I want someone to try an XR12 and report. It's got the EQ needed to fix the frequency at which the bass rig over-fills the room, various compressor models, and a multiband compressor.
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Maybe about to pull the trigger on some fancy-pants compressor (seeking opinion from users)
- Thread starter Frank77
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- compressor
I think if you can make a compressor work well live with your gear, go for it! However, it's more of a recording mix thing in my opinion that really adds very little over all live. At least for me.
Both of the FEA options mentioned here are low noise and really versatile from what I have heard in person. I didn't care much for my Cali76 in that regard.
But I have been running a Lightning Boy Audio Op-2 on the board for about a year and found it to be a keeper. If you would like a low noise, transparent unit that will go from clean tube to richly harmonic tube tone, I would highly recommend it. Pete has a nice demo:
Regards,
Ethan
But I have been running a Lightning Boy Audio Op-2 on the board for about a year and found it to be a keeper. If you would like a low noise, transparent unit that will go from clean tube to richly harmonic tube tone, I would highly recommend it. Pete has a nice demo:
Regards,
Ethan
Yessir. I wish Mesa would make bass-specific pedals, period. Compressor, OD's based on their amps of yore… I'm sure we can think of a few more.
FWIW, Ashly CLX-52 for me.
Ashly DPX 200 (CLX 52)
Like the man says, "There are more exciting or toneful compressors out there, but there are almost none better at the fundamental job of clean signal management."
If you're playing live…
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+1 love the Empress - best ever metering, sounds killer. Most people say it's transparent, but to me it enhances the upper frequency range / adds clarity unlike many comps - especially VCA based ones - that tend to darken the sound. YMMV.
Honorable mention to the Durham Sex Drive. No metering, so I set that one based on overdrive level (slight crunch). Very easy to dial in a great tone IMO. Option for soft or hard knee is surprisingly useful. Tone knob to keep the overdrive from getting too buzzy. This is my all-in-one tone solution when I don't want to bring a pedalboard, can be powered by 9v battery.
Ha, for sure, but not nearly as bad as my last one!
Origin Effects Cali76-TX-L With Lundahl Transformer Excellent condition with box | eBay
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Haha, I owned that same one. It was a great compressor. I really dug it but when I A/b'd it against my Milk Box, it didn't justify the price. That OP-2 is impressive though for sure. I really enjoyed that video you posted.
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I'm an absolute fan of the DBX160a. It's a rack unit, but it really has a lot going on and is reasonably cheap, as most people don't want rack mount equpment any longer.
My favorite control is the "soft knee" circuitry that bring on the compression slowly and very musical. This would do very well for what you are trying to achieve. The control is very intuitive and has a three light system to let you know when you are in the perfect zone for it to work. It can also be used as a hard limiter, but used with the above settings (at 4:1) it has a very transparent sound that enhances subtly instead on noticibly. In fact I don't really realize it's doing its job until I turn it off.
I have complete control of all my dynamics, and it really helps fill out the d and g strings, plus put a cap on when I do some slapping. The sustain is nice as well.
You might give it a though. It's not botique, but it works great for the live shows I do.
My favorite control is the "soft knee" circuitry that bring on the compression slowly and very musical. This would do very well for what you are trying to achieve. The control is very intuitive and has a three light system to let you know when you are in the perfect zone for it to work. It can also be used as a hard limiter, but used with the above settings (at 4:1) it has a very transparent sound that enhances subtly instead on noticibly. In fact I don't really realize it's doing its job until I turn it off.
I have complete control of all my dynamics, and it really helps fill out the d and g strings, plus put a cap on when I do some slapping. The sustain is nice as well.
You might give it a though. It's not botique, but it works great for the live shows I do.
Well, it's a bit late to consider other options - my Opti-FET is already in the mail. Matter of fact, it has arrived the Canada Post facility in Montréal. Now, the absolute best case scenario would be to get it tomorrow: We have a long weekend coming up so that would leave me a good chunk of time to get familiar with it prior to my next rehearsal on Tuesday. I'm not holding my breath, though.
Thanks for the order! There are lots of great suggestions in this thread. So, I hope that the Opti-FET meets your expectations.
Thanks to everyone else for all the nice words for FEA!!
-Frank
There’s are few compressors that can do a better job than the Opti. I personally prefer the DE-CL but I’ve always been super impressed with the FEA gear.
Looks like I'm in luck: Came home to a notice from the mailman. My pedal is waiting for me at the post office, I can pick it up tomorrow...yay! 
