Hamster Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 [quote name='uncle psychosis' post='467380' date='Apr 20 2009, 12:38 PM']Hi guys I've been thinking about getting a compressor for use on both my bass and electric six strings too. I'm skint at the moment so have pretty much narrowed it down to two: Aphex Punch Factory or BBE Optostomp. The DI functions on the PF sound really useful, and it also seems to be a bit easier to get hold of in the UK---but having said that the Optostomp has got some great reviews and seems to be built like a tank. In the last half hour or so the T-rex comp nova has also caught my eye... I'm not really looking for compression as an effect, more as a way of rounding out the sound a bit and helping my telecaster cut through the mix a bit more. What are your opinions on these three?[/quote] T-Rex doesn't get much love, Aphex and BBE are very similar, Aphex can be a little fragile if you wear boots, IMHO the BBE has the edge of the 3 - very good for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 [quote name='joegarcia' post='464628' date='Apr 17 2009, 02:07 AM'](I'm a sound engineer)[/quote] And a feckin good one, might I say You're the only engineer ever to have got us a really good sound at the Fleece! [quote name='EBS_freak' post='467237' date='Apr 20 2009, 09:59 AM']PS, If you don't mind going rack, the Focusrite Compounder, as I've said before in other threads, is a great compressor. Great for live use and superb in the studio. Your bass (and drum) mixes will literally jump out the speakers.[/quote] +1, although Focusrite anything is wonderful. The compressor on my Focusrite Trakmaster is an absolute joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SammyDamacy Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Wow, cheers guys for all the advice! And as for the question am I using an active bass, yes A Status Kingbass and a Spector, the two loudest most powerful basses I have EVER come across. Hence why I'd like a pretty good compressor, and these two just seem to attack any compressor I've found! And I would prefer rack I think.....no real fiddling about and it's out the way! Cheers kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 [quote name='SammyDamacy' post='467595' date='Apr 20 2009, 04:17 PM']Wow, cheers guys for all the advice! And as for the question am I using an active bass, yes A Status Kingbass and a Spector, the two loudest most powerful basses I have EVER come across. Hence why I'd like a pretty good compressor, and these two just seem to attack any compressor I've found! And I would prefer rack I think.....no real fiddling about and it's out the way! Cheers kids![/quote] In that case... Focusrite Compounder!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 [quote name='EBS_freak' post='467606' date='Apr 20 2009, 04:31 PM']In that case... Focusrite Compounder!![/quote] +1 Check my sig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 [quote name='SammyDamacy' post='467595' date='Apr 20 2009, 04:17 PM']Wow, cheers guys for all the advice! And as for the question am I using an active bass, yes A Status Kingbass and a Spector, the two loudest most powerful basses I have EVER come across. Hence why I'd like a pretty good compressor, and these two just seem to attack any compressor I've found! And I would prefer rack I think.....no real fiddling about and it's out the way! Cheers kids![/quote] For a Tapper / Slapper, the most versatile compressor that I have ever used is the [b]TC Electronic C300 [/b]and its XLR version the C400. As opposed to most compressors, it features program specific compression in the form of Full, and Multiband Spectral. It is one of the very few compressors on the market to feature parallel compression and is truly transparent in sound. What makes this compressor so versatile is it's program dial set up. You turn the dial to the type of music / instrument that you are playing and it configures the compressor for optimal settings. For example, you'd never used the same compression for a kick drum that you would for horns. All you then do is set up the threshold, make up gain and Ratio. (Oh and you have the parallel mix in there too). I find that this is the only compressor that eliminates noise artifacts right up to heavy compression.. something that really annoyed me about other compressors. My second recommendation would indeed be the EBS Multicomp... but I found it could deal with anything below a low B as well as I'd hoped. I still use my C300. I rate TC Electronic gear very highly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottomfeed Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I'm also on the search for a good compressor at the moment.... I've got a Tech 21 bass compactor, which I've had for a while now...... but I've realised, after putting it under the microscope at a studio session recently, that it's not a particularly good one...[i] (noisy , distorts easily etc....)[/i] After the usual Tinternet research..(!) [b]the Demeter compulator[/b], [b]EBS multicomp[/b] & the [b]Maxon CP-9 pro+[/b] seem to get good revues & are in the price bracket I would be able to afford at the moment.... [i]but as always, other peoples opinions may not be relevant when it comes to your own set up & way of playing.... [/i] gotta start somewhere though....... I'm intrigued by the [b]U-sound Hipp'o comp[/b] & the [b]Fratone Sandwich[/b] & would like to find out more about the [b]Dave Hall [/b]one... (...prolly coz of the [i]preeety coloured boxes![/i]... I'm a bit of a sucker for a pretty box !) anyone have any experience of these?... So today I tried out the[b] T-Rex compa nova[/b] & a[b] Mad Professor forest green comp[/b] in Jam Guitars, a little boutique shop in Bristol...... the T-Rex was, [i]as others have stated[/i], not very impressive... the mad prof was more versatile but at £250 I wasn't convinced my life would be better for purchasing it!....... I bid on Ebay for a Demeter Comp but stopped at £140....