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Testing Compressors: Cali, Smoothie, Empress, Diamond, Keeley, FEA, Darkglass, Doc Lloyd, Lusithand & more

#2,181
DrewinHouston said:
There are few threads on this site that give me as much GAS as this one. And I already own probably eight compressors. I believe there is something wrong with me.
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Welcome to the club. You are now officially a member of the distorted elite. :D
 
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#2,182
javi_bassist said:
I'd love to hear a review of the TC Electronic Hypergravity by @scubaduba .

I've been changing compressors a lot for the last couple of years (and this thread has something to do with it). However, despite of awesome and more expensive compressors I have used, the Hypergravity comes back to my board. I am currently using the Pigtronix Bass Compressor (not the mini) and I really like it, but the Hypergravity has something.

Maybe if he reviews it ,then he says it's garbage haha

Anyway, the effort you have made is amazing. This thread is pure gold.
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If somebody has one they’d like to send me I’d be happy to put it through the paces.
 
#2,183
Fuzzbass said:
Thanks to this thread I just ordered my 5th comp pedal*, and I don't often use compression! So, there's something wrong with me, too. :wacky:


Out of all the compressors you currently own which is your favorite and why?







*Yeah I know, gotta spill the beans: Becos Stella Pro. I DON'T NEED IT: already own Empress, Smoothie, FEA DE-CL, and a big box Cali76 G-P. These are all amazing compressors... but the Stella Pro pushed all my buttons and gets great reviews so I had to try it. I still have Darkglass Hyperluminal and Doc Lloyd Photon on my wish list as well, but hopefully my willpower can hold out for the rest of 2019.

Ordered the Stella Pro on the 19th. The shop was on vacation thru the 24th, but I took advantage of the 10% off anyway. According to tracking the pedal left Romania last Saturday. Not sure if I'll get any more notifications from that shipper, but regardless, I hope the pedal comes in next week.
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#2,184
Ricardo Rodriguez said:
Out of all the compressors you currently own which is your favorite and why?
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Wow, that's hard to say. Love 'em all. Best I can do is four micro reviews, in order of purchase:

Empress: its top-of-the line metering and parallel comp feature make subtle, transparent smoothing a breeze... my first quality pedal comp and I like it better than some of the rack comps I used to own. Of course it'll do heavier comp too; in fact I sometimes set it for stronger comp but dial in lots of dry signal: dynamics are retained, but I get subtle sustain and thickness in the mix

Cali76 G-P (limited edition, but all big box Calis are out of production): would probably be my #1 comp if it wasn't so huge -- it's also my most expensive by far. Love the Germanium circuit which I use for subtle sparkle (very light OD); also love the Parallel comp

Smoothie: yet another with parallel (yes, I'm a sucker for parallel comp). Mine's the Tough version which leans a bit grabby but that's why I got it because Empress and Cali are both super transparent. Tilt EQ is another great feature. Probably the easiest to dial in

FEA DE-CL: even with no parallel it can be transparent, but I bought it for the "warmth" control (gentle saturation) and that's how I use it. When I get the settings right, it can get in the ballpark of tube-amp-at-the-brink. I only ever use the Compressor engine, but the independent Limiter works beautifully and I recommend it to those who could use the feature
 
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#2,185
Fuzzbass said:
Wow, that's hard to say. Love 'em all. Best I can do is four micro reviews, in order of purchase:

Empress: its top-of-the line metering and parallel comp feature make subtle, transparent smoothing a breeze... my first quality pedal comp and I like it better than some of the rack comps I used to own. Of course it'll do heavier comp too; in fact I sometimes set it for stronger comp but dial in lots of dry signal: dynamics are retained, but I get subtle sustain and thickness in the mix

Cali76 G-P (limited edition, but all big box Calis are out of production): would probably be my #1 comp if it wasn't so huge -- it's also my most expensive by far. Love the Germanium circuit which I use for subtle sparkle (very light OD); also love the Parallel comp

Smoothie: yet another with parallel (yes, I'm a sucker for parallel comp). Mine's the Tough version which leans a bit grabby but that's why I got it because Empress and Cali are both super transparent. Tilt EQ is another great feature. Probably the easiest to dial in

FEA DE-CL: even with no parallel it can be transparent, but I bought it for the "warmth" control (gentle saturation) and that's how I use it. When I get the settings right, it can get in the ballpark of tube-amp-at-the-brink. I only ever use the Compressor engine, but the independent Limiter works beautifully and I recommend it to those who could use the feature
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I own the Cali76 Big Box, FEA DE-CL, Diamond, MUIRA and Keeley Pro. All excellent in different ways. For tracking the Cali 76 Big Box just sounds the biggest. For Fretless the Diamond with the tilt eq really shines. The FEA has a nice bump in the low mids which really works well with my Yamaha TRB 5p11 and BBNE2. The Keely sounds great and aggressive when pushed hard with P-Basses. And the Muira is similar to the Cali but much more portable.
 
