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Diamond is BACK baby!!

#141
GrooveTheory said:
With all this talk, I had to check the new Diamond Bass Comp/Eq for myself. Ordered one, it arrived, and I've checked it out over the past few day with various gear configurations. A/B'd (directly side by side) against two other highly regarded compressors. So here's my review: it’s easy to use, does what it's supposed to do really well, and sounds very very good. Having never owned an older version of a Diamond bass comp, my review is based on this pedal's own merits. I still really like the other two compressors and I'm keeping them both, but what the Diamond did, in pretty much every configuration, I was happy with.
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Just to clarify, I’m keeping the Diamond comp/eq, and it will my main compressor, big it more and more every day, but I’m also keeping the other two! ;-)
 
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#143
I have had some time to compare the new box vs the old one and I must say-the changes are fantastic. The ability to boost mids is a game changer for me, because my Sushi Box preamps have passive Fender stacks with no way to goose mids.....when I bump bass/treble some mid cut is unavoidable and the new Diamond is able to more than compensate. The 800 Hz center for the mid control sounds great with my board/basses.
 
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#144
I used it at an outdoor show last night. I had been experimenting the past few days with 9/18v. At 9v, it will mildly distort at higher comp settings (after setting past 1 o’clock) with my Stingray Special 5 with the bass knob boosted particularly when playing in the lower register. I didn’t have the option to run it at 18v last night so I backed off the comp to just over noon and it worked great.

The eq is great and is perfect for taking off some of the top end edge from the Stingray and my Jazz bass making both sound much fuller and even.
 
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#146
foal30 said:
Consensus of BCP/EQ owners is that operating at 18v is best?
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IME (note all my basses are passive/ not very hot) 9V is fine and sounds just as good as 18 with both the original Bass Comp Jr (not the 1st version larger box with the center +ve polarity) and the current offering. If you play actives, esp at 18V, I agree the overall consensus seems to be 18V....and why not, assuming your power supply can cope.
 
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#155
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#157
foal30 said:
I don’t hear that on the BCP-1
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Like a lot of compressors, it probably depends on how hot the incoming signal is, but I definitely hear a little somethin’-somethin’ going on with the original BCP-1.

That’s why I bought mine, and why it’s been on all my boards ever since. 90% of the time, the compression is set off or at least very low- I just want that thickness it brings.

At the time, I was looking for a little always-on tubey goodness and saturation, but it had to be subtle. I tried and rejected a bunch of comp’s and preamps that claimed to have that “tube warmth” because to my ear, most were either mild overdrives, or had too much pre-EQ going on.

Many of them sounded good, but just weren’t what I was looking for. That list includes the Markbass Compressore, Tone Hammer, Darkglass Microtubes, etc.

The other thing that sold me on the BCP-1, was the slope EQ. As long as the instrument I’m using has pretty much the tone I’m going for, it’s often the only outboard tone control I need. It works great with my slabs, acoustics, guitars, and even my electric upright.
 
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#158
steve_rolfeca said:
Like a lot of compressors, it probably depends on how hot the incoming signal is, but I definitely hear a little somethin’-somethin’ going on with the original BCP-1.

That’s why I bought mine, and why it’s been on all my boards ever since. 90% of the time, the compression is set off or at least very low- I just want that thickness it brings.

At the time, I was looking for a little always-on tubey goodness and saturation, but it had to be subtle. I tried and rejected a bunch of comp’s and preamps that claimed to have that “tube warmth” because to my ear, most were either mild overdrives, or had too much pre-EQ going on.

Many of them sounded good, but just weren’t what I was looking for. That list includes the Markbass Compressore, Tone Hammer, Darkglass Microtubes, etc.

The other thing that sold me on the BCP-1, was the slope EQ. As long as the instrument I’m using has pretty much the tone I’m going for, it’s often the only outboard tone control I need. It works great with my slabs, acoustics, guitars, and even my electric upright.
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Well put. For me even Comp rolled “off” can be too much, and I wish the EQ was less extreme as I can’t normally make use of more than 20% of its range, still it is a distinct product that does what people say it does. For me the Alma is probably perfect, but haven’t tried it as my Pulp & Peel V4 has a similar feature set plus the Dirt switch.
 
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#159
bdplaid said:
I have both old and new Diamonds. They are not the same. This is going to cause a heck of a lot of confusion unless we figure out a way to depict which comp we're talking about.

In a nutshell:
  1. There is some tone magic in the new BCEQ, but not the same as the old BC or BCJR.
  2. The attack of the new Diamond BCEQ seems drastically faster than the old. And it's not controllable. And I don't like it.
  3. I found the compression level hard to dial in because it either sounds squishy and compressor-y or not at all.
  4. The EQ is this pedal's saving grace. Both controls are useful.
  5. The LED as a level indicator is useless. It has a high threshold before it changes colors, and it only blinks on when it does so.
  6. The original Diamond BC and BCJR were better at compression, because they have a very soft and easy sound. The BCEQ hits the threshold hard, and you can definitely hear it work.
  7. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it. It's very useful as an EQ, but the comp requires, for me at least, a lot of twiddling.
Edit: I'm annoyed at SGFX for making this pedal appear so close to the old Diamond. The new pedal has plusses in its own right, but copping an almost identical look is very misleading.

Moderator edit (May 25, 2023)
@bdplaid revised comments in post #119 here: Diamond is BACK baby!!
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This is something I wondered too. I wonder and asking the conscienti in here then. I am offered a used Diamond Bass Comp from the old days when they still was in the business. I am mainly intrigued by the 18v possibilty that is not inside ramp up, i e internally 18v. People don't think it matters but I remember YEARS back I think even the owner/designer had some input here in a compressor thread. That it depends on where the compression acts on the input or inside circuitry. Nevertheless. The new pedal is - IN SWEDEN - the same price as the old one (with larger footprint) but with added EQ tilt and so on. So the old one, second hand, is:

1. 322.00 USD
and the new one with smaller footprint and from a shop with full warranty, brand new:
2. 294.00 USD

so which one should I get?

I play a lot active basses with 2 9v batteries in them (Dingwalls, plus headless with EMG soapbar pickups with 2 9v too) so I MUST have input on any pedal really that can take 18v input.

On top of that, I have gotten into habit a parlor trick at live gigs, where I can't have my own backline, guesting and sitting in, and use FUNK FINGERS for show and percussive thuds (you know old Tony Levins tricks) and it automatically turns up every amp very loud just by playing them since they excites the strings more. I e too loud, so I need to tame those transients with a compressor that is curbing the loudness, but when I play with fingers still can be turned on, without squashing dynamics.

So regarding the difference, what do you folks thinks? New one or the old one? For basically the same price?
 
#160
Deleted member 368008 said:
I need to tame those transients with a compressor that is curbing the loudness, but when I play with fingers still can be turned on, without squashing dynamics
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I don't think either Diamond is for you. They don't really tame transients. In fact the old BCP 1 I have adds a bit of extra spank at the beginning of notes. It works wonderfully with my passive basses, especially with flats. With my active 5 strings (Sadowsky, Stingray) not so much, although it really warms up my modern sounding Bacchus 5 string jazz nicely.

I'd recommend the Cali76 Compact Bass for you. It's very tweakable and the combo of HPF sidechain and dry/wet blend lets you get the perfect transient control without losing dynamics. Other parallel compressors like the Empress would be good too.
 
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