The “Permanent Waves” and “Moving Pictures” era Lifeson chorus tones are my personal reference point for any chorus pedal. I see a Boss CE-2W in my immediate future. 🎸🇺🇸

Now that's how one makes a side by side comparison! 👍

I've recently acquired a CE-2W and your demo is spot-on. Great pedal - it literally sounds like the 80s (I was there)

++ for the Lifeson riff at 3.20 hahhaa then again at 4:25. man you do love your Rush. Nice work on the PoliFX presets too!

Awesome Leon! Thanks for the comparison; makes me want to upgrade to a CE-2W for that CE-1 80’s sound!!

Both sound great! The ending tone with the Rose and DM-2 was the most inspiring for sure.

Great Pedal. Finally I can get proper Hüsker Dü Sounds.

Si tienen duda de cual pedal Chorus comprarse. Yo llevo unos 4 años usando el pedal CE-2W y es una maravilla lo uso en mis canciones, por sus funciones da una versatilidad enorme, puede dar desde una percepción de limpieza con un ligero aumento en la señal, hasta cosas muy exageradas para usarlo creativamente.

you would not know the difference between the two in a blind fold test. the CE-2w is spot on. the other thing the CE-2w does that the CE-1 can't do is a straight up VB-2 emulation by plugging a dummy lead into the B output when in "CE-1 vibrato" mode.

Thanks, Leon, that was convincing (and how a comparison video should be done)!

I guess I'm used to the 80s and just love Chorus. It just widens the sound. Clean sounds great with Chorus like the Roland amp with Stereo Chorus, and I play lot's of lead with Chorus just to make it stand out many times. Very cool.

What erks me is that the ce2 uses a mn3007 1024 stage BBD chip it is also a low noise floor and requires lower power supply that somehow provides more clear headroom. The Boss Ce1 uses a mn3002 which is a dual bbd chip that only offers 512 stages which is half of the proclaimed CE-2. The ce-2w claims it’s a remake of the ce-2 sound and offers CE-1 settings. For chorus and vibrato. But the Ce2w uses a not so loved Mn3207 bbd chip that comes from the Bf-2 flanger and the not so loved Boss Ce-3 chorus. Why musicians don’t go for that chip is because of the inadequate differences in the mn3207’s noise floor, higher power supply needed to power the chip, and less headroom when compared to the boss ce-1 or the original boss ce-2. How could the boss ce-2w offer a boss ce-1 setting when it doesn’t even use a bbd chip with the same amount of stages? Is beyond me. Now would anyone in the crowd really tell the difference when listening to the boss ce2w to the boss ce2? probably not. But the boss ce-1 is a unmatched masterpiece of technology that is irreplaceable and can be recognized as the most iconic chorus ever recorded. But the ce2 is my second favourite ! A Roland sde1000 at 23 Ms with the modulation settings set similar to how I like my boss ce-2 RATE 10-11 OCLOCK depth 1-2 OCLOCK and my last favourite chorus is a tie between the Julianna and the Newwave chorus by Jackson Audio. Leon could you do a comparison between the boss ce-2 and the new wave chorus by Jackson audio respectively they both use the mn3007 bbd 1024 stage chipset but with a digital clock for a plethora of chorus types.

CE one is my favorite chours sound. I went and bought a CE 20 just to get the C1 on it

CE-2w sounds great. Another one for my Christmas list...

I’m looking for a chorus pedal for a sort of Stone Temple Pilots Core tone, would you recommend either of these?

Thanks a lot for this video!!! This is how it should be done!

Buying one now! Thanks!

Just wish they had made the CE-2W stereo _in_ as well like they did with the DC-2W.

It's almost the same. The little difference is that the CE-2w sounds a bit cleaner, like the notes are more separated and not so vintage, so to speak. Dan and Mick of "That pedal show" had an episode with chorus and pointed out that the CE-1 was made for use with keyboards with a 10k Level pot that guitar players changed to 500k pot to make it more guitar friendly. But, as you pointed out, the CE-2w wins in terms of size, power options and availability and it's 99% there!

@LeonTodd My goodness that Camera Eye part sounded so fine. Would the UA Astra emulate the chorus of the CE-1 as well?

