Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

RDL ST-CL1: Radio Design Labs makes a series of tiny (about the size of a pack of gum) modules for a variety of audio utility applications. Naturally I had to try the compressor. The tone is remarkably transparent, even, and natural across the full frequency range, with no loss of highs or lows. The noise level is about average compared to many pedals. The one big down side is that it distorts very easily. It only has two controls- tiny screwdriver trim pots for input and output levels. It has three compression stages: "Comp", "Limit", and "Heavy", each with their own indicator LED, and your signal progresses through them in that order as it gets louder. As long as you dial back the input gain so that your signal stays in the "Comp" stage, there is only a very little bit of distortion. When it does distort at that stage, weirdly it's on the high notes, not the lows. As soon as you cross the threshold into the Limit and Heavy stages however, it's distortion city. I honestly think the full-frequency transparent tonal quality is good enough that this unit is worth considering for some applications, but not for anything extreme like electric bass. There is no bypass built in. Also note that it runs on 24VDC, and the stock RDL wall wart is huge, like four times the size of the audio module itself.
 

 
 
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