Empress Bass Comp vs. Lusithand Alma Comp MkII

[tobiewharton]

I'm looking at a new smoothing and beefing comp for my big board. It won't need to double as a hard limiter (a Keeley is doing that job) but rather be always on at a low ratio.

 

Has anyone got experience ABing the Empress Bass with the new Alma Comp? I'm currently leaning towards the Lusithand. Less concerned with metering than sound and feel. 

 

Any opinions appreciated!

 

Cheers,

 

Tobie

[tobiewharton]

Any thoughts on this?

 

Any suggested alternatives to consider? Form factor must be similar to the above in order to fit otherwise completed board. 

 

Cheers!

[ezbass]

There’s this review of the Empress on Ovni Labs, but not one for the Alma as far as I can see.

http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/empress.shtml

[tobiewharton]

 

12 minutes ago, ezbass said:

There’s this review of the Empress on Ovni Labs, but not one for the Alma as far as I can see.

http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/empress.shtml

 

Many thanks. I've read reviews from various sites - just wondering if there's BC real world experience ABing them, or indeed comparing with other competitors. 

[ezbass]

3 hours ago, tobiewharton said:

just wondering if there's BC real world experience ABing them, or indeed comparing with other competitors. 

You would have thought so, especially as there are some real comp aficionados here.

[fretmeister]

I sold all my other compressors when I got a Boss BC-1X. I no longer own an Empress Mk1, Cali76, DG etc.

 

That new Boss has been a revelation.

[tobiewharton]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I sold all my other compressors when I got a Boss BC-1X. I no longer own an Empress Mk1, Cali76, DG etc.

 

That new Boss has been a revelation.

What is it about the Boss that's been so convincing?

[fretmeister]

5 minutes ago, tobiewharton said:

What is it about the Boss that's been so convincing?

 

It just works perfectly at every setting without compromise. It's multiband. There's no volume dip and swell. It has an astonishingly low noise floor even at high settings.

It allows the natural sound of the bass through - as clean as the Empress I had.

 

I suppose that last thing could be a turn off for some if they want a compressor to change the tone a bit, but for me it's an advantage. 

 

When I have some funds I'm going to buy another one so I don't have to swap it between my pedalboards.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

It allows the natural sound of the bass through - as clean as the Empress I had.

 

I suppose that last thing could be a turn off for some if they want a compressor to change the tone a bit, but for me it's an advantage. 

The very reason I use an MXR87, just helps the bass sit better in the mix, rather like when using a compressor during recording/mixing.

 

@Osiris is one of our resident comp experts, care to chime in, Lord of the Dead?

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

The very reason I use an MXR87, just helps the bass sit better in the mix, rather like when using a compressor during recording/mixing.

 

@Osiris is one of our resident comp experts, care to chime in, Lord of the Dead?

 

Can do, but not sure I have anything helpful to add really 🤷‍♂️

 

I have tried the Mk1 Lusithand Alma and it's a very good unit - and I say that as someone who doesn't really care for optical compressors but of the several I've tied this was by far my favourite. Haven't tried the Mk2 so no idea how they compare. Optical comps tend to have a slow slow attack by their inherent nature and can get a bit 'grabby' with my heavy handed playing which is something I don't care for about them generally, however, the Mk1 Alma didn't have that slow grabby thing going on which is what I really liked about it. It's a very good unit, IMO, and I liked it a lot, but not quite enough for it to displace my humble Boss LMB-3 which I've been using on and off for 20 odd years. It's not the most sophisticated or costly unit, but it works better than anything else I've tried for my playing style and I haven't found anything else that adds the sheer amount of mid-range punch that you can get from it. The Alma is one of the so call character comps that imparts its own thing on your tone, and it does to a point but it wasn't as pronounced as I'd expected from what I'd read about it. That's neither a good nor bad thing, just an observation. But as a simple, easy to use pedal it sounds very good and does what it's supposed to do. But it's not one if you want granular control over your compressor. 

 

I've not tried any of the Empress models, but they have a reputation for being very clean and transparent which is not something I want from a compressor so I've never bothered to track one down but would happily give one a go if ever the opportunity presented itself. But the Boss BC-1X is very good, I can see why fretmeister likes it, it's definitely transparent and a very clever bit of kit. If I was recording it'd probably be one I'd go for, but as I'm almost exclusively a gigging musician the simple LMB-3 works better for what I want. 

[LukeFRC]

They are very different style compressors.
Lusithand is optical and a similar style to the Diamond Bass compressor -which has just been reissued and maybe worth adding to your list, I ended up with a Broughton Omnicomp, also optical style but which is a bit more tweakable.
 

[tobiewharton]

Cheers all. I've actually ordered a discounted Ampeg Opto Comp as figured there's little to lose and it seems to review quite well. If it turns out to be pants I think the Alma 2 will be calling!

[Oomo]

I probably can't offer much insight (I honestly don't really know what I'm doing with compressors very well), but I do have an Alma mk1 and an Empress Mk2.

 

The Empress is great since it has metering, so I can tell exactly what it's doing (which is handy since I'd have no idea otherwise). It sounds quite transparent, and I can really tell (and see from the metering) when it's compressing, and how much by.

 

The Alma mk1 doesn't have metering, so I've just had to adjust it by ear to get sounds I like. It's less transparent than the Empress to me, but I really like the sound.

 

So I basically use the Alma as a sound enhancer, and really like having it always on with fairly gentle compression settings, and it sits on my board most of the time. I'll switch to the Empress when I actually want lots of control and to be able to tell what's going on (e.g. switching between fingerstyle/picking/slap, switching basses, etc.).

[tobiewharton]

Really useful - thanks!

[BassAdder60]

I’m a user of the Ampeg Opto Comp and I really like it

 

It has a warm tone ( a bit valve amp vibe ) and it works very well 

 

I’ve tried a few such as Keeley, Boss, MXR, TC, but I keep coming back to the Opto Comp 

 

Great price too 

[tobiewharton]

So, the Opto Comp arrived and has had a few outings. I really like it - does exactly what I want it to, seems robust and is very quiet. At this stage, seems like a bargain.  The simple white colourway also fits with the other two pedals on my small board which is very satisfying 😁