Empress compressor side chain

[domlopenzo]

I'm looking into getting a new compressor for my bass rig and this one has caught my eye because of the sidechain input. Since I play a 5 string and use the low string (tuned to A often) my other comp is squishing it too much, and I'm trying to find a simpler solution than splitting the signal and compressing frequencies differently.

My question is, if I plugged an MXR 10 band EQ into the side chain, but just pulled down the last couple sliders a little instead of all the way, would those lower frequencies still get compressed just to a lesser degree?

I still want some more sustain when I play low notes so I don't want them to completely pass through the effect.

 

[bongomania]

You're close but not exactly. Putting the EQ in the sidechain, and turning down the lows on the EQ, turns down the lows that the compressor engine hears and reacts to. So it will not trigger as early or as heavily as it would with bassy spikes from your normal signal. So it's not that the lower frequencies are compressed separately/differently, but that the whole signal is compressed less because the compressor thinks there are not such huge spikes going into it.

This will probably get you the result you want, I'm just clarifying how it works. You could also look into the Daring Phat Beam and the FEA Opti-FET, as they have sidechains with the EQ built in already.

 

[domlopenzo]

Yes, that is exactly what I want it to do. I still want some compression on my lows but I don't want the spikes to cause the low notes to get squished which is what my current comp is doing.

My other option was by a mono crossover and use a separate comp on each band. I've looked into the FEA Labs dual band xomp, but I've heard theres a long wait time, and I don't think its enough to justify waiting

 

[saxman_singcan]

I just bought the Empress. Here is a link to a video of Dan explaining who to hard-wire a capacitor to a 1/4" plug to accomplish exactly what you are after. He starts talking about it at around 2:20. (not sure if the link will work, but you can cut and paste).