Behringer UT-100 vs Boss TR-2 Tremolo Showdown

Years ago I picked up a Tremolo from Boss. A lot of my experience with effects start with getting a boss pedal and then finding something I like better. It would be fair to say that I've compared a lot of similar pedals to one another. Although my Boss TR-2 tremolo pedal has stayed around for a long time. Tremolo is such a simple effect that its easy to assume that most are relativity the same. The Boss TR-2 is considered by many the standard in tremolos. Many pedals have more features and functions. Some Uni-vibe clones are loaded with neat features, but the three knobs that come with the Boss are enough to get a wide range of sounds. Rate, Wave, and Depth are very descriptive. My Vox, with fantastic vibrato, doesn't even give you the wave shape to fiddle with. So I sat down with my work horse TR-2 and Behringer's most economical offering to decide if a pedal that is less than a quarter of the price could stand up to my current choice of Trems.







Boss TR-2












I picked up this pedal used for less than half the price of what it normally runs. Then I did a little messing around with it. I modded it with Mounte Allum's TR-2 mod to add a level knob. You also replace an opamp in this mod. There is a noticeable difference given the extra volume, but for this test I found unity gain as not to give an unfair advantage. I found some great sounds with little effort. It recreated the Vox vibrato and classic Tremolo with just the turn of a few knobs. It was very musical and flexible. You could dial in anything from soft, subtle vibe to spacey Tremolo. That's why I keep it around. No surprise I found it agreeable. These Behringer pedal are supposed to be Boss clones so I was excited to have a pedal that would be close to the same as one that I liked so much. Not to mention it cost a faction of the cost of new Boss TR-2







Behringer UT-100







Right off the bat the Behringer had a harder edge than the Boss. I dialed the Shape knob all the way down to the curvy wave. It helped, but I found myself wanting to turn past the point where it stopped. I tried to match the Boss's vibe, coming in and out like the chimey vibe of the Vox. No go. The UT-100 had a much sharper shaped wave no matter where it was set. I was able to get a usable routery cabinet sound, but for the most part I found it to sound a little harsh. The Behringer also produced some digital artifacts that were not musical. If you take the Wave knob all the way to the square wave, then you just get an abrupt on/off signal that more or less spits segments of tone at you. These setting is not enjoyable, but may be useful if looking to make you sound less like a guitar in general.







The Conclusion







The Boss TR-2 is hard to beat. The Behringer's price is just about the least amount of money you can pay for an effect. If you did buy the Behringer, then you'll wont to upgrade down the road. The sounds you can successfully pull off are limited. It's a little difficult for me to praise Boss as I often find there are better pedals in nearly every category, but it looks like the only thing that Behringer has done with this pedal is take a horible effect that you might find stuck in a budget multi-effect pedal and put it in a single pedal format. Literally, this pedal is just on the verge of unusable. It is nowhere close to the TR-2. Maybe the UT-300 is improved in some way. I couldn't imagine it being any worse.