There is ample headroom when you put this compressor pedal through the paces. More importantly, the noise level is incredibly low for a tube compression pedal. While most compressors are designed to impart some sort of sonic signature to your sound (albeit subtle), the Ego is designed to be much like a standard modern studio compressor in a compact pedalboard format, without any sort of significant tone coloration to your signal while still sounding musical. A compressor will take your dynamic range and compress it into a narrower band. As a result, your quiet sounds will become louder while your loud sounds will be quieter. Why Do You Need a Compressor? The Xotic SP compressor is known for being a modern take on the classic vintage Ross compressor guitar pedal from the 1970s. The Ross was known for its simplicity and ability to add extra sparkle to your guitar’s signal while evening out your tone. INPUT –adjusts the input signal level relative compression threshold and sets the amount of gain reduction

It’s a compressor pedal that is designed to both emulate the sound and style of the legendary Universal Audio 1176 compressor but also has the familiar controls and stylings of classic guitar compressors like the Ross or Dyna Comp. It is known as being a “secret weapon” of tone enhancement for guitarists across many genres, but especially funk, dance, and country. What exactly does a compressor (pedal or otherwise) even do? As the name suggests, it compresses the overall dynamic range of your sound source. Dynamic range is the difference between the quietest and loudest part of any individual audio signal.The settings you use on your compressor when you’re playing through a little practice amp will seldom reap results when you hit the practice room with the full Rig Of Doom! Recommended setup Here are a few things that go against the Cali76 bass compressor: It’s not the best pedal for clinical or surgical precision. And the jewel lamp LED is pretty but not detailed or responsive. The Bass Preacher is a sturdy compact-sized compressor effect pedal in a small die-cast enclosure. It is the bass version of the EHX Soul Preacher with tweaks to suit a bass guitar. The ‘color’ is in the dark/fat realm, similar to Darkglass Supper Symmetry but more creamy and subdued. It has tremendous potential as ‘always-on’ compression for dub, hip-hop, mellow funk, or neo-soul bass lines. Before talking about compression we’ll need to discuss “Dynamic range”. Dynamic range in music is the change in volume from the quietest to the loudest sounds you can produce on your bass and is expressed in decibels or dB.

This pedal can be powered by a 9V DC adapter or 18V DC for better headroom if your pedalboard permits. Despite the size, any standard 9V DC can power the pedal. The pedal is ‘almost’ transparent, but with some tilt to the bass side. First and foremost, as the name suggests, the M76 is styled after the classic 1176 studio compressor, and this pedal in fact features the exact same controls that you would find on an 1176, including its 4 different ratio selections (although sadly it doesn’t appear that you can use the “all buttons in” mode). This is due to the fact that you’ve probably boosted the overall output of the signal after the compressor, which makes it louder than it was before compressing it (and louder is ALWAYS better!). If you A/B it with Darkglass Super Symmetry or Markbass, it tends to sound ‘sterile.’ This isn’t a bad thing per se. Some players enjoy transparent compression and others want tone coloration. Maybe you already have a pedal in your chain for adding color and there’s no need for anything else.A compressor should usually be among the first pedals in your signal chain, but it can also be placed further down the signal path when employed to smooth out the differences in volume created by effects that alter your dynamic range, like with auto-wah or synth pedals. This is the key difference from the original Empress Comp released in 2011, which is now being phased out. Verdict