod Go to play with via headphones and through a Headrush FRFR108 during lockdown. It sounds superb, is incredibly light & contact, has a huge range of amp,cab, fx models, space for 128 IR's and has a lot of nice features including snapshots, but as with every MFX unit, some limitations too. I love the ability to kick in a global wah in every setting without having to program this in, and the display is very clear. The current inability to name multi-footswitch operations, change colours, and name snap-shots is a nuisance but Line 6 has confirmed it wants to add these so I'm hoping these will be added in the next upgrade. The short, thin PSU isn't gig-worthy but unfortunately that's true of a lot of new MFX units including Mooer, Boss & Zoom. The combination of fixed and user blocks is a mixed blessing and even one extra user-block would really help its versatility even with no extra processing power - but sadly Line 6 confirmed it won't be changing this.
As it's always nice to have options, hence my interest in the GE300 to compare 'gigability' for my needs with the TL's & Pod Go. The greater processing power, assignable multi-control switches that you can name and change colour (sorry if i missed it, but did you mention you can choose colours?), solid build, tone capture, allegedly (and until I have one to play with I won't know) easy tweaking from the unit itself, are some of the features that appeal. But there are downsides too. Whilst the GE300 is a handsome looking unit, trying to see the control labels printed in black on a reflective background is a real problem to see, particularly on stage, and is why many users have had to add their own clearer labels. And as far as I seen from the manual (and I was hoping your vid might have been able to clarify here) I don't think it has the ability to set the expression pedal globally in every patch to switch between volume and wah like the Pod Go. And whilst the unit has dual processors, I think it would have been helpful to have put this in perspective because the Sharc processors come in different 'flavours'. This means that when comparing twin chip MFX units unless you know the type of chip and processing power in each, you don't know if you are comparing apples with apples. Unlike Pod Go, as far as I'm aware, it doesn't have 'snapshots' - the value of these is instant switching within a patch without latency delay when switching patches. I was hoping your video might have had more informed technical detail here. I also have some concerns re Mooer customer service in the UK, based on various forum feedback - have you had any personal experience with them?
Pushed for time right now... too many posts... but thanks as this is a very useful comment Richard - and it IS appreciated. I have zero personal experience of Mooer and warranty so I can't say its good or bad but if they don't reply then its bad. Personally I would expect better than that. Thanks Richard... and for all that info and watching. The wah with no default switch I found strange...
My MAIN concern is where would you get this repaired if needed? AFAIK, it's only available via Amazon in the USA (Amzn has a $79, 3yr & $105, 4yr warranty).
I agree that having white text on stainless steel is quite dumb! With most everthing else being really good, I don't get how they missed that?
At least the display graphically shows where your modules are so you can scroll to them... but that takes much longer.
If you could easily see "Delay" on the unit you press the "Delay" button and make changes between songs or during a drawn out note/chord.
The PC software isn't as beautiful as the MAC but it gets the job done!
I'll be using the PC Software a lot as my unit will be on the floor... as it is during live use (to ensure the switches are correct), not on my desk.
Good point RE repairs etc, but you might get somewhere with the maker on that. Not a bad unit with a few weird bits :) Thanks for watching.
It's built like any other pedal, anyone who can solder will be able to replace a footswitch
Thank you for the internal look ... Mooer should market this! I have a GE200 that I keep in a gig bag with a guitar and I'm always impressed with the sound I can get from it ... now I'm very curious what's inside. :-D
It's always good to know what you bought! Often it's all hidden. Some tell me it's irrelevant - that is, until theirs stops working :) In any case sounds like you love yours - they are great value for the money I think. Thanks for watching.
I have a Mooer GE300, but it no longer outputs audio. I took it to an electronics technician for him to check it, but he requires a diagram to see the specifications of the integrated circuits.
The technician mentioned this to me: 6 operational with 8-pin A16N.
I'll look forward for your answer.
Thank you so much.
Sadly I don't have a diagram either... but if the engineer contacts MOOER then they might supply one... thanks.
Great review Tony as always. In fairness to Fractal the Axefx 2 was released in 2011. I’m amazed the processor is still available but I’m not amazed that the price is now lower. I’m sure a second hand axefx 2 is a comparable price to this based on each units usability etc.
I understand that of course... but the Helix was released later and that too has the same SHARC processors... but at a higher price. I don't believe that the SHARC processors at the claimed $500 each ever were that price - it was purely bull***t from others who really had no answers at the time. That's the internet for you :) The FX III has a $68 processor in there! :) oh well... stay safe.
Atomic were selling products with duel sharc around that time for 500 quid ... didn't get the same advertising tho.. I have a AA12 think it was 5-600 quid and sounds brilliant but now this is out I think I'll go for this because it has way more amp models amp capture and tone matching lol
Thanks for the info. This is a pretty cool pedal especially for the money!
