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Cali76 compact bass compressor vs. Empress bass compressor

empress vs cali76

  • Empress

    Votes: 61 46.2%

  • Cali76

    Votes: 49 37.1%

  • other

    Votes: 22 16.7%
  • Total voters
    132
#21
I've got a number of rackmounted and pedal compressors. However, for playing my bass through my amp, the Cali76 wins. But I don't record with it.

What I'm saying is, my Cali76 Stacked Edition sounds great when used in front of my TT800 and into a cabinet. To my ears it works better for that situation than any other compressor I've tried. But you may need to try them both and see what works for you and your setup.
 
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#23
Christian C said:
Hello! I'm trying to decide on what to buy for my first bass compressor to record guitar and bass and I have narrowed it down to these two. I want to buy I great compressor that I can record with and play live with without having to worry about replacing it with something down the road (I want to find the best compressor). I don't know what I want in a compressor since I have never had one before but I play in a cover band that covers anything from rock and metal to jazz, jazz fusion, funk, soul, and country. I am building a large board so I want it to be able to work well with all of my pedals. I have a darkglass b3k, a bass big muff, an MXR envelope filter, a cry baby bass mini wah, an ehx bass clone, an Ampeg Sgt-di, an ehx canyon, a boss oc5, a boss bf3, and a Peterson strobostomp. I know the main difference between the two is the cali76 adds color and the empress is neutral. Do I need a neutral compressor or would a colored one be beneficial in my situation? I can't really find any demos of both in one video on YouTube, so if you have one can you please post it? Also, afe there any other compressors you would say are better and don't lose any of the features on these?
Click to expand...

Hello!
Do you need another compressor? Doesn't the Ampeg SGT-DI do the job? Considering buying one my self. As I can see of the description of the Ampeg has a variable compressor 10:1. Just a thought.
Bobbe
 
#24
I haven't used the current Empress compressor but I do use the original. It adds no color to your tone, and just smooths things out. I tried a Cali 76 and while I liked it, it added a little too much bottom end and low mids for my taste. I play a PBass with flats and an overwound pickup, so I am already fighting a little boominess. If you use rounds or have a less boomy pickup it may be a good pedal for you.
I think the general consensus is Empress is more transparent and Cali 76 definitely colors your tone. Thy are both great compressors.
 
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#26
Cali76! This thing has been doing wonders to my tone. It opened it up, with more punch, clarity and presence. Yes, it’s got a colour to it, but it’s a good one. As always, try them and compare them. But I can’t see myself playing without the Cali76.
The Dry and HPF knobs are where the magic is. You can keep a fairly natural, not too compressed sound with the right settings.
 
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#30
jam.majors said:
I voted "other" as I love the Source Audio Atlas. It emulates either of the above and has fantastic presets right out of the box and the community presets are great. And if you're deep into compression (seems like you want to be, if not yet), then you can get some extremely fine grain control.

For analog comp pedals, I've owned the FEA DB-CL and the Aguilar TLC, and borrowed the Cali and empress off of a friend. I really feel like the Atlas blows them away.
Click to expand...

I have an Atlas and love it, but it causes me option anxiety. At a gig, I need to make adjustments and often the adjustments aren't available on the front panel or I can't remember what I assigned to the knobs (or the switch). It's amazing when connected to a computer and everything is available, including the excellent metering. It is a great compressor.

I've been using a Walrus Mira, which I think is still in the OP's budget. I think it's a fine compressor to learn the basics. It's not as transparent as the Empress (I tried twice to get it to be what I was looking for in a comp, but apparently I like more color). A Humboldt just arrived and so far, it might be the winner.
 
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#31
Clearly, money is no object in your quest to build this pedalboard. IMHO the Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Bass is the perfect tool to put between your passive Bass and a solid-state amp. No other pedals is best.

The less color is more philosophy I feel should apply, in a multi effect pedals signal chains. The Empress is a great choice. But, the Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked Compressor is the one I would choose. Probably for the same reason the solo colored Cali76 Compact Bass works great and sounds awesome. The Cali76 Stacked (1176) sound better with other pedals IMHO.

I do not currently own either of the Clai76 (1176) styles or the Empress with the side chain, selectable ratio, voice switch and all the metering that one could dream of.

I wanted ZERO noise, no coloration, lower set ratio (3-5:1) and no artifacts. It just does a great job of massaging the signal and tamping down spikiness and doesn't squash anything with no pumping or breathing and gently smooths with slight girth that is missed if turned off and is dead quite with easy to use two knob controls.
IMG_20231209_171039589_HDR~2.jpg

Rothwell Love Squeeze - UK (courtesy of John Kallas)

YMMV
 
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#32
Haven’t tried the empress but I’ve heard good things so I won’t vote against a pedal I haven’t tried out, my compressor search ended with the cali76cb. It hasnt left my board in the probably 2 years now that I’ve owned it. I play Dingwall and fender basses and use a mesa subway d-800 and subway 115. Maybe it’s just magic with my particular setup, i can say I always run it at 18v using a cioks power supply. Maybe I’m confusing it with the older big Cali but I remember reading a couple years ago when I was considering it that a some of the internals of these pedals don’t even power up at all when you run them at 9v and that that it makes a huge difference. I’d have to experiment with that to confirm, but I had a spot on my cioks to run it at 18v and none of my other pedals require 18v so I never tried it that way.
 
