Best Waves Compressor For Vocals (2024 Updated)

I bought this bad-boy compressor to replace an aging/failed Alesis 3630 that I had for almost 21 years. That latter unit (yes, the Alesis model) finally died on me about a month or so ago (early/mid March), and so that finally opened up the chance for me to get one of these much better-quality Behringer’s here.

My older cousin told me that these babies here are fitted with high-end electronic guts, resulting in ultra-nice specs (for example, having a 115dB ‘unweighted’ S/N ratio)! The Behringer MDX2600 is basically a Mercedes-Benz sedan/SUV disguised as a Volkswagen Beetle, so to speak, and it’s packed with features – in fact, more features that my former 3630 could only dream about having! I wish that I could describe these features in more detail here, but I’m a bit time-pressed at the moment and need to get going about my other daily activities.

I can share with you one photo of my gear. In case you’re wondering where my amplifier is, it’s hidden from view. However, that empty space is reserved for a future Behringer-brand KM750 amplifier for driving a 15″ subwoofer.

I highly recommend the Behringer MDX2600 to anyone who needs a good-quality dynamics processor, but can’t afford to shell out the big bucks! Until next time, folks.

I have owned and still own tons of Behringer gear. OK sceptics laugh but we have produced six albums with the help of Behringer products and have gotten professional results. This channel strip combined with my tube Behringer microphone preamp result in perfectly EQ’d vocals,pre compressed,warmed up and ready to add to a track.

This saves a lot of CPU power. Bottom line couldn’t be happier with this rock solid quality built product. For those who don’t know most builders make very limited runs of product and Behringer has German engineering and a worldwide market so mass quantity equals low prices not low quality !.

When first hooked up the unit had an a hum that was audible across the room. This was traced to be coming from the internal power supply transformer. With the cover off the unit the sound was not audible.

The problem was remedied by putting a soft washer between the top of the transformer and the underside of the lid, creating a physical barrier to transmission of 50hz vibration coming from the transformer.

The buyer would have preferred not to have had to do this, but is happy with the unit in the end.

Before purchasing this item, I did my research. Every review was positive, but I did find one video on YouTube where the owner didn’t have such a great experience. This unit, like all DBX compressors, has brilliant performance.

It is very easy to setup and use, and has all the connection options that you would ever need – 1/4″ balanced/unbalanced, XLR balanced, PLUS 1/4″ TRS inserts – something which is missing on most other brands.

The displays are also very responsive, with no delay at all. Although I don’t agree with what the gentleman says in his video about avoiding the product, I do believe that if you are considering buying one of these units, that like anything else, it is possible that you may have issues with it.

The plus side in this instance, is that someone has taken the time to explain what the issue is and how easy it is to fix – if you don’t mind opening the unit up and doing a little soldering. (It’s simply a matter of removing a header and soldering a ribbon cable directly to the display board.

) It should also be noted that what the gentleman calls cheap manufacturing in his video, is in fact standard practice which is used in nearly all electronics these days. So I advise that that you disregard his constant negative comments, and focus only on what the problem is, and what is required to fix it.

You can then make up your own mind. Anyway, this unit is the industry standard, and like all DBX products that I have owned over the years, I haven’t had any problem with it. But if you do want to check out the video before buying, simply search for “DBX 266xs broken” on YouTube, and it will probably be the first result.

If you are unlucky enough to experience those same symptoms, then at least you will know what the likely cause is, and more importantly, what’s involved in fixing it.

The DBX 266xs is the industry standard in live and studio compression. I used this unit at a live gig just last night and it performed flawlessly. Gating the unwanted background noise whilst cleanly compressing the spikes in performance and avoiding the nasty tube or tunnel effect that plagues cheaper units.

With time pressing you can make use of the auto and over easy buttons or just set all controls to the 12 o’clock position for that classic dbx compression. With a little more time to spare you can tweak the controls to get the maximum performance from the unit and taylor it perfectly for the gig at hand.

