TC Spectracomp compression

[Fionn]

I was just wondering how folk rate the "Spectracomp" compression, which is in-built to TC Electronic amp-heads.

I'd be interested to hear the opinions of past or present TC users.

[mcnach]

I like it a lot. Nice unobtrussive compression that does its thing without being too obvious. I guess that's what other people call "pretty transparent".

[Urban Bassman]

Hi I had a Rebel 450 for a couple of years and I liked what it did a lot. Best compressor I've ever used.

Hope that helps.

Edited September 7, 2013 by Urban Bassman

[JapanAxe]

I generally leave it set at 3/10. If you turn it up too high then obviously you lose dynamic range, but that's the case with any compressor. It's pretty much 'set and forget', which is meant as a compliment.

[Jellyfish]

It excels at adding an evenness to the tone without compromising tone but it's definitely one that you wouldn't wanna take past half-way. I don't often use the toneprints in my BH250 head but the Spectracomp is the one that I keep on.

[Lozz196]

When I had a Classic 450 my impressions were much the same as above. Put it on 3 or 4 to even out the dynamics a bit, and just leave it there. It really didn`t sound compressed at all to me, until you turned it off and could hear then what it wasn`t doing, if that makes sense?

[Paul S]

+1

It is (one of) the reason(s) I use my TC Electronics Classic 450 over my Genz Benz Streamliner 600. The other being the Tubetone, which I find much easier to control on the fly than the double gain thing on the GB.

[Urban Bassman]

Oh yes Tubetone.....great stuff

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1378617681' post='2202396']
When I had a Classic 450 my impressions were much the same as above. Put it on 3 or 4 to even out the dynamics a bit, and just leave it there. It really didn`t sound compressed at all to me, until you turned it off and could hear then what it wasn`t doing, if that makes sense?
[/quote]
This. With the Spectracomp at 5, you hit the strings harder but it doesn't get louder. Good for some things, not for others.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1378631205' post='2202500']
It is (one of) the reason(s) I use my TC Electronics Classic 450 over my Genz Benz Streamliner 600. The other being the Tubetone, which I find much easier to control on the fly than the double gain thing on the GB.
[/quote]
And this! strangely I have been hankering after a Streamliner 600 since auditioning basses through one a the Gallery, but yes the joy of the Tubetone is you can just 'add it in' rather than having to juggle gain and master volume. I was practising some indie/punk stuff yesterday and the tone wasn't quite there, so I notched up the Tubetone from 3 (vintage-sounding but not noticeably driven) to 5, and there it was.

I bought the Classic 450 on a bit of a whim, but I have yet to find anything with a feature set that suits me better.