Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Trace Elliot SMX: This is a very cool older pedal, no longer in production. It is a dual-band comp, which was very rare at the time it was produced, and it has a cult following among bassists. It's a bit over twice the width of a Boss pedal. Unusual features include: separate knobs to control the amount of compression for the high and low sides of the crossover; a "tilting" EQ knob that emphasizes either the highs or the lows; and a second footswitch to bypass only the high band of the compression (meaning only the lows would get compressed).
 
The center frequency of the crossover is 350Hz, but it has a shallow slope so the upper and lower bands actually overlap between 225Hz and 900Hz. The compression attack is not adjustable, but they preset a fast attack for the high band and a slow attack for the low band, which seems like a good setup. The noise level is fairly low--not the quietest, but acceptable. It does roll off a bit of both the lows and highs. The overall tone and action are quite smooth and musical, clean and punchy, at most comp settings; only at the highest settings it can sound a bit "artificial". At high ratios there can be the usual "pop" artifact when the threshold is crossed, however even at the highest settings it does not act as a limiter on the strongest peaks, as the maximum ratio is 8:1. So this pedal is not quite up to the same audio standards and capabilities as the Rane dual-band comp, or the newer players on the market like FEA; but it does sound quite good, and the differences would be less apparent while playing live on stage. Dual-band compression in general can allow much more finger-articulation sound and less "swallowing of the highs" than a single-band system, so the Trace SMX is a worthy contender if those qualities are important to you, and you find one at a fair price.
 
It runs on 18V DC, which means either using two batteries, or finding an 18V adapter with a 2.5 mm barrel plug (the "normal" 2.1 mm Boss-type plug does not fit). For me personally, finding an appropriate AC adapter is critical, and if one of these pedals is sold [u]with[/u] the adapter then it is worth paying more for. If you have an isolated-outlet multiple power supply (like the Voodoo Labs PPII+) you can have Voodoo Labs custom-make you a series Y cable for 18 V, with the appropriate plug. The construction of the pedal is very heavy-duty. There is no LED or other meter to indicate signal over the threshold. The footswitches are not "true bypass", but the bypassed tone is clean.
 

 
 
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