NCD (new compressor day)

[ped]

One of my favourite things about my Roland VB99 is the selection of compressors built in. They’re (mostly) transparent, effective and most of all silent. They really are everything I could need and offer lots of adjustment not normally found in a pedal or rack format and also it’s great to save a setting for each bass. 

Trouble is that the Roland isn’t that portable especially considering it’s plunked into my home setup so centrally with all the cables etc hidden, so I’ve usually had a compressor pedal to take when going to a practice or jam. 

I’ve been using a Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter for a while and recently got another with the built in plug as usually it’s the only pedal I use. I really like them but have found that in the studio it does introduce a little noise and slight high roll off. Before that I used the Boss LMB3 which I thought was fantastic for the price. 

None of us are going out to play at the moment so I thought I’d get some new compressors to try at home in my unnecessarily strict test environment so I’m ready for the things I have booked in from the Spring. My main requirements:

- Super quiet 

- High ratio/limiting

- Battery option is a bonus 

- As transparent is possible at low ratio/high threshold with no tone loss

Enter the FEA Opti-fet- I’ll give it a go on Monday, doubt I’ll get a chance before then. Sounds like a worthy competitor...

 

[walshy]

Nice, I’m heading back to the Cali 76 again when gigging returns. Always loved it but keen to hear what you make of this one. The Diamond is supposed to be pretty killer too.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

FEA make quality kit. I love my dual-band. I don't use it loads, but when I do, it's just the ticket.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

Enjoy.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 11, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[stewblack]

I think we can safely say, given his high hiss sensitivity, if ped likes it it will be the quietist compressor on the market. 

[ped]

Hi folks

OK well I managed to spend most of the afternoon on Sunday giving this pedal a try. Fred slept for a mammoth 3 hours and only woke up when I stopped playing, which probably says something. 

Right - the bass I tend to use compression with most carefully is my Celinder jazz. I want the Marcus Miller slap sound but with a warm undercurrent without harsh peaks. My other basses tend to have fairly light compression. I set a high threshold, keeping my dynamics intact, and when the threshold is crossed I have around a 3:1 ratio and zero attack and fast release. This sounds, to me, like a more natural 'limiter' which helps my sound lower into the mix, giving it a definitive 'bottom' without it sounding squished or breathy.

On my P bass I have a limiter which turns any peaks into nice growly overtones - with flats the sound is quite dynamic and I tend to prefer that with a P bass so that pops on the G stand out more. I also have a higher action on that bass so I want it to sound like I'm working harder with it, rather than the smooth hifi zing of the others, with the Stingray being somewhere in between.

So I chose the Jazz bass as the one to test this pedal, and the one best suited to test it's limits because there is just so much juice on tap via the pre.

First of all, the compressor on my Roland sounds, to my ears, perfect. There is the slightest amount of noise which you can hear through headphones if you switch the comp off and on - it's barely noticeable and you can in fact reduce that by reducing the gain and upping the level on the 'amp' but I'm talking ridiculous levels of scrutiny here.

My first impression is that despite the review at http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/optifet.shtml saying there is ZERO noise, there is. It's a bit less than the Carl Martin, but pressing 'engage' introduces a definite subtle, smooth sounding white noise. After playing with the gain settings and other levels besides I have managed to get it nearly as 'gone' as the Roland, but not quite. It was the same with isolated supply and battery. Of course I am splitting hairs here to a ridiculous degree through a very sensitive and detailed headphone setup - I'm sure at amplified levels it'll be untraceable. I'm sure the guy at Onvilab has a more rigorous and generally better way to test in absolute terms. I dug out my old LMB3 that I used for years and never once noticed any noise from and was amazed at how noisy it is, which shows that I have potentially become a bit obsessed with this and should probably move on.

I started by mimicking the settings I already use (even though the ranges are completely different) and found that the sound was a little too squashed and pillowy. The trouble is that the threshold control is very sensitive and with an active bass you end up with it almost maxed unless you want to compress the whole signal. It was kicking in too early so I increased this to 7/8 of it's travel; and those last few mm make a huge difference. Thankfully the knobs have rubber washers under them making them tricky to turn by accident. in fact they give quite a bit of resistance which makes tiny adjustments much easier and will lock them in place.

So now to the ratio. It ranges from 2.5 to infinity. 2.5 is quite a high ration already at the minimum so I was disorientated at first but it's intuitive and seems to do most of the work in the first half of the travel where 'soft knee' compression is applied. I found it difficult to get the right level here - sometimes sounding too strangled and then too punchy and unnatural. It's taken a lot of playing to get it to match which I want but after leaving it overnight and coming back today I am pleased to say I have found the right setting for this bass at least. It was the same with the Roland - and I'm sure we've al been there with adjusting anything - you end up going round in circles, your ears get used to the sound and you chase your tail!

I always have a zero/fast attack setting because the compression only kicks in at a high threshold anyway, but I did find the range of this control very musical when I tried it with a lower threshold and a super trebly input for some 'effect' type compression (something the Roland doesn't do very well, I must say - not that I ever use it - I'm sure if I spent some time I could do a manageable version). Same with the release - zero again because of the high threshold. 