After you plug in the Opti, it's likely the last thing you'll be worried about are the other choices you could have made. Let us know what you think!
TL;DR: I've only scratched the surface, but very positive experience so far. 
Alrighty, I've picked up my compressor at the post office earlier this afternoon and messed around with it for about 2-3 hours. My neighbors are probably browsing eBay for "bald voodoo dolls" right now, but hey, it's not my problem if they partied until 6 am. Or maybe they appreciate the funky soundtrack I'm providing for their hangover, who knows...
So, first impressions:
Build quality is fantastic. The whole thing looks and feel *solid* and it has some heft to it, which I really like (cue "Boris the Blade" 's spiel about weight and reliability). The barrel connector for the 9V supply fits tight and "clicks" in place - no way this sucker is coming off by accident on your pedalboard. The knobs have a very nice resistance to them, too: So again unless you treat your gear like absolute sh!t, things will stay there once set. A+.
How it sounds: Self admittedly, I'm a noob when it comes to compression and I've been living without it until now, but this unit makes me realize how much I've been missing out! I expected several painful hours of knob-tweaking, ear fatigue and frustration to learn how to use this semi-properly...and while I still have a lot of experimenting left to do, I think I've already found a very musical, sort of all-purpose setting that could very well be my "always on", or at least I feel like I'm pretty darn close anyway, and that was much, MUCH easier than I thought it would be.
So far, my favorite setting has the "warm 2" and "12 kHz filter" DIP-switches "ON", threshold fairly high, the ratio medium-low, the attack medium-fast and a medium release time. I get a very nice pumping of the lows (without any weird "swooshing"), and it adds so much BEEF to my G and D strings! It brings noticeable muscle to my bass lines and I must say I'm really, really liking what I'm hearing so far! It kind of gets me into old school territory without altering the natural voice of my instrument the way a popular tube-emulation circuit does.
...and I haven't even started to really mess with the sidechain EQ yet, which in itself seem to open another world of possibilities within any given compressor setting.
Alrighty, I've picked up my compressor at the post office earlier this afternoon and messed around with it for about 2-3 hours. My neighbors are probably browsing eBay for "bald voodoo dolls" right now, but hey, it's not my problem if they partied until 6 am. Or maybe they appreciate the funky soundtrack I'm providing for their hangover, who knows...
So, first impressions:
Build quality is fantastic. The whole thing looks and feel *solid* and it has some heft to it, which I really like (cue "Boris the Blade" 's spiel about weight and reliability). The barrel connector for the 9V supply fits tight and "clicks" in place - no way this sucker is coming off by accident on your pedalboard. The knobs have a very nice resistance to them, too: So again unless you treat your gear like absolute sh!t, things will stay there once set. A+.
How it sounds: Self admittedly, I'm a noob when it comes to compression and I've been living without it until now, but this unit makes me realize how much I've been missing out! I expected several painful hours of knob-tweaking, ear fatigue and frustration to learn how to use this semi-properly...and while I still have a lot of experimenting left to do, I think I've already found a very musical, sort of all-purpose setting that could very well be my "always on", or at least I feel like I'm pretty darn close anyway, and that was much, MUCH easier than I thought it would be.
So far, my favorite setting has the "warm 2" and "12 kHz filter" DIP-switches "ON", threshold fairly high, the ratio medium-low, the attack medium-fast and a medium release time. I get a very nice pumping of the lows (without any weird "swooshing"), and it adds so much BEEF to my G and D strings! It brings noticeable muscle to my bass lines and I must say I'm really, really liking what I'm hearing so far! It kind of gets me into old school territory without altering the natural voice of my instrument the way a popular tube-emulation circuit does.
...and I haven't even started to really mess with the sidechain EQ yet, which in itself seem to open another world of possibilities within any given compressor setting.
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TL;DR: I've only scratched the surface, but very positive experience so far.
Alrighty, I've picked up my compressor at the post office earlier this afternoon and messed around with it for about 2-3 hours. My neighbors are probably browsing eBay for "bald voodoo dolls" right now, but hey, it's not my problem if they partied until 6 am. Or maybe they appreciate the funky soundtrack I'm providing for their hangover, who knows...