Hopefully by now you realised the GELabs software you reviewed has nothing to do with the hardware? The software is a standalone iOS version of the hardware which is why it needs an audio interface. As an iOS developer of many apps I can tell you that I sell many more on iOS than I would ever do on Android, and since 50% of modern day phones are not capable of running said software it was a wise informed choice to introduce iOS first.
Great comments. In the USA Apple appears to be 'god like' of course. And even in the day job I have Apple was the 'first choice' for apps. For many years I spoke up and mentioned that Apple (at least in my market) was about 10% of the sales of Android platforms and it might have changed a little but I doubt by as much as some might suggest. The general concensus re Android from the various people I know was that the platform was 'forever changing' and unstable and update after update negated some of the gains from Android... I stay generally away from the opinions these days, except to say that many companies that I know stopped ignoring Android and IOS and moved what they do to a browser - then the wars of the apps cease. The cloud and browser await... :) Thanks for the post... and for watching.
Brilliant review as usual Tony, in depth and informative, much appreciated.
Glad you liked it Steve. Interesting hardware for sure and at the price a bargain.... stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Yes, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all the hard work you put into
these videos, they are so informative and clearly described, you deserve 100,000 subscriptions!!
Thank you kindly Steve for the very nice comments - alas, it is a slow process on TH-cam when you have a subject matter that is really minority stuff. It might be hard to believe that it is minority stuff until you watch a video of how to clean a car windscreen with 3.5 MILLION views. That says it all. Maybe I should make a guitar brand, sell them on the Internet and through 'famous' dealers, visit the dealers and comment how 'great' my guitars really are and how they are great value? Act like an idiot (some say I do now!) and then just for the fun of it, threaten other TH-cam users... surely that is worth about a million subscribers? :) oops... sorry I think someone else did that... oh well, back to the 26k channel. :) But seriously... thanks for the kind words. Now smile :)
@@tonymckenzieofficial Hahahahahaa!!!
To date and for the money...would it be this one, pod go or MX5? Or something completely different?
Oh you have to choose! Each unit has it's good and bad points and it also comes down to the style of music you play (just my 2 cents) because they do have variance of tones and other features... of you hate software get the MX5 as it has none... The GE300 has I think most features and the POD Go is still a reasonable buy. GE300 does have some funny things re the usability... thanks.
Excellent review. I really enjoy the details. You mentioned the Mooer Ocean Machine. Will you be reviewing that at some point?
Indeed I might. I have had it a while... but not too easy to play for me... I probably will review it inside and out but hey don't laugh at my playing with that thing :). Stay safe.
A guitar players honest review. Great Job Tony.
Thanks for the kind words and I hope it helped...
Did you find any way to stop the pause/gap when switching between fx or presets? I love this pedal but I cannot believe they do not have a snapshot or scenes - like solution for this issue...
No I did not, but who knows they might update it further... thanks for watching.
Hello. On track 2 the G string is not in tune...
Maybe you're right :) and thanks for watching...
Hi Tony, thanks for this interesting review. I just have one comment to make. I believe that when we pay Boss, Line6, Fractal Audio products we don't directly pay for the processors and hardware costs plus profit but rather, to some extent, for the modelling research being done and the years of experience with such techniques as well their proprietary research on the field. As a person working in (quantum) system identification I can confirm this can be something extremely time consuming and the salary of a researcher/developer in the USA/EU/Japan is definitely an order of magnitude higher than the corresponding salary in China. Would you agree?
That's an interesting point of course. But one I think is flawed a little. Let me explain. Hardware on each and every unit carries a cost. So does the shipping from the Far East to destination. Every single one. In the case of the firmware/OS development that goes on and on and on, my logic says there is an 'element' of the OS cost placed on each unit to arrive at a true cost for the device. Device = device + ship + dev cost = hardware cost. The 'on going' firmware/OS costs are not quite as some might suggest. The OS surely does change, but the cost is almost (if you will) on a 'rolling road' or conveyor belt... that never stops, but the originating 'old' devices can often (but not always) benefit from simply because the maker bothers to support the 'old' devices until they have 'had enough'. And a really good example of this is Apple. That's a company that will support 'old' devices until they have decided it's time for YOU to buy a new one or get left behind until the device no longer operates other software or has compatibility issues, or the hardware fails. IMO that is clearly the only way you can attribute a return on investment. Of course they all build in obsolescence. Look at 'Windows 11' to OS that was never being released... a classic way to make even three year old devices not upgradeable and thus making the owners 'feel' left behind. Factually they ARE left behind because once the 11 gets going the unsupported OS will become rapidly riddled with many issues not the least that other software will cease to run on 10. While in the case of the PC it's clearly not entirely the same, but hopefully you will understand my thinking on that. Trust me, not a single one of those companies does ANYTHING for free, never has, and they never will. I know of no technology business that creates a business plan that includes hardware where the costed time for OS and the like is 'given away' as some people might think. I have been involved in some of the manufacturing process of equipment and there is no doubt that the firmware was never given away, no matter how much someone might 'bleat' about or even brag about it as a company. It's an interesting way of thinking that those companies are somehow 'friends' with the client to the extent that it 'costs the company money' and they simply throw that to the wind. Ha personally I think that's fantasy land and having managed a company since 1981 I guess I have some idea about it all. But an interesting post :) and thanks for waking me up :).
