Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Presonus Bluemax: This is a 1/2 rack stereo unit that's packed with a lot of features for the small size. It has a full set of controls -attack, ratio, release, etc.- plus a bank of presets for all kinds of applications like bass, keys, vocals, and so forth. These presets are actually quite usable, I would be content in many instances to just use the bass preset with no adjustments. There are also two "effects" presets for extreme compression, and they are both very cool sounding and different. With the non-extreme presets the tone is not notably colored, and the action has a very wide range of qualities depending on the settings. The lows are actually quite full and strong, but unfortunately the highs have a bad rolloff. Also, the noise level is a bit higher than I'd like. The Bluemax is designed to run at line level (from -10 to +4 dBu), but you may be able to feed a bass or other instrument directly into it if your instrument has a clean, strong output level. If you mostly play the deep roots sounds like blues or reggae, this is a super versatile comp with a really big sound, and will serve you well. But if you like a bright tone or upper end clarity, you will want a different unit. The bypass is OK but not great.
 

 
 
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