I was under the impression that only germanium fuzzes reacted badly with buffers, had no clue buffers affected silicon also. When you say unbuffered signal chain, do you only mean no buffers before it? or no buffers at any point in the chain? I wet myself thinking of a Moog in a pedal! But of the few clips of the micro-synth I've heard, it doesnt seem like it could go there. I don't know much about the EWS pedal, and the Octafuzz is cool, but not really my cup of tea. From Fulltone check the SoulBender mkII (my favourite), '69 mkII, '70. I think with your budget, you might be able to get some very versatile pedals. Also the Black Arts Pharaoh, it has the ability to switch between Si and Ge.
I thought Pharaoh fuzz is germanium.. and also the Keeley Fuzzhead can be switched between si/ge... and i liked how it sounded (on youtube)
