Haven’t tried the Lion, but owned (and sold) an EVH. Also had and sold a Carl Martin Panama and a Mad Professor 1. Currently cycling through a BE-OD Deluxe, JHS@, Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe, and a Suhr Eclipse.
I thought the EVH, the Panama and the Mad Prof all had a degree of that slightly over-compressed lack of definition - particularly down low. Muted low strings sort of ‘folded over’ as opposed to staying together and having ‘thump.’
To my ear, the clearest sounding of the bunch with the most convincing plexi sparkle is the Suhr Eclipse. Through the right amp, it’s really, really good. I find the greasiest, easiest to play leads are in the Pinnacle. I use the JHS with my lil practice amp to get a nice practice / lead tone when I don’t want to fire up the tube amps for power.
I loved the BE when I first got it, but when I A/B it with either my Eclipse or Pinnacle, it has a slightly fizzy, sizzly quality that I find myself trying to dial out with the internal gain level trim pots.
I will say, all of these AIB pedals can very amp dependent. Through one amp, it’s the greatest sound you’ve ever heard. Through another amp, you wonder why you bought it. The Pinnacle has a ‘Modern / Vinitage’ toggle switch to help compensate for a particularly bright or dark amp. And the Eclipse has a small trim pot that acts as a highly active global ‘presence’ to accomplish the same thing. So these 2 have more flexibility to play nice with a wider variety of amps and speaker options. I dont think you could go wrong with either the Eclipse or the Pinnacle Deluxe.