Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-X: This is an incredible piece of gear. It is a rackmount mono line-level unit designed to emulate many classic coveted vintage studio comps. I haven't used the high-end vintage pieces myself to compare, but I can clearly hear a distinct variety of chunky old-school sounds and compression actions at the various recommended settings of this unit. It is also capable of an endless range of its own unique settings, from smooth to punchy, from soft to balls-out aggressive. In addition to providing all those styles of compression, it is designed to provide modulation (subtle and not-so-subtle distortion) ranging from a "warm fatness", to a saturated-tape clipping, to a furry old 18" speaker tone, to an outright gritty overdrive. The distorted qualities can also be switched off for clean tone. All of the tones and compression actions have a funky, edgy quality. It can also be set at a 1:1 ratio so you can apply the EL8's tonal qualities to your signal without compression.
 
There is no inherent loss of highs or lows, except at settings which emulate devices that would have had some rolloff (to be clear, that does mean there can be some high or low rolloff on some settings). There are no unwanted artifacts even at the highest settings. However it should be noted that this unit was designed to have "musical" desirable artifacts and coloration, so the tone is not always transparent- it's not supposed to be. Also, it can have a bit of noise, although I'd bet it is far less noisy than the older devices it is modeled after. The "X" version of the EL8 has two additional features: a setting to improve the stereo spread when using two of them, and a switch which emulates pushing in all four "mode" buttons on an 1176. Those two features are neat, but so far I don't think they are all that useful for bass.
 
It's an expensive piece (up to $1500 USD)- is it worth it? I'd say it is beyond overkill for almost any live gig, where most of the tonal subtlety would be lost anyway, and some of the saturated tones might sound muddy through a PA. The aggressively noticeable sound of it may not be something you'd want to use all the time. And if all you want is clean transparent compression, the Rane or Symetrix comps will do just as good of a job (maybe better) for a tenth of the price. But if you are in the recording studio, and you want a broad spectrum of punchy vintage tones, there is almost nothing else on the market that can do everything this Pandora's box of compression effects is capable of. Plus it is far more reliable, consistent, and versatile than the older gear it claims to emulate. And for certain purposes, it sounds freaking awesome!
 

 
 
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