I will not go to a live gig without both my dbx 266xs units, and I won’t record in the studio without them either so they stay with me pretty much most of the time. For the professional musician the dbx 266xs is an essential piece of kit just as your best guitar or your most precious microphone.

Don’t leave home without it!.

Compared to other “budget minded” units this is fantastic!!! I wish there was a little more room between gating and expansion but that’s my primary beef. This unit is heavy and built like a tank! I saw the way USPS handled it when it was delivered and figured it for dead.

If you’re in the market for one I’d suggest looking at this; the now discontinued 266XL. Oh, forgot to mention. The detents on the controls are plentiful, you won’t get stuck trying to find that exactly right setting.

Since I have used better ones and because of the expander/gate section I can only give it 4 stars but in it’s price range it could get 10.

The saying – It just sounds better with the pedal on – is applicable here. If your a tone freak this pedal is for you. I sold my Mini Ego to get this and I dont regret it. The ego is a quality compressor and is the best I had used until I got this one.

Ive used various Electro Harmonix, TC electronics, Wampler, and Boss compressors. This pedal will please those players who like to leave their compressor on all the time, like me, or the ones who turn it on and off and change the settings for different songs.

There is no tone knob on this. because you dont need it. The compression sound is perfect wherever the amount is set. The dry mix knob allows you to blend your uncompressed guitar with the compressed.

For me this means i can get the sustain without loosing any of my tone – attack, low end, etc. It allows you to have a wide range of compression for very little to as squishy as you want. The noise in most compressors has been an issue for me.

This one is much better IMO. You can use this with both clean and dirty tones. Both sound great. The build quality on this pedal is excellent. Theres no click for the on/off switch- very nice. The indicator light is very helpful on the amount of compression.

There isnt a cheap part on these pedals. The knobs are very smooth andclearly are top shelf quality. Dont be afraid to spend the extra money on this thing, its worth every penny.

This is very fluid almost hydraulic in its action. it pulls a mix forward but still has depth. I have never used an SSL, if it’s anything like this I can see why it is so liked. I have used compressors many years but none have sounded or worked like this.

it levels with punch, many compressors just squash and kill the dynamics, not this one. if there is an instrument, say guitar or kick drum that just wont sit right in the mix then this is the magic fix.

it is a clone of one of the most iconic bus compressors ever for a very good price. you don’t need to compress much with this, maybe one DB or less. the transformers do a lot to the sound. if you want a more pro mix then give the WA bus-comp 2 channel stereo VCA bus compressor a shot.

I think you will like it very much. Warm Audio makes uncompromising audio gear, there mic pre’s and mics are great. I am glad I got this and plan on many years of use and saved a bundle. I think you will too.

mix on brothers and sisters.

This compressor has that classic glue and punch that you’d expect from a very famous “console based” bus compressor, but with some extras. Ever since I got this compressor for my mixbus, my mixes have become wider, punchier, more dynamic.

There’s a special feature in this compressor that I really enjoy and it’s the Engage transformers button. Now this adds some output color to your signal and can do some unbelievable things to the space in your mix when pushing the makeup gain a little more.

Now why I find this interesting is that you can go for different vibes depending on your attack, release time, and ratio. That’s a given. But with the engage transformers in you can get tape like compression and color or tube like saturation in my opinion if you dial in the right settings.

You gotta play around with this bus compressor to see it’s true potential and at this price point I’m absolutely stunned.

Adds a beautiful dimension to the mix. It definitely makes everything gel together. The transformer button adds a sheen to the mix. I pretty much keep it on most of the time. I run my mix into a pair of the Pultec clones from warm audio and then into the Bus Comp.

It does beat plug ins in my opinion. I have many from Waves and UA, and I love the immediacy of them, but there is something special about using actual hardware. I would recommend checking this unit out.

I run the master bus through this but also have tried stereo guitar, drum bus and vocal busses. It’s made me think differently about mixing. Just buy it. If you don’t like it, then return it, but it’s definitely worth testing it out for yourself.

I’ve only used the compressor twice since I received oit last week. So, this is a review based on that limited experience. However, I will say that the compressor has tightened my sound dramatically with a great warmth that was noticeable immediately.

