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Compressors! Need Help! Cant decide!
- Thread starter fleafan7159
- Start date
My TLC arrived last week. Haven't had much time to play with it, but it's pretty quiet and has a lot of functionality. Does seem, however that with higher ratios the bass gets compressed more than the treble, at least to my ears. I'm no expert here, so I wouldn't be surprised to find that this is normal -- I imagine that's why there are so many dual band comps out there.
So, now I get to lust after the FEA dual band comp for a while. Looks like one sweet pedal. Good thing it's out of stock right now, 'cause that one is really going to hurt the wallet.
So, now I get to lust after the FEA dual band comp for a while. Looks like one sweet pedal. Good thing it's out of stock right now, 'cause that one is really going to hurt the wallet.
I went with the EHX Soul Preacher, yes it's noisy, but it keeps the lows low and adds some to the highs. Plus it's good compression, and you can mess around with it to do some cool things.
bongomania
Commercial User
Yep--speaking very generally, low frequency spikes from a bass are much much "taller" than high-frequency spikes, even at the same perceived volume. So with a typical single-band comp, the lows will be more apparently squashed.
does this mean you would like to sell yours? (jk), I know u just got it.
On another note, I went to Guitar center today and they had a markbass compressore that looked almost new with box and power supply for $169.99. i almost bought it but decided to hold off. Is this a good buy bongo? i thought it might be. let me know cause if they have a 30 day money back guarantee i might just buy it then get the tlc and a/b them. I've read your review on em and I can see that you think highly of them.
bongomania
Commercial User
Sure, it's great--and not only is there a 30-day money-back, you'd have no trouble re-selling it here on TB later on, if it doesn't suit you.
yea i saw the last 2 went for $185 so now im regretting i didn't buy it when i saw it. but thats a good price? it seems amazing especially for a GC. Il probably end up calling them tomorrow morning so no one else gets it lol.
Think the TLC will have to live on my pedal board for a while
Definitely haven't had enough time to play with it yet to really know what it can do. I did like the Multicomp for my purposes -- I really only use compression for slap, and dual band seems to be the way to go there -- too bad the one I got was defective. But I like knobs to tweak, and the Multicomp was lacking there. FEA seems like the tweakability of the TLC with dual band, so I have a suspicion that I'll end up with one of those down the road a bit, but TLC will have to be it for now.
Anything else out there comparable to the FEA dual band?
Think the TLC will have to live on my pedal board for a while
Definitely haven't had enough time to play with it yet to really know what it can do. I did like the Multicomp for my purposes -- I really only use compression for slap, and dual band seems to be the way to go there -- too bad the one I got was defective. But I like knobs to tweak, and the Multicomp was lacking there. FEA seems like the tweakability of the TLC with dual band, so I have a suspicion that I'll end up with one of those down the road a bit, but TLC will have to be it for now.
Anything else out there comparable to the FEA dual band?
yea those FEA pedals seem absolutely amazing, I would probably prefer one of those butt the prices are just astronomical and its nearly impossible to find one used, with the exception of one I saw that sold on the classifieds here for $215....man If I would have seen that I would have snatched that up so fast.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=656551&highlight=fea --thats it
bummer i called up GC and they told em they tested the compressore and it didn't turn on so they had to send it to repair and it was no longer for sale... bummer i was getting excited.
just to update everyone i went and got the Aguilar TLC on Ebay from the mad ape. It was $199 shipped so yea... he's got a 30 day money back guarantee. so i feel it was a pretty good purchase
The EBS is a VERY poor choice for limiting simply because it lacks a threshold knob, not to mention the fact that the ratio settings are very limited as well. Honestly, for general compression, if EBS put a threshold knob on the Multicomp it would be a very tough pedal to beat. As it is, it's hit or miss with different basses and tone goals.
The TLC is highly recommended by me for compression or limiting. I'm very surprised by it. I've also owned the Maxon CP9 Pro+ which also gets high remarks, and I like the Compulator for general fingerstyle smoothing. For now, the TLC to me represents the easiest "best" compressor out there because it doesn't have nearly as many knobs as the FEA or Carl Martin compressor, yet it gives you great control over the 3 most critical items in a compressor/limiter: Threshold, Ratio and Attack
The TLC is highly recommended by me for compression or limiting. I'm very surprised by it. I've also owned the Maxon CP9 Pro+ which also gets high remarks, and I like the Compulator for general fingerstyle smoothing. For now, the TLC to me represents the easiest "best" compressor out there because it doesn't have nearly as many knobs as the FEA or Carl Martin compressor, yet it gives you great control over the 3 most critical items in a compressor/limiter: Threshold, Ratio and Attack
bongomania
Commercial User
True! It really baffles me why such a huge percentage of comps on the market do not have those three controls. I mean it makes sense for a cheap comp aimed at the entry-level user, to have only one knob control over the compression... but even most of the "really good" pedals do not have what I would consider to be an essential set of controls.
You'd think that most ever pedal would at least have a Ratio and Threshold knob. As long as typical attack/release settings were setup for bass, those two knobs would go a long way. I'd also like to see a simple LED on every pedal that shows when the threshold is crossed, regardless of how little. Yeah, I can use my ear, but for really soft compression, a little bit of visual indication goes a long way.
Had some more time to play with the TLC and I'm getting really good results with threshold and slope both at about 10 o'clock. I'm not really digging more aggressive slope regardless of the threshold. My favorite of the comp pedals I've tried, and I think I'd be totally happy with it if I didn't already have my heart set on an FEA Dual Band.
