Best Compressor pedals?

[Bassist30]

My vote is the Empress. Great having a blend control but equally impressive is having a designated sidechain input.
A very high quality well rounded compressor. Empress has an amazing customer service department I would like to ad.

 

[Jim C]

Based on a $200 budget (new or used)
I seem to be the only guy in the world who did not like the Diamond.
Very happy with the Duncan unit.
Also really like the blend feature.
Some day Frank at FEA will get the model in stock that I want.

Very curious about the Marbass unit.
Is the compression smooth and does it alter the tone that much (spent years getting the tone I want)
Not crazy about a wall wart though.

 

[scubaduba]

You either like the Diamond or you don't. It's a pretty polarizing pedal and really more of an effect than compressor. I like it's tonal magic but I've moved on to more versatile pedals. I currently have a Kelley Bassist, Smoothie, and a Cali76 CB. Also have a FEA Opti-Fet on the way. I like them all for different reasons. Smoothie for it's versatility, Keeley for it's ease of use and dialing in, and Cali 76 for it's "presence".

 

[Inconnu]

Great little pedal. For € 50 you end up with a dual comp, a dbx 160a, a limiter... and you can combine all of them!

I use the DComp.

 

[noveltea93]

What are some good optical compressors? The requirements are at least basic visual metering and a good headroom (since I was planning to use in at the end of the chain). Preferably somewhere in LA2A-ish territory to beef up the tone a bit.
The only ones that I've found so far are Diamond, Whirlwind OB and Ampeg Opto.
Are there any others maybe?

I like the Taurus Tux Mk2. It's pretty flexible and easy to adjust. I get a nice warm, punchy sound out of it. The only snags are it's somewhat large, and for maximum headroom you'll want to run it at 12v (I've run it at 9v with no big problems - it's made to work on either - but the manual says you get 33% more dynamic range or something with 12v )

 

[bongomania]

What are some good optical compressors? The requirements are at least basic visual metering and a good headroom (since I was planning to use in at the end of the chain). Preferably somewhere in LA2A-ish territory to beef up the tone a bit.
The only ones that I've found so far are Diamond, Whirlwind OB and Ampeg Opto.
Are there any others maybe?

The Whirlwind is an excellent and under-mentioned choice.

 

[scubaduba]

What about the Smoothie?

 

[Northfear]

What about the Smoothie?

For some reason I thought that they got no visual metering. But looks like I was wrong here. One more interesting choice for opto comp indeed.

 

[Peter Smith892]

Interesting how no-one is really talking about the little MXR units, such as the MXR M87; Or even the Seymour Duncan studio bass. I've got the MXR M87 unit, as I found it through sustainpunch's bass compressor article which shows the top 8 compressor pedals... Would be useful for any noobies like myself.

 

[scubaduba]

Seymour Duncan Studio Bass:
Testing Compressors: Cali, Smoothie, Empress, Diamond, Keeley, FEA, Darkglass, Doc Lloyd, JHS & more

talkbass duncan studio bass site:www.talkbass.com - Google Search

As for the MXR units, there's a ton of conversation:
talkbass mxr m87 site:www.talkbass.com - Google Search

 

[Steve Hamilton]

Empress user too. love it

 

[Jim C]

As far as new ones to try, how about the Carl Martin compressor / limiter
Black box with an attached AC cord?

 

[freshbass]

Interested to hear people's opinions of the best compressor pedals for live work.
I play punk/rock stuff not into slap or funk.
Cheers
Neil

Boss BC-1X...great stage compressor pedal and indestructible like all Boss pedals.