The sound is warm and round with the sound of the bass allowed to come through with no coloration. I do church services in a school auditorium with that “gymnasium” sound. There is annoying echo and boom that needs to be contended with.

The SD defeats these problems admirably. I’m happy with it. So far, I have used the most basic setting for “light” compression and then add to the compression slightly as the services progress. i have not taken it through all it’s paces as I don’t need any extreme settings, just basic compressed tightness without squashing the sound.

It instantly accomplished that. There’s a booklet of settings that comes with it. it’s very easy to use. It’s all good at any setting so far. If you decide to go with this compressor, you will be very pleased.

The Seymour Duncan studio compressor does a great job of taming extreme highs and lows without Altering your tone. Love the blend feature that allows you to mix unfiltered Signal with compressed. It’s solid and looks good too.

Made in the USA is another plus. My only minor concern is the battery door which is plastic and feels a bit flimsy. Hoping it holds up over time but, other than that, I’m very satisfied.

I love this pedal. I play an Epi Les Paul Classic, into my pedalboard, and into a 90’s Peavey Bandit. The amp has a Jensen Mod soesker, not the original Scorpion speaker. The Bandit with this speaker has a great clean channel.

I’m a long time Fender guy. Strats and Teles. I like a clear, bright fundamental tone. I found myself compensating with the LP and using the bridge pickup a lot. But still not satisfied with the clean tones from the LP.

That changed when I put the Keeley Compressor Plus on my board. The conbination of the Blend control and the Tone knob gives me what I want. The Tone control is, to my ear, an exceptional circuit. I get the bright, clear tone I need and superb sustain.

This pedal is a godsend for playing slide. The compressor goes before my dirt pedals with beautiful results-1-. I use a Boss SD-1 overdrive and a Donner Dark Mouse – a Rat clone. I’m very impressed with this compressor.

I put all controls at about 12:00, which the manual recommends for humbuckers. Minimal tweaks from there to get what I want. I love that it doesn’t squash the life out of my pick attack. It is always on.

Works great with acoustic/electrics as well. Great, musical piece of gear. Well done, Mr. Keeley.

I purchased two of these. I already had one in the past but I sold it and regretted it since then. When I saw that they were available again I purchased these new ones. They seem very well built and solid.

Installation is very easy in my Midas L10. Both meters are great because of the number of leds. I find that in Overeasy mode you need to dial back the threshold since the compression starts well before reaching it and therefore you notice a lot more compression than in normal mode.

Also, the threshold knob can be very sensitive, you need to be careful with tiny moves when fine tuning since otherwise the change in sound can be too abrupt and you can miss the sweet spot. I don’t miss attack and release modes.

It works as expected in bass and vocals, but I specially enjoy it in snare, kick or even mono drum groups or overheads, mostly because of the nice way it lifts the room sound (if you happen to track in a good sounding room).

I am satisfied with this compressor and its sound, but if you consider the price then it is basically a no-brainer even if you only want to have a different flavor in your 500 rack. I may buy more in the future.

What I would really like is for DBX to sell again its 500 EQ module.

I bought this largely based on price and size, but was uncertain how it might handle unbalanced inputs. As I was waiting for it to arrive, I found the FMR Audio website and was pleasantly surprised to see the documentation I was looking for under the support section of their site.

It did take some digging to find it, but once I did, I was blown away by the technical detail in the documentation. Yes, it handles both balanced and unbalanced signals. The design of the sidechain is very nice and lets you do some things I couldn’t do with my last compressor limiter.

In the super nice mode, it isn’t obvious that it’s present, but it does quash a bit of the dynamic range, which is what I needed. No more excessively loud commercials – they are still louder, but I could probably kill the difference by adjusting the settings.

I have nothing bad to say about this unit. It is well designed and works great.

Needed something to replace another brand of compressor (mono only) that just stopped working and was unable to be repaired! Picked this little gem up and. Wow! Great fixer upper (especially for my typical needs vocals and bass guitar, easy to use, great results, smooth and transparent.

