i've had my eye on those Mooer preamps for a while, I have a saved search on ebay for cheap pedals so i might end up with one at some point.
one recent purchase that might appeal to the OP is the palmer Pocket amp, it only has a few simulations but they're pretty good, i picked one up cheap and am using it as a preamp into my recording interface for practice/ noodling, Might be worth a look as they come up fairly often on ebay and often sell cheaply. (about 75 quid new)
https://www.palmer-germany.com/en/products/guitar-effects/5141/pocket-amp-mk-2
Matt
EDIT - as a bonus they have a decent DI output as well so one less thing to plug in, the only minor gripe is that it's not Phantom powered!