Middlecoin is like 40x bigger than this pool so you will definitely see much less variance there. Whether expected earnings are higher or lower is hard to judge especially since middlecoin is so opaque about what they are doing. I guess only time will tell. At this point it is a bit of a leap of faith (plus lower fees here).
Exactly this. Other pools have been quick and easy to test, using middlecoin as a baseline. Let's face it. They may be huge, uncommunicative, and expensive, but they set the standard for profits on switching pools. The worst day I ever had there was .0108/MH. So far, waffle is the only other one I've tried that comes close. On two separate occasions (after the hack), the cows couldn't even reach 40% of that payout. I won't even bother talking about bros.
So far on my third day with waffle, I'm seeing average to slightly better than average comparisons to middlecoin. While it hasn't yet earned my faith, it has earned my respect and some of my hash for a longer term evaluation. So far I've been thrilled with pool management and am looking forward to more BTC!