Really nice video Leon! My uncle have a 80's modded Boss CE-1, sounds killer. I really like the CE-1 sound, but it's out of my reallity adquire one of these here in Brazil.The CE-2 is extremely rare here and expensive to buy (if you find one!). But i prefer my beloved dyno my piano tri chorus. I'm considering to buy a waza version of CE-2 after watch this video. Thanks man!

Great Comparison! Time to replace my old CE-3 for a CE-2w.

Those pedals are nice sounding, my favorite chorus is the ac 120 jazz chorus amp that has a great sounding chorus in it, and I'm sure you can get that with the axefx3

Holy shit the CE-2w is pretty accurate to the CE-1 sound...

I did a crazy experience in my CE-2W. I change the Coolaudio V3207 to Matsushita MN3207 vintage. The sound going very warm and less treebly much more close to CE-2 standard and CE-1 for the two modes.

I was curious what is output b going to?

As a massive Rush fan, this was a pedal I simply couldn't pass up. Obviously, it's phenomenal for covering older songs but in general it's so versatile and really makes you want to throw chorus on everything. Surprisingly... It's probably my favorite pedal ever. I mean come on, that Ce1 tone is just unreal

Main difference appears to be in the mid range. 2 has a mid push while 1 has focus on the end frequencies. 1 sounds more like a JC120 mic’ed with 2 mics. 2 is good, but they don’t sound exactly the same. Not at all. Best is to close eyes and listen and the differences are obvious.

That boss ce-2w and the big CE-1 sound amazing , be great Leon if you compared them to the mighty Analogman Mini Chorus. To see who really is king of the chorus;)

Is it just me or does the CE-1 do something to the top end that the CE-2 doesn't? Rolls of the highs or compresses or something. Know it when I hear it 'cause I ran a CE-1 for a decade, but have never been sure what it was really doing. Would love a technical explanation of what the difference is so I can mimic it in-the-box or post process other choruses to get same tone.

I didn't hear any difference. But for me both of pedals shine in mono mode. For stereo DC-2W is better.

Amazing sounds! I had not used chorus since the 80's when I had a Peavey Chorus amp and also owned a Sholtz Rockman. I recently rediscovered chorus when I began building my poor man's Dean Deleo live rig. No surprise that I use a poor man's chorus: Behringer UC200.

Now thats as close can get.. i love old vintage gear... but for the price id go with the modern. Now if i had money to throw away sure, id get the vintage if it really ment something special to me. But theres not that much difference at all really... not on average a 800 dollar difference spending to get the original.. not even close bc if i closemy eyes i really cant tell the difference

yeeeeeahhhhhh......................RUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I wish the waza chorus had a level control, the CE1 mode seems to boost the level about +3db which I almost never want it to do.. Anyone know if there is a trim pot inside?

I wish they would just do a reissue of the ce-1, it kinda sucks that you can’t have the preamp of the ce-1 with the ce-2w

How close can a Fractal FM3 get to this tone?

Is the MXR EVH 5150 Chorus based off that CE-1? Looks like a similar control set.

nice you got the Rush out again lol

I still use EQD Pyramids to cover chorus and flangr sounds. But have always wanted to snag one of the new waza ce2 to use. Sounded pretty good to me. Pyramids is just so versatile though and has 5 presets. How do you like that rose?

Natural Science!

Where did you bought the Ce-1?

Got a boss ce2w and the ce1 mode is incredible

Good comparison. The CE-1 must be easier to get

CE-1 hard to beat

Natural science!

1:30 it really pops with headphones.

CE-1 sound match 1:41 & 2:50

I really like your videos, but for some reason your guitar sounds really over buffered here which makes it tough to really hear the pedals.

Why is the CE-3 chorus always forgotten?

"Wheels within wheels in a spiral array...."

1:42 vs. 2:51

I slightly jizzed in my pants

Don’t really need the Boss super chorus or Ensemble . This is the classic chorus and does everything you need to! Save your money 💰

the ce-1 is way prettier tho (cosmetically)

Natural Science!!!!!!!!!

The ce-1 allows you to crunch

Sounds really close....