I’m looking for a compressor with great peak limiting.

father of fires · #1 10-07-2011, 02:23 PM

I have spent most of the day looking at compressors and reading Bongo's review page. I have my eye on a few but they are of course expensive and there is no where local to try them.

I have a high output bass and I play with a heavy hand so my real concern is unwanted distortion or artifacts when I exceed the limit on the compressor. Is this just a headroom issue or an overall design issue? Is there one pedal that excels in initial peak reduction? Are the higher voltage pedals or the rack units better for me?

I’m mainly trying to control the huge low end spikes that are killing my amp and speaker. I’ve looked into some high pass filters and I may go that route but I also think that a compressor could help in my situation as well.

Thanks for reading!

Jared Lash · #2 10-07-2011, 02:49 PM

Of the ones on bongo's list of recommended limiters I've used the:

Maxon CP9 Pro+,
Alesis MicroLimiter
Guyatone BL2
Boss LMB-3
and
Demeter Compulator

For limiting I liked the Maxon and Alesis the best. The Alesis is far cheaper (I got mine for $25 used) but it's an odd 1/3 rack unit with it's own power supply and distorted a bit when I really slammed it (with the Funk a Duck filter which has massive speaker cone ripping spikes) but otherwise worked pretty well.

The Maxon (due to it's internal charge pump) had more headroom and didn't distort. I think it could work pretty well for you though I'm guessing the new MXR bass comp would do the job even better.

But the big question for me is why you're getting huge low end spikes. Is it solely your hot bass and aggressive technique or is it due to something like an envelope filter. If it is the former a good comp should do the trick even if it isn't a limiter per se.

father of fires · #3 10-07-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

Of the ones on bongo's list of recommended limiters I've used the:

Maxon CP9 Pro+,
Alesis MicroLimiter
Guyatone BL2
Boss LMB-3
and
Demeter Compulator

For limiting I liked the Maxon and Alesis the best. The Alesis is far cheaper (I got mine for $25 used) but it's an odd 1/3 rack unit with it's own power supply and distorted a bit when I really slammed it (with the Funk a Duck filter which has massive speaker cone ripping spikes) but otherwise worked pretty well.

The Maxon (due to it's internal charge pump) had more headroom and didn't distort. I think it could work pretty well for you though I'm guessing the new MXR bass comp would do the job even better.

But the big question for me is why you're getting huge low end spikes. Is it solely your hot bass and aggressive technique or is it due to something like an envelope filter. If it is the former a good comp should do the trick even if it isn't a limiter per se.

Good point about my signal chain. I am playing a G&L SB-1 with Rotosound flats straight into my amp. Sometimes I use a dirt box and even those seem to crumble when I start playing really heavy.

Jared Lash · #4 10-07-2011, 03:02 PM

What is your amp/cab set up?

I'm wondering what the source of the distortion is when you are digging in hard. Is it your bass' preamp being overloaded? Or maybe you are pushing your amp's preamp too hard? Or maybe your cabs aren't able to handle what you're feeding them?

A compressor is a great too for a lot of applications, but I'm not sure it's warranted in this case. I'm thinking there's a better solution to what you're experiencing.

father of fires · #5 10-07-2011, 03:09 PM

Well basically. I have been having issue with the huge dynamic range of my bass. I get a good sound and then when I start digging in I get a lot of annoying issues. Currently, I have a SWR SM400s and 2 SVT-15E's. At practice, I also have access to an SVT and Ampeg 810. I have been looking at dirt boxes to smooth my sound and I started looking at HPF's to cut the sub lows but I don't like the way the either of them affect the tone.

So, I started thinking that a good compressor will allow me to have my lows and at more consitent level and when I start digging in during a crazy passage then the volume will be adjusted accordingly.

Jared Lash · #6 10-07-2011, 03:14 PM

If you want to go the compressor route I think the MXR bass comp will probably be the right route for you - very transparent and tweakable with good limiting capabilities.

But here's another thought. Have you tried turning down the volume/master knob on your bass? Just dialing it back a bit might reduce your signal enough to avoid the big spikes. You can compensate for the drop in volume from your bass by turning up your amp a bit more. Just a thought.

father of fires · #7 10-07-2011, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

If you want to go the compressor route I think the MXR bass comp will probably be the right route for you - very transparent and tweakable with good limiting capabilities.

But here's another thought. Have you tried turning down the volume/master knob on your bass? Just dialing it back a bit might reduce your signal enough to avoid the big spikes. You can compensate for the drop in volume from your bass by turning up your amp a bit more. Just a thought.

I have tried that as well. Turning down removes the "boooommmm!!!!" of my bass's pickup but it doesn't remove it from my playing. I like to set things and forget them so I'm looking for an always on solution.

I also play with the volume a lot while playing because the split humbucker in the G&L's offer several tonal variations depending how they are set.

I am well aware that this may not be the way to go but I'm still going to look into it.

stflbn · #8 10-07-2011, 05:47 PM

MXR M87 does compression or limiting.

bassboysam · #9 10-08-2011, 06:01 AM

Not sure if this will work for you because it really depends on which frequencies are causing the problem, but have you checked out the sfx thumpinator/micro thumpinator? It may do the trick.