Compressors in my M13 seems to boost high ends. When I activate a compressor and slap, the tone is much brighter. Am I missing something?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Compressors in M9/M13
- Thread starter Chrisk-K
- Start date
Most of the comps are modeled after pedals that do cut some low end. The Tube Comp is the best comp on there for bass IMO. It won't be on there unless you've upgraded to the 2.01 firmware.
If you do a search for M13 upgrade you should get some info on how to do it.
bongomania
Commercial User
Rich from Line 6 never answered my question, maybe one of you guys can: Are the comp engines in the M9/M13 identical to the ones in the Constrictor pedal module?
@Bongo: I've always had the impression the M9/13 effects are better sounding than my PodXT effects - a hunch which is confirmed in the new PodHD ads: "now with M-class effects" (they clearly think the M-class are better than the ones before then)
I find the LA-2 in my M9 the most useable comp in that box but my Aguilar TLC kicks the softwares virtuall butt blindfolded with 2 hands tied behind its back.
The software handles the compression alright but the TLC controls the dynamics but makes the sound larger/meatier/ballsier at the same time. The 'grab' is also much more pronounced in the TLC.
Herwig
I find the LA-2 in my M9 the most useable comp in that box but my Aguilar TLC kicks the softwares virtuall butt blindfolded with 2 hands tied behind its back.
The software handles the compression alright but the TLC controls the dynamics but makes the sound larger/meatier/ballsier at the same time. The 'grab' is also much more pronounced in the TLC.
Herwig
I did not personally like the compressors in the M9. The tube comp was the only one that was reasonably usable but it lacks any real controls. I always thought it made the attack on picked bass sound odd, it was over compressing the attack or something.
Ditto. That and the fact that it runs really hot prevents it from being an "always on" effect.
+1 on the tube compressor. I always have it on.
Threshold is ALMOST at the very top and the level is ALMOST at the very bottom.
I have another one with a lower threshold and level boost above the other comp to switch to when i tap.
The rest are all throwaway for bass.
Threshold is ALMOST at the very top and the level is ALMOST at the very bottom.
I have another one with a lower threshold and level boost above the other comp to switch to when i tap.
The rest are all throwaway for bass.
bongomania
Commercial User
+3. Tube comp is the best one in there, the other ones are modeled after compressors which either work best for guitar or use an odd compression system that I've still yet to understand. The tube comp is always on on my M13, threshold at 9/10, level at 0.0001/10 (damn, these effects run hot!). Definitely it's not the best option if you're looking for tone enhancement, but it does just what I want a compressor to, i.e. even out my dynamics and cut annoying frequencies a bit.
I also use a couple of the other effects on some parts of our songs, including phaser, octaver, tube drive, analog chorus, smart harmony, dimension, reverbs, Q filter (LP) and auto volume echo.
This unit gives so much possibilities, it's awesome. Do the effects sound good? Yes, they do. Do they sound amazing? Most of them don't. However, I bought this unit because I wanted something simple and versatile for live playing while still having decent sounding effects. That's exactly what I got, maybe even more.(let's face it, when playing live, nobody even realizes you just turned on that octaver or slight drive, so why spend $500/pedal just to be told : "what? you had effects running?" when you can have them all for the same price).
I just used the Tube Comp on a track I recorded today, it's a sort-of Clash / Ruts / Joe Jackson sound I was going for (our guitarist wrote it when I told him I didn't want to do a Ruts cover!) that I play with a pick and on that the Tube Comp sounds really nice and squishy. It's too heavy-handed to use as anything but "compressor effect" though, certainly not something I'd leave on all the time.
The rest of the comps I don't like on bass.
The rest of the comps I don't like on bass.
I found that with my rig the tube comp brings out a lot of noise. I'm going to go with a dedicated compressor pedal. Wow, I realized that I'm pretty much only using my m9 for delays. Three scenes are only delays. I love how I can stack up to three delays and have up to six different delays to choose from.
