Dunlop MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion vs EarthQuaker Devices Zoar

The Dunlop MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion and the EarthQuaker Devices Zoar are both pedals sharing crunchy, bright, saturated. The Dunlop MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion leans high gain. The EarthQuaker Devices Zoar leans edge of breakup and dynamic.

Similarity
citedBlended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.

44% — somewhat different

Shared tone character
citedDerived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.
  • crunchy
  • bright
  • saturated
Citation fame
citedCitation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.
0%
0%
Price
—

$129via Reverb

Description

The MXR M94SE Super Badass Distortion is a high-gain distortion pedal from MXR by Jim Dunlop, delivering wide-range distortion with a three-band active EQ and a broad gain spectrum covering everything from medium overdrive to extreme distortion. The Super Badass is designed to cover the widest possible range of drive styles in a single enclosure, suited to both classic rock and modern high-gain applications. Internal DIP switches allow clipping diode selection between different clipping characters including hard silicon clipping and softer asymmetric options, enabling circuit-level voicing customization.

The EarthQuaker Devices Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder is a medium-to-high-gain discrete distortion built entirely from transistors with no op-amps or clipping diodes, giving it a touch-sensitive, amp-like character. It spans fattened clean boost, crunchy speaker breakup, muscular distortion, and stabs of hi-fi fuzz, with a dynamic response reminiscent of cranking the master volume on a Marshall or Orange. A three-band active EQ plus a distinctive Weight control sets how much low end feeds the circuit, dramatically reshaping the voice from tight and crumbly to thick and blown out. It is highly tweakable and reactive to picking and guitar volume, suiting rock and heavier styles that want amp-like grind from a pedal.

Genres
citedGenres this gear is documented as being used in.
  • Classic Rock
  • Alternative Rock
  • Metal
  • Blues
  • Rock
  • Hard Rock
Tonal lean
  • high gain
  • edge of breakup
  • dynamic
  • harmonically rich
  • transparent
  • fuzzy

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