Arion MOC-1 Octave

It's quite a quirky little device. Pretty simple instructions in the manual: clockwise increases volume, counterclockwise decreases. It's essentially 3 seperate audio channels mixed into a single signal: Normal, 1 octave down, 2 octaves down. Manual contains a great deal of spelling errors and strange phrases like "Do not analyze for remodel the product. may cause short or malfunction." The 2 octave down knob is somewhat useless, it's good for ambience, though.

I use this with a Yamaha keyboard and it makes the cheap preset noises sound much better. Contains random 'shifts' when dealing with string instruments or other instruments with imperfect pitch. I've played a Fender standard strat with it. I've had a Rouge bass for a while that was handy for strong direct signal with a hint of the other knobs rolled in, but not too much or you would essentially confuse a listener, unless that's what you want.
The 'amp' I usually use for home playing is simply a Zoom-505 multi effects fed into professional quality headphones. I've also tried this pedal on various bass and guitar amplifiers.
I am not too familiar with which artists I could emulate with this ordeal of a pedal, I've got plenty of techno sounds out of it suited for possibly hardcore techno with that scary ambient sound.

I actually own two of these that I bought at half-price back when they were giving these things away, they have held up to living room jams. I'd definetely bring two of them if I ever ended up using them on a gig, they are cheap enough to get two and it's something else to chain two of them and force a ring mod out of them. Try setting the first with one octave down and the second blended all three tones.

Not applicable.

I tend to play ska-reggae or techno on each of the three instruments I've mentioned: guitar, bass, keyboard. I've been playing guitar for 7, bass for 5 and keyboard for 3. I have owned the octave for about 4 of these years. If they were to disappear, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, I've grown quite attached to the little guys.
It does exactly what it's designed to do, and chords are absolutely useless on it, but why would you honestly want a chord repeated over 3 octaves anyhow? Even on a digital I could imagine a crash of notes. There isn't much I wish it could do, for the price it does exactly what it's meant to do and leaves plenty of cash in your pocket for additional pedals. The MOC doesn't sound too great on it's own, but paired with perhaps a modulator and careful melody selection, it can be amazing.

the only good thing about this pedal is its ease of use. three little knobs is all. after only a couple of minutes of tinkering, it's running and ready to roll. sadly, after a few more minutes, you'll realize how lame it sounds no matter what you do to those little knobs.

i don't know how to express this appropriately, but i'll try my best: this thing sounds awful. i mean really, really bad. i've tried some crummy effects in my day, but this is easily the worst and most useless. pure crapola!

plastic makes it possible. . . i'm a boss guy, and compared to a boss product, this unit has no weight. it even looks cheap. oh well. i think i only paid like 15 bucks for it, but even that seems excessive.

I will never again be an Arion customer, so who cares? i give them a 10, just for showing up.

Get yourself some legos and buid your own octave pedal- i bet you'll use it more often. Makes a very hip paper weight, though.

i did not read the manual just started turning the knobs and wham-a-zamm! got the sound i was looking for, the guy who sings for me loves rock and roll fantasy by badCo and i got this just for that 1 song where before i was trying endlessly to program a multi effects do-all rig but just couldnt get it! the first day i got it my roadies mooved my gear out of the basement so i wdint get to try it much,fact is they showed up just when i plugged in and thought they would give me a scare! well the next day i plugged into my little practice amp and A/B it with the record and definitely hit the sound so for the $$ i am happy and my singer will be too when he hears it but hes tone deaf so who knows!!

yes,decent inline, i use marshalls and play at a rock volume so theres signal noise from everything from the lights,mics,PA,what the heck where not studio trolls the effect sounds good to me

i have a arion tuner for years now and still works but i know my friends recently went on vacation

whats this?

my next turn with this octave is to try and get tonys sound on paranoid abnd do his solo note4 then go off and do my michael schenker,jeff beck,satch,eddie imperso....yeah right!!!

Three knobs. Clean, one oct down, two oct down.

The key, of course, is not the the knobs, but knowing where on the fretboard and how to use an octave pedal.

This is a copy of the Boss OC-2. I've opened it up and compared with the oc-2 schemo, and they do the same thing. I've compared it to an oc-2 and they are the same.