Once dialled in I am very pleased with the sound of the pedal. I say sound, because it does have it's own character as well as the compression it applies. This can be adjusted using internal dip switches to apply warmth 1/2/off and a 12khz cut. I have tried all the settings and found with the warmth on setting 1 it gave a very subtle but great sounding feel which at first I didn't notice until I played a looper into the pedal and adjusted the switch with the back off (can we have them on the side or under a sliding door plz?). Setting 2 was a bit too rounded for me and the 12khz cut is apparently useful for filtering out noise from pedals up the chain but I didn't have any use for that and I like my biting treble - I mean to try it with other basses through.

Then there's the side chain. You can adjust the way the limiter works with three frequency bands, so for example if I want to compress the bass more I can turn that dial up or vice versa. It has a subtle effect but I will try to set this up to give some extra limiting to the high range for the 'compression as an effect' type thing I mentioned earlier which I had fun playing with. I haven't played with putting any effects in the loop yet. I haven't ever got on with two band compressors very well, partly because I have only tried a few, but this gives an interesting slant on the benefits of having one.

I really like that the pedal takes a battery so I can grab it and go (always seems weird when pedal manufacturers make small pedals but then you need a chunky power supply - less problematic if you have a pedalboard I suppose).

Will it replace the compressor in the VB99? no - but after a lot of twiddling I'm pretty sure this comes as close as I'll get in a more portable format. 

Finally the build quality is superb - rock solid, smooth finish and very high quality feel to the knobs especially with their dampened effect.

Cheers

ped

[ezbass]

That’s a very thorough review @ped you should do an accompanying video. 

[lee650]

On 23/01/2021 at 12:36, ped said:

One of my favourite things about my Roland VB99 is the selection of compressors built in. They’re (mostly) transparent, effective and most of all silent. They really are everything I could need and offer lots of adjustment not normally found in a pedal or rack format and also it’s great to save a setting for each bass. 

Trouble is that the Roland isn’t that portable especially considering it’s plunked into my home setup so centrally with all the cables etc hidden, so I’ve usually had a compressor pedal to take when going to a practice or jam. 

I’ve been using a Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter for a while and recently got another with the built in plug as usually it’s the only pedal I use. I really like them but have found that in the studio it does introduce a little noise and slight high roll off. Before that I used the Boss LMB3 which I thought was fantastic for the price. 

None of us are going out to play at the moment so I thought I’d get some new compressors to try at home in my unnecessarily strict test environment so I’m ready for the things I have booked in from the Spring. My main requirements:

- Super quiet 

- High ratio/limiting

- Battery option is a bonus 

- As transparent is possible at low ratio/high threshold with no tone loss

Enter the FEA Opti-fet- I’ll give it a go on Monday, doubt I’ll get a chance before then. Sounds like a worthy competitor...

 

I was sooo close to jumping on that! Kept looking at my cali76 and wondering if I could sell it quick enough for the wife to not notice😂

Spent too much time faffing about. This is definitely on my list to try. Very much enjoyed your review,I'll keep An eye out for one of these 😁

Very jealous 😉

Edited January 26, 2021 by lee650

[lee650]

On 23/01/2021 at 17:31, walshy said:

Nice, I’m heading back to the Cali 76 again when gigging returns. Always loved it but keen to hear what you make of this one. The Diamond is supposed to be pretty killer too.

I had a diamond for a while! Very very subtle compression,but added a lovely fatness to the tone,which has become a benchmark in compression for me (I prefer to use them as a tone enhancer,rather than dynamic control).

I sold the Diamond on thinking i wanted something with more versatility (got an MXR and instantly hated it 😂) but the Diamond just did something to my other pedals, which I've since missed. I have the Cali76CB which gives me a nice combination of great tone and intuitive/easy control, which is why I wasn't sure about selling to get an FEA, I'd love to try them together.

I'd entertain a Diamond again too and the smaller Empress looks fantastic.

Edited January 26, 2021 by lee650

[ped]

As you might know I ended up selling the pedal. In the end I found the 'attack' setting a little slow even at the fastest setting, meaning I wasn't able to use the pedal very well for limiting, which is my main use for a comp. 

I have since bought an MXR M87 compressor and early impressions are very positive. It works better as a limiter and the noise is, I think, less than the FEA although I don't have them see by side to compare. I think the MXR will work better for me overall and better suits my 'style' of playing, on balance. 

[ezbass]

Good choice. Mine does exactly what I wanted it to do, adding a bit of punch to my place in the mix, just like adding compression on a recording, with the added bonus is that it levels out my EBS octave and chorus pedals (the M87 is at the end of my pedalboard) which run hotter than I thought (the LEDs confirm that).

[ped]

Yes the LEDs are useful. I have to say nothing I have tried is a patch on the compressors in the VB99, but for a portable tiny box this does exceed my expectations and I prefer it to the FEA for my particular instruments and use.