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Comparison of Echo Calls

24K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  MNGunner 
#1 ·
There are lots of threads and manufacturers' descriptions of their calls, but I found not as much information as to how different calls from the same company compare to each other. I would read reviews of calls and then try to decide if the call is one I'd like to try, but my immediate question is, "how does call Y compare to call X?" because I already have call X. This is how I feel my Echo calls compare to one another, please chime in (and for those that have familiarity with say RNT, it'd be cool to see a similar thread)

Pictured are Open Water, XLT, Breaker, Pure Meat, ODB and Timber:









For me volume (loudest to quietest):

Open Water
XLT
Breaker (about as loud as XLT)
Pure Meat
ODB
Timber

Forgiveness (ease to use)
Timber
ODB
Breaker
Pure Meat
XLT
Open Water

Comparisons (I'll use the XLT as the "standard" since I feel that's my best all around call)

Open Water- really loud call I use for very windy days. Has a high ringing hail call, but can also get low. For me sort of a specialty call. Not as raspy as the XLT--more higher pitched

XLT - my favorite all around call. Medium volume. Very raspy. You can get high and low with it. Great feeding call as well as hail call. Little more complicated to run than the other medium volume calls. If I could only have one call it'd be this one!

Breaker - This has about the same volume as the XLT (maybe slightly less volume), but has more of a nasally tone to it. Medium volume. Very forgiving call--almost hard to overblow it. It's a single reed I'd recommend for beginners or someone switching from doubles to singles. Also has a great ducky sound to it (my daughter thinks it's quacks sound the most realistic). Takes more air to run than an XLT. For me, I get slightly less range than with my XLT or Pure Meat.

Pure Meat- slightly less volume than the XLT (about the same as the Breaker). Medium volume. This call has more of a whiny, squeally sound than the XLT--kind of reminds me of a younger hen for some reason. Excellent for bouncing hen. Very ducky call. It can get high and low and is pretty forgiving (more forgiving than XLT). Also, has an excellent bottom end! Doesn't require as much air as a Breaker. Probably my second favorite Echo (if I could only have one call)

ODB- JUST got this call yesterday so I don't have much time with it. It seems quieter than the Pure Meat but way louder than the Timber. It has a very raspy, ducky sound. Not whiny like the Pure Meat. Requires slightly more air (like a Breaker-when I emailed Echo, they describe it as a "Breaker with more hold"). Decent range, but not nearly as much as the XLT or Pure Meat. Slightly less range than my Breaker. This one reminds me of an old hen.

Timber- this is a quiet call that is very ducky but,for me, has not much range. I use it as sort of a specialty call for close in calling on quiet/foggy type days.

I'd be curious to see how others compare calls within a line and how others would compare these calls--I know different calls of the same bran and model can be different (as well as the individual's style).
 
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#2 ·
MN, great write-up! This should be helpful for guys new to Echo. I'm not an Echo collector, but a good friend is. He has several of each. Maybe he will post up his opinions.

I've tried the ones you've listed, except for the ODB. I think the Timber has the best sound. The XLT is definitely the most versatile. The Breaker didn't do much for me. The Pure Meat is a great hunting call.
 
#3 ·
cupnglide said:
MN, great write-up! This should be helpful for guys new to Echo. I'm not an Echo collector, but a good friend is. He has several of each. Maybe he will post up his opinions.

I've tried the ones you've listed, except for the ODB. I think the Timber has the best sound. The XLT is definitely the most versatile. The Breaker didn't do much for me. The Pure Meat is a great hunting call.
Thanks for your response! I agree with your take on the Breaker--a great call but my least favorite Echo. Not sure where it fits in my lanyard line-up other than it has a different sound (I guess if it were a really windy day I'd have an Open Water, XLT and Breaker).

I'm looking for other's opinions--there are guys that are much better callers than I am. I'd like to see someone start a similar thread for RNT.
 
#9 ·
Gulfcoast said:
What is the size of the exhaust hole of the ODB compared to XLT, Breaker and Timber?

The only Echo I don't own is an ODB ( and the DRT).
Just measured ODB and XLT with a calipers and they are both right at 0.45" (so the same). The Timber is much smaller (as you know).

PS How do you compare the Echos you own?
 
#10 ·
In my order of preference:

Timber (double diamond or older) as they are just so fun to run;
XLT;
Prime Meat;
Boss;
Open Water;
Meat Hanger;
Cutdown; and
Breaker.

As mentioned above, I do not have a DRT or ODB. The next time I am up at the camp I have an old EEL ("Echo Extra Loud") that I want to bring back and compare dimensions to the Open Water and Boss.
 
#12 ·
Read this thread and wanted to weigh in as I have also found myself to be possession of a few Echos.
Boss - LOUD. Easiest out of my humble collection to be the loudest I've got. Can run high to low stock. Some back pressure. With a new tweaked reed, you can cut, squeak, and bounce pretty nice and still hammer down. Not real forgiving so you have to pay attention to your voice or you will rattle pretty hard, but I think that's acrylics in general. I'm terrible at a main street hail, but if you get it right, fun fun fun to play with. I credit the insanity of the neighbor's dog solely to this call.

Pure Meat - My style doesn't seem to lend to the whine this call supposedly gives, but you can get it. I tend to use the way back part of my tongue/throat to cut off notes (which is not what Rick says to do in his instructional). I was naïve and thought it would do it for me, and had to learn how to control my air to do it. After, I found that you can do anything with this call except really pour the air into it. It's got volume, but it isn't shockingly loud. For me, the XLT outclasses this in versatility and volume if that's your thing.

Timber bocote - Pretty, light, sounds like a duck (I've watched Youtube so I'm an expert). Quiet, but really fun to play with especially if you aren't into hard and aggressive. This has the backpressure to pull a squeal out and will whine with some practice. I'm hard on toys and haven't taken this one out to see what the ducks think out of fear of tearing it up.

Diamondwood Timber poly insert - First duck call ever. Came as a double reed and scored us some birds just with quacks because that's all I could do at the time. Compared to what I feel like a "true" double reed acts like (like a Duhck Commander 1972 - which, yes, I bought), you can get some highball out of it simply by adding air. Not a nice crisp feed, but will do in a crunch if you go easy. You can actually bounce with it if you want to. I think for an intro into an obsession, I couldn't have started better.

Open Water (poly and acrylic) - Had one of each before the Boss and thought (at the time) there was no way anything could be louder. The acrylic looks cool, but for my money, the poly is where it's at. I burned through a few other brands of polys and this mix seems to be a tad harder? or more dense maybe? When you give it the what-for, it sure seems to act a lot like acrylic and has darn near the same feel. From experience, you can really reach with this one and scream. I took just a tich off the stock reed and found it will also give you a nice range from high to low. A little more dog-ear and you can get a pleasant rasp out of it without the rattle.

XLT - Far and away the slickest running Echo I have. I bought this one from the classifieds here and haven't hunted it, but man it's sweet. I was told everything came stock and short of washing and loading a new cork, it still is. Easy to hammer, not so bad on the low end. Of what I have, Echo's/RNT/Ducklander (which overall are probably my favorite for everything)/Field Proven/Duhck Commander and a custom bocote/stabilized buckeye burl, this call seems to take the best of all of them and put it together. This seems to have the backpressure or magic formula to squeal, bounce, cut, chatter, scream, buy you breakfast, light your smoke, wingman you at the bar, anything you want. I have spent a ton of time and money looking for what this call has to offer me. It wouldn't have been as fun or expensive, but I probably should have started here.

On the poly inserts, I'm sure everyone has one, but no one talks about it, they are not the best in the world, but with a little time and a few bucks, they can teach you how to screw up or really fine tune a toneboard. More screwing up on my part, but I don't make calls for a living and was very interested on what shape will produce what sound. I kind of found that it's a don't try this at home deal. I hope that this will add to an enlightened discussion.
 
#13 ·
I forgot to add that I also have the Echo cut down. Eh. If this is a representation, and I'm not saying it is, of what a true cut down has to offer, not for me. It's loud, raspy, has a unique sound but takes a set of lungs that haven't been worn down with tar and abuse and probably better technique to run. A good investment to be sure, but hardly makes the hunting lanyard and even more rarely gets used. If you're bored and want to really screw it up, put a 10 mil reed in it and enjoy!
 
#14 ·
Great thread !! As someone who has recently devoted a lot of time in becoming a better caller and recently switched from doubles to singles because you can do so much more with them, this is very helpful and answers some questions I had.

In my limited collection of quality calls, my Echo Timber acrylic is by far the easiest to run and produce the advanced sounds, and at the same time very ducky. That is one awesome little call. The only problem is, mine has collector status and even though it cost me nothing, I'm struggling with the decision to leave my best call home or risk losing or damaging a call that would in theory fund two new Echo's! lol

My DRT still has a place on my lanyard because it is super forgiving and super ducky although not super versatile. And I agree for anyone starting out you cannot beat the Echo wood/poly's for the most bang for your buck and a great call to learn on. Can't wait to get my hands on an XLT.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the responses guys! I love hearing how others compare their Echos to one another. Again, that's what I always found difficult--trying to find out how they differ and where they'd fit into the lanyard lineup.

Seems like everybody loves the XLT!
 
#16 ·
Ranger Rick said:
Read this thread and wanted to weigh in as I have also found myself to be possession of a few Echos.
Boss - LOUD. Easiest out of my humble collection to be the loudest I've got. Can run high to low stock. Some back pressure. With a new tweaked reed, you can cut, squeak, and bounce pretty nice and still hammer down. Not real forgiving so you have to pay attention to your voice or you will rattle pretty hard, but I think that's acrylics in general. I'm terrible at a main street hail, but if you get it right, fun fun fun to play with. I credit the insanity of the neighbor's dog solely to this call.

Pure Meat - My style doesn't seem to lend to the whine this call supposedly gives, but you can get it. I tend to use the way back part of my tongue/throat to cut off notes (which is not what Rick says to do in his instructional). I was naïve and thought it would do it for me, and had to learn how to control my air to do it. After, I found that you can do anything with this call except really pour the air into it. It's got volume, but it isn't shockingly loud. For me, the XLT outclasses this in versatility and volume if that's your thing.

Timber bocote - Pretty, light, sounds like a duck (I've watched Youtube so I'm an expert). Quiet, but really fun to play with especially if you aren't into hard and aggressive. This has the backpressure to pull a squeal out and will whine with some practice. I'm hard on toys and haven't taken this one out to see what the ducks think out of fear of tearing it up.

Diamondwood Timber poly insert - First duck call ever. Came as a double reed and scored us some birds just with quacks because that's all I could do at the time. Compared to what I feel like a "true" double reed acts like (like a Duhck Commander 1972 - which, yes, I bought), you can get some highball out of it simply by adding air. Not a nice crisp feed, but will do in a crunch if you go easy. You can actually bounce with it if you want to. I think for an intro into an obsession, I couldn't have started better.

Open Water (poly and acrylic) - Had one of each before the Boss and thought (at the time) there was no way anything could be louder. The acrylic looks cool, but for my money, the poly is where it's at. I burned through a few other brands of polys and this mix seems to be a tad harder? or more dense maybe? When you give it the what-for, it sure seems to act a lot like acrylic and has darn near the same feel. From experience, you can really reach with this one and scream. I took just a tich off the stock reed and found it will also give you a nice range from high to low. A little more dog-ear and you can get a pleasant rasp out of it without the rattle.

XLT - Far and away the slickest running Echo I have. I bought this one from the classifieds here and haven't hunted it, but man it's sweet. I was told everything came stock and short of washing and loading a new cork, it still is. Easy to hammer, not so bad on the low end. Of what I have, Echo's/RNT/Ducklander (which overall are probably my favorite for everything)/Field Proven/Duhck Commander and a custom bocote/stabilized buckeye burl, this call seems to take the best of all of them and put it together. This seems to have the backpressure or magic formula to squeal, bounce, cut, chatter, scream, buy you breakfast, light your smoke, wingman you at the bar, anything you want. I have spent a ton of time and money looking for what this call has to offer me. It wouldn't have been as fun or expensive, but I probably should have started here.