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#2,187
silky smoove said:
Thanks! Now if I can find the dimensions of the @fdeck HPF-3 I’ll be all set.

EDIT: Just bought an HPF-3 to confirm the dimensions :p I owned one previously and should have never sold it.

I had the full sized Diamond before and really loved it. I’d like to try the Doc Lloyd before buying another Diamond. If I don’t dig the Doc I can always flip it and buy a Diamond.

Further EDIT: Oh screw it... just bought a Diamond Bass Comp Jr. If the Doc Lloyd ever becomes available I’ll probably buy that as well and sell the one I like less :smug:

In this post all I do is lust after pedals I used to own and then buy them, haha.
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Just got the JR too! So far, very nice!

It’s my 3rd comp. Well, if you count the compression settings on the Eventide H9, which actually work really well and you can adjust parameters on the go with an exp pedal! My other one is a Markbass Compressore. I like that one too, but I found it was too big for my pedalboard’s valuable real estate. Also, with all those knobs, I tended to tweak it too much.

What I like about the Diamond JR:
Small pedalboard footprint
Top mounted jacks takes less board space
Limited controls make it easy to use
Very musical
Gives a really solid thumpy punch

What I don’t like:
You can get some dirt from it (turn the Compression up and the EQ to the low side) but it sounds like a background crackle, like static.

For that, I prefer the Compressore with the tube. That sounds sweet when you push it.

But I didn’t get the JR for that purpose. It’s easy to dial up a really nice sound (and feel) with anywhere from a touch to a ton of compression.
 
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#2,188
I’m at my office and my wife who’s home at our house just sent me this photo:
AC537192-9E30-43AA-AD8A-7E0FA595BE90.jpeg


She then followed it with a text message that read: Hope this still works for you as dude literally threw it against the door to deliver it.

I hate delivery guys sometimes... :rollno:

EDIT: Appears to be just fine. I’ll know more once I plug it in and do some testing. I’ll give my thoughts on the JR relative to the two BCP-1s I’ve owned previously, as well as an A/B with my current Cali76 CB.
CF779BC6-9C9B-4E89-BDB6-665C4B81018E.jpeg
 
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#2,190
I just wanted you to know @scubaduba that you have made my life more and less complicated at the same time! Haha! It is to laugh. I’ve gone from a four year quest for dirt/overdrive pedals to just this week taking all of that off of my board and now I’m a year into a compressor pedal quest. Shall I devote another 3 years to such? Possibly. But I’m not complaining. I’m ready for the gigs this weekend and if it wasn’t for you, I would have never known about the DryBell comp that I’ve been using and loving everything about. Cheers to you, bro, for complications that I can deal with!!!
 
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#2,193
scubaduba said:
@sonofshel Well I guess I’m not sure whether I should be saying I’m sorry or you’re welcome. Maybe both? :)
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Definitely no need to apologize unless I need you to explain to the girlfriend why we don’t get out as much because I’m obsessed with compressors now...jk;)
Believe me, I’ve had worse habits in my life than this and once I find the perfect compressor for me I can quit. I have at least 5 more to acquire and sample but you keep adding more and this is what we want as a bass playing collective.
The show brought to all of us by this thread that you have started has brought joy to many as far as I can see :bassist::hyper::cool::drool: at least 4 of us right there...please continue as I can’t wait to see what more I can learn about these fantastic and fascinating compression gadgets!
 
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#2,200
sonofshel said:
View attachment 3496996 In about an hour I’ll be onstage trying out the Studio Bass vs the Smoothie at the end of my chain. Should be lots of fun since I’m kind of obsessed now and feel the urge to feed this newfound madness :bassist:
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Smoothie for the win! But interested in your impression.
 
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