looked long at both of the above and decided on the exile zld. the ws at the time appears to be a much more robust unit and offers some added flexibility in how it fades but also paying for a mic which I see zero value in(my opinion). the zld was half what the ws was. several told me about waterproof circuitboards and the such but the reality is a full season gone and the unit performed flawlessly and did exactly what I needed it to do.