MI Audio Super Crunch Box

The MI Audio Super Crunch Box is a distortion pedal built as an expanded version of the company's Crunch Box, a British high-gain "amplifier-in-a-box" design. Where the original Crunch Box delivered a single hot-rodded high-gain voice, the Super Crunch Box adds a Lo/Hi gain switch, a clipping selector and an external Presence control, so one pedal covers everything from low-gain break-up to saturated British stack tones¹².

MI Audio describes the design as one that "expands the flexibility of the original, without an large rise in price"³. The circuit is analog, built from discrete components that emulate the dynamic response and touch sensitivity of cranked tube amps¹.

British stack distortion from crunch to high gain

The Super Crunch Box sits in the British amp-in-a-box tradition. RockBoard's product listing describes it as "an evolution of the classic British high-gain amplifier-in-a-box distortion circuit," delivering "saturated British stack tones ranging from low-gain crunch to searing modern leads"¹. MusicRadar's Mike Astley-Brown characterized it by its "raucous British-style distortion and colossal gain"⁵.

The range comes from the mode switches rather than one gain knob:

• Hi Gain Mode is the stock Crunch Box amount of gain, the "hot-rod" sound of previous versions³.
• Lo Gain Mode cleans up well with the guitar's volume knob, with a glassier tone, more string definition and more top end³.
• The clipping selector's softer mode, coupled with Lo Gain Mode, "really provides a sparkly, break-up sound that you wouldn't think" the pedal could make³.

In the demo video hosted on MI Audio's site, Brett Kingman notes that the original Crunch Box had been "a standard go-to since its inception when face-melting-Plexi-style-distortion tones" were called for, and that manipulating the new controls lets the Super Crunch Box run "as a low gain overdrive all the way through to a lava spewing brootz box"⁴.

The controls: gain switch, clipping toggle and presence

The Presence control is the biggest change from the original Crunch Box, which had its presence control internal. MI Audio moved it to the outside so a player can dial in the pedal against their own amp: "by dialling in the Presence control you can control the shape of your sound through your setup"³. The maker notes a trade-off: more Presence cuts through a mix well but the lows lose power, so balancing it against the Tone control matters³⁶. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio found in review that you can "boost the clarity by pushing the presence"².

The compression toggle is a three-way control with three distinct voices²:

• Far left: stock red LED compression; at noon in hi-gain it yields a classic Marshall crunch even with low-output single coils into a bright amp².
• Middle: a lot less gain but a ton of output, ideal for a cleaner boost or with Lo gain mode for vintage break-up².
• Third position: silicon diode clipping².

Running at 18V from a 9V supply

The Super Crunch Box takes 9V only, from a battery or a DC supply, and an internal voltage doubling circuit supplies the actual circuit with 18V⁷. MI Audio says "the pedal sounds bigger, tighter and more responsive at 18V"³, and Delicious Audio's review described it as "set up to run on a standard 9v adaptor or battery but is modded to supply 18 volts for a bigger, tighter, and fuller sound at high volumes"⁸².

The v2 lists its power requirement as 9V DC, center negative, drawing 15mA¹.

History: from the Crunch Box to v2

The Crunch Box was first released in 2006⁶. MI Audio says it "has been around for quite a few years now, and has even inspired several clones and knock-offs"³. Aion FX counts at least five major versions, with the fourth and fifth renamed to the Super Crunch Box⁶. The original first version is discontinued⁹.

MI Audio first announced the Super Crunch Box in February 2012 as a prototype, hoping for a mid-year release at a planned price of $149³. By August 2012 it was still in prototype phase¹⁰. When MI Effects announced it shipping in April 2013, the press release described the latest incarnation of the classic Crunch Box with "a whole new feature set whilst still staying true to the original," covering "the full range of the British, wall-of-amps tone spectrum, from classic 'Plexi' amps to a 'José' modded JCM"⁷. Delicious Audio reviewed it in November 2013 at a retail price of $150².

The v2 carries the design forward with an expanded active three-band EQ, including a dedicated midrange frequency control, plus the external Presence control and Lo/Hi gain modes¹.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's Mike Astley-Brown found the pedal "more versatile than the original" with an "amp-like dynamic response," and summed up his verdict with "not much to avoid"⁵. Delicious Audio's review highlighted the three-way compression control and the lo/hi gain switch as the features that add versatility, calling the price tag modest at $150 retail².

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions