whats the best compressor

[phsycoandy]

Ive trie the ebs one twice now and was totally unimpressed as it seemed to do nothing much, i was after a life changing experience for a 100 notes and i didnt get it. Recommendations please..........

[Rayman]

I'm interested too, as I was searching for the EBS, now I'm not so sure!!

[woodster]

I wouldn't really class a compressor as being a 'life changing' effect. It's more a subtle tool for ironing out the peaks and troughs of your sound and I never like to hear a really obvious compressor in action.

I have an EBS that I'm really pleased with but I've heard the Demeter Compulators are very good too.

[Clarky]

I got an Aphex Punch Factory pedal comp last week after reading up loads. I think I must be a total numb nuts as I can't hear the difference so far - hoping that with more playinf around I will notice the difference!

Edited July 17, 2008 by Clarky

[dannybuoy]

If you want something to fatten and warm up your sound, try a DHA, EHX Blackfinger, or Jacques Fat Burner. For something more transparent get the Demeter Compulator (expensive) or BBE Opto Stomp (cheap). I'm looking to get either a Fat Burner or Compulator at some point...

[phsycoandy]

[quote name='Clarky' post='242197' date='Jul 17 2008, 09:47 PM']I got an Aphex Punch Factory pedal comp last week after reading up loads. I think I must be a total numb nuts as I can't hear the difference so far - hoping that with more playinf around I will notice the difference![/quote]im not sure if ur nuts are numb but i know what u mean.

[escholl]

just picked up an EHX Blackfinger, which is amazing. it's not really any sort of life changing thing however, with compressors it's more of a "you shouldn't notice that it's on, but you should definitely notice that's it off" kinda thing.

before that i had a Boss LMB-3, which i thought was also quite good, just not as good as the EHX.

--eric

[Born 2B Mild]

This thread has come at a good time, as I also seek the pearls of emperical wisdom of BC'ers on choosing a compressor.

I was used to the dual compressor built in to the Trace that I was borrowing, but now I've got a Shuttle, I feel a bit bereft without one. Being a bit skint at the moment, I'd have to go second hand.

More thoughts welcome!

[dannybuoy]

There's a discontinued Trace SMX dual compressor pedal by the way. Meant to be pretty good too.

[synaesthesia]

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='242179' date='Jul 17 2008, 09:31 PM']Ive trie the ebs one twice now and was totally unimpressed as it seemed to do nothing much, i was after a life changing experience for a 100 notes and i didnt get it. Recommendations please..........[/quote]


Pop over to Talkbass and have a look at Bongomania's Compressor reviews. He's checked out probably 80 - 90% of common compressors that bass players would use, ar some really high end studio ones.

[umph]

[quote name='escholl' post='242212' date='Jul 17 2008, 10:02 PM']just picked up an EHX Blackfinger, which is amazing. it's not really any sort of life changing thing however, with compressors it's more of a "you shouldn't notice that it's on, but you should definitely notice that's it off" kinda thing.[/quote]
aye i'd go with that one just picked up a blackfinger myself i like how it's fattened up my tone

[Hamster]

I started off with a Boss CS-3 (because I had one laying around) which you could set to give a very noticeable compression effect, but it's very noisy. I bought a BBE Opto Stomp which is miles cleaner but you can't set it to give a loads of compression - which isn't really what I want anyway.

Hamster

[stonecoldbass]

DBX 163X.
Makes everything phat and gooey. An has two controls: Gain and a 'More or Less' Compression' slider!

[thisnameistaken]

I don't use one at the moment. Depends what you want it for, I suppose. I used to use a Boss LMB-3 just to flatten peaks from unruly pedals and it did a good job of it, also had a Compulator for a while which seemed to be a good all-round compressor and provided a noticeable sustain improvement too. Thinking about getting another one just to improve performance from octavers and other "tracking" effects.

[Monz]

I have 3 compressors here I suppose, one of them being in the bass pod xt

In my limited experience of compressors:

Digitech Bass squeeze - Bit finicky to get set up right but works well
Line 6 BassPod XT - Works very well and really easy to use, but I suspect other wizardry being used to fatten the tone on the compression
EBS Multicomp - Awesome bit of kit, almost invisible (best setting = tube), sound guy loves it to bits, it just makes things sound right

[gafbass02]

Strangely ive gone back to the boss cs3 after trying the EBS and the aphex, i just prefer the squish and attack and find i can live with the noise due to the last pedal in the chain being a noisegate. I really want a fancy one, but just find the boss works for me.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='242179' date='Jul 17 2008, 09:31 PM']Ive trie the ebs one twice now and was totally unimpressed as it seemed to do nothing much, i was after a life changing experience for a 100 notes and i didnt get it. Recommendations please..........[/quote]
DBX MC 6

[attachment=10944:DBX_Mc6.jpg]

Don't see them very often and they're not very well known. As a result, when they do come up on Ebay, you can pick them up for £20-30.. Great little unit; much better than the Boss stompbox I had and much better than the Trace Elliott SMX dual compressor that I sold to Ped last year..

The circuitry is based on the DBX 160.

Some reviews here:

[url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr98/articles/dbxmc6.html"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr98/articles/dbxmc6.html[/url]

[url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/product/dbx/MC6/10/1"]http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...ct/dbx/MC6/10/1[/url]

[Mytola]

The old Trace Elliot SMX dual compressor is really nice and versatile, but I found it to lose a bit of low-end. I've had a EBS MultiComp, and I really liked it. I sold it some time ago, because I'm currently in the process of switching over to a Pod X3 Live. The big old pedalboard was really getting awfully expensive, big and heavy.

If you don't like the EBS MultiComp straight away, there are two small pots you can adjust if you open the battery compartment. These two pots individually adjusts the amount of high- and low compression for the Multiband mode. I noticed a big improvement when I maxed the High adjustment pot, as my Tribute L2500 is a bit edgy in the high-end. Try it out!

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='242235' date='Jul 17 2008, 10:31 PM']Pop over to Talkbass and have a look at Bongomania's Compressor reviews. He's checked out probably 80 - 90% of common compressors that bass players would use, ar some really high end studio ones.[/quote]
That was good suggestion synaethesia.

All in all, I think the BBE Opto-stomp will suit my purposes. Haven't found a used one yet, but if anyone wants to sell me one...

[Mr Fudge]

The compression on my Boss ME50 is the only one I have ever used. I think I select "natural". I would like to know more about them though as at some stage I may go down the seperate effects route.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='242374' date='Jul 18 2008, 09:01 AM']DBX MC 6

[attachment=10944:DBX_Mc6.jpg][/quote]

What's this?!? Real controls!?!? Oh, no footswitch

[Maxcat]

+1 on the Optostomp. Very transparent but levels the playing field nicely and adds a nice dollop of sustain. I put it through the effects loop on the shuttle and it does the job nicely. I leave it on all the time and really notice the difference when I switch it off. Cheap and good value.

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='Maxcat' post='242540' date='Jul 18 2008, 11:30 AM']+1 on the Optostomp. Very transparent but levels the playing field nicely and adds a nice dollop of sustain. I put it through the effects loop on the shuttle and it does the job nicely. I leave it on all the time and really notice the difference when I switch it off. Cheap and good value.[/quote]
Yeah, I intend to leave it (once I've got one) sitting next to the Shuttle using the effects loop. I guess you can string stomp boxes together in the loop, with the compressor coming last.

[Maxcat]

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='242570' date='Jul 18 2008, 11:50 AM']Yeah, I intend to leave it (once I've got one) sitting next to the Shuttle using the effects loop. I guess you can string stomp boxes together in the loop, with the compressor coming last.[/quote]
Yes you can. The manual states the loop is intended for serial devices (compressors) and parallel stuff delays,reverbs etc. I put an OC2 after the optostomp. No dramas.