Hi there...I once played through an Eden EC 210 with a built-in compressor. I lived the sound: punchy with a glassy, hi-fi feel...is how I would describe it. I am trying to find a compressor that colours the sound like that. I'm not too interested in the limiting functionality of a compressor. I've looked around and the description of a Diamond compressor sounds like it may come close. Any opinions? Thanks in advance.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Bass compressor recommendation
- Thread starter Philly J
- Start date
You may want to look into this...
What you do with the other parts is up to you, but I expect that this is what you were playing in that Eden combo or fairly darn close to it...
What you do with the other parts is up to you, but I expect that this is what you were playing in that Eden combo or fairly darn close to it...
I quite like the Wampler Ego or the EBS bass comp for that more hi-fi punchy sound.
I have a Lusithand Alma which is bassed on the Diamond compressor, and while it's probably my favourite compressor for 90% of what I play, I wouldn't say it was super hi-fi, slightly more in the warm and smooth/characterful camp.
I have a Lusithand Alma which is bassed on the Diamond compressor, and while it's probably my favourite compressor for 90% of what I play, I wouldn't say it was super hi-fi, slightly more in the warm and smooth/characterful camp.
I have the old Diamond and the Alma. Both excellent, but not hifi. They give a nice warmth and squish to passive basses. The Alma is almost as warm as the Diamond but with much more control. Haven't tried the new Diamond.
I don't think I'd recommend either as a first, do-it-all compressor. The EBS is great. I would recommend the Origin Effects Cali76 bass comp. It has quite a few controls, but that's good for really nailing your preferred sound. It has a bright, snappy sound that I think you'd like.
I don't think I'd recommend either as a first, do-it-all compressor. The EBS is great. I would recommend the Origin Effects Cali76 bass comp. It has quite a few controls, but that's good for really nailing your preferred sound. It has a bright, snappy sound that I think you'd like.
Punchy and glassy could also have more to do with the Enhance knob than the amp's compressor, often people who are unfamiliar with Eden will leave it at 12 o'clock when in fact its flat when completely counter-clockwise. Turning it up scoops the mids while pushing lows and highs, causing the sound to be... well, more punchy and glassy.
"Glassy/hi-fi" isn't really a tonal quality that's introduced by a compressor. Some compressors, typically cheaper ones, may have a built-in high frequency "enhancer" which I guess can sound "glassy", but usually not in a nice way. Harsh/artificial sounding would be a better way of describing most such "enhancers".
In my experience the best you can hope for when it comes to "hi-fi" from a compressor is "transparent". I suspect the glassy/hi-fi tone you liked so much came from the amp/cab as a whole, rather than the compressor circuit.
Your best option is probably to find a glassy/hi-fi sounding amp+cab, and combine it with a good quality, fast/precise, transparent compressor. You may also want to consider a multiband compressor, for even more transparent compression.
This means you can probably rule out all compressors with tubes (or tube sims), all opto-compressors, almost anything "based on" classic, vintage studio compressors and anything marketed as warm/vintage sounding.
This will of course rule out a lot of Talkbass-favorites...
I'm usually more into colored/vintage-style compression, so I'm probably not the right person to give advice on transparent/precise comps. But if had a glassy/hifi bass tone that I wanted to STAY glassy/hifi after compression I would probably go with something like the Boss BC-1X. This is a very articulate and relatively neutral sounding compressor pedal, although maybe leaning slightly towards "bright" rather than 100% transparent. It's not my personal favourite, but I think it could be a good one for your specific needs. The "glassy/hi-fi" tone will have to come from somewhere else though, the compressor won't do that.
As for the Diamond, I've never owned one, only tested one briefly. Based on that short test (with a bass/rig that wasn't my own) I got the impression that the Diamond was leaning slightly towards "fat" rather than "transparent/hi-fi", but that it wasn't OVERLY colored either. Certainly not dark/muddy. Others will have FAR more experience with the Diamond that me, but I'm pretty sure it won't give you "glassy" unless your bass+rig provides the glassy part.
Also, remember that no compression is better than poor compression. It's very easy to competely ruin your dynamics with compression. If you don't have much experience with how a compressor actually works, you will probably get the best results with a simple bass-specific "one-knob" compressor, rather that a compressor with individual knobs for attack, sustain, ratio, threshold, etc.
In my experience the best you can hope for when it comes to "hi-fi" from a compressor is "transparent". I suspect the glassy/hi-fi tone you liked so much came from the amp/cab as a whole, rather than the compressor circuit.
Your best option is probably to find a glassy/hi-fi sounding amp+cab, and combine it with a good quality, fast/precise, transparent compressor. You may also want to consider a multiband compressor, for even more transparent compression.
This means you can probably rule out all compressors with tubes (or tube sims), all opto-compressors, almost anything "based on" classic, vintage studio compressors and anything marketed as warm/vintage sounding.
This will of course rule out a lot of Talkbass-favorites...
I'm usually more into colored/vintage-style compression, so I'm probably not the right person to give advice on transparent/precise comps. But if had a glassy/hifi bass tone that I wanted to STAY glassy/hifi after compression I would probably go with something like the Boss BC-1X. This is a very articulate and relatively neutral sounding compressor pedal, although maybe leaning slightly towards "bright" rather than 100% transparent. It's not my personal favourite, but I think it could be a good one for your specific needs. The "glassy/hi-fi" tone will have to come from somewhere else though, the compressor won't do that.
As for the Diamond, I've never owned one, only tested one briefly. Based on that short test (with a bass/rig that wasn't my own) I got the impression that the Diamond was leaning slightly towards "fat" rather than "transparent/hi-fi", but that it wasn't OVERLY colored either. Certainly not dark/muddy. Others will have FAR more experience with the Diamond that me, but I'm pretty sure it won't give you "glassy" unless your bass+rig provides the glassy part.
Also, remember that no compression is better than poor compression. It's very easy to competely ruin your dynamics with compression. If you don't have much experience with how a compressor actually works, you will probably get the best results with a simple bass-specific "one-knob" compressor, rather that a compressor with individual knobs for attack, sustain, ratio, threshold, etc.
EBS multicomp 18v version! Simple. Easy to use. Pairs really well with a Sansamp, it’s a classic combo.
A FEA OPTI-FET will bring the punch. It's a very 'punchy' compressor. Three internal switches add levels of warmth (on) or retain transparency (off). The side chain feature allows for tailoring the compression, which I find very useful. I'm not sure if it is made any longer, but used ones come up form time to time. Here's a review:
www.compressorpedalreviews.com
And, if you want to go down the rabbit hole:
FEA Opti-Fet Compressor Review
Ok this Optifet rocks. The epitome of smooth and punchy. The side chain EQ is really great and allows for a lot of low end tight punch if you want. Right now I have the side chain EQ enabled with the bass turned back to around 9:30 effectively lowering the sensitivity of the compression on the...
www.compressorpedalreviews.com
And, if you want to go down the rabbit hole:
IMHO what you describe is NOT the compressor, it's the Eden amp.
seems like you want an amp that sounds "glassy and hi-fi" and you don't want a compressor. find the amp that gets you the tone you want because compressors are literally tools to limit dynamic range. sure, some of them have a "tone" to them but if what you're looking for is glassy, trebly, modern, hi-fi tones -- you want an amp that produces them. Genz Benz Shuttle perhaps?
Good point, there. Find the tone, then maybe add the compressor if you still really want it. I have a Genzler Magellan and I have a Mesa D800+. I found sounds I liked then added a Darkglass Hyper Luminal compressor as there is a TON of different compression styles built into it (classics AND modern interpretations), Then I plugged in and did a lot of On and Off comparisons to find one that didn't beat up the tone I really wanted. Once I found that, it was "set it and forget it, always on". But yeah, find the tone and only add it if you think you really want it.
My Boss limiter has an enhance knob that does what you described.
I'd second that. I have one of those and it sounds great. I don't use the compressor much because my Jazz has great sustain, but I do use it as an effect for songs like Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. That compressor is surprisingly versatile for a one-knob control. I use it to make any backline sound like one of my Eden amps, as well as using it to go direct to soundboards where they don't want you to set up your amp.
Odds are the sound from the WTDI will be a little warmer than the EC-210 because the EC-210 had an all FET front end as opposed to the Hybrid WT amps that used a tube in the preamp to generate warmth in their sound. I have an RS-400, which has an FET front end similar to the EC amps and I also have a WT amp which uses the tube in the preamp. Sounds are similar but the WT amp has this nice warmth to it that the FET front ends don't have. The WTDI also has that warmth to its sound because it uses a Golden Ear chip (THAT-4301) which among other things emulates tube warmth surprisingly well.
The Eden WT preamp included in that WTDI is basically the preamp from a WT405. So if you have settings you used with your EC210, those should also work with this pedal. One limitation with it is it doesn't have a mid-sweep but rather a button that toggles it between the low-mids centered at 550Hz and the high-mids centered at 2.2KHz. I use it at 550Hz and boost it up to about 1:30 and that gives me great presence and definition in the mix.
Also, with my passive Jazz bass, it records amazingly well. My '82 Jazz is a little unusual because it has an all-maple neck plus the 70's era pickup spacing of 4" center to center. So its a little brighter sounding and has better sustain than my 1965 Jazz did before it was stolen. But I used this pedal for a 3-hour recording session at a pro-studio in Seattle, and the sound engineer, plus the owner of the studio, came out of the control room to see what I was using that sounded so good.
Some compressors do in fact have a glassy, hi-fi tone. I'm not arguing the point that the OP might need the right amp instead of the right compressor. However I'd be interested to know whether the OP's Eden only sounded glassy when the compressor was on. If so, then a glassy compressor could very well be the solution he's looking for.