Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

PreSonus Comp16: This is a 1/3 rack-width line level mono unit which is essentially an update of their old BlueMax. It features sixteen presets which are not user-adjustable. Of those, only one is meant for bass guitar, and it actually sounds quite good. Nice big lows, bright clear highs, very low noise, minimal artifacts. It's about a 3:1 ratio, for a very gentle compression. All of the other settings were useless for bass, as they distorted in a buzzy unpleasant way. Some of the settings only buzzed or clicked a little, but some of them sounded like a bumblebee. So compared to the BlueMax, the Comp16 has much better highs and much lower noise, but it has only one non-adjustable "good" setting for bass, while the BlueMax had a lot more versatility. The Comp16 has an illuminated VU meter, which looks really cool but is functionally useless. If you happen to like the one good bass compression setting this thing has, or just want a rackable unit that's as simple-to-use as possible, this is a fine choice. *Update: the preset-selection knob (rotary encoder) on this one has just started failing for no apparent reason. I can't recommend it if the digital parts are going to fail like that.
 

 
 
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