[i] (heck, they're £199 new!) [/i] it went for £142...!!!! did anyone from here get it? finding this thread pretty useful....... cheers all! So the search goes on..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 There's a Demeter Compulator schematic on freestompboxes.org and Baja, the guy who reverse engineered it, designed an optical limiter which he reckons is even better. Just a thought in case anyone wants to try rolling their own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjbass Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 [quote name='dood' post='471665' date='Apr 24 2009, 04:19 PM']For a Tapper / Slapper, the most versatile compressor that I have ever used is the [b]TC Electronic C300 [/b]and its XLR version the C400. As opposed to most compressors, it features program specific compression in the form of Full, and Multiband Spectral. ... I still use my C300. I rate TC Electronic gear very highly.[/quote] +1 for the c300, i followed Dood's recommendation & I've been really pleased with the results from this rack unit- it sounds very open to my ears but can do the squishy stuff well too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegarcia Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 [quote name='Rich' post='467444' date='Apr 20 2009, 01:48 PM']And a feckin good one, might I say You're the only engineer ever to have got us a really good sound at the Fleece! +1, although Focusrite anything is wonderful. The compressor on my Focusrite Trakmaster is an absolute joy.[/quote] Aww shucks, thanks Rich. You guys are great to work with, you have a fantastic, well thought out stage set up that really makes an engineers job as easy as possible for such a big band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trent900 Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Saw an recommendation for dbx 166xl upstream. I have one - not sure I would recommend it. It's easy to use and you can make it do a reasonable job and I was happy enough with it until a gear hoarder friend of mine swapped it out for an old 2U focusrite he had, which knocked it into a cocked hat. I find the gates on the dbx to be choppy, putting almost a noticeable click into the attack. I'm also not a huge fan of the compression, it feels like it deadens the sound slightly. Not chronically: I mean, the thing does an OK job but neither I nor two sound engineer friends have been able to stop it sounding like it's putting a very fine layer of mud on my sound. Oddly I marginally prefer the sound of hard knee over dbx's 'overeasy'. I really wanted something I could really use the gate on and have some hard compression, partly because my Tobias has a very boomy A string which I need to keep in check! With the dbx I just don't feel confident to slap on a high compression ratio and I normally leave the gate open because of the choppiness. All in all, I think the dbx 166xl is a decent workaday compressor and pretty versatile...and cheap, that's key...but if you can splash out a bit more on a Demeter or Focusrite you probably should. I do like the two channels because it's two sets of flashy lights and that can't be bad, can it? If anyone can offer experience of the dbx 160a I'd be interested: is this slight muddiness a dbx thing or a 166 thing? Or do you think it's a 'trent900 is a numpty' thing? That's always a possibility. Cheers, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifer Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 I like my ART Levelar, got it from here a couple of years ago and it's had no problem coping with my Spector. Used it on vocals and acoustic too, simple and sounds great but don't think they do them anymore? If you can find one snap it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elsharko Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 I use an EHX Blackfinger with my Moon and its lurrrvly. Quite lively but really warm in squash mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Some Demeter kit is better educated than others ... check out the Description of this Stereo Tremulator: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Demeter-STRM-1-Stereo-Tremulator-Tremolo-Pedal_W0QQitemZ200299469977QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item200299469977&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Demeter-STRM-1-Stere...p3286.m63.l1177[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 I'm very happy with the DBX 160A (so far - I've only had it a couple of weeks...) I gigged with it last weekend (in the effects loop of my Gallien Krueger 1001) and it really firmed things up nicely - I was only using about 1:2.5, but it sounds very pleasant at higher settings. Nice LEDs too Focusrite compounder is also very nice. I've happily listened to it compressing already very dense dance music on my 'stereo' - it invariably sounds as good or better with a good bit of compounding! It gets used on the vocal PA at the moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 [quote name='pjbass' post='472087' date='Apr 25 2009, 11:29 AM']+1 for the c300, i followed Dood's recommendation & I've been really pleased with the results from this rack unit- it sounds very open to my ears but can do the squishy stuff well too.[/quote] Ahh yes! Absolutely! - I like sending my bass signal through some of the other instrument programs to see what effect it has.. As you say, some are lusciously squidgy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I'd give this a try - if only because of the name! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TF-Pro-Edward-the-Compressor_W0QQitemZ310128424822QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Outboards_Effects_MJ?hash=item310128424822&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A4%7C294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TF-Pro-Edward-the-Co...%3A4%7C294%3A50[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.