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Compressors


Kebabkid

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2 hours ago, Billy Apple said:

Can, worms etc :D

The key question to ask yourself is, what do I want this compressor to do. If you want a lot of compressor reviews then go here:-

http://www.ovnilab.com/

BTW the ovnifx smoothie is a fantastic compressor:-

If you want to hear a lot of compressors then this is a good place to start (although it doesnt do all the very best, it does a lot of good ones):-

 

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Personally I have used a rack compressor (a Focusrite compounder) for years and years, but then I had a very specific set of  requirements with my rig that it helped out with a lot.

New rig now, may even ditch the always on compressor completely, and get a pedal comp for some very overt compression fx in a few distinct spots rather than the always on comp set up I've enjoyed for the last 10 years.

In general the single biggest weakness of 90% of compressor pedals is a lack of serious metering: by definition you cant hear compression work when its transparent, unless you are in the mix, in which case you are playing your bass, not setting up a compressor!

If you want really transparent compression then I recommend looking at parallel compression, or anything with a blend knob. Parallel compression allows you to 'get away with' heavier compression settings without them becoming so obvious, its all about psychoacoustics, it also can act more like an expander than a compressor.

Most compressors with an LPF dont compress the bottom of the signal at all, anything under the LPF frequency is not compressed and so you have to bear this in mind, they are great for transient shaping but not so good at taming wayward low end.

Multicomp pedals are the solution to this, but the truth is you need a huge amount of parameter control and metering to get the most out of them - or some kind of computer interface (and therefore a digital pedal) - and masses of experience. Things like the spectracomp are fine, but unless you really know your beans dont go fiddling with the internals.

Personally if I want an obvious effected compressed sound then I love optical compressors, they have this gorgeoues bwoooOOP sound to the front of the note when set right, its so funky I love it to death, but its definitely not an always on thing! My favourite is the Joe Meek FloorQ btw.

For an always on compressor I like to emulate the compression of a tube amp (not the saturation though), I have explained exactly how I set this up on a bunch of other threads so a search will help you, but basically its a very very low ratio (1.3:1) and a threshold set so its always on, just (this ends up being a very low threshold indeed), attack slow enough to let the transient through, a bit of low pass, a medium/fast release ( I play a lot of 16ths) and make up gain to match on/off output when digging in. This way you cant really feel it, but its always helping atad to even things out, your dynamics are unchanged in the main. I've even run this in parallel with a much faster attack too, it stays really transparent but fattens up the front of the note a bit.

Edited by 51m0n
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On 20/03/2019 at 10:16, 51m0n said:

In general the single biggest weakness of 90% of compressor pedals is a lack of serious metering: by definition you cant hear compression work when its transparent, unless you are in the mix, in which case you are playing your bass, not setting up a compressor!

If you want really transparent compression then I recommend looking at parallel compression, or anything with a blend knob.

^ Key points right there 👏

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I use the cali76 nowadays, the regular pedal not the bass version. The LPF was not at all to my taste and having the attack and release linked on a single control annoyed me no end!

If you want less affected tone there is already a control for that, the separate dry/wet knobs give no end of wonderful setting options. For my music I wanted to be able to set the attack and release individually as I have them both set a bit fast.

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Guest oZZma

IMO not all basses sound better or need a compressor. I used to like a slight compression when I played a Jaguar, it helped a lot with sustain and punch, but when I bought a Kramer and tried with/without, I sold it without a second thought. It made the sound lose depth and, believe it or not, it even sounded LESS punchy with compression!

 

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Setting a compressor to make your bass sound fabulous is a tricky business. This is why I like the Spectracomp so much. Someone who knows how has actually done all that tedious stuff and it just works for me. I make no apology for my technical ineptitude. I just don't get it. But I do get great compressionish stuff with the TC.

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10 hours ago, oZZma said:

IMO not all basses sound better or need a compressor. I used to like a slight compression when I played a Jaguar, it helped a lot with sustain and punch, but when I bought a Kramer and tried with/without, I sold it without a second thought. It made the sound lose depth and, believe it or not, it even sounded LESS punchy with compression!

 

Every bass is different.

The output is different, the way you play them will be a bit different, the envelope of each note is different. 

Hence you need different compression settings for different basses to sound the same. Or in extreme cases a different compressor entirely...

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  • 1 month later...

I got a ridiculously cheap but well made TC Electronic 'forcefield'.

It's effect seems to be that of the legendary 'better knob' for many songs.

There are songs where no compression is better.

Wish I'd never sold my Arion compressor back in the 90s.

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