First sub 200$/€ preamp/DI for home rig: EHX vs Ampeg vs MXR

[H3R3T1K]

Chain will be Tuner --> DI --> EHX 44 Mag 44W pedal poweramp --> Harley Benton 1x12 V30 loaded. It's supposed to be used for both bass and guitar only switching the preamp in and out. Right now I'm using Ampeg Classic Analog Preamp as a stop gap solution.

I'm looking for heavy tones and need drive. Given budget constraints I've narrowed it down to these 3. Since it's for a home rig headphone jack is a bonus and aux in another. Only Ampeg has both but no comp. EHX has a compressor which is nice plus headphone jack. MXR has no headphone jack, aux in or compressor but arguably the best metal tone which is what I'm after. My number one spots are EHX and Ampeg. I could get by without aux in since I do have a cheap multi-fx pedal I can use to play along to songs. Maybe someone will sell me on the EHX?

I had the TC SpectraDrive once which also has everything but want to try something else.

 

[dax21]

If dirt is the primary necessity like you say, then MXR definitely out of the three. Just know that it doesn't sound great when recorded directly, it's quite unpleasantly harsh and boxy, it needs a miced cabinet or some sort of software simulation when recorded. It's a straight up distortion box at its core in terms of sound, not an amp sim. Great little device though. Awesome modern metal tone and it has a noise gate that really helps if you like heavily saturated tones, it's not a gimmicky tackled-on feature.

 

[H3R3T1K]

If dirt is the primary necessity like you say, then MXR definitely out of the three. Just know that it doesn't sound great when recorded directly, it's quite unpleasantly harsh and boxy, it needs a miced cabinet or some sort of software simulation when recorded. It's a straight up distortion box at its core in terms of sound, not an amp sim. Great little device though. Awesome modern metal tone and it has a noise gate that really helps if you like heavily saturated tones, it's not a gimmicky tackled-on feature.

If it was for gigs I'd definitely go MXR. As it is I do want a headphone jack at least. Which has better drive Ampeg or ehx? I might go ehx just because I already have the base Ampeg tone with the classic analog preamp. The DI just adds that plus drive.