I used to think that cheaper multi-effects where good enough for me, I'm not a great player after all. I was wrong. This is the real deal. I have not owned any other expensive effects pedals so I can't compare to other pedals, but I know that this is an awesome pedal. I bought it because I always been satisfied with pedals from Boss, since my first distortion pedal in the 80-ties. Are other brands slightly better? I have no idea and I don't think that I will ever find out, if I buy another pedal it will be the one that Boss releases to replace this one.