MC406 CAE Buffer Pedal Review

Wow . What a difference.

This thing really works. I'm always very skeptical of magical elixirs but this this really does what it says. Really shines when placed between guitar and virtual amp when recording. Gain control is a nice touch as well. Worthwhile tool.

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Not all buffers are created equal

I own several different buffers and I have to say this MXR one is the first one that I thought made a difference, in a positive way. Also, I like the extra features like the boost and eq cuts.

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A buffer that doesn't sound "fake".

I have a fairly large pedal board (13 pedals, 12 are True Bypass) and I was definitely losing some signal. I had tried some buffers at the beginning of the signal chain but they always made the sound too sterile and "glassy". This is the first buffer I've used that just sounds "normal" or "natural", the clarity and high end are restored but not to the point of sounding artificial… read more or like I have active pickups. This is running the tone controls as normal (no cut) and without any signal boost(0 db). My pedals seem to interact and stack better as well. So far I am very happy with this buffer and plan on getting another for my second smaller board. If you've had issues like mine with other buffers give this one a shot, I am very impressed with it!

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Flawless Buffer

I noticed quite a bit of volume drop and treble loss while running pedals in the (unbuffered) FX loop of my Marshall Studio. This fixed it right up, even better than bypassing the loop! Love the dB boost and the bass cut; I'd give it 6 stars if possible.

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Well worth the money for improving your tone

I gotta say that I was not at all excited about purchasing a buffer. I can get excited about a new pedal that introduces a new sound such as distortion or chorus into my effects toolbox. But not for a new pedal that does "nothing". If you're like me and have been slowly adding pedals to your pedal board over the years until one day you count and find 14 pedals on that board, then… read more most likely your overall tone has been slowly degrading with each additional pedal, but you never noticed because each change was small. I was obviously suffering from this issue because when I finally bit the bullet and got the MXR Buffer for the front of my effects chain, my tone suddenly came alive. I spent the first weekend with this thing trying out every pedal I own and style of music I play and it all sounded significantly better than before. I got tones out of my rig that I couldn't believe. By the way I left the high cut and low cut switches off and the gain slider slightly past the midpoint. I didn't feel any need to tweak the settings further. So the bottom line is this pedal is a great investment not because it sounds great but because it makes EVERY OTHER pedal you own sound great. In my case, this pedal cost about $7 per pedal that it enhanced. That's well worth the investment.

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