This is old, but I think I once read that Sony PlayStation takes a loss for every unit they sell for a number of years. They make their money by having great games until finally the hardware research and development costs are met, then the profits begin. I have no clue if that even matters in your conversation. I didn’t go to the best college 😂
Good point, but make no mistake they are charging you for every nut and bolt. Not just MOOER, but every brand that makes simulators etc. I have never seen a poor one yet. Thanks for watching.
I love you Tony... these are my favorite videos that you do!! Your guitar spray shed was also top dollar but when you are taking apart multi effects pedals you are in your element... thank you for all of your hard work, intention and enthusiasm... :] playing bass the whole time stu
Listen... someone has to play bass :) my best friend does it too :). But I'm sure like him you do more too :) These reviews like this take such time to make but I also learn from every one I make so likely there will be many more products to see - shortage it seems right now... no 5150 III Stealth or Mesa Badlander etc. :( but I guess they will come and I can't wait for them. Marshall September time. Thanks for the kind words and stay safe.
Wow! I’m very surprised it does have a dial sharc dsp...but Tony, regarding the quality of the effects and scenes/snapshots that the other units have, how would you describe or compare?
In fact how I see it, the GE300 DOES have an equivalent to snapshots... called sub-pre (or something like that) they basically do the same thing. The quality of the effects is pretty much like most out there and certainly better than many. If you remove the VAT at 20% this costs £440.00 or $595... good question... stay safe.
Hi there, when i record overdriven/distorted sounds with mooer Ge300, the recorded sound is too noisy, awful.
The hardware is updated. Do you have any clues? I bought it 3 months ago as brand new
I would consider the recording side of things. You don't mention how or what with. Also, back off the distortion/drive somewhat as you probably don't need the distortion/drive you think you need when recording in my experience. Tell me more about how you record? through an amp? Which amp? and how wired? with a mic? which mic? through a cab? which cab? If going direct to a desk, ensure the outputs are setup right in the settings area... and if you're using IR's (should be for that) then find good ones :) but I would look at the distortion/drive and experiment a bit. Let me know how it goes.... and thanks for watching.
The Atomic Amplifire 3 released several years ago included dual SHARC processors at $500 USD.
The SHARC processor I doubt was ever $500. Indeed the most current processor being used out there that I am aware of costs $68 (I think they were) and I guess like most computer stuff it all moves on. What's todays processor is tomorrows junk :)... remember Cyrix processors? But thanks for the info about the Amplifire 3 which I have not yet got to look at.... so many processors... so little time :). Stay safe and thanks for watching.
Thanks Tony amazing in depth review you just sold this to me haha... Mooer should pay you for this amazing review
Well I don't sell anything but I get what you mean. All those 10 minute reviews just don't show the info really. Thanks.
Hey Tony.
I recently got the GE300Lite and I was wondering if you used USB or a separate audio interface to record your tracks. I'm currently a bit stuck, as recording directly through USB is comfortable, but for some reason all my tracks are really quiet, forcing me to add 8+ db to each of them in the mix. Maybe recording through an external audio interface is a better idea?
Cheers.
Actually (many might baulk at this but I have my reasons) I used a good old microphone :) and also just audio out in to the desk... sitting there loading up the studio PC with driver after driver can be a problem, so often I don't use the USB. Check the overall output because you should not have to do that...
I've just bough the GE300 2 days ago and your video has been very useful in guiding me on how to use it! So a massive thanks Tony :)
BTW the prototypes were dark in colour, god knows why they changed it - that white text is very hard to read :( But that's the only downside so far! It sounds awesome.
Thanks for the info and on that darker colour... mad to change to steel finish... thanks for watching.
I came across this video (and your channel) looking for what MFX unit to upgrade from my Mooer GE200. Thanks for showing me how great the GE300 is as a unit - it is very impressive compared to the GE200 and it seems to be better than everything else in my price range
Well however you found it - thanks for watching. I have tried hard to show what I found with every unit I have looked at - and I DID buy each one so there's no half truth reviews here. I have never used the GE200 myself though. On the GE300 the switching for the wah was a bit weird... I'm used to real wah pedals in one unit and I never really did solve the wah switch. Other than that it all seemed pretty good especially for the cost. Thanks and watch out for other similar reviews as the gear comes out - but at the moment its all a bit slow with chip problems and shipping woes from generally the far east and not so far east - like Mesa in the USA. Oh well...
@@tonymckenzieofficial well now that I’ve found your channel, I am a big fan. I love how much info you give to us!
