I picked up the ISET sandwich compressor a while back for next-to-nothing. I will admit that i bought it because it was tiny and yellow and had a sandwich on it.
It immediately set off my spidey sense when I played through it. Especially on the half-pint setting. Especially at 15v rather than 9v. It reminded me very much of another yellow compressor that likes to run at 18-24v. and was very popular and marketed for bass guitars. Except the sandwich is way smaller.
All of the internet videos I have seen about this compressor are wrong about the full/half pint switch. It's not "half compression" (whatever that might mean). half-pint lowers the frequency center of the EQ to work nice on a bass guitar. Adds a sprinkle of magic there. Just like another yellow bass compressor with a 3 knobs and a switch.
So I popped it open and had a look at what is inside:
that's a vactrol in the lower right and the same number of opamp chips as the popular yellow optical bass compressor in question. i haven't traced the circuit to verify for sure or anything but I have a pretty strong hunch that I know what this is based on, and it's an old favorite.
anyway just a PSA that these cheap little compressors are actually good on bass. for sure there are better compressors out there these days, but for the size and money it's not a bad option. I would definitely run it at more than 9v if you do get one.
It immediately set off my spidey sense when I played through it. Especially on the half-pint setting. Especially at 15v rather than 9v. It reminded me very much of another yellow compressor that likes to run at 18-24v. and was very popular and marketed for bass guitars. Except the sandwich is way smaller.
All of the internet videos I have seen about this compressor are wrong about the full/half pint switch. It's not "half compression" (whatever that might mean). half-pint lowers the frequency center of the EQ to work nice on a bass guitar. Adds a sprinkle of magic there. Just like another yellow bass compressor with a 3 knobs and a switch.
So I popped it open and had a look at what is inside:
that's a vactrol in the lower right and the same number of opamp chips as the popular yellow optical bass compressor in question. i haven't traced the circuit to verify for sure or anything but I have a pretty strong hunch that I know what this is based on, and it's an old favorite.
anyway just a PSA that these cheap little compressors are actually good on bass. for sure there are better compressors out there these days, but for the size and money it's not a bad option. I would definitely run it at more than 9v if you do get one.
