Donner goes for the budget multi-effects crown with new, $269 Arena2000 unit

Budget gear specialist Donner has expanded into the multi-effects pedal and amp modeler market with the new Arena2000 unit.

Despite its low price, the Arena2000 has a healthy set of features, highlighted by 278 effects, 80 amp models, 50 cabinet impulse response models and 50 slots for loading third-party impulse responses. Between them, these aim to help players get the ideal tone for everything from 21st century pop to brutal thrash metal.

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At its core, the Arena2000 is powered by Donner's FVACM (Forward Analog Virtual Circuit Modeling) tone generating technology, which features 24bit/44.1kHz audio processing. That, and the pedal's 23.2ms IR sample length, Donner says, "can precisely restore the tone of the IR collection object and reproduce the acoustic environment of the collection space, resulting in a tone with a greater dynamic range and a stronger sense of spatial authenticity."

A single user-created preset in the Arena2000 can comprise up to 10 individual effects, along with 1 amp model and 1 cab model.

As for controls, the pedal is outfitted with a CTRL control mode, and both a built-in expression pedal and an EXP2 expression pedal output for cycling between functions. 

Also aboard the Arena2000 is a built-in looper that supports up to 60 seconds of sound and 40 different drum rhythms.

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The Arena2000 also comes with guitar, aux and MIDI inputs, L/R XLRs, an unbalanced ¼-inch L/R, a phone output, a headphone output, and USB interface capabilities.

Also onboard is a built-in cabinet simulation output option that allows users to switch between the ¼ and XLR output ports.

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Donner's Arena2000 amp modeler and multi-effects pedal is available now for $269, with a temporary discount that lowers its price to $240.

We, for one, are eager to take it for a spin, and see how well it stacks up to the dominant Mooers, Zooms and Bosses in the budget multi-effects pedals category. 

For more info on the pedal, visit Donner.