Well thanks... it can be very hard on the YT stuff and internet in general but at least I try :). I always felt that most reviews I used to watch were not quite what they should have been... and about 10 or 11 years ago started to make as honest reviews as I could. Ha and here I am still going :) Thanks... and if someone gains from the reviews thats exactly why I make them.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I can tell your reviews are very honest & that you know what you're talking about regarding the internal tech. And your playing is what I would call "very fucking good" so I feel like when you're talking about all the stuff in your videos it's pretty safe to say you know what you're talking about.
And your voice sounds just like my dad's lol - which I think only adds to your trustworthiness in my books!
I have always tried to show how a piece of gear is for me - and I buy near enough all of it just like anyone else - I think that is extremely important because all those that get 'free gear' or similar something for nothing then review really are compromising their own reviews by doing that. Me? if its great I say so and if its bad - I say so... many don't like that I show exactly what I got and that I review ina particular way, but there is no point of any review that simply hides the truth of their experience. I'm not perfect, and over the years I can mention something that turns out slightly different of course, we can all make mistakes, but in general over 360+ videos I think I did a pretty fair job and hopefully helped many guys decide if something really is like a maker suggests, or is not what they typically say. It's been a very long ride and I have seen so much gear. Of course it also has cost me a small fortune! Ha I do have an accent from the area where I live - some suggest Liverpool UK but I don't live there. Thanks for watching.
How do you use the triangle loops and the other two by the volume pedal. What what I need to do if I wanted to place a tube pre amp in the mix with my soolid state head. The Moorer doesnt cut it. I would like to use a tube pre amp and the morrer for effects. Thanks.
Well I never said its the best since sliced bread :) and there are some funny strange things when using the pedal. I never got past the fact tat theres no on/off for the wah pedal and I had to use a different switch to turn on and off... weird. So there is compromise I agree, but it is lower cost than some units out there. I do think the GX-100 is a better implimentation of what I would want though. Thanks for the info and for watching... appreciated.
Thanks for the great review. Can you please state your opinion whether the amp modeling better in this or ampero stage 2?
Sorry I have not tested the Ampero Stage 2 yet :(... but thanks for watching - appreciated.
Hello! Can you please tell me?does the mooer ge 300 have a function of mixing a pure signal with an amplifier and cabinets?and also with modules as an example of phaser? I mean to mix drive or auto wah with a pure signal. Thank you in advance🙏
Oh I don't remember, this was a while back and I sold the unit to buy more for review... but thanks for watching - appreciated.
Could you do a similar job on the Valeton GP200?
I could but short of time right now... I'll bear it in mind thanks.
Hi there... can this product act like Boss RC600 multi track looper? By the way, how long can it loop for? Thanks mate 👍
I don't think it would compare with the RC600... There is a looper but honestly I don't remember the length.... sorry. But thanks for watching.
Currently I fell in love with model GE-300 Lite which is much smaller in dimensions without that pedal but retained its power also having two SHARC DSPs on board !!!
Great point....
Are there other differences?
@@mrbaiser4133The Lite version doesn’t have the Synth block and the expression pedal, and it has less foot switches.
Tony, this is an awesome video that I have watched a few times! A keeper! I agree the Mooer Studio is very basic and not at all well designed like the Zoom Guitar Lab software. The realistic amps, cabs and effects coming out of this are amazing and make up for the lame Studio software in my opinion. I absolutely love the amps in this thing. Thanks, I subscribed!
Thanks - it took me serious time to make - as they all do. And thanks for how you found the MOOER GE300 too!
So happy I came across your video and your channel. You've really done such a great job and really reviewed it inside out. Now I'm sure what I want 😃
Thanks for watching... appreciated and for those kind words.
Hey Tony, how are you ?
Please, can you explain onde doubt that i have about ge300 ? The New Harmonizer included in the last updates works fine ?
:( I can't go back and check... sorry I sold that one... but thanks for asking I do keep some of them ... and thanks for watching.
The 300 lite arranges its
preset and patch banks into
banks of 3 which is not enough
sometimes, I wonder if it has a mode
3 like you showed us here where it could
throw up on the screen 6 presets or patches
at a time, accessible by 6 the 6 corresponding
foot switches. The 300 is organized into banks
of 4 which is what I like and again, you can go
mode 3 and put up 8 presets or patches at a time,
that's a lot.
I have not checked one...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks..
Can you save more than one loop, if so can you switch between them?
22:55 Those little mint
thingy's are a God Send.
You don't have to use them
if you don't like them, they
are good if you're barefoot,
and great if you're wearing any
kind of waffle boot, they don't
get jammed into your shoe.
No reason that you are required
to use them. I put them on all
my pedals. In this case it might
put buttons too close to each other
though, just to be fair in this observation.
You can also get these in aluminum,
that's what I have , they look better
to me.
Yes fair enough points... my GE-300 is studio really and the tops for me were not very useful.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I hear that, nor
everyone likes them, and I don't like
the clear plastic, it does look cheap.
