Zen Drive / Mahayana Drive (PCB203) and Ultraphonix / Phoenix Ultra (PCB275)

[scheffehcs]

I got these PCBs a little while back not realizing how similar they are. I had heard the Zendrive was great, and I had tried an Ultraphonix that I liked, so I wanted to try both.

Maybe someone a little more knowledgeable can chime in, but it seems like the Ultraphonix is a pretty blatant rip-off. Has a fixed resistor instead of the Voice pot in the Zen, and there’s an extra diode in there, not sure what it does.

The voice pot on the Zen is nice, not sure why Vertex took it out! It adds some brightness and gain, so it’s definitely interactive with tone and gain pots. Both pedals do sound great. I’m bad at describing tones, but to me it was like a nice alternative to a tube screamer - still compressed and focused sounding, but without the pronounced mid hump. I took a quick video noodling around for anyone thinking of picking either up. Of the two, I would recommend the Zendrive!

 

[spi]

but it seems like the Ultraphonix is a pretty blatant rip-off.

Doing a side-by-side of the schematics I concur.

I like your labels. Is that done with standard steel stamps?

 

[scheffehcs]

Doing a side-by-side of the schematics I concur.

I like your labels. Is that done with standard steel stamps?

Thanks. Yep, just a set of stamps with hammer and anvil I found at a craft store.

 

[Preverb]

So the Ultraphonix is just a Zen drive with a pot deleted? Glad I didn't order one. I still need to troubleshoot my Symbolic build but everything is kind of on the back burner for a while.

 

[jeffwhitfield]

Here's the other interesting thing about the Mahayana. I built one to the specs listed and compared it to the Helix version in my HX Stomp. I expected some differences for sure...but the differences were a little more than subtle. AionFX lists the NE5532P op-amp in their build so I switched out the AD712 for that one. That did the trick and it now compares quite well to the HX Stomp...a bit better actually. Try the NE5532P in it. Might be surprised how much of a difference it makes.

 

[spi]

I used a 5532 on my Zendrive build too. I didn't compare it to other options though.

 

[scheffehcs]

So the Ultraphonix is just a Zen drive with a pot deleted? Glad I didn't order one. I still need to troubleshoot my Symbolic build but everything is kind of on the back burner for a while.

I’d have to do a closer look, but I know there’s the missing pot, an additional diode, and a different op amp. Might be some other small differences.

 

[scheffehcs]

Here's the other interesting thing about the Mahayana. I built one to the specs listed and compared it to the Helix version in my HX Stomp. I expected some differences for sure...but the differences were a little more than subtle. AionFX lists the NE5532P op-amp in their build so I switched out the AD712 for that one. That did the trick and it now compares quite well to the HX Stomp...a bit better actually. Try the NE5532P in it. Might be surprised how much of a difference it makes.

Ya know I completely forgot that the Helix has a zen drive model. I’ll check that out for sure.