Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Maxon CP101: This optical pedal has a fairly transparent sound, mostly uncolored and open. The action is quite natural as well, but better for general smoothing-out of your signal than for punchiness. Also the ratio is fixed at 4:1, so it will not provide much peak limiting or squash. The noise level is about the same as the Ross/Dynacomp/Keeley types, slightly higher than some boutique pedals but not at all bad. The highs are good, although not as bright as the Ross/Dyna; the lows are decent, better than the Ross/Dyna types at some settings, but I found that the lows would seem to roll off more if I didn't have the Sustain knob set just right. Additionally, a bass with a hot output signal will cause the CP101 to distort badly.
 
Once you've found the right Sustain setting for you and your instrument, this is a pretty good unit; but it took me a surprising amount of testing to find that sweet spot, and it worked best with an instrument that has low-to-moderate output levels. The housing is the small MXR-sized box, and it runs on standard Boss-type 9VDC. The footswitch is not true bypass, but the bypass is fairly clean.
 

 
 
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