Hi Tony, I don’t want to shell out on powered guitar cabs so I wondered if powered studio monitors would do the same trick and sound the same.
Amplifiers and speaker sets that are what they call FRFR basically flat response type of gear will work. If there is coloration on the internal amp or speakers offer similar features well you can get them and they will work. Ha I even used an HH PA amp once for the Kemper amp I have. Sounded fine to me at the time. Today I have a 100w stereo amp that really is FRFR type and to be honest, you need good ears to tell differences - many will tell you they always hear anything which may or may not be true... so if you can try some then I would. Great question BTW and thanks for watching.
Thnx for reviewing this ge300...ive been eyeing for this product but never have the guts to pull the trigger because still searching for the right product for my back up gear. Since ive been coming from fractal world especially an old ax8, im impressed with the i/o of this ge 300. Might be the best for its price range. And this more compact than the ax8. How is the built of the ge300 is sturdy enough?
Btw have u ever reviewing a strymon bigsky? Is that thing can be repaired?? Mine had a glicthing screen. I know its old but i wont have another strymon cos it soo expensive.
Keepmup the good work Mr Tony and keep safe 🍻🍻🍻
The build I think is pretty good. Take another look inside and compare directly with the POD GO that I also recently looked at. You will see very similar components but this is dual processor... the POD Go is not. I think this hardware is more nicely finished too than the POD GO. Compare the POD Go finish - you see unfinished embedded screws in the top of the POD... finish on this GE300 is excellent. There are some 'funnies' though. For example from what I see the wah needs a control pedal assigning for the on and off of the wah. I'm used to pressing the exp1 pedal and hey presto... but I never made it work that way - seems the exp1 is exp1 only. I think the software is nicer for the POD GO... BUT - you can do most stuff from the hardware on the GE300... a bonus for sure especially on a gig. I liked the sounds of the GE300 too. The POD GO is not junk tones though although I found the GE300 tones pretty instant and the POD GO less instant although they are there. I did 'buy' a pre-set or two for the POD GO but they never sound like the guy that created them :). I never had to buy any tones pre-sets for the GE300 but did download a few free IR's which proved unnecessary for my sounds you hear on this video. Hope this helps.
I have NOT reviewed a Strymon Big Sky... In fact I think I only ever reviewed ONE Strymon item - too expensive to me. I remember the days when they were some other company name and that gear was nothing special for sure. However, seems many latched on to the Strymon brand (but maybe less so to the previous name) so who am I to criticize! Most gear can be repaired these days - but I always consider if you can buy a sub assembly in all my reviews because changing the board might often be cheaper than the labor involved. In any case... thanks for watching this and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial "you see unfinished embedded screws in the top of the POD." if you mean the hexaganol shapes it's not actually 'unfinished' Tony it's the manufacturing technique that actually adds strength. Interestingly, there are other units out there that are similarly made with the 'hexagons' including the Vox Tonelab SE/LE's - and they are built like tanks. And whilst the GE300 looks great with its brushed satin finish, as you, me and many others have agreed and commented on, the graphics are virtually unreadable - the Pod Go's white lettering on matt black is eminently more practical and so much easier to read. It would be nice though if all these units had fibre-optics to light up all the graphics so you can read easily on a dimly lit stage. And the Pod Go's ability to switch globally on any patch between wah/volume without programming is a godsend for live playing, as are the snapshots for seamless lag free changing. For all its dual-chip processing power I simply don't understand why Mooer didn't add global volume/wah and snapshots to its flagship MFX unit - just seems bonkers. Perhaps they'll add these in a future update.
What I meant was easy enough re the inserts... you see them! Like should not really be seen on the top of a unit like that - its less aesthetically pleasing and just IMO made the POD Go look 'cheaper' made than say other similar gear. On the rest of the GE300 I agreed... the text colour was horrible and I said so - along with the brushed surface top. The pedal is not perfect, but for the money it cost, it was without doubt a very exceptional deal. I have owned Helix since it's release personally and the Line6 equipment is in general better than the Mooer equipment (just a personal opinion), but ALL of the lower end devices are cut back in one way or another it seems. Something less cut back was the Roland GT-1000CORE but again, it costs more and offers in other respects less than other actual hardware... but it does have 24 blocks that can work at once and with basically a free reign of what they are (well almost). Snapshots on the Helix (mine is a rack version) are a great idea of course. I do think that now the market is getting very full of so many different pedals and brands that for anyone looking at the less than £600 ($750) sector of the market that it would certainly be a very confusing time for them especially if they are new to simulators. Generally guys will buy this stuff from sales reviews (I'll call them that) that show lots that the buyer might never actually achieve and so the buyer then 'falls back' to how the units look and make choices that way... which is a pity really. Anyway thanks for the info.... all useful stuff.
This is educating me on something I've had for 3 months lol and it's only making my purchase further appreciated.. I only wish I got a doggone 2yr warranty :c
Yes the warranty was not hyper...
