EBS and Diamond Compressor

[Jaydin Nathan]

Well, I upgraded the electronics in my bass (to an Aguilar OBP-3, which was a much needed upgrade anyway), so I'll tell you how the MultiComp sounds after I get them.

Thanks

 

[agedhorse]

Agedhorse, there's a first time for everything, and this one time I disagree with you. I have had concrete experiences with grounding conflicts causing hiss- and that specifically includes with the EBS. It was not the typical grounding-buzz-noise that you may be thinking of, it was something about the EBS circuit specifically that hissed when plugged into a preamp with a floating internal ground. I did multiple experiments with that same preamp and that same pedal in different rooms, with different instruments and amps, and got the same results- yet both items work perfectly, with zero hiss, when connected to other pedals or preamps.

I would first suspect HF oscillation, which can sound like hiss either when superimposed onto the audio signal or even more common when incorporated into an amp that has a class D output stage. HF oscillation can be caused by (or exaggerated by) poor grounding schemes where the ground has too much inductance and is no longer ground at high frequencies.

A true ground loop (not between internal circuits, but product to product) consists of chassis to chassis currents that are line frequency and unintended in nature. This may help in troubleshooting problems in the future.

This is true probably 99.5% ofthe time. There may be some freak possible HF ground loop (RF ground loop) that could do something wierd but that would be very uncommon.

 

[Crabby]

My Multicomp used to hiss like a sack full of pissed off rattlesnakes, which was the main reason I sold it. I loved the sound of it otherwise though. Either some of them are defective, or some people just don't hear the hiss becuase they're playing with no tweeter. Mine used to hiss even when turned off, and even when it's the only pedal in the chain. But I now have the Diamond in the post on it's way over to me so hopefully this will provide what I'm looking for!

Let us know how you like it. I think once the word gets out how great this comp is on bass, they will become the next "must have" item.

 

[superkicky]

nudging this to the top in case anyone's got one yet- how is it? i'm looking for something that can get a bit thicker than the trace elliot dual comp.

 

[afroman]

I'm also tuned waiting for a review when you get the Diamond.
I have a Demeter Compulator which I love but the Diamond has really caught my attention (in guitar reviews at least).

Oh the never-ending GAS

 

[bassbmx]

I've been interested in the Diamond too.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Diamond makes great stuff, I had a Memory Lane and still beat myself up for selling it. Top notch build quality and tone, and great customer service.

I'll have to check this compressor out.

 

[bongomania]

Actually dannybuoy has posted multiple times about his experience with the Diamond comp. The short version is that (according to him) it sounds fantastic until you hit it with a high level signal, when it distorts. However the distortion was completely cured by running the Diamond off an 18V supply instead of the 9V.

 

[dannybuoy]

That's about the size of it. Very smooth compresion and no artifacts when being run at 18v. It's extremely well built and sounds perfect for my playing, which is mainly heavy fingerstyle, sometimes a pick, but I've never learnt to slap so can't comment there. It's incredibly quiet as well, I can't detect any extra noise when it's on.

It does have a couple of buts though... As I said you really need to run it at 18v or higher (up to 24v) to get enough headroom to prevent clipping. Also, it has a fixed ratio with an adjustable threshold unlike most pedal comps that have a fixed threshold and adjustable ratio. However I happen to prefer this setup. Lastly, there is some slight low end rolloff below 60Hz. Now I can't hear it and it certainly sounds full and bassy to me, but that's what the graph shows on the Diamond site. Of course you can use the tilt eq control to boost the low end, but this then rolls off the highs and boosts the lows which might not be desirable. Over use of this control also increases the clipping problem as the EQ is placed before the make-up gain stage which is where the clipping takes place, so I just leave mine flat.

Diamond do offer bass mods though, which give it extended low end response and a different response on the tilt eq. However they told me that I'd probably only notice the difference if using a 5 string, so it wasn't worth me sending it back overseas to get the mod done. I recommend to anyone buying one to get the mod done though before purchase!

Also check out the Diago site in the UK for a nifty 9v-18v converter that you can use on your daisy chain, or the Godlyke Power Pump in the US.

 

[Crabby]

Interesting experience. i play a pretty hot SR5 into my Diamond comp and cannot get it to clip at all. I would likely not have kept it if there were issues with the signal clipping the input stage as I have had that problem with other pedal based comps. Perhaps mine already has the bass mods but i bought it new without there being any indication of it having been modded.

Absolutely no clipping issues here. hands down, the sweetest bass comp I have ever used.

 

[zippydog]

Just sold my Demeter and bought a Maxon CP9+ Pro that's giving me issues.

Seriously considering giving a Diamond a "go" before resorting back to Demetr (which I loved and now regret selling a bit).