Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Boss GT-6B: This is a large and comprehensive digital multi-effects pedalboard unit. It offers four different compression modes, modeled on four popular comps: the Boss CS-3, MXR Dynacomp, dbx 160X, and Urei 1178. The Boss, MXR, and dbx models are believable and useful, and thankfully the Boss and MXR ones don't lose low end the way the real originals do. The Urei model to me sounds just like weak mush; I don't know how accurate it is, but if you want a vintage warm/fat comp model with balls, the Yamaha Magicstomp does that much better. But the other three models here sound fine. The tone overall is good enough for most gigging situations, but maybe not as detailed or "natural" as might be desired by a jazz artist in a recording studio, for example. I liked the sound quality of the GT, it's good, but not quite as good as when I unplugged from it and connected the bass directly to the outboard DI box.
 
There is not much loss of lows or highs unless you compress the signal very hard. The noise level is quite low, as long as your settings are not extreme of course. The CS-3 model can get noisy quickly at higher "sustain" settings, just like the original. With a little experimentation these comp models can be set up to give your sound greater clarity, punch, or some decent extra sustain. The key is to pay close attention to both the threshold and ratio, because overcompression with this unit can sound muddy and dull. As with all of the digital units I have tried, it's not so good at peak limiting. You can get heavy squash at a high ratio, but a strong resonant signal peak will still blast through unchecked. I was able to eventually dial in settings which did a pretty decent job of peak limiting non-extreme signals, but it took some fiddling and experimentation to get there. Each comp model only has three parameters to control, so it's more adjustable than a two-knob comp pedal, but not as adjustable as some other digital modeling units. The main downside of having as many features as the GT-6B has is that it can be difficult to navigate, and it can take quite a bit of effort to dial everything in together. The construction seems reasonably durable; the bypass is not "true bypass", but it is fairly clean, no issues.
 

 
 
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