Great video! You always give the best, most in depth reviews on TH-cam 🤘!
A number of guys say that - but achieving subscribers and viewers remains a hard task... maybe the 'sales reviews' would result differently. Stay Safe... and I doubt I'll 'sell out' anytime son. :)
Great review - thank you! Is there an effect or patch that changes the pitch (to avoid a capo)? I tried the Mono Pitch FX 35 but it fed in the original note and didn't sound at all good.
Now sold and not sure ... but thanks for watching.
I have the GE300 and our other guitarist has the AxeFX II mk2 XL+. There's worlds between them. Also the Mooer isn't reliable (at least mine), it just went off during a gig, and another time it raised the switch time between presets to 2 seconds (could only be reset by switching off/on). I'm going for a Line6
There is five times the price between then when the Axe II was new? MOOER don't always get it right I agree, but neither does Fractal. I own a Line6 Helix and that is very good. The Kemper is also excellent and I don't have trouble with either really. Thanks for watching.
Im stuck between ge300 and pod go. Im gona use mainly with power amp, and for recordings. Im a bit scared for pods go plastic bottom and expresion pedal though.
I have never heard of the plastics breaking though... each has their curiosities for sure... and I did also review the Pod Go here: th-cam.com/video/kXEnbBHPPDA/w-d-xo.html and hope it helps...
Thanks for this Tony. I'm trying to find out if this thing can store loops and recall them later? And if so can they be recalled by the foot switch is how do you have to kneel down and find them somehow. Would you happen to know?
Looper sessions can be stored and backed up for import /export of audio files they say. I did NOT try it because I don't really use loops but there you go - in their words :) and thanks for watching.
Yes you can store it and export/import to/from computer
And you use 8 footswitches to play, record, loop, reverse, double track and more
Can you put two of the same effects next to each other like two of the same distortions with different settings so you can go back and forth same effect different settings live in the same patch ? I just got the Valeton gp 200 and you can't do that.
And how does it compare to Boss GX100? Thanks
Honestly I did not try that. I later sold the unit to get the cash to buy the next item for review. I did review the GX-100 here: th-cam.com/video/yeNSRYmm_rE/w-d-xo.html and hope it helps... thanks for watching.
Great review as always. Have you ever tried the Valeton GP-200? If so, how does it compare to the MOOER GE300? Thank you for posting this.
I have not... I considered that a few times especially at the pricing... if I get to it I will put it on my channel.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Very good! Thank you sir!!
Valeton gp 200 latency. Sound like mooer ge150. Big different my friend
Love the review. Everything I needed to know before deciding to buy one. Appreciate it a lot. Thank you very much! :)
You know JJE , that's exactly why I make video reviews... so guys can appreciate them. Some don't but hey this is the 21st century of the wild west :). Thanks.
Thank you for this in depth review. It was the reason I purchased this unit. I like it very much but I think the buttons are too close together and I find my foot hitting two at a time, many times. I hate being so careful. Is there a way to use this as a pedal board only? I can not seem to find the info.
Yeah I get that, and I can see that it could be a problem. Maybe this bit: th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html could be the answer but it does not placate the close switches. Of course you could use a midi switcher that has better layouts etc. There are many on the market... but then it all starts to cost, and the complexity increases where sooner or later something might well stop even at a gig. But you raise a good point. If anyone else has any ideas do post them... and thanks for watching...
Yes you can, using the 4 cable method described in the manual to bypass interna amp and cab simulation. You can then affect desired effects to footswitches (and even choose each color)
Very interesting video sir! Any chance you 'd review the GP200 from Valeton as in depth as you've done here? Its a great up and comer and alternative to the POD Go.
Well I'm sort of easing off the stuff at the moment - some health things... but I have been asked a few times for that unit. Thanks for watching.
Tony, I have tried every Amp modeller out there and when it comes to playing through an amp they all fail. Wondering about the GE300? Most of these uunits have good effects but sound way to processed and scratchy for amp and drive models. Every you tube clip sounds great but I will assume they are all through powered FRFR. Have you tried this 4 cable through an amp?
Don't be surprised... you're generally right! :) I have tried most of them very close up. Check the reviews of the units I have looked at because my reviews try and show the real tones as most ordinary guys might get initially at the very least. The GE300 is interesting especially for the money, but it (like all of them) does have some funny things that you could come across. The Wah had to be turned on and off with a switch... as just one example. I never solved it and gave up on that. I did NOT try this 4 cable and although I sometimes take some units and do that, generally I don't. But I either simply go in to an amp, or I go direct to desk depending on time. If I go in to an amp then I say so in the video... and then always use a mic to record from that. For the 4 cable method I use on a Helix rack with its controller pedal in to a Marshal JVM410HJS Satch amp and then I don't use the amp sims. To be honest, in the studio we generally use tube amps but have on occasion used these types of effects units... but not really that often. Obviously for reviews I try and create a very simplistic approach as many guys would when initially using the gear... but there can be some good sounding units and of course the 4cm helps considerably with tones if you are going to use the simulated amps. Check those reviews as I have looked at most of them and always played at least something at the end - sometimes good and sometimes less so, but it's not put together in a way that makes the unit specifically sound perfect - as I don't think that many guys get that particularly early on. Here: th-cam.com/play/PL6E22694F35860D41.html you might well have seen them? or not... there are many and the last one I completed was the GX-100 - a pretty interesting pedal, but it all depends what you want to do with it... hope it helps Dave...