Any analog octive pedal will have limits on its tracking. They usually don't track low on the fretboard very well, and they will never do chords. Once you accept this fact this thing works great. If you want something that does more, look into digital, like the Boss OC-3 or electroharmonix POG or HOG. They're great, too, but they do something a little different. I personally really like the weird tone of an analog octave pedal. Almost analog synth...

Plastic, but treat it right and I think it'll hold up.

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Save some bucks, get this instead of the boss oc-2. If you want digital, don't get this.

Three knobs - Level, Oct 1, and Oct 2 and a footswitch. Pretty simple, I'd say.

Did not come with a manual. I don't need one.


It's pretty easy to get a good sound out of it, if you know how to use an Octave.

First off, I'd like to say this is the brown-label version made in Japan. This is not the Gray-label reissue. Is there a significant difference in sound quality? I can't really say. I've never used the Reissue. However, I do know that this pedal tracks notes just as good as any other pedal out there on the market (including Boss).

This pedal doesn't work on chords. Octave pedals are not meant to work on chords. They are meant to give the high notes a cool pitch shifting deep voice so it sounds almost like two different guitars are playing (but not quite like a harmonizer). So see, if you're upset over not being able to play your favorite chord progression with an Octave pedal, know that Octave pedals are not meant to work with full chords.

So, being what it is, an Octave pedal, it does exactly what it's supposed to. The lowest note that can track is probably the G note on the low E string (3rd fret on low E). Anything lower and it starts to do ring-mod stuff. It tracks certain notes really well, and other notes not so well. That's just the characteristic of an octaver.


The replication of the notes is very good. You can alter the level of each octave being played by the two octave knobs. The Level knob is your direct sound knob. In other words, if you want only the sub-harmonic octaves to play, roll your Level knob to zero. If you want full on level with the octaves just trailing behind in volume, crank the level knob and mix and match the two octaves somewhere around half way.


It's simple, really. I can't understand why everybody dislikes this pedal.

It's Arion. Made of plastic. I've already played out with it, but sometimes those plastic chasis' give me the creeps.

I play anything from hard rock to alternative to classic rock to blues to heavy metal. I own four other pedals, including a Boss SD-1, a Dunlop Crybaby, a vintage Holmes Compressor/Sustainer (just like an MXR Dyna Comp...a hidden secret), an Electro-Harmonix USA Small Stone, and a broken (but soon to be fixed) Ibanez DE-7 Delay/Echo. I've owned over 20 pedals in my short span of playing (2+ years), so I know a good pedal when I see one. I've owned other Arion pedals before, and I'd rate them just about the same, if not higher than Danelectro and DOD pedals.

This Arion is a great pedal. If you can pick up a vintage one, go for it. Arion Japan has some of the best pedals on the used market. Some of their vintage pedals go for $100+ on auction sites like eBay.

Never tried the Reissue, so I can't comment.

God Bless Ya!!

This pedal is very easy to use because all that is needed is a good cord and power supply. It takes a 9v battery and has an input for a power adapter. Just like any other pedal. As far as getting a good sound out of it, well, for each his own.

Okay, heres the problem. So far, this effect sucks and sounds like trash. I have no idea how to make it sound good. But, do keep in mind, I never used an octave before and I have no idea how this particular pedal is meant to function. Sometimes it sounds good, but I want it to always sound good. All I have noticed is that distortion is a must with this effect. Like I said, I am not very familiar with this pedal, or with Arion. Im open to setting suggestion, just email me at: the-fattest-tony@excite.com

Yes, its reliable. Sure, its made of plastic, but as long as you take care of it, you should be fine. If I ever find my desired settings, I would most definately use it on a gig. I really need to know what order it works best in my effects chain though. I have a compressor, distortion, flanger, reverb, delay, chorus, and wah wah. But where does the octave belong?

N/A
I guess I have to say its good, because I got what I paid for. I bought it new for $20.00.

I play heavy metal and have been for 4 years. This pedal is good for what I paid for it, but over all I am tempted to say that it sucks. I just dont know what I am doing with it yet, so I REALLY wish it had an owners manual, instead of this stupid paper drawing of it. I hate the lack of directions and the assumption that we all know how to use it. I love the 60's sound it delivers, but sucks that it is unusable to my style. I would never buy this pedal again, but then again, I have nothing to compare it to. If anyone has any helpful suggestions of getting this product to work its best, please email me. As of now, I'm giving this a rating of 5.