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#33
Christian C said:
I don't know what I want in a compressor since I have never had one before
Click to expand...

I think figuring out what you want would really help you decide if you even need a compressor in the first place, and then guide you towards a specific product if you decide you do want a compressor. If it hasn’t been mentioned here yet, delve into the ovnilabs website for all the info you’d ever need on what compressors are and how they work in general, as well as hundreds of specific product reviews including the two you’re considering.

SLO Surfer said:
After a week of research and reading reviews, I ordered the Cali76 but still don’t know which I’d prefer. I might just order the Empress to compare them side by side on my own.
Click to expand...
I’ve had my Cali76cb for two days now. After 10 minutes of fiddling with it at home and one full band rehearsal, I am convinced this was the right compressor for me. I wanted a warm and colored/special sauce studio tone (but not TOO colored) and it delivered. I won’t be ordering the empress to compare. That said, I took the advice of many reviews and am running the Cali at 18v, not 9v. (I had to order a special cable to run 18v off my Noble) If you don’t have the option to power it at 18v then it may not be worth it for you.

IMG_9334.jpeg


I still wish someone would do a comparison video (with good sound quality) of the Empress BC and Cali76cb since so many bassists seem to narrow their choices down to these two compressors.
 
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#35
Cali76 CB user here. Like others have said there is some coloration to the sound and the meter on the CB isn’t great (to put it mildly), however I found that I like the coloration in context of the rest of my rig (Sadowsky SPJ5, Noble & Bergantino) and I’ve learned to read the metering on the CB somewhat well. It’s my “always on” color for some slight compression but not enough that it completely removed any dynamics in playing.

Many years ago I was using a Keeley Compressor Pro for bass and compared it to the Empress. As I recall I felt the Empress may have been slightly cleaner and the sidechain was cool, but that wasn’t enough to sway me from the Keeley for that price point so it went back to GC. No knock intended on the Empress, it just wasn’t that much more of a step up for what I was looking for in a compressor back then.
 
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#36
PhatBottomBass1 said:
Interesting, I would have thought the least color going into that Noble would have been the way to go?

YMMV
Click to expand...
I’m sure for some players that is the way to go, but I wonder why one would think that? I ended up here by listening to many sound samples across the internet, and I found that many people run effects and/or compression before the Noble. And for reference, I use very subtle settings on the Cali with lots of Dry signal mixed in and utilizing the HPF, which limits the compression on lower frequencies. So while it does add some color, it’s not drastic. Just adds some, “special sauce,” as others have deemed it.

When listening to sound samples on the big TalkBass preamps/DI comparisons thread, I REALLY liked the sound of the Effectrode LA-1A going into the Noble (and into every other preamp for that matter). I don’t have room for the LA-1A but that thread lead me towards wanting a similar, slightly warm-colored compression. The Noble and Cali76 sound great individually on their own, but paired up together the sound is something special. They each make the other sound even better. IMO
 
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#37
SLO Surfer said:
I’m sure for some players that is the way to go, but I wonder why one would think that? I ended up here by listening to many sound samples across the internet, and I found that many people run effects and/or compression before the Noble. And for reference, I use very subtle settings on the Cali with lots of Dry signal mixed in and utilizing the HPF, which limits the compression on lower frequencies. So while it does add some color, it’s not drastic. Just adds some, “special sauce,” as others have deemed it.

When listening to sound samples on the big TalkBass preamps/DI comparisons thread, I REALLY liked the sound of the Effectrode LA-1A going into the Noble (and into every other preamp for that matter). I don’t have room for the LA-1A but that thread lead me towards wanting a similar, slightly warm-colored compression. The Noble and Cali76 sound great individually on their own, but paired up together the sound is something special. They each make the other sound even better. IMO
Click to expand...
Why??

*I wanted ZERO noise, no coloration, lower set ratio (3-5:1) and no artifacts.

It just does a great job of massaging the signal and tamping down spikiness and doesn't squash anything with no pumping or breathing and gently smooths with slight girth that is missed if turned off with easy to use two knob controls.

I do like the Cali76 Compact Bass for specific application very much. I was just saying that this application wouldn't be one of the very limited number of applications that I would use the Cali76 CB... :bassist:
 
#39
Christian C said:
i think I am going to get the cali76, am I making a mistake? If not, then how do I run it 18v with a 9v power supply
Click to expand...
You would need a voltage doubler rated at at least 104mA with the 9v power to get 18v and meet the power draw published requirement by Origin Effects.

Mistake?

It's a great compressor with a recognized coloration that many love in all situations, some do not care for at all and some really like in certain situations.

YMMV
 
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#40
PhatBottomBass1 said:
You would need a voltage doubler rated at at least 104mA with the 9v power to get 18v and meet the power draw published requirement by Origin Effects.

Mistake?

It's a great compressor with a recognized coloration that many love in all situations, some do not care for at all and some really like in certain situations.

YMMV
Click to expand...
What compressor do you have, if you have one? Also, does the voltage doubler cause noise, because that is something I am trying to avoid, and if not, which one would you recommend?
 
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