Ashdown dual comp

[greyparrot]

Anybody tried or got one? looking for a live work compressor. only £49 are they any good? Recording is sorted, so just for live stuff.

Thanks,

GP.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='greyparrot' post='494349' date='May 21 2009, 03:21 PM']Anybody tried or got one? looking for a live work compressor. only £49 are they any good? Recording is sorted, so just for live stuff.

Thanks,

GP.[/quote]

Only tested one out in the shop. I used to have the Trace Elliot dual compressor which I suspect the Ashdown is a clone of given the history of the two companies. It's basically the dual band comp that was in the 12 band eq amps.

It was OK. It did the job. It certainly sounded a lot better than the single compressor that Trace Elliot is putting out on their 7 band eq amps at the moment. You may as well forget those.

It was no EBS though.

Edited May 21, 2009 by EBS_freak

[greyparrot]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='494354' date='May 21 2009, 03:25 PM']Only tested one out in the shop. I used to have the Trace Elliot dual compressor which I suspect the Ashdown is a clone of given the history of the two companies. It's basically the dual band comp that was in the 12 band eq amps.

It was OK. It did the job. It certainly sounded a lot better than the single compressor that Trace Elliot is putting out on their 7 band eq amps at the moment. You may as well forget those.

It was no EBS though.[/quote]


Hmm your a big EBS fan huh! why would you say the ebs is so good? what would the differance be in the two? i need one for the weekend really, as now i have this active sadowsky rv5 i need one to keep it under control! No problem with my fender jazz i had! I think high output, and very wide frequency spec'd basses do need compression on them especially for slap, although if i say so myself, i do have a fairly even and clean slap style, but those pulls still jump out at ya through a high output rig!

GP.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='greyparrot' post='494361' date='May 21 2009, 03:32 PM']Hmm your a big EBS fan huh! why would you say the ebs is so good? what would the differance be in the two? i need one for the weekend really, as now i have this active sadowsky rv5 i need one to keep it under control! No problem with my fender jazz i had! I think high output, and very wide frequency spec'd basses do need compression on them especially for slap, although if i say so myself, i do have a fairly even and clean slap style, but those pulls still jump out at ya through a high output rig!

GP.[/quote]


I guess I am an EBS fan - but I am not blinkered to what else is out there. Pedals wise, I think the EBS Chorus and Multicomp are exceptional pedals. The reverb is great - but kind of limited in it's reveb length... but obviously, if you don't want huge crashing reverb, then yes, it's a great pedal.

For example, the drive pedals are OK. Not my bag and I find it hard to get excited by them. I like the TD650 and HD350 but the Classic and Fafner don't really do it for me. There's lots of good gear out there, so it's a bit narrow minded not to be open to other gear. I am a gear nut and know about lots of stuff out there. Hell, I've had most of it... and used it in anger in real world situations, away from the bedroom.

If you want to speak to somebody directly about the MultiComp, give Bernie a call at GB guitars and I'm sure he'll give you the lowdown and get one to you.

[greyparrot]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='494379' date='May 21 2009, 03:50 PM']I guess I am an EBS fan - but I am not blinkered to what else is out there. Pedals wise, I think the EBS Chorus and Multicomp are exceptional pedals. The reverb is great - but kind of limited in it's reveb length... but obviously, if you don't want huge crashing reverb, then yes, it's a great pedal.

For example, the drive pedals are OK. Not my bag and I find it hard to get excited by them. I like the TD650 and HD350 but the Classic and Fafner don't really do it for me. There's lots of good gear out there, so it's a bit narrow minded not to be open to other gear. I am a gear nut and know about lots of stuff out there. Hell, I've had most of it... and used it in anger in real world situations, away from the bedroom.

If you want to speak to somebody directly about the MultiComp, give Bernie a call at GB guitars and I'm sure he'll give you the lowdown and get one to you.[/quote]


Ok tried it today, in a word, awful! It took all the bass out of the sadowsky, and its a no no for me, but what was bloody good is that boss gt10 At £380 dear, but very top stuff. I have to think now!!

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='greyparrot' post='495295' date='May 22 2009, 04:00 PM']Ok tried it today, in a word, awful! It took all the bass out of the sadowsky, and its a no no for me, but what was bloody good is that boss gt10 At £380 dear, but very top stuff. I have to think now!![/quote]

The Ashdown or the MultiComp?

[greyparrot]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='495298' date='May 22 2009, 04:05 PM']The Ashdown or the MultiComp?[/quote]


Ashdown. No EBS to try anywhere in essex!!

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='greyparrot' post='495307' date='May 22 2009, 04:09 PM']Ashdown. No EBS to try anywhere in essex!![/quote]

Thought as much. Give Bernie a shout to see if you can have one on approval?! Or ask him if he knows where there are any in Esssex?!

Edited May 22, 2009 by EBS_freak

[greyparrot]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='495310' date='May 22 2009, 04:14 PM']Thought as much. Give Bernie a shout to see if you can have one on approval?! Or ask him if he knows where there are any in Esssex?![/quote]


Will do, but first am gonna read up on this boss gt10b looks and sounds great from the 30mins i had in the shop with it!

Thanks,

GP.

[iamapirate]

I've got one built into my 300watt combo. The only thing I can say is that it sucks some tone, gives some buzz, shaves a bit of bass, but does the job I don't use it unless I'm in a quiet setting where no one wants their faces melted off. Having said that, I can get the bassiness back by some sub-octaves on my combo as well, and by the 5-band eq

[Zydian]

If it's anywhere near the "quality" of the ashdown bass chorus I advice you to let it be.

