Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

FX Engineering RAF Mirage: This is a boutique handmade pedal that resembles many others in some ways: small MXR-sized box, two knobs "Comp" and "Level"; and yet it does not seem to be a clone of the usual varieties. It has an amazingly transparent tone, with fairly low noise and no rolloff of highs or lows. I A/B'd it with the Demeter and my favorite OS clone (by Pedal Doctor), and they were all equal in quality, but different in flavor. The Demeter's tone seems more "solid" or "focused" than the dry uneffected signal; whereas the Mirage essentially left the original dry tone unchanged. The OS was brighter and more percussive than the other two, but not as beefy in the low end. The Mirage has the most "open" and un-effected sound.
 
It has a fixed ratio of about 4:1, a pretty low ratio, so it is best suited to light smoothing and bringing out harmonics, rather than peak limiting. The "Comp" knob appears to adjust the threshold. The Level knob is at unity gain at around 9:00, and this pedal can provide an insane amount of clean boost. I actually think this pedal was designed for use with a tube guitar amp, to push it into overdrive while also providing moderate compression. It would be equally great for any bassist looking for a boost during their solos, or wanting to drive their amp into stoner doom OD.
 
In my opinion this pedal sits somewhere in the middle of the range of especially transparent comps. At the cheaper end, the Punch Factory or Opto Stomp provide about the same amount of transparency, similar tone, and similar amount of usable compression. But the Punch Factory has cheapo construction, the BBE has a small audible threshold artifact, and both of them are larger than the Mirage--and the Mirage looks much cooler too. Compared to other "transparent" boutique pedals on the other hand, the BJFE PGC and the OKKO Coca are both capable of providing more interesting character (if you want); the Rothwell and BJFE are capable of stronger amounts of compression; and the Rothwell and Diamond have lower noise. But don't be swayed away from the Mirage, it does its job invisibly and naturally, and sounds great--it does not mess with your tone.
 
It has two LED lights: one for on/off, and the other lights up brighter as the compression increases. It's a compact size, it runs on standard Boss-type 9VDC, and the construction quality is very good. The footswitch is true bypass.
 

 
 
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