Sonicake - anyone familiar with them?

[EliasMooseblaster]

It's hardly news to state that eBay is full of small workshops and unknown manufacturers flogging their own electronic devices and guitar bits (and for once, I'm not talking about any of the more infamous...erm...converters and refurbishers on there). The existence of Sonicake, therefore, didn't surprise me - they seem to offering their own takes on various effects pedals. But what seemed unusual to me was a number of Valetone and Hotone pedals available in their shop. The prices seemed to be quite a bit lower, and the designs on the cases seemed to be different, so I assume Sonicake is making their own clones. However they've got the original companies' logos printed on them...are some pedal manufacturers licensing their gear to other manufacturers?

(And the real question for which I've gathered you all here today: ultimately, should I have any reservations about taking a punt on one of their Hotone B Station pedals?)

[Salt on your Bass?]

Just stumbled across these units randomly...China based and some 'familiar' engineering it seems. 

Anyone gambled on them? Are they the new Behringer? Some tech21 looking stuff in amongst the mix...amongst others

https://www.sonicake.com/ 

PS happy new year ✌️

Edited January 1, 2021 by Salt on your Bass?

[EliasMooseblaster]

5 hours ago, Salt on your Bass? said:

Anyone gambled on them? Are they the new Behringer? Some tech21 looking stuff in amongst the mix...amongst others

I've not tried one of their own devices, but I did buy a Hotone B Station from them in the end - and I've been delighted with that! A very preamp/DI for its price point. I get the impression they're in a similar boat to Joyo, Caline, etc - surprisingly good for the money, and cheap enough that you could take a gamble on them without breaking the bank.

[Salt on your Bass?]

2 hours ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

I've not tried one of their own devices, but I did buy a Hotone B Station from them in the end - and I've been delighted with that! A very preamp/DI for its price point. I get the impression they're in a similar boat to Joyo, Caline, etc - surprisingly good for the money, and cheap enough that you could take a gamble on them without breaking the bank.

Yeah I might give one of their cab SIM dis a go - seems you can load your own IRs. Like you say, worth the gamble at some of those prices

[MartinB]

I had a dig around for info on the Sonic IR, as it looks like a challenger to the current smallest/simplest/cheapest IR box (Nux Mini Studio, ~£55). One thing I found on an old Aliexpress listing is that the total internal memory is 236 KB, which may or may not be a problem depending on the size/number of files you want to use.