Some PA's are shhh you know what... ;-)
Thank you Tony for your time and this valuable video. I am currently looking for this kind of unit and it looks like my choice will be set on that one. also because I am reselling the Boss SY300 - I found many similarities with the synth function provided by the GE300 - but also for once, seems that programming this unit is probably one of the easiest as far as I can see (and with my experience of other units I had in the past like HD500 pod, Boss MS3 and some more...)
No problem... and thanks for watching. Also consider the Boss GX100 as that's not bad either...
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks. I've been comparing to this one, but the GE300 seems to work better for me.
the only funny thing is... all them pedalboards with a pedal, they all have the same problem for me : pedal is always on the right handside... and I'm left handed :) (my wah pedal is always at the extreme left on the pb) so I will have to get used to it . seriously, just ordered the GE300.
Great point on the LH approach - and its something RH guys probably never even consider - I didn't for sure. Do let me know how you get on with the GE300 - it is an interesting pedal. On the Wah, I never got used to the 'on/off' for the pedal being a main switch. Maybe there's another way, but it was weird for me - I use a wah a lot. Thanks for watching too.
Thanks Tony, I will. btw sold my SY300 last evening. will pay half of the GE300 :)
:)...
Hi, I just received the ge300 second hand... I am looking for the software Mooer Studio ..I found it on the website but it is the new version 2023 and is not working with the ge300. I am wondering if you can help me. Thanks a lot for your video it is amazing.
Regards
Renato
Have you ensured the firmware is completely up to date? Firstly check that... then try the newest software AFTER its up to date... that might help. Thanks
@tonymckenziecom hi thanks ... yes, the ge300 is updated with the last firmware.
If the software does not solve it then contact MOOER!
@tonymckenziecom unfortunately Mooer support is not answering. Thanks again. Are you in UK?
Strange they are not replying? Yes I am in the UK... I would have thought that would work OK? Anyone else have any similar problem? Post here....
Hey Boss! You still using this unit? If yes or no, can you say why? Thanks for the review and Best Regards!
Indeed I am not. Please let me explain... Firstly, I see loads of these types of products, some I keep if they work for me and some I sell later to then be able to buy more gear to review (I buy it all!). In the case of the GE300 there was a reason I sold it. I use a wah a lot in how I play, and not just as a wah but as a sort of drive element too. On the GE300 the pedal did not have the usual control button with toe forward if I remember correctly... you have to assign a pedal to turn on or off the wah. That was very off putting to me and to be honest, it was distracting to me after using wah pedals since 1971. So I sold it. However, I also reviewed the GT-1000CORE around that time and I kept that one, firstly because the operation is different and secondly because you can have up to 24 effects etc. through the audio path. I trust that little explanation helps... it's not really a reflection of the gear, but really just about how I play. Thanks for watching and for the post.
I agree with what you say about the white texts, I would change the plastic plugs for black text stickers or something. Nice tutorial, thanks.
Yes the text is one of the few pains of the device...
Can you do two different signal paths for left and right XLR if I want stereo guitar with different sounds directly into PA ?
I did not try it... but thanks for watching.
I've just looked into it on one forum where people said this unit has two ADSP-21469 DSP SHARC family chips (model from year 2013)...
Anyway, it would be great you confirmed that info personally here for us. ))
This is what I said and showed: th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html and all is revealed... thanks. I don't bother with forums... I open it up and show you :) Thanks for watching.
BTW I did see the date on them as 2015 just FYI.
Can this go into pedal only mode? I do not see it.
Great point. There is no pedal only mode from what I saw... I might have missed it but hard to miss really... thanks...
Can I plug monitor speakers on this unit?
I guess you could use headphone out for monitoring if you're using the main outs to an amp or FOH... th-cam.com/video/rSZVMzVR2fA/w-d-xo.html shows the I/O. Thanks for watching.
I'm stuck between choosing this mooer g300 or the headrush mx5. Anybody got any input
300 offers more... and the MX5 screen can be annoying... Thanks.
Hi; Is it possible to convert preset from GE200 to GE300? I have some GE200 presets but it gives a file error on the GE300
I have never owned the GE200 :( so sorry I can't answer that question) Anyone out there know the answer for Marcello? Come on guys... and Marcello thanks for watching.
Its imposible to convert presets from 200 to 300. They have different software, number of knobs etc. Even from 300lite to 300 is imposible.
what a legend. Keep up the good work my man. excelent rewiew
Ha some say a Leg End :) thanks for watching and your kind words.