Very easy to use just plug it in and set the knobs to the desired mix.

Sound is not useable for my playing...as soon as you hit two strings at a time as to form a simple chord the pedal oscillates and sounds like crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If this distortion is your desired result you should sell your guitar and buy a set of golf clubs!!!!

Havent had it longer than one day and I am sending it back tomorrow.

No experience with customer service

I am playing heavy rock Lenny Kravitz, Creed, POD etc...I needed the pedal to do "Are you gonna go my way" because I currently use a boss harmonizer for the song. I wanted to free up the harmonizer for more important things. This pedal is cheep and sounds like crap. I will buy a Boss OC2 today to cover the octave thing. Sometimes trying to save money just isnt worth the effort...This is a classic example...

it is kinda hard to get the grave sound they are talking about in the manual with horrible english, example: "if you break the pedal do not damage yourself with the pieces" and it smells like ass when you take it out of the box, but i guess smell dosent effect sound.

if you use it with a crapload of distortion and other shit it sounds great, but dont dare use it by itself, you will want to break it. you can get a sound like korn if you use it with the right shit. it is really silent. one thing that pisses me off though is that it makes a shifting noise sometimes, you could use it for somethin other than an octave though i guess.

this puppy is pretty solid, some people say, "it sux cause its plastic" if you take any care of your equipment whatsoever, this will last you a really long time. it switches nice and is solid feeling, but the batteries are a total pain to change, if you put a new battery in you have to put it in just perfect or the cover wont go back on.

ive never dealt with em, but musicans friend has a warranty on it, good enough.

i play anything from Korn to Greenday, to sum 41. it works good. if it were stolen i would buy a new one. its a really neat effect to have and it can make some really fucked up sounds. this has alot of balls, ive compared it to the daelectro and boss and digitech whammy, and the only one that is better is the whammy, but not by much, who wants to spend 200$ just to drop 2 octaves when you can use this for a tenth of the price. i wish the manual had some example settings though.

Easy to get a cool sound, but note that it depends on how your equalizing is set and what frequencies your distortions bring out. If your gear is flexible enough then you will find the good parts of this pedal.

This is THE octave pedal. Ya baby. The BOSS octave is more precise, but sounds lame! This is the boy. DOD's is good like the Arion, too, but Arion's a bit cooler sounding and more bang for yer bucks. Just to inform people: if you've ever heard an octave-down sound from a multi-effects unit, it was lame and lifeless, wasn't it. I mean you could play with it but who cares, you know. This Arion octave pedal rocks. True not false

I had one for 3 years, and I would plug in these cheap cables where the ends are metal and they short out easily. (Try to picture it) and it wouldn't always get the pedal to work, after these three years I'm sayin. But a good guitar cable, with molded plastic jazz around the ends so it'll never short, let it work just fine. Anyway I have a 2nd Arion Octave pedal now. But good quality for such a cheapo crap box. Rock on poor people!!!

Hey check this out: I looked thru a bass magazine, and Arion pedals are made in Sri Lanka. I say we get together and go down there, and thank them in person. E-mail me if yer interested. And totally rich.

All I'll say here is I wouldn't use it without distortion. Make sure its first in your effects chain, at least make sure all eq's and distortions are after it, i.e. closer to the amp than the guitar. Best effect I've ever heard. Ha chew on that rich snobs!!!

It's only got 3 knobs - direct, octave 1 & octave 2

I was using this for bass & it was pretty good but I was disappointed because the octave sound was a bit fuzzy in the lower range. I traded it in on a Boss OC-2 (of which this seems to be a copy) & got the same sound. I'd like to have heard it on a better amp than my Roland Cube 60 Bass.

This is where it falls down. Cheap componentry (crappy pots gave me trouble). I thought the plastic case was adequate,though.

Like another person said about the Boss Octave, it's an interesting effect but how useful is it? Well, that's IMHO. The sound quality (on my rig) is about on par with the Boss product. The 2nd octave is unusable on bass or guitar IMO.