synthpenguin
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Here's what I'd seriously look at, from cheapest to most expensive:
Cheap CE-2 clone (Donner Tutti Chorus, Tone City Angel Wing, Mooer Ensemble King) - cheap, mini pedal, "does the thing", simple, true bypass, mono, might fall over if you step on it too hard or at the wrong angle (because mini), sometimes no dry/wet mix control (though many or most of these do have one, unlike the actual CE-2; I'm not sure if they go 100% wet for a vibrato sound though) - 30 to 60USD (new) / 15 to 40USD (used)
Any used Boss Chorus pedal you can find for under 80USD - there is a lot of variation across models, and they all sound different (some more than others), and with varying levels of noise (hard to get away from this with the analog models in particular), but really none of them sound bad and they're all winners if you "just want a chorus", especially for this price, with the main downside being that the buffers are not the best (so you may experience noticeable "tone suck" when the pedal is bypassed... though it's arguably only a factor with many stacked in your pedal rig), also generally no dry/wet control - 40 to 80USD (used; don't overpay)
Ibanez CSMINI Chorus - good build quality, true bypass, relatively low noise (but still present because analog chorus), has a generally "warmer" and less sparkly sound than the various Boss CE-style chorus pedals (neither good nor bad; a preference thing), has a dry/wet mix control (very useful!), mini, doesn't go as fast as others if you want those rotary type sounds though, might fall over if you step on it too hard or at the wrong angle (because mini), mono - 120USD (new) / 80 to 100USD (used)
- - -
PAUSE: if you just want a basic mono chorus sound you can set and forget, I'd stop and go with one of the options above ^^^
If you are a little pickier, or want more sounds or features, proceed with caution haha >>>
- - -
Earthquaker Devices Aurelius - excellent build quality, low noise, true bypass, three great distinct modes that give you a huge range of sounds (from traditional chorus, to the flanger side of things, to the rotary side of things), stores up to 6 presets, has a dry/wet mix control, has assignable expression (or CV) control, top jacks so it takes up about the same amount of room on a board as the mini pedals (or potentially less depending on your cable ends), one of two digital options on this list (but still sounds great imo), there is a slight noticeable delay in the wet signal (making it less ideal for pure vibrato effects), mono, more expensive - 200USD (new) / 130 to 180USD (used)
Source Audio Gemini - sort of like a more hifi, expanded version of the Aurelius, stereo I/O, full MIDI support* and lots of things you can access there, 3 default modes with very different sounds, the ability to use a mobile app or computer software to access waaaaaay more sounds (basically covering all of the classic chorus sounds) and overwrite those three modes with user presets (and the ability to store 128 user presets that can be access via MIDI), has assignable expression control, low latency, good support, is the other digital pedal in this list (but, again, sounds great), *MIDI support outside of USB does require their additional "Neuro Hub", being tied to an app to access all the features can be a downside for some people (it's all optional though, of course, or something you can setup once and then forget), more expensive - 200USD (new) / 120 to 170USD (used)
Walrus Julia - sounds great, sort of a tweaked Boss CE-2 with a dry / wet control and some other features, has a "lag control" which is a bit hard to explain but adds a lot of additional sound capabilities actually, has a waveshape toggle that lets you switch to a smoother modulation sound (great for the vibrato / rotary side of things, or for more subtle chorus sounds), true bypass, good build quality and support, top jacks so it takes up about the same amount of room on a board as the mini pedals (or potentially less depending on your cable ends), mono, almost as expensive as the next option which a lot of people consider The Analog One To Get once you're over 200USD - 220USD (new) / 130 to 180USD (used; make sure you look into differences between versions if you look at used)
Boss CE-2W - excellent build quality, gives you more or less all of the most classic Boss chorus sounds with its modes, wide range of speed and depth across the modes, sounds great of course, literally no bad setting lol, stereo I/O (though this behaves differently across modes), buffered bypass but with the excellent newer buffers Boss puts in their Waza pedals, CE-1 mode doesn't have the preamp part of the CE-1 (which probably doesn't matter to you or most people, but it does to some people, so I'm mentioning it), very expensive, no dedicated dry/wet control - 240USD (new) / 160 to 200USD (used)
Walrus Julianna - an upgraded version of the Julia (so all the same pros as that), adds a tap tempo switch for quickly changing rate with the tap of your foot (and a subdivision toggle for that), adds full stereo I/O, adds an assignable expression control, adds a "random" modulation shape option, adds a "drift" option for more organic modulation sounds (think tape warble etc), adds a momentary control option to temporarily speed up (or slow down) the modulation rate, very expensive and probably not worth it if you just want a classic chorus tbh (but if you want more than that, it's very cool and "playable") - 280USD (new) / 238USD (b-stock direct from Walrus, at least at time of writing) / 175 to 210USD (used)
- - -
There are a ton of other options beyond those, like the MXR stuff and the SCF, budget-aimed options like the Walrus Fundamental Chorus, boutique options like the JAM Waterfall, pedals like the Small Clone, EQD Sea Machine, and Old Blood Noise BL-82 that kind of have their own sound, and many excellent digital solutions (new and old) and multimod pedals, but basically none of those I listed above will disappoint for the classic chorus sounds most people are thinking of when they think "chorus", and I think basically all give a good value for what they offer.
Cheap CE-2 clone (Donner Tutti Chorus, Tone City Angel Wing, Mooer Ensemble King) - cheap, mini pedal, "does the thing", simple, true bypass, mono, might fall over if you step on it too hard or at the wrong angle (because mini), sometimes no dry/wet mix control (though many or most of these do have one, unlike the actual CE-2; I'm not sure if they go 100% wet for a vibrato sound though) - 30 to 60USD (new) / 15 to 40USD (used)
Any used Boss Chorus pedal you can find for under 80USD - there is a lot of variation across models, and they all sound different (some more than others), and with varying levels of noise (hard to get away from this with the analog models in particular), but really none of them sound bad and they're all winners if you "just want a chorus", especially for this price, with the main downside being that the buffers are not the best (so you may experience noticeable "tone suck" when the pedal is bypassed... though it's arguably only a factor with many stacked in your pedal rig), also generally no dry/wet control - 40 to 80USD (used; don't overpay)
Ibanez CSMINI Chorus - good build quality, true bypass, relatively low noise (but still present because analog chorus), has a generally "warmer" and less sparkly sound than the various Boss CE-style chorus pedals (neither good nor bad; a preference thing), has a dry/wet mix control (very useful!), mini, doesn't go as fast as others if you want those rotary type sounds though, might fall over if you step on it too hard or at the wrong angle (because mini), mono - 120USD (new) / 80 to 100USD (used)
- - -
PAUSE: if you just want a basic mono chorus sound you can set and forget, I'd stop and go with one of the options above ^^^
If you are a little pickier, or want more sounds or features, proceed with caution haha >>>
- - -
Earthquaker Devices Aurelius - excellent build quality, low noise, true bypass, three great distinct modes that give you a huge range of sounds (from traditional chorus, to the flanger side of things, to the rotary side of things), stores up to 6 presets, has a dry/wet mix control, has assignable expression (or CV) control, top jacks so it takes up about the same amount of room on a board as the mini pedals (or potentially less depending on your cable ends), one of two digital options on this list (but still sounds great imo), there is a slight noticeable delay in the wet signal (making it less ideal for pure vibrato effects), mono, more expensive - 200USD (new) / 130 to 180USD (used)
Source Audio Gemini - sort of like a more hifi, expanded version of the Aurelius, stereo I/O, full MIDI support* and lots of things you can access there, 3 default modes with very different sounds, the ability to use a mobile app or computer software to access waaaaaay more sounds (basically covering all of the classic chorus sounds) and overwrite those three modes with user presets (and the ability to store 128 user presets that can be access via MIDI), has assignable expression control, low latency, good support, is the other digital pedal in this list (but, again, sounds great), *MIDI support outside of USB does require their additional "Neuro Hub", being tied to an app to access all the features can be a downside for some people (it's all optional though, of course, or something you can setup once and then forget), more expensive - 200USD (new) / 120 to 170USD (used)
Walrus Julia - sounds great, sort of a tweaked Boss CE-2 with a dry / wet control and some other features, has a "lag control" which is a bit hard to explain but adds a lot of additional sound capabilities actually, has a waveshape toggle that lets you switch to a smoother modulation sound (great for the vibrato / rotary side of things, or for more subtle chorus sounds), true bypass, good build quality and support, top jacks so it takes up about the same amount of room on a board as the mini pedals (or potentially less depending on your cable ends), mono, almost as expensive as the next option which a lot of people consider The Analog One To Get once you're over 200USD - 220USD (new) / 130 to 180USD (used; make sure you look into differences between versions if you look at used)
Boss CE-2W - excellent build quality, gives you more or less all of the most classic Boss chorus sounds with its modes, wide range of speed and depth across the modes, sounds great of course, literally no bad setting lol, stereo I/O (though this behaves differently across modes), buffered bypass but with the excellent newer buffers Boss puts in their Waza pedals, CE-1 mode doesn't have the preamp part of the CE-1 (which probably doesn't matter to you or most people, but it does to some people, so I'm mentioning it), very expensive, no dedicated dry/wet control - 240USD (new) / 160 to 200USD (used)
Walrus Julianna - an upgraded version of the Julia (so all the same pros as that), adds a tap tempo switch for quickly changing rate with the tap of your foot (and a subdivision toggle for that), adds full stereo I/O, adds an assignable expression control, adds a "random" modulation shape option, adds a "drift" option for more organic modulation sounds (think tape warble etc), adds a momentary control option to temporarily speed up (or slow down) the modulation rate, very expensive and probably not worth it if you just want a classic chorus tbh (but if you want more than that, it's very cool and "playable") - 280USD (new) / 238USD (b-stock direct from Walrus, at least at time of writing) / 175 to 210USD (used)
- - -
There are a ton of other options beyond those, like the MXR stuff and the SCF, budget-aimed options like the Walrus Fundamental Chorus, boutique options like the JAM Waterfall, pedals like the Small Clone, EQD Sea Machine, and Old Blood Noise BL-82 that kind of have their own sound, and many excellent digital solutions (new and old) and multimod pedals, but basically none of those I listed above will disappoint for the classic chorus sounds most people are thinking of when they think "chorus", and I think basically all give a good value for what they offer.
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I don’t know if anyone actually knows. Someone should analyze the circuit and find out. Either way I like how it sounds.
