Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Biyang CO-8: This is a Ross/Dyna/Keeley-type comp, from China. Lots of people have asked me to review it, for two reasons: 1) it's very inexpensive, and 2) it's very shiny and attractive.
 
Essentially it has the same qualities as every other Ross/Dyna/etc., such as a boost/hump in the mids, and a bit of loss of low end, and being generally better for tone and sustain enhancement rather than peak limiting. However, it actually has much lower noise than any of its cousins, including the most expensive boutique versions. It's not totally noiseless, but it's far better than average. As with its cousins, the lows are fine for a 4-string bassist, just not so great below that low E. Overall though the sound quality is quite good, so with its very low noise levels, I would actually choose the Biyang over the Keeley, Retro-Sonic, and similar boo-teek versions of the same circuit.
 
The construction is rugged, and the components inside are actually quite decent (WIMA box caps for example). The housing is slightly larger than the Barber, BBE, Diamond, etc. "medium" size of pedal. It's a huge hassle to disassemble this pedal for modding, so I don't recommend getting it if that's your plan. It runs on standard Boss-type 9VDC, and the footswitch is "true bypass".
 

 
 
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