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Best Compressor Pedal

#141
Anybody would like to suggest a good limiter, but in the smallest size possible ("1590A", or even smaller?!)? I can't believe it's so hard to find, a limiter with just 1 threshold knob (everything else set just like you'd want it for limiting : instant attack, instant release, infinite ratio).

Found one made by "tom's line" (don't know about the brand) on aliexpress, so I'm going to suppose it's a cheap chinese stompbox, and I'd rather avoid that (you don't put all that money to build your signal chain just to ruin it with one bad pedal right?)
 
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#143
XLunacy said:
Anybody would like to suggest a good limiter, but in the smallest size possible ("1590A", or even smaller?!)? I can't believe it's so hard to find, a limiter with just 1 threshold knob (everything else set just like you'd want it for limiting : instant attack, instant release, infinite ratio).

Found one made by "tom's line" (don't know about the brand) on aliexpress, so I'm going to suppose it's a cheap chinese stompbox, and I'd rather avoid that (you don't put all that money to build your signal chain just to ruin it with one bad pedal right?)
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Peak limiting is the hardest function to do well, without noticeable distortion or other glitches. The old Guyatone BL2 is the only smaller semi decent one I know of. Otherwise you're looking at normal sized pedals--and the good limiters tend to be expensive.
 
#144
bongomania said:
Peak limiting is the hardest function to do well, without noticeable distortion or other glitches. The old Guyatone BL2 is the only smaller semi decent one I know of. Otherwise you're looking at normal sized pedals--and the good limiters tend to be expensive.
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It's seems I'm going to have to fall back on a normal sized one then :) (the Guyatone looks super-cheap, and I don't feel like hauling a rack unit) I'll keep looking around in case something new pops up, otherwise It might be MXR ; has it not made it to your top picks list for limiters just because it only goes up to 20:1? Looks good otherwise, with a extremely short attack time (20 µs).
 
#146
I like the MXR M87. It just makes my tone better and is helping to relieve the pain in my plucking hand due to the fact that I don't have to dig in as hard to get my tone out live. You don't really notice how much the compression is there until you actually start playing live with it. The other thing I noticed is before I was using the MXR (and compression in general) I'd always have people in the audience both telling me to turn up and others telling me I was too loud. I no longer hear that. I recorded a set with my band on a good field recorder and I finally have that nice, balanced studio sound I've been after for so long.
 
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#148
XLunacy said:
This would be very helpful! Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

Maybe contact @johnk_10 about a limiter he built a while ago. I don't think he is particularly fond of working with 1590a size pedals, and I don't know if this particular pedal has a circuit small enough to fit in one, but he does great custom builds and this might fit your needs...

OptoLimiter-01.jpg
 
#149
Ricky Caboverde said:
Maybe contact @johnk_10 about a limiter he built a while ago. I don't think he is particularly fond of working with 1590a size pedals, and I don't know if this particular pedal has a circuit small enough to fit in one, but he does great custom builds and this might fit your needs...

OptoLimiter-01.jpg
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Looks good, thanks! It's still about the same size as many other pedals, but I'll keep it in mind (fewer knobs is good sometimes) :
Compressors~~element39.jpg
 
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#150
I have only tried two compressors, the one on my BBE 383 preamp, and the Caline Hot Mushroom. The BBE one is more of a tone killer than anything, and I don't find much use for it.
Surprisingly, I seem to be the only bass player who uses a Caline Hot Mushroom. I don't know if or what the Hot Mushroom is a copy of, but I like it. Okay, so the name is... whatever. I do prefer my mushrooms cooked. So, the tone is fairly neutral, with perhaps a hint of added warmth. It doesn't seem to cut any bass frequencies to this untrained ear. The onset of compression, or "attack", is of a particular quality that it can be useful to emphasize runs of notes that might otherwise get muddied up. Most compressors probably do this, so I guess this one isn't much different.
There was a time that I thought this cheap pedal took a crap on me, but I've plugged it back in and found it works perfectly. So, it has a semi-permanent place in my rig.
Simple with two knobs, effective for bass, true bypass, silly name... best compressor for < $30? I think so. (seriously, this thing is like $27 on Amazon)
 
#151
Thinking about a compressor and/or preamp at the end of my chain. Currently playing thru a Mesa Walkabout (which has a nice para EQ on the amp) with Fender MIA Jazz, Ric 4003, and EBMM Stingray. Seems like some folks prefer to run a compressor into a pre-amp into the amp. At the risk of posting a redundant question...I'm wondering if running an Empress Comp into a Fuzzrocious Feed Me pre-amp at the end of my board would be redundant for sound and EQ especially with the para EQ on the Mesa head. Thinking that the Empress could double as a Comp and Pre-Amp, right? But the Feed Me is certainly not a Compressor and would just serve as finishing touch EQ on the board after compression. Any advice? Should I just drop the $ on an Empress Comp and call it a day and skip the Fuzzrocious pedal or would there be significant improvement doubling down on some sort of Empress > Pre-amp combo (if not the FeedMe). This is my first dive into compression and it seems that the Empress and MXR M81 are great options that would not lead to a lot of flip flopping down the road. I'd like to get something solid and versatile to start and hang with it. Clearly the Empress is heavily favored by many many players and the MXR comes in a high-qual 2nd for compression. I also realize that any "best" discussion is highly subjective...cheers!
 
#154
Really love my FEA Opti.

It's the only compressor I've ever owned, though. I'm hardly a gearhead who buys and tries till he finds. Was a complete accident that I ended up with one on the secondary market. Was looking for an Empress, decided to just get the MXR at Guitar Center and the floor staff ignored me for an hour so I took my money to my favorite independent gear shop and I'm glad I did.

I want to buy another one so I don't have to keep moving it from my guitar rig to my bass rig. They are very hard to find, I have noticed.
 
#158
If somebody is interested on updated suggestions, we made a buying guide with what we think are the best options available at the moment.

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Please let me know if you think we are missing something.
Hope it helps!
 
#160
I decided to go with the TC Electronic Spectracomp as my first compressor pedal.

It's compact, affordable, versatile, has great reviews and can start tweaking advanced parameters if needed. I would love to try some others like Empress, Cali76 or Diamond but they are too expensive.

I will post my opinion when I receive it.
 

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