[Boneless]

I have this comp. It actually was my backup, I had one brand new that I even trying selling but no one was interested

And... it's mediocre. It affects the tone quite a lot, adds hiss, doesn't seem to compress that much, and I'm not won over by the comp's logic: the two bands actually "boost" bass and treble respectively. as well (if I actually understood how it works), so, at my current setting, with bass and treble both at 1 o'clock, there is a bit of a mid scoop.

[TimR]

[quote name='Boneless' post='497948' date='May 26 2009, 12:59 PM']I have this comp. It actually was my backup, I had one brand new that I even trying selling but no one was interested

And... it's mediocre. It affects the tone quite a lot, adds hiss, doesn't seem to compress that much, and I'm not won over by the comp's logic: the two bands actually "boost" bass and treble respectively. as well (if I actually understood how it works), so, at my current setting, with bass and treble both at 1 o'clock, there is a bit of a mid scoop.[/quote]

I tried one and was quite impressed considering the price. There have been posts in the past about it not coping with the higher output active basses. That was supposed to have been fixed. Turning down the input level might help.

The five controls are not as straightforward as first seems.
The low comp affects the ratio of the low frequency compression.
The hi comp affects the ratio of the high frequency compression.
The EQ balance affects the mix of the two bands after the compression. So fully anti clockwise its all bass and fully clockwise its all treble, but that obviously will depend on how much compression you've used on the lo and hi.
The hi and lo frequencies, release and threshhold are all pre set.
The input and output levels are for matching the input and output - quite straightforward.

[greyparrot]

[quote name='TimR' post='498164' date='May 26 2009, 05:37 PM']I tried one and was quite impressed considering the price. There have been posts in the past about it not coping with the higher output active basses. That was supposed to have been fixed. Turning down the input level might help.

The five controls are not as straightforward as first seems.
The low comp affects the ratio of the low frequency compression.
The hi comp affects the ratio of the high frequency compression.
The EQ balance affects the mix of the two bands after the compression. So fully anti clockwise its all bass and fully clockwise its all treble, but that obviously will depend on how much compression you've used on the lo and hi.
The hi and lo frequencies, release and threshhold are all pre set.
The input and output levels are for matching the input and output - quite straightforward.[/quote]



Yes, thats how i understand it, but im sure a compressor should not have any impact of the tone?? it mearly is designed to keep the sound even by cutting or compressing the loudest DB's and that in fact can lower the volume ot the overall sound, then you have a make up gain volume to bring the sound up to its correct volume. The down side in this is that by doing that it can also increase background noise levels, as you are capping the loudest parts, and bringing the volume up to even the tone. Why a compressor should have an eq knob, and then suck out some of the tone of the signal seems a little strange? or have i got it all wrong? dp studio compressors that i know work compleatly different to bass compressors?


GP.

[TimR]

[quote name='greyparrot' post='498291' date='May 26 2009, 08:53 PM']Yes, thats how i understand it, but im sure a compressor should not have any impact of the tone?? it mearly is designed to keep the sound even by cutting or compressing the loudest DB's and that in fact can lower the volume ot the overall sound, then you have a make up gain volume to bring the sound up to its correct volume. The down side in this is that by doing that it can also increase background noise levels, as you are capping the loudest parts, and bringing the volume up to even the tone. Why a compressor should have an eq knob, and then suck out some of the tone of the signal seems a little strange? or have i got it all wrong? dp studio compressors that i know work compleatly different to bass compressors?


GP.[/quote]

A compressor is not the same as a limiter, but many people think it does the same thing.
From the Ashdown blurb...
"This approach towards Compression is necessary for bass because
a Fast Attack is required to catch the initial transient and high
frequency content of the bass note whereas a Slow Attack is
required for the low frequency or fundamental waveform of the
note to ensure the waveform is not distorted. If a Full Range
compressor is used for bass then a Fast attack will distort the low
frequency waveforms whereas a slow attack would fail to catch the
initial transient. This is also true of the Decay/Release portion of the
compression, a fairly fast decay is ideal for the high frequencies
whereas a slow decay is best for the low frequency content."

Compression will affect the tone if you use radical settings. Using ratios up to 1:2 is going to be fine, but its also being sold as an effect, so settings up to 1:10 cater for those who want to shape their tone radically. I guess the EQ is there to redress any tone shaping that the two different compressors do.
Compression is always a bit of a misnomer, really it should be thought of as an expander, it increases the dynamic range within the quiet to loud passages and is only supposed to 'limit' the very loud peaks. If you have noise present in your system before the compressor you need to ask why. Its a direct process, not a loop effect and should be one of the first processors the signal runs through.

There's a sticki wiki [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337[/url] I am fairly new to the forum so don't want to cloud what has been written there, which is correct, but looks at it from the veiwpoint only of it squashing the loud bits. It also touches on the fact that some high end single band compressors add the unaltered high frequencies back in.

[bozzbass]

if you can find one, the old TE dual compressor is cool and very transparent. i've never used it live as you want to, but it is superb for recording.

[greyparrot]

[quote name='bozzbass' post='499622' date='May 28 2009, 09:48 AM']if you can find one, the old TE dual compressor is cool and very transparent. i've never used it live as you want to, but it is superb for recording.[/quote]


I ended up getting one of those behringer bass v amp things. For the money, its pretty good, very quite (the sadowsky has no noise at all anyway, even with the dimmer on in the lounge, it seems to stay quite) and with a bit of messing about the presets can be changed easily, and the comp. does seem half decent to me! I set 4 patches up, one for motown, one for slap, one for soloing and a general one for finger style. No added noise what so ever. These are the syles i get through on a gig, and have set up these in a bank in a row, as i need them. I would like the boss GT10 b but for now, this is fine. Im quite impressed with it for the money, and as its for live, it does not have to be so wonderful i guess!!

GP.