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

#2,641
scubaduba said:
The Compressore is rugged. I doubt the tube would really become much of a problem.
Click to expand...
It's been on my gig board for a couple of years with no issues. I try to power the board off a least a minute before I have to move it - that hasn't been a problem either - there's always other stuff I can tear down and load out first. It takes me longer than a minute to case two basses, for instance...
Nothing much can be done about the size nor the 1A of 12V the tube heater needs, of course...
But at last weekend's gig I used my small board with the Becos Stella with a touch of tape saturation and liked it fine.
 
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#2,643
scubaduba said:
The Compressore is rugged. I doubt the tube would really become much of a problem.
Click to expand...
I've never actually read of it being a problem for anyone . . . ever. It's just a fear, I suppose. It just seems like it can't be good to have tubes in a pedalboard that's getting lugged around and tossed aside a lot. I prefer solid state tube emulation. Less fragile. But it could entirely be all in my head.
 
#2,644
speedball3 said:
Yep, that’s me... modern worship, straight to sound board setup. I currently have the MXR M87, which does transparent compression in spades. I consider it a very good training tool to hearing the subtlety of compression (or maybe it’s just years of training my expectation bias? :bored:). Anyway, ive done transparent and want to try colored/tone enhancing. The added sustain you mention is what makes the Corset interesting... I really want to try the Smoothie too but the price difference is significant so maybe the EHX is good enough? :eyebrow:

The struggle is real!
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On a side note, I messed with the Corset a bit more tonight. Turning off the pad helps mitigate some of the aforementioned "dulling" factor. It's still there, but not AS prevalent. It sits just right. And it gives the signal a little more bite. It's a keeper for me . . . for now . . . until I find something else cheap that I like. Or sell 5-6 pedals and buy a Cali.
 
#2,647
I think it's probable that the smaller the tube, the more robust it would be from vibration.
The filaments are smaller and made with the same material as large power tubes.

Should I try the Compressore again?
I'm a tube guy; SVP pre in one rig and Ashdown with a 12AX for another.
(Also an SVT-CL).
I wanted to like that box but it just never worked out.
Just couldn't get enough definition.
Maybe a bad one?
 
#2,648
Just a quick update on my Photon Death Ray vs BCP JR shootout a while back: I sold the BCP JR and kept the Photon. It’s cleaner, has more of a sheen up top and seems to have a more pleasant attack and release for gentle dynamic smoothing. If you use it early in your signal chain for that solitary purpose it sounds absolutely fantastic. For everything else it actually sounds quite bad. It’s a definite one trick pony that happens to do the one trick I want from a compressor and manages to do it better than any compressor I’ve tried to date. My suggestion regarding the Photon is to give it a shot if you want that one function. For anything else I’d give it a pass.
 
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#2,649
jacoby75 said:
I've never actually read of it being a problem for anyone . . . ever. It's just a fear, I suppose. It just seems like it can't be good to have tubes in a pedalboard that's getting lugged around and tossed aside a lot. I prefer solid state tube emulation. Less fragile. But it could entirely be all in my head.
Click to expand...

I’ve found preamp tubes to be fairly indestructible as far as shock and vibration go. (Not the case with the larger power tubes however.) But unless a preamp tube got fully or partially dislodged from its socket, or somehow cracked or broken, they’ve always worked fine for me.

I’ve rolled tubes a bit with my Compressore when I first got it. And I can confidently say you’ve got nothing to worry about. Its tube is well protected and sturdily mounted. Anything that had enough force to damage that tube would likely have crushed the entire case as well.
 
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#2,651
Low Down Brown said:
Been thinking about buying a Compressore and experimenting with that. Any noticeable difference between various tubes? What were your favorites?
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Nope. There weren’t any significant differences as far as my ears were concerned. The only reason I tried it was because I already had some preamp tubes lying around. So I ended up putting the original back in and it sounds and works great.

My limited experience rolling tubes with amps turned out the same for me. Power tube swapping brought noticeable changes. But using different preamp tubes only yielded slight differences.

If you try it maybe you’ll get better results.
 
#2,652
40Hz said:
Nope. There weren’t any significant differences as far as my ears were concerned. The only reason I tried it was because I already had some preamp tubes lying around. So I ended up putting the original back in and it sounds and works great.

My limited experience rolling tubes with amps turned out the same for me. Power tube swapping brought noticeable changes. But using different preamp tubes only yielded slight differences.

If you try it maybe you’ll get better results.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. :thumbsup:

I trust your ear and I doubt my results would be any different.

It was something I was considering doing just for fun...and because at this point it looks like I'll never get my hands on that elusive Photon Death Ray....
 
#2,653
jazzercountry said:
Has anyone checked out the Collaboration Devices compressor yet? Sounds pretty killer from what I’ve heard online, but not sure if it can bump my Cali76CB
Click to expand...

I’ve got one on order to see how it compares to the Cali76-TX
 
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#2,654
Low Down Brown said:
Thanks for that. :thumbsup:

I trust your ear and I doubt my results would be any different.

It was something I was considering doing just for fun...and because at this point it looks like I'll never get my hands on that elusive Photon Death Ray....
Click to expand...

That’s about what it was for me. A fun thing.

And yeah, the Photon Death Ray! Looks like I missed my chance too.

So many comp pedals…it never ends. But back home we've decided our next “pedal” is probably going to be some new recording gear. So it’s just as well I suppose. :laugh:
 
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#2,657
Upon checking out what I could about this pedal, I discovered an interesting history about this company. I hope this pedal finds some redemption for this guy. Really wasn’t expecting all the drama but this pedal really is something I hope I get to try out soon being a fan of blending wet and dry signals and the 1176 and Neve strip. I’m a big believer in giving a sincere person a second chance to make things right...hopefully the lifetime warranty being offered is legit.
 
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#2,659
Never really heard much about the company before, much less all the +/- talk surrounding their business practices.

I thought it looked like a awesome compressor...but I get it. Maybe it's similar to the whole JHS thing...you either like the pedals enough to buy them regardless of personal issues associated with the builder or you don't.

Hopefully, they've got all their business practices/personal issues ironed out now, whatever they are.
 
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#2,660
Low Down Brown said:
Was browsing around SW and saw this:

Nyle Compressor | VertexEffects.com

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Looks kinda interesting. Anybody heard anything about this one?
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Yes, it does look interesting. I first noticed it back in early September and emailed the company. Harrison responded saying "Unfortunately the Nyle is not very Bass friendly as we've tailored the pedal more towards a guitar, so this would more than likely not be a good fit for this review."

So I never grabbed one to test.
 
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