So, first impressions:
Build quality is fantastic. The whole thing looks and feel *solid* and it has some heft to it (cue "Boris the Blade" 's spiel about weight and reliability), which I really like. The barrel connector for the 9V supply fits tight and "clicks" in place - no way this sucker is coming off by accident on your pedalboard. The knobs have a very nice resistance to them, too: So again unless you treat your gear like absolute sh!t, things will stay there once set. A+.
How it sounds: Self admittedly, I'm a noob when it comes to compression and I've been living without it until now, but this unit makes me realize how much I've been missing out! I expected several painful hours of knob-tweaking, ear fatigue and frustration to learn how to use this semi-properly...and while I still have a lot of experimenting left to do, I think I've already found a very musical, sort of all-purpose setting that could very well be my "always on", or at least I feel like I'm pretty darn close anyway, and that was much, MUCH easier than I thought it would be.
So far, my favorite setting has the "warm 2" and "12 kHz filter" DIP-switches "ON", threshold fairly high, the ratio medium-low, the attack medium-fast and a medium release time. I get a very nice pumping of the lows (without any weird "swooshing"), and it adds so much BEEF to my G and D strings! It brings noticeable muscle to my bass lines and I must say I'm really, really liking what I'm hearing so far! It kind of gets me into old school territory without altering the natural voice of my instrument the way a popular tube-emulation circuit does.
...and I haven't even started to really mess with the sidechain EQ yet, which in itself seem to open another world of possibilities within any given compressor setting.
Thanks Frank!!! I am really happy to hear that the Opti-FET appears to be a good match with you!
I posted the ratio knob positions for the DE-CL comp in another thread a while ago, but they also apply to the Opti-FET since the DE-CL’s compression engine is very similar to the Opti’s.
RATIO SETTINGS:
MIN (7:00) = 1.5:1
9:30 = 4:1
12:00 = 6:1
2:30 = 11:1
Max (5:00) = 20:1
Also, the #2 DIP switch will override the #1 switch.
Thanks again!
-Frank
Thanks Frank!!! I am really happy to hear that the Opti-FET appears to be a good match with you!
I posted the ratio knob positions for the DE-CL comp in another thread a while ago, but they also apply to the Opti-FET since the DE-CL’s compression engine is very similar to the Opti’s.
RATIO SETTINGS:
MIN (7:00) = 1.5:1
9:30 = 4:1
12:00 = 6:1
2:30 = 11:1
Max (5:00) = 20:1
Also, the #2 DIP switch will override the #1 switch.
Thanks again!
-Frank
Cool, thanks for the additional info!
Here is a quote from Frank in the FEA Fan Club thread where he gave some of his personal setting. This was an excellent starting place for me.
Good stuff, thanks man!
That's not too far from where I landed last night when I called it quits:
- Ratio: 10:30
- Attack: 11:00
- Release: 10:00 (at my ratio / threshold / attack settings I couldn't perceive a huge difference anywhere below 12 o'clock, but past that I could - I'll try again today with fresh ears and without headphones)
With regards to the sidechain, I leave lows and highs at 12 o'clock and dial back the mids to about 10 o'clock: I find it lets more of my P-Bass character go through.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the Opti-fet, it looks like you are off to a good start. The release knob surprised me the most; it's probably from my incorrect thinking/approaching it like an eq with everything set at 12 o'clock and going from there. When I tried Frank's setting and roll the release back to 7:00 I was surprised at what a big difference that made and how fast of a release I ended up preferring.Good stuff, thanks man!
That's not too far from where I landed last night when I called it quits:
With the bass I use and the way I play, I find that with the threshold anywhere below, say, 2:30, I'm engaging the compressor 100% of the time. If I go past 3:30, then it's never engaged. Roughly around 3:00, it's on 60 to 75% of the time which is giving me the best results so far.
- Ratio: 10:30
- Attack: 11:00
- Release: 10:00 (at my ratio / threshold / attack settings I couldn't perceive a huge difference anywhere below 12 o'clock, but past that I could - I'll try again today with fresh ears and without headphones)
With regards to the sidechain, I leave lows and highs at 12 o'clock and dial back the mids to about 10 o'clock: I find it lets more of my P-Bass character go through.
Your sidechain eq is set just like I run mine with a Jazz Bass. I think that setting adds "magic" to this compressor. With both pickups on full the inherent Jazz Bass "scoop" is slightly offset by dialing back the sidechain mids. For me it lets the bass "speak" a little better in the mix and adds a liveliness that was missing with some other compressors. I haven't owned a P Bass in a while but I've been curious how I would change my Opti-fet's settings once I got another one.