On the poly inserts, I'm sure everyone has one, but no one talks about it, they are not the best in the world, but with a little time and a few bucks, they can teach you how to screw up or really fine tune a toneboard. More screwing up on my part, but I don't make calls for a living and was very interested on what shape will produce what sound. I kind of found that it's a don't try this at home deal. I hope that this will add to an enlightened discussion.
Thanks for weighing in!
 
#17 ·
I purchased a hedge XLT and Breaker a while back. I tuned them both to my liking and found the Breaker to be the louder of the two calls. I've since sold them but both were solid calls. I remember there being some debate about this on previous threads so I emailed Echo. They said the Breaker is probably the louder of the two calls.
 
#19 ·
Goose Isle Gunner said:
I purchased a hedge XLT and Breaker a while back. I tuned them both to my liking and found the Breaker to be the louder of the two calls. I've since sold them but both were solid calls. I remember there being some debate about this on previous threads so I emailed Echo. They said the Breaker is probably the louder of the two calls.
Good feedback. I've heard others say this too, and I know call volume can actually vary from the same call, but for me they are neck and neck but I think my XLT is slightly louder. When I bought the Breaker, I thought it'd split the difference between the Open Water and the XLT, but in my case it does not.

Another guy on here said his Pure Meat is louder than his buddies' PM's and louder than his XLT...
 
#20 ·
MNGunner said:
Goose Isle Gunner said:
I purchased a hedge XLT and Breaker a while back. I tuned them both to my liking and found the Breaker to be the louder of the two calls. I've since sold them but both were solid calls. I remember there being some debate about this on previous threads so I emailed Echo. They said the Breaker is probably the louder of the two calls.
Good feedback. I've heard others say this too, and I know call volume can actually vary from the same call, but for me they are neck and neck but I think my XLT is slightly louder. When I bought the Breaker, I thought it'd split the difference between the Open Water and the XLT, but in my case it does not.

Another guy on here said his Pure Meat is louder than his buddies' PM's and louder than his XLT...
Are those your reeds in the calls or are they ones straight from the shop? Could be your Breaker is tuned a little stiff. Wonder if a reed a clip shorter wouldn't open it up. Just thinking out loud....
 
#21 ·
Goose Isle Gunner said:
MNGunner said:
Goose Isle Gunner said:
I purchased a hedge XLT and Breaker a while back. I tuned them both to my liking and found the Breaker to be the louder of the two calls. I've since sold them but both were solid calls. I remember there being some debate about this on previous threads so I emailed Echo. They said the Breaker is probably the louder of the two calls.
Good feedback. I've heard others say this too, and I know call volume can actually vary from the same call, but for me they are neck and neck but I think my XLT is slightly louder. When I bought the Breaker, I thought it'd split the difference between the Open Water and the XLT, but in my case it does not.

Another guy on here said his Pure Meat is louder than his buddies' PM's and louder than his XLT...
Are those your reeds in the calls or are they ones straight from the shop? Could be your Breaker is tuned a little stiff. Wonder if a reed a clip shorter wouldn't open it up. Just thinking out loud....
The Breaker is tuned straight from the shop (so is the ODB currently). The others are reeds I cut.

It could be tuned a little stiff, but I don't think I'd want to cut it much shorter as I like the pitch it currently has. I could try it though...
 
#22 ·
Great post. I can't tell you how much time I've spent trying to find good comparisons of these. I haven't been fortunate enough to try out any of the higher dollar Echos. I will say that I did a bit of a cut down job on an Echo poly timber insert and, although it diminished some of the range you have with the call, it allows it to get VERY loud and stay deep and ducky. I really like it that way. Based on all the things I've read, I think that if I ever went with one of the acrylics, it'd be the XLT.
 
#23 ·
DuckNoobie said:
Great post. I can't tell you how much time I've spent trying to find good comparisons of these. I haven't been fortunate enough to try out any of the higher dollar Echos. I will say that I did a bit of a cut down job on an Echo poly timber insert and, although it diminished some of the range you have with the call, it allows it to get VERY loud and stay deep and ducky. I really like it that way. Based on all the things I've read, I think that if I ever went with one of the acrylics, it'd be the XLT.
Thanks!

I really like their entire line, but like I said, if I could only have one call, it'd be an XLT.
 
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