+1 for the KP3 (I have the KP3+ & wouldn’t call it “high end”, it doesn’t get a lot of love, but I think it sounds good, I love it for performance effects & it comes with over 100 effects…I admit I only use it for performance effects tho).
Never used the other Kaoss pads, I see @JuanSOLO mentions KP3 has more headroom than Kp3+ … the KP3+ is always in my signal chain & my mixes are not very loud simply because I don’t have enough headroom…starts to sound nasty if I go too loud…the Kp3+ might have been my issue all along.
Also +1 for sp’s… I have the sp404sx & absolutely love it, been usin it daily for 3 years now… it is so much more than an effects box & not only excels at performance effects but sound design in general. Only issue is only 1 effect can be applied at a time & combining the effects, IMO, is when it excels, so you have to do some resampling or bouncing to get the most out of the effects. I got the sx over the older models for it’s memory & portability. A lot of people prefer the effects on the older models (ie: vinyl sim is supposedly better on the 404 og & 303).
I absolutely adore the Analog Heat…not just for distortion, but love it’s filters as well.
Last but not least, which doesn’t fit what you want, but the Red Panda Particle. It is a mono guitar pedal, so not what you’re looking for (granular delay / pitch shifter) but it is AMAZING. Never heard anything like it. Love the textures it adds to the sound. There is a new 1 coming out that will be stereo.