Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

 
"It killed my tone and my dynamics."
I see this line pretty often. There are several factors that can cause this experience:
 
First, it really is an unfortunate reality that many compressors roll off some of your high frequencies, and our ears/minds hear that as a deadening of the tone. With units like that, the only easy solution for brighter, livelier sound is to get a different compressor. The more challenging solution would be to modify the unit you have with a better op-amp or wider-range input or output filtering, if you are experienced in that sort of work. Don't bother adding an EQ or an enhancer/maximizer after the compressor, as those devices cannot actually "put back" any frequencies that have been cut off.
 
Second, some compressors can alter your tone when you set them to heavier compression settings. If you don't like the tone you hear from your comp, try using a lower ratio and a higher threshold. How much that helps will vary widely depending on the specific unit you're using. Also, try lowering the level of the signal going into the comp- that can help because some units use the input gain to determine the threshold. I find that the majority of complaints about dead tone result from not understanding the relationship between the output level of your instrument and the threshold (sensitivity) and ratio of the pedal.
 
As far as "killing the dynamics"... that is 100% a result of using too much compression. Compression is all about modifying your dynamics, that's the point. But if it "kills them", for your purposes or tastes, then you've got it set too strongly. Raise the threshold and lower the ratio. Or if your pedal just has two knobs, dial back the one that controls the amount of compression. In the case of something like the Boss CS-3, you'd dial back the "Sustain" knob, and also reduce the level of the signal going into the pedal in order to raise the threshold. You may have to turn down the output volume on your bass to make that happen.
 
Part of the problem is that people expect to hear the compression working, or hear some magic improvement to their tone (extra "fatness" for example), so they turn it up until they can hear a big change. But most of the time the correct setting of a compressor is found when you can't hear it working. Extreme compression can be useful and cool-sounding in some specialized circumstances; but the vast majority of the time you'd actually benefit most from a transparent "invisible hand" keeping your levels under control without messing things up. And that requires lighter settings. If there will be any tonal improvements from the compressor, expect them to be very subtle.

 
 
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