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I made the logical decision, right? Compressors, again!

willsellout

willsellout

I apologize in advance.
Gold Supporting Member
Aug 13, 2002
6,904
8,669
Fort Wayne, IN
#1
So I have been thinking and reading and researching compressors for the longest time and I just couldn't figure out what I wanted from my Compressor. Do I want to enhance tone with some light squash? Do I want it to be Transparent? I've had a few compressors but none have stuck around and the waiting list for the DE-CL will take god knows how long to be worked down until my name gets called, so I narrowed it down to two compressors; the Empress and the Diamond. Both do different things and they should give me a better idea of what I want in a Compressor, right? RIGHT? Doesn't matter now, I ordered them both. This should be a fun experiment either way.
 
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#8
MYLOWFREQ said:
Try both and see. I've heard good things about both. And if you're not sure what you want from a compressor, maybe you'll realize that you don't need either at the end :)
Click to expand...
I do like to have something to even things out for recording at home, which I think the Empress would work well for and I think I could enjoy the diamond for live use. But who knows. I can't keep both though. I CANT KEEP BOTH!
 
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#10
Jebberz said:
Use both... ehhance your tone with the Diamond (it uses a fairly low ratio) at the beginning of your effect chain and level your signal at the end with the Empress.
Click to expand...

Actually, this is the correct answer. If you have both coming, I think you'll quickly find that using both is an amazing choice.

I've owned both (and also have an Opti-Fet right now). They are each great in their own way. If I was forced to choose between them, I'd take the Diamond, but seriously...both will be amazing. Certainly give it some thought.
 
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#12
willsellout said:
I do like to have something to even things out for recording at home, which I think the Empress would work well for and I think I could enjoy the diamond for live use. But who knows. I can't keep both though. I CANT KEEP BOTH!
Click to expand...

If you do decide to flip the Diamond please contact me. I am VERY curious about its ratio, so I need one for a bit to make in/out measurements and plot data. I don't believe the ratio is a fixed slope, I suspect that the ratio curve is similar to the very large soft-knee curve of the dbx163x that goes from 1:1 to infinity:1 over a 30-40dB input range.
:thumbsup:

-Frank
 
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#13
willsellout said:
So I have been thinking and reading and researching compressors for the longest time and I just couldn't figure out what I wanted from my Compressor. Do I want to enhance tone with some light squash? Do I want it to be Transparent? I've had a few compressors but none have stuck around and the waiting list for the DE-CL will take god knows how long to be worked down until my name gets called, so I narrowed it down to two compressors; the Empress and the Diamond. Both do different things and they should give me a better idea of what I want in a Compressor, right? RIGHT? Doesn't matter now, I ordered them both. This should be a fun experiment either way.
Click to expand...

I'm going say get the optifet.. man.. it's king kong
 
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#14
A friend of mine let me borrow his board which had a diamond compressor for a couple of gigs.
What I noticed was it introduced some noise when it was on.
Honestly, I couldn't tel the difference on or off and maybe that's the point.
Anyways, back to plug and play
 
#15
boomertech said:
If you do decide to flip the Diamond please contact me. I am VERY curious about its ratio, so I need one for a bit to make in/out measurements and plot data. I don't believe the ratio is a fixed slope, I suspect that the ratio curve is similar to the very large soft-knee curve of the dbx163x that goes from 1:1 to infinity:1 over a 30-40dB input range.
:thumbsup:

-Frank
Click to expand...

In reply to my question about the BCP-1's compression ratio, Diamond sent this reply:

"Hi thanks for emailing. Yes, the ratio is nominally 3:1, it does vary slightly with the input signal strength but for all intents and purposes 3:1. I hope that's helpful!"
 
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#16
willsellout said:
Yeah it's been on the list for as long as I can remember. When my name is called I will definitely be getting one.
Click to expand...
Or just say the hell with it and get this! I did on accident. Signed up for the DECL or meant to, and got the DBCL instead...think I was drunk when I ordered it TBH so easy mistake. So glad I did though, tone for days or transparent as all get out. Can put it in the front for tone, or the end for clean and pulling everything together. Or TBH get the diamond for the optical squish at the front, lightly, and the DBCL at the end for the finishing touches and you'll have a bitchin sound that will keep you stiff all day long! FEA Labs Dual Band Compressor Limiter | FEA Labs
 
#17
Jebberz said:
Use both... ehhance your tone with the Diamond (it uses a fairly low ratio) at the beginning of your effect chain and level your signal at the end with the Empress.
Click to expand...

blindrabbit said:
Actually, this is the correct answer. If you have both coming, I think you'll quickly find that using both is an amazing choice.

I've owned both (and also have an Opti-Fet right now). They are each great in their own way. If I was forced to choose between them, I'd take the Diamond, but seriously...both will be amazing. Certainly give it some thought.
Click to expand...

I have the Empress and also recently a SGFX Horizon. I'm still finishing my board and haven't had the chance to try the two comps together in context, but always imagined the Empress first to even out dynamics before octave/dirt/fx and the Horizon last for added warmth & colour. I'll try both orders out when I can, but it's interesting that both here and in at least one other comp thread I've read advice to have tone colouring comp first/transparent comp last. Is that a more standard approach if using two comps? I'm not 100% convinced on the Horizon yet either but need to spend more time with it
 
#18
willsellout said:
So I have been thinking and reading and researching compressors for the longest time and I just couldn't figure out what I wanted from my Compressor. Do I want to enhance tone with some light squash? Do I want it to be Transparent? I've had a few compressors but none have stuck around and the waiting list for the DE-CL will take god knows how long to be worked down until my name gets called, so I narrowed it down to two compressors; the Empress and the Diamond. Both do different things and they should give me a better idea of what I want in a Compressor, right? RIGHT? Doesn't matter now, I ordered them both. This should be a fun experiment either way.
Click to expand...

I know you will :thumbsup: get to the bottom of it, one way or another...
 
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#20
willsellout said:
I do like to have something to even things out for recording at home, which I think the Empress would work well for and I think I could enjoy the diamond for live use. But who knows. I can't keep both though. I CANT KEEP BOTH!
Click to expand...
If you sell one of them in 10 years, you're not keeping both. Just owning both for a long time. Just a little something to keep in mind :D:smug:
 
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