EHX Crayon VS Soul Food (Comparison)
Our pick: The EHX Crayon
With a cheaper price tag and a more versatile/inviting tone profile, we like the Crayon better than the Soul Food for most styles. It's just less harsh and more warm, giving you a broader tone spectrum to work with.
Electro-Harmonix is known for producing a lot of overdrive pedals.
We'll compare two of those pedals here - the Soul Food and the Crayon.
One is more of an edgy, treble-friendly overdrive, while the other is described as "full range" and more of a smooth, subtle overdrive sound.
Which one is better? Which one is right for you?
In this simple comparison we'll detail both pedals looking at specs, tone, and what they're most ideal for. If you have questions, drop them in the comments section below and we'll help out.
Electro-Harmonix Crayon VS Soul Food Comparison Tool
To start, we've setup a simple comparison tool just for these two pedals. Use the compare buttons to see pricing and basic specs for the Crayon and Soul Food in a side-by-side table. We use the Sweetwater buttons to help support our work, but at no extra cost to you.
Pedals | Title | Rated | Browse |
|---|---|---|---|
| EHX Crayon | n/a | |
 | EHX Soul Food | n/a |
Audio Demos
If you listen to the two audio demos by EHX, you can hear a distinct difference in the tones of the two pedals. While the Soul Food is more trebly and harsh, the Crayon is more tube-like with a soft and warm response.
Side by Side Specs
The only major spec sheet difference we have is a bass control that's added to the Crayon. While this is part of why they call it "full range" it's not actually that different from a typical two-band EQ we see in a lot of distortion pedals. Overall, the control in the Crayon just seems more dynamic and responsive.
Header | Soul | Crayon |
|---|---|---|
Effect Type | Overdrive | Overdrive |
Analog/Digital | Analog | Analog |
Algorithms | n/a | n/a |
Knobs | Volume, Drive, Treble | Volume, Gain, Bass, Treble |
Switches | n/a | n/a |
Inputs | 1 x 1/4" | 1 x 1/4" |
Outputs | 1 x 1/4" | 1 x 1/4" |
MIDI | No | No |
Height | 2.1" | 2.1" |
Width | 2.75" | 2.75" |
Depth | 4.5" | 4.5" |
Weight | 0.55 lbs | Not listed |
The EHX Crayon and Soul Food are both overdrive pedals that are about the same size, but do they have anything else in common?
Conclusion: Which one?
We just can't get on board with the sharpness of the Soul Food. It sounds good, but overdrive should be more warm and inviting, like a tube amp. And while the Soul Food can help drive a tube amp and still sound okay, it produces a much edgier tone than what we're used to.
It's also more limited in terms of its control, compared to the Crayon without a bass knob.
For those reasons - coupled with the cheaper price tag - we'll easily take the EHX Crayon over the EHX Soul Food.
Both pedals are decent, but the Crayon gives you more bang for you buck.
Easy choice.
Questions and Comments
If you have questions about this comparison, feel free to share them with us via the comments section below.
We'll jump in and help out as much as possible.
See you there.
Related Articles
Written by Bobby on Pedals and Roundups
Written by Bobby on Pedals and Comparisons
Both the Crayon and the Soul Food are analog circuit overdrive pedals. You have them listed in your chart as “digital”. Otherwise, great comparison. 👍
Some of these pull automatically from Sweetwater but it looks like the circuit type is only listed on the manufacturer’s page.
It should have just left that column empty, but oh well.
Thanks for pointing this out. Corrected.