Maybe I've just got too high expectations, but I've been having a heck of a time finding a compressor that I simply just like. Below are a list of the compressors I've tried and why I don't like them:
Darkglass Hyper Luminal (x2):
- Always had audible (to my ears) artifacting in the compressed signal even in 4:1 ratios. The more compression I added, the more artifacting I could hear, which means the compressor is introducing noise in the compressed signal. I legitimately thought the first one was defective, so I sent it back for a replacement and it did the same thing. Ultimately Darkglass said it was "working as designed", so I got rid of it.
Empress Bass Compressor:
- Doesn't stay on when my pedal board turns on/off.
- Pops when I turn it on/off.
- Sometimes, when I'm digging in, it'll "pop" and I notice that my gain reduction also maxes out at -25dB reduction for a brief moment. This seems to be a lot worse with a very fast attack. For reference, I'm nornally running 4:1 ratio with about -4 to -6dB gain reduction during normal playing, so a random spike to -25dB seems massive and it's definitely not a cable pop.
- I really love the side-chain high pass filter though!
MarkBass Compressore:
- Compresses the low B too much for my liking. It's 'balanced' with the rest of the strings, but I like my B to be big and powerful - especially since many PA systems are rolling off at those frequencies already.
- Easily the cleanest and most natural sounding of the 3 compressors and, if it had the side-chain high pass of the Empress, it would be the end of my compressor search.
Anybody else have some recommendations of a compressor pedal I could look into? Am I just expecting too much from a compressor?
Not to sound snarky, but, if you don't like the sound of compressors, why are you set on using them? You don't necessarily need them.
You don't really mention in this post what tonal issues in you're clean tone you're trying to address with a compressor. You just point out what you don't like about certain compressors. And a lot of that sounds like you're not setting up the compressors properly for your signal.
Like, for the Darkglass, what "artifacting" are you hearing? A compressor (any compressor) will make the quiet noises you make while playing bass more audible. It's the nature of compression: Reducing dynamic range. There is less volume difference between the loud and quiet, ergo, you can hear more of the quiet. Adding more compression like you did will of course add
more "artifacts." It's not really adding them, though. They've always been there. You can just hear them now because you're using a compressor.
For the Empress, the popping on/off, and the not going on & off with your board are definitely annoyances. But the -25dB gain reduction when you dig in sounds again like a compressor doing its job based on how it's set up. You dig in, the input signal goes further over the threshold, the "pop" is the signal getting through during the attack period, it reduces the gain
a lot and releases the compression after the release time.
Always running -4dB to -6dB of gain reduction during normal play is actually quite a lot if you think about it. If you're using a 4:1 ratio and it's reducing 25dB, that means it's getting 4 times that many dB from your bass and whatever is in front of it in the signal chain. Could be a nasty sub frequency coming from somewhere. Could stand to put a HPF in front and set it to just below your lowest note's freq. Could be you're hitting your pickup or your pickup height is out of adjustment and causing a wolf tone or spike in signal.
For the Markbass, if it's compressing one string more than the others, that string is louder than the others and hitting the compressor harder. Sounds like the issue is happening before the compressor and the compressor is just doing its job reacting to the signal it gets.
If you are dead set on using a compressor, try some more transparent settings. It looks like you're trying to thicken the sound with the compressor, not tame transients? (I'm guessing from your post)
- Pull the ratio back to 2.5:1 or 2:1.
- Use a more medium attack 3ms - 10ms. Even slower if you're looking for more punch. Faster to remove transients. But medium attack is a good starting point.
- Set the threshold so that the gain reduction meter is only peaking at about -3dB on the attack of your regular playing notes. (3dB is double the power.) You just want to be kissing the threshold during normal play.
- Adjust the release so it sounds natural.
And if you're still hearing a differential between the B string and the rest of the strings, check the setup and make sure the distance between your B string and pickups are correct, and then maybe look into a 2-band compressor so you can compress the low-lows separate from everything above it.
But, it sounds like you might just be happy without a compressor. Bass is my main instrument but i spent the better part of the last 15-20 years primarily focused on production and engineering. I use compressors all the time in production. Like, almost every track gets one sometimes.
But my bass going into my amp? No compressor. Not necessary. Helpful, maybe, sometimes, if it's set up right and transparently. But not necessary.
