SFX Sound Micro Boost

The SFX Sound Micro Boost is an analog booster pedal, described by its maker as a linear booster that offers "unparalleld tone clarity and signal performance"¹. A linear boost raises the level of your guitar's signal without deliberately changing its character, which players typically use to push an amp or another pedal harder, or to lift a solo above a mix. It sits in the wider family of boost pedals, which range from simple level-boosting circuits to voiced designs that add grit of their own.

How it works

Although the pedal is powered at 9V, RockBoard's PedalPedia says that internally it operates at more than 30 volts rail-to-rail¹. Higher internal operating voltage gives a circuit more headroom, which is the amount of signal it can handle before clipping, and is one reason a boost can stay clean as it raises your level. The pedal's circuit type is listed as analog¹.

Power

The Micro Boost runs on a 9V DC, center negative supply and draws 50mA¹. That is a standard voltage for pedalboard power, but the current draw means it needs an output that can supply at least 50mA, which rules out some low-current outputs on daisy-chain supplies.

Related pedals

A linear boost like the Micro Boost is one of several approaches to boosting. The Fortin N2O Micro Boost, for example, is a dual-voiced boost and overdrive with a Clean Boost voice described as transparent, high-headroom gain that respects your original tone, and a Signature Boost voice that tightens the low end and adds grit and punch². Pedals with added grit sit closer to overdrive pedals, while a linear boost aims to leave your tone untouched and simply louder.