Chorus pedals offer guitarists the ability to create thicker sounds from their guitar. With proper settings and sound shaping, the chorus effect could even make a single guitar sound like several guitars playing all at once. With the richness, depth, and thickness it offers to the tone, a good chorus pedal is a great addition to your gear.
The UC200 Ultra Chorus pedal from Behringer is an affordable pedal that claims to be able to produce a very thick stereo chorus effect. For under $30, will make for a great budget chorus pedal for all guitarists out there looking to delve deeper into modulation pedals. Behringer is also known for producing affordable guitar pedals and multi-effects pedals with good quality and sound. Their pedals such as those in their "200" line, including the Behringer Ultra Chorus UC200 pedal, are known to bear a resemblance to the more expensive and renowned Boss pedals.
Should You Get One?
The Ultra Chorus from Behringer is a great addition for guitarists who want to try experimenting with a chorus effect and learn how to incorporate it into their playing. It is also useful for putting together a pedalboard while spending a larger portion of your budget on other effects such as overdrive and fuzz pedals and spending less for a decent and easy-to-use chorus pedal. The Behringer Ultra Chorus does its job well and will last long enough for you to upgrade to something better or decide whether or not the chorus effect fits your playing.
Our Picks for Review
Make | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|
Behringer | UC200 |
Behringer Chorus 200
PRO's & CON's of Behringer Chorus 200
Before we dive into our review, let's look at some of the pros and cons of the behringer UC200:
Pros
Cons
Features and Benefits
Features
In terms of build quality, you get what you pay for with the Behringer Ultra Chorus pedal. It has a bright yellow plastic encasing that will make you skeptical, but the pedal should be able to withstand normal abuse during gigs and jam sessions. Although I haven't tested to confirm, any further abuse to the pedal such as jumping on the footswitch might cause damage to it. With other pedals below $50 made of metal, the plastic material was quite disappointing but also understandable as they had to cut corners to provide a good sound for more or less $25.
Taking a quick look at the Behringer UC200 might fool you and make you think it's a Boss pedal with its wide, padded footswitch and a black panel with its four knobs acting as the level, tone, rate, and depth controls. With color as the only difference, it's quite obvious that the Behringer UC200 is the cheaper counterpart to the respected Boss Super Chorus.
Functionality-wise, the UC200 has great features that can be found in other pedals but are always good to see implemented nonetheless. It has two outputs for a stereo mode which allows you to run your signal through two separate amps to get a richer sound as opposed to a mono output. It also has a compartment in the back for a 9V battery allowing you to use it without a power supply, and a status LED indicator to let you know if the effect is activated or if your battery still has enough juice. The electronic on/off switch also feels satisfying and tactile.
Controls
The Behringer UC200 also offers sound shaping with dedicated level, tone, rate, and depth knobs. The knobs allow you to control the pedal settings and are as straightforward as it can get with the simple layout. The simplicity employed in the Ultra Chorus pedal can be favored by a lot of guitarists including myself - it allows you to spend more time on your playing rather than fiddling around with pedal settings figuring out what each one of them does.
Just like other pedals, the level knob allows you to adjust your signal's attenuation or volume to improve its mix and how it sounds with other instruments or tracks. The tone knob allows you to play around with warmer and brighter tones to find the sweet spot of your guitar tone. Now for the effect-shaping controls, we have rate and depth. Rate allows you to adjust the speed of the sweeps in the effect depending on the vibe you're after, and depth lets you control the intensity of the effect allowing you to play with a subtler or heavier chorus.
Sound
When it comes to the sound of Behringer UC200, it is decent for its price-range and acceptable for those experimenting with the effect. It is also great for having an affordable chorus pedal on your board when you need it. I have one on my board because I don't frequently use chorus and spending on a more expensive pedal is unreasonable when the Behringer UC200 performs well enough for its price - and it's unlikely for anyone to be able to tell that it's a $25 pedal from its sound.
Although good for its price, it simply cannot match the higher quality and more expensive chorus pedals such as the Boss Super Chorus. It excels the most at gigs and jam sessions, but you might want to consider borrowing or purchasing a more expensive pedal for professional studio recording. For guitarists like me who spend most of their time playing gigs rather than recording, the Behringer Ultra Chorus UC200 pedal will scratch that chorus itch. It's not the best nor richest chorus out there, but it does the job.
To be more specific with the sound, the sweep range of the pedal is fantastic. Playing around with the rate knob gives you a variety of different speeds to play with and allows you to get experimental sounds. The depth control also works great in changing up the intensity of the effect, allowing you to cater the chorus effect to whatever song you're playing. I was even able to get quite close to the famous Leslie chorus with this pedal and for its cheap price tag, I'm very impressed.
However, the UC200 also has some irritating quirks such as getting unpleasant sounds when the tone knob is set to its minimum and maximum positions, especially for keyboard and MIDI use. Knob ranges are also a little inferior to other more expensive pedals, with their values being relatively lower at the middle positions. This prevents it from maximizing its potential, but you can't complain much for such a cheap pedal that provides decent chorus effects. And like I said, using this for gigs is fine - the audience won't be able to tell the difference between a $25 pedal and a $100 one.
For a demonstration of the UC200's sound, you may refer to this video:
Social Proof of the Pedal
In our review of Behringer UC200, we have highlighted the features, Pros & Cons of the pedal. These are also validated by the following select customer reviews that we have picked up from the web. You should have an independent screening of such reviews for Ultra Chorus 200, before deciding to purchase.
The reviewer, as per his admission, has more than 40 years of experience with guitars and related equipment. He is very happy with the performance of the pedal and goes on to give his opinion and remedies for various shortcomings listed by other users.
This reviewer has used the Behringer Ultra Chorus pedal with his bass guitar. He happened to purchase it in an emergency, due to a misplaced Boss pedal. But, loved the performance and continues to use it since then, in spite of having his original pedal back. He recommends it for anyone looking for a budget chorus pedal.
This player loves this Ultra Chorus pedal for occasional use but complains about the plastic housing and depth of tone for professional setup. He reaffirms that it is a great product for its price it demands.
In Conclusion
Many guitarists building their first pedalboard or those interested in trying out a chorus effect will appreciate a cheap one that will allow them to try out the effect without busting the bank. Additionally, getting an affordable chorus pedal will allow you to spend the rest of your budget on other pedals or guitar gear.
With this Ultra Chorus pedal, Behringer hits it out of the park in terms of functionality and sound considering its price. The UC200 has a simple, straightforward design with dedicated level, tone, rate, and depth controls. It also has stereo functionality and a battery compartment which most pedals at this price range don't offer. Its price also allows you to learn how to incorporate chorus in your playing, see if you like it, and maybe get a more expensive chorus pedal with better features and quality.
Behringer UC200 pedal can deliver impressive sounds at a price point that every guitarist can enjoy. Aside from guitars, it can also be used for bass guitars and keyboards. You may check it out on Amazon and get one for yourself through this link:
