Cali 76 compact vs. Cali 76 compact bass

[Tom Henry]

Sorry, i swear i tried to search this before posting this.

(TLDR: is there really that much benefit to a cali76cb vs cali 76compact)

I'm starting a board after being somewhat anti-pedal for some reason. Anyways, i was at a local shop (pitbull audio) and i was looking to try out MXR and a Keeley bassist compressors and the guy mentioned Origin effects bass compressor.

He pulled down what i now realize is a Cali 76 compact pedal, but not the compact bass. I liked it very much when i was playing it, and the controls were very simple, which i also liked.

I got home to look up what people thought on here and realized i was trying out a general compression pedal, and not a bass specific one. When i ran a rack, i used a dbx 166 compressor and i thought it did pretty well.

Would there be something i would miss later not picking up the bass specific one down the road?

(P.S. they were going to order in a few of the keeley pedals whether or not i went that direction, and i still want to try it out before i make any final decisions.)

 

[Tom Henry]

so sad

 

[groovebass5]

I have not played through either of them but from what I can tell the main difference is the standard Cali Compact has control over both attack and release while the Cali Bass has a single knob to control both attack/release and a HPF knob which acts as a sidechain to control how the compressor reacts to the bass frequency. Bongo's review says that it doesn't lose any lows on its own but the HPF will give you more of a bottomless pit of deep lows. So to me it's more of preference of what you would like. Do you want total control over attack and release or is the HPF more important to you? Either way they are both great pedals and I don't think you'll be disappointed with either one! Hope that helps a little!

Here is Bongo's review too which is way more in depth! Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Bass and Compact Deluxe

 

[silky smoove]

Yep. Same basic circuit, different means of controlling it. Ask yourself what controls and features are important to you and go with that one. I own the Compact Bass and really dig it now that I've got my head wrapped around the controls.

 

[Dave Hill]

If you play bass, I would get the one made specifically for bass, all else being equal. Well, I did. It sounds great.

 

[Bassheart365]

I own the bass specific model. Easily the best compressor I've ever owned. It's pricey, but worth every penny. As pointed out by @groovebass5 the difference on the bass model is the HPF control that allows you to take as much bass out of the compression circuit as you want - from none to all. I usually set this fairly high, around 4 o'clock, so I use a lot of this control, especially when slapping. It's the higher frequency "pops" that need to be tamed in that style and not so much the low notes. But you still have the blend knob on the other model to back the compression off, albeit on all frequencies.

 

[silky smoove]

It's the higher frequency "pops" that need to be tamed in that style and not so much the low notes.

To clarify (not saying this was what you meant, just trying to paint a clearer picture of a control that I think confuses a lot of people initially, including myself); The HPF doesn't turn the pedal into a two-band compressor, or a "selective" bandwidth compressor where the HPF determines what frequencies are compressed and which are not. It simply removes varying amounts of low frequency content from the compressor's threshold, not the actual compression circuit depending on how high you have the HPF control set. When the compressor's threshold is crossed by an input signal, regardless of HPF setting, the entire bandwidth is compressed, not just the frequencies above the HPF's cutoff. It's best to think of this as an "only trigger single band compression when it's actually needed" control as opposed to a "turn the circuit into a faux two band compressor" control, which it's not. Again, I don't think that's what you meant, but I know a lot of people have made references to this pedal allowing you to exclude lows from the compression circuit, which is not the case as far as I can tell from reading the manual that came with mine and hearing it in person. Admittedly it's what I thought the HPF control did when I bought the pedal and was initially a little bummed that I was wrong, but I've grown to really appreciate the pedal in spite of that fact. Maybe @bongomania can confirm all of that.

For my purposes the HPF control is worth the lack of dedicated attack and ratio controls. I've found the combined attack/ratio control (slow attack combined with fast release in one direction, fast attack combined with slow release in the other, and a combined medium attack and release in the middle) works well enough and allows you to quickly dial in speeds that never seem to get into those problematic pumping or too-long acting settings. Unless you know what you're doing with these speeds I often find people getting themselves into trouble, or simply leaving them both at noon for better or worse.

 

[Fuzzbass]

He pulled down what i now realize is a Cali 76 compact pedal, but not the compact bass. I liked it very much when i was playing it, and the controls were very simple, which i also liked.

Some excellent comments above. I don't have any experience with either version*; I'm just here to say that there's nothing wrong with choosing the version you tried and liked.




*I do own the Cali76 G-P, a non-compact (humongous) pedal comp from Origin. It's the most amazing compressor pedal I've ever tried, and is superior to some of the rack-mount compressors I've owned. Point being, Origin compressors are well worth the $$$ IMHO.

 

[dinoadventures]

I would definitely say getting the bass specific one is the way to go. In addition to having the sidechain HPF which would give you control over how the strong peaks of lower notes affect the action it also has a dry blend which enables you to run parallel compression, which is a pretty major feature.

 

[silky smoove]

it also has a dry blend which enables you to run parallel compression, which is a pretty major feature.

Both the Compact and the Compact Bass have this feature, so that won't play into the ultimate deciding factor. Regardless it's a really useful feature for keeping some "life" in your affected signal. Very smart inclusion by Origin Effects.

 

[dinoadventures]

Both the Compact and the Compact Bass have this feature, so that won't play into the ultimate deciding factor. Regardless it's a really useful feature for keeping some "life" in your affected signal. Very smart inclusion by Origin Effects.

Please help me locate the Dry knob on this.

 

[silky smoove]

Ah! You're quite right. I was looking at the Compact Deluxe, which is a model I didn't even realize existed:

 

[Dave Hill]

To clarify (not saying this was what you meant, just trying to paint a clearer picture of a control that I think confuses a lot of people initially, including myself); The HPF doesn't turn the pedal into a two-band compressor, or a "selective" bandwidth compressor where the HPF determines what frequencies are compressed and which are not. It simply removes varying amounts of low frequency content from the compressor's threshold, not the actual compression circuit depending on how high you have the HPF control set. When the compressor's threshold is crossed by an input signal, regardless of HPF setting, the entire bandwidth is compressed, not just the frequencies above the HPF's cutoff. It's best to think of this as an "only trigger single band compression when it's actually needed" control as opposed to a "turn the circuit into a faux two band compressor" control, which it's not. Again, I don't think that's what you meant, but I know a lot of people have made references to this pedal allowing you to exclude lows from the compression circuit, which is not the case as far as I can tell from reading the manual that came with mine and hearing it in person. Admittedly it's what I thought the HPF control did when I bought the pedal and was initially a little bummed that I was wrong, but I've grown to really appreciate the pedal in spite of that fact. Maybe @bongomania can confirm all of that.

For my purposes the HPF control is worth the lack of dedicated attack and ratio controls. I've found the combined attack/ratio control (slow attack combined with fast release in one direction, fast attack combined with slow release in the other, and a combined medium attack and release in the middle) works well enough and allows you to quickly dial in speeds that never seem to get into those problematic pumping or too-long acting settings. Unless you know what you're doing with these speeds I often find people getting themselves into trouble, or simply leaving them both at noon for better or worse.

Very interesting. It sure does sound like it's adding unaffected lows into the output. You're saying it's basically a threshold control...by "passing" the bass, you're essentially increasing the threshold. Which means the compression is removing lows?

 

[silky smoove]

The HPF is removing bandwidth that the threshold "sees" thereby making the compressor less over-reactive. The actual compression circuit is applied to the entire bandwidth when engaged, but by applying the HPF to the threshold it reduces how frequently the circuit is actually doing anything. This means that only actual transient peaks will trigger the compressor, not just a build-up of low frequency energy which might not have needed compression in the first place. Nothing is being excluded from the compression circuit by the HPF, just the threshold.

 

[Matt Dean]

Well put silky smoove.

 

[Dave Hill]

Interesting how the change in threshold effects the amount of lows we perceive.

 

[Furutan]

by applying the HPF to the threshold it reduces how frequently the circuit is actually doing anything.

Sorry. That's not what it does.

"HPF" means "high pass filter." This has been a common item in electronics since the invention of the vacuum tube. The HPF sets a threshold that is based on frequency. Anything above a specific frequency ("high pass") is allowed into the compressor circuitry and everything below that frequency is left alone. What this does is roll of the amount of compression applied to the lower notes, making it possible to compress the upper registers without making the low end sound like crap.

 

[silky smoove]

Sorry. That's not what it does.

"HPF" means "high pass filter." This has been a common item in electronics since the invention of the vacuum tube. The HPF sets a threshold that is based on frequency. Anything above a specific frequency ("high pass") is allowed into the compressor circuitry and everything below that frequency is left alone. What this does is roll of the amount of compression applied to the lower notes, making it possible to compress the upper registers without making the low end sound like crap.

I’m well aware of what an HPF is. I’m also aware that the HPF on this particular pedal is only applied to the sidechain feeding the threshold.

Quoting myself here:

The HPF is removing bandwidth that the threshold "sees" thereby making the compressor less over-reactive. The actual compression circuit is applied to the entire bandwidth when engaged, but by applying the HPF to the threshold it reduces how frequently the circuit is actually doing anything. This means that only actual transient peaks will trigger the compressor, not just a build-up of low frequency energy which might not have needed compression in the first place. Nothing is being excluded from the compression circuit by the HPF, just the threshold.

 

[Furutan]

>>...applying the HPF to the threshold it reduces how frequently the circuit is actually doing anything. This means that only actual transient peaks will trigger the compressor,...
<<

Check with the manufacturer. The HPF does limit the range of frequencies that are compressed.

 

[silky smoove]

>>...applying the HPF to the threshold it reduces how frequently the circuit is actually doing anything. This means that only actual transient peaks will trigger the compressor,...
<<

Check with the manufacturer. The HPF does limit the range of frequencies that are compressed.

The HPF lives in a sidechain to the threshold, not the signal path. The compression is applied to the entire bandwidth regardless of setting. It is by no means a multiband, or faux-multiband compressor (for lack of a better term). This can be confirmed by adjusting the HPF and monitoring the low end response, which does not change. The compression characteristics do change with HPF settings.