Really liked the review. At least I know now whether to buy or not to buy. I loved the lead sounds you got but I still like my pedals and Marshall combo to hand.
I could have it on the side in between practice sessions. Just so I don't get bored. Love the mooer products so we'll see.... The winter and months of cold weather and long nights on the way. Christmas is coming so who knows !!! Oh yeah I will be watching more of your videos.
Well thanks for watching this one... I have a whole raft of effects unit reviews, amp reviews and so much more... been doing this stuff since 2009 so it has accrued all on my channel. I like the amps too :) Marshall are pretty good amps and I have rarely ever had any problems with them... great sound too. In any case, if you get one do come back and post what YOU think of the unit whatever it is... the more the better I think. Thanks.
Does this unit not have a drum machine like the GE200?
No it does NOT have a drum machine... per the manual, I downloaded Sep 3rd, 2023 updated for FW 3.0.1.
Thanks Scott for the info...
Please can you teach me how to factory reset it?
George its covered in the downloadable manual.... thanks
Hi Tony,
Yesterday I purchased the Mooer Ge300.
I turnd it On want to test the presets via Headphone Output.
It worked, but if I choose the Buttons, AMP or REVERB there are no more sounds coming out of the speakers.
When i shut them down the sound coming out normal. Is there any Explanation for this akward occur?
Thank you for the Response!
I have not seen that myself. Any one else seen this problem? Sorry I can't advise further as I sold the GE300 later... Thanks for watching.
Very informative. How many signal chains does it have and can it process the input in two separate chains and output them to the left and Right channels?
Oh Alex I forget... it was a very comprehensive review at the time and I see so much gear I just forget... but remember you can only change about 4 items in the chain (if I remember right)... which was a bit of a shortcoming... on the Boss GT-1000CORE there are about 24 items in the chain and you can have anything anywhere which was a better proposition. Thanks for watching.
Great video. Can you open ge300lite too? It should be the same but I think that there is only one processor inside light. I do have them both right now and when you start them at the same time, lite needs 11s more to start (the same 3.01 version and all the same settings at start). Also, you can get processor colaps with lite and with bigger brother, you can not overload it (the same effects + synth on big one). FxA - Harmony takes 30% of processor on big and more than 50% on lite.
I don't have the light one :( so sorry about that...
Awesome in depth video as always Tony 🤘
Thanks for watching Chris... really appreciated. These things just take so long. Stay safe.
Great review, thumbs up!
Thank you glad you liked it.
Top review Tony.
So good I bought one. In fact, I bought THIS one! :-)
Ha great to see you here. Hopefully the visit was enjoyable... I could have spent hours with you guys :). In any case I trust you get it all going well.... and I'm sure your son will get along fine with the GE300... and yes Alan did buy this one... Thanks for stopping by...
Does it allow you to assign where an effect is placed in the signal chain like the Headrush pedals?
It does, but some of them won't move positions... if I remember correctly. Thanks.
Thank you. I can now make a more informed decision regarding my modeler choice.
I have a problem with the Mooer Ge300... every time I press the footswitch to switch presets 1 to 2 it takes 3 to 4 seconds to switch to the patch/preset program, this applies to all parameters, but there is no problem for sound... can someone help me fix it This???
Terjemahkan
Sounds weird. Back it up and then do a factory reset then restore the settings etc. to see if that helps.... thanks.
Stil not work,not fix the trouble..
Sorry. Please get the unit checked by professional. And do come back and post what you find. Thanks.
And do let us know which company you find that can do repairs on this unit.
A wonderful presentation in deep. It was exacly what i needed. So a great great thank you. A wonderful video
Great to hear and thank you for watching...
@@tonymckenzieofficial yes thank you so much. I give a 9 same as you and for me there is little point negative that you don't tell it's for the screen. It need to be protected because it's not glass it's plastic and you can ray it very easely bye let down a jack on it ( it's happened too me..) so it's better to put a glass protection for phone that you can cut at the exact dimension to use it. And it's true they should wright letters in black as the old hifi we have got in the early years. Or put the face in black and then the letters in White... I think they did it for the lite version... Another little deception was also they took off the rythm section they have in the ge 100 and ge 200. But finaly i can manage that with the loopers i have who got a batterie in. So well i'm finish that's all. Thanks a lot again for the really good review.👍🙂🎵🎶
Yes good points... I missed it :) Ha and it was a 2 hour review too! Oh well... thanks for watching and for your useful points raised...
Fantastic review Tony. Amazing piece of gear.
It is a bargain really. There are some anomalies that you have to get used to, but not really many. Certainly a bargain price... software is more basic than most... but that can also be seen as a good thing. Stay safe and thanks for watching!
Do you have to use the amp and cab or can you just you it as a stomp box of effects
You should be able to turn off the amp etc.
Yes, it's possible to turn off the amp and cab and use the GE300 for effects only.