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New Darkglass Compressor: The Hyper Luminal Hybrid Compressor

#361
I'm digging the custom settings that people are posting. I'm trying out a few , will mess around with them a bit and will post mine if I come up with something revelatory. I really like this compressor but having not really used one much there's a bit of a learning curve in figuring out how and where I like to apply it.

So far I'm running it at the beginning of my chain because putting it later brings up noise from pedals earlier in the chain. I like the idea of running my overdrive before the compressor because of the way it responds to playing dynamics but setting the compressor with a low ratio and blending in more dry signal will allow this without the added noise and , additionally, you can use the compressor as a bit of a boost if you want. So far I have HL>Darkglass B3K> Digital Delay>Southampton Indie Dream
 
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#362
Had mine for a minute now. It's been fantastic, and I've left it mostly on Bus 4:1 for the band I'm playing in where I have a few fuzzed-out envelope sweeps on a song. Nice short (basically minimum) attack; it keeps my Xerograph Deluxe behaving and my sound sweet.

In FET mode, with a pretty loose attack, I've gotten where I can almost perfectly emulate my Quilter Bass Block's limiter at 12:1 ratio, generous punch & then generous squish, with a dose of beautiful color. Why try to emulate a world-class touring bass head with a pedal? Combined with a preamp of choice, I can basically run studio-grade sounds into FoH with the same sorts of sounds I'd get with my actual bass rig in case I go ampless.

And Symmetry mode with a range from min to medium-short attack has been treating me where my rudimentary slap sounds are concerned: I feel bright but controlled, and now I have a real use for all three inherent modes on this lil wonderbox.
 
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#363
I'm on the fence about trying the Hyper Luminal. I use an MXR M87 which is at the same-ish price range, and already has tons of customization. It delivers what I want (low threshold/high input, medium ratio compression) with decent quality, without sounding too special.

Is it worth the switch? I like the 3 modes available and the versatility, but other than that I don't see anything groundbreaking in the demos. Am I missing something?
 
#364
We're talking about compressors here, truly groundbreaking would be an uphill battle! :D But for me the Hyper Luminal is close. It's my favorite compressor I have, and I've tested probably around 8 in 2018, including a Cali76-TX-P, which is a very expensive and legendary piece of equipment.

It's small, easy to dial in, the and the "UI" is excellent. The touch switches do exactly what they're supposed to, the gain reduction meter is easy to understand, and I love the blue LEDs. It's great out of the box, but the Darkglass suite kicks it up a notch for sure. As far as upsides relative to the M87 go, the big ones for me would be the different models (you might find one that enhances your tone slightly in a way you dig), the blend (parallel compression gives you a lot of flexibility), and the Darkglass suite, which also offers up high pass filtered compression, which will allow you to let the lows through uncompressed. As far as downsides go, the single knob attack/release can require more effort to dial in depending on your settings. I like max attack time/min release time so for me there's no difference, but if you prefer something else, you'll have to head to the suite, change the way the knob works, and then you're good to go.

It's a great piece of gear. Actually my favorite DG pedal. :D
 
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#366
TonyRo said:
Speaking of which, has @Darkglass ever thought of a Hyper Luminal v2? Perhaps slightly bigger, but with separate attack release knobs, HPF knob, more digital models, etc? LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN. :D
Click to expand...
I really dont think the seperate attack and release knobs are necessary, as you can set up your preferred gradients on the one knob, but the hpf is something that sometimes needs to be adjusted per room so that control would be handy. I think you should be able to set any mode to ant preset spot, so for example if you want 3 different versions of FET(different hpf and attack/release ranges) you can. Changing the ratios would give even more flexibility, but i can see why they arent adjustable, as they are trying to keep the ratios relative to that particular model. So much is possible with the suite in in order of future updates which is what makes this comp so groundbreaking and future proof.
 
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#367
keatz said:
I really dont think the seperate attack and release knobs are necessary, as you can set up your preferred gradients on the one knob
Click to expand...
True, but you have to do it in the suite, and it's still not as easy if there were two knobs.

keatz said:
I think you should be able to set any mode to ant preset spot, so for example if you want 3 different versions of FET(different hpf and attack/release ranges) you can.
Click to expand...
This is a very cool idea!
 
#375
The mA rating on your power supply is, at least according to my understanding, the maximum that can be drawn out of that socket, not how much you're feeding into the pedal. The pedal will "suck" what it needs. The only problem you can run into is using a socket that doesn't allow it to "suck" enough, e.g. a 100 mA line for the Hyper Luminal, as it physically couldn't draw enough.

Though even here I've directly talked to PS manufacturers and they told me each line has a pretty wide factor of safety, and that what really matters most is the total draw on the entire unit. So who the hell really knows what's going on in there. I got two mechanical engineer degrees because I hated electricity and magnetism so much. :D
 
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#377
sausageonbass said:
Has anyone experienced some considerable loss in high frequency spectrum when plugged into the HL? Even when the Pedal is not activated at all. I noticed that by pure coincidence.
Click to expand...

I've got mine in one of a couple bypassable loops on my board, and did some testing when setting up (+ do some when adding a new pedal)...and yeah, no sonic change at all if I engage that loop with the pedals in it switched off, at least nothing I can hear in my reference monitors.

Sounds like an issue! I'd wonder if your power supply was feeding it saggy voltage, but if a 2nd one doesn't ameliorate it, I might suggest recording a demo to send to Doug & co.
 
#379
mmbongo said:
The Hyper Luminal is dead quiet compared to some other compressors. If you you use headphones or put your ear right on the speaker you might hear a slight hiss. You'll never hear it in a real world situation.
Click to expand...
I go thru in ears with my pedal board direct. I ended up getting one and upgraded my Boss ns2 noise gate to the new Fortin Zuul noise gate. I'll report back after I put it thru the paces.
 
#380
I’m happy that there’s a ‘guitar’ mode for the HL in the DG suite. Now the pedal can do double duty in both my rigs. Is this mode simply a new slot to make guitar specific settings for the HL? Is there something changed behind the scenes? I noticed that the setting ranges for the pedal do not change in guitar mode or am I missing something? Regardless, I dig the pedal on guitar too. Sounds great!
 

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