PLUS the SUPER NICE mode is so user friendly. ALSO it is STEREO, when needed. Do not hesitate to buy this; you will not be disappointed!.

I’ve been having my eye on this compressor for a while and finally made the jump after thorough research. This sounds so good. Vocals are baked, warm and ready to go. The controls are simple. Knobs feels good! A huge difference from the DBX 266 compressor I had for my vocals.

The sonic quality cuts through the mix. Get one! You won’t be disappointed!.

Overall: The WA2A Optical Leveling Amplifier makes any recording sound better, drastically. I purchased a pair of these from zZounds, excellent customer service over the years, and since putting in over 100+ hours on the WA2A’s I can say that these units actually work extremely well.

I run my guitars through them, vocals, drums, bass. everything, and there’s just something to hear about the difference these make. Comparing recordings without using the leveling amps, they sound mediocre.

Plus, I am going to run all of the tracks through the WA2A’s at the end as a master, and I am excited for the results there as well. These units are very functional, yet easy to use. Finding the sound is just plain easier with fewer knobs, especially if you let the tubes to the talking! BTW, utilize the “Pre-emphasis” knob on the back to alter the harmonic distortion of the tubes.

It’s a little difficult to reach in most setups, but dial it up to 3/4 up and that’s a good start. Something that I’ve noticed, heavily distorted guitars sounds real nice with the Peak Reduction turned up fairly high, careful now! All in all, great product.

Should last a really long time. P. S. They come with a pret-ty cool sticker.

This is something I was a little hesitant to purchase. I acquired what I thought was most necessary first, and then got the WA2A. It was my 5th comp in my rack after distressors and 76’s. This WA2A sounds great and should be your FIRST compressor when building a studio rack.

Because it is easy to use, and the sound that goes through this unit becomes smooth, level and even squashed and nicely saturated when pushed. Applying the WA2A on vocals is better than any plugin, by far! The unit is built great and Warm audio service is awesome.

Looking back, I now know this could have served as my first compressor. But now I know it holds its own in comparison to units costing much more. I see four of these in my future. When you experience the WA2A it’s apparent, for the price it’s a game changer.

This compressor is used for the FOH system in our church and is in use 5-6 times (around 6-8 hours total) every week. It works great and really helps to even out the spikes in volume from some VERY expressive singers and speakers.

It is used as a second overall line of compression in the mixer/main output, as we also use different compressors for the mics as well. Punchy, clear/transparent sound remaining audible through the unit to the amps.

Been using this for a year in this setup with minimal problems, other than having to re-power the unit on occasion to get the signal passing through upon power-up. Once this is achieved it always works great.

But, this may have something to do with power being turned on/off through a power conditioner switch rather than using the unit power control. Once I use the compressor unit switch to re-power it when necessary it always works fine.

Overall, in dependability and sound, it’s well worth this minor nuisance and for the price I would definitely buy another if needed.

Amazing results: It’s late 2016 and there are so many Audio Interface devices on the market that do all the features to get a good studio recording in your home but none of them compare to what this compressor brings to the table.

First of all, you can dial in your mic impedance level the PRO MPA II and add as much gain and compression with this PRO VLA II. Direct link both channels and get a clear audio finish before it reaches your DAW.

This compressor can also be used in a live performance and make things sound great with no peaking very good to add to the channel strip of DJ’s who use active speakers. Running your Midi controller output audio through here first can save you thousand in blow powered speakers.

Overall it works and gets the job done. KEY POINT Let your ears be your guide. You don’t need to be a professional audio person to know what sounds good and use the LED lights to set your limits. Last but not least go easy on the release setting.

As an audio and broadcast engineer for over 30 years, I’ve been putting off trying this box. Who would have thought a tube (vactrol) compressor could work so well at this price point? When I saw an out-of-the box recertified one, I had to try one and boy I’m glad I did.

I am used to the tube compressors of old time radio studios I’ve worked in for years so when this came to my doorstep it was a no-brainer to set up. I didn’t even need to read the manual to know what the controls did.

And unlike my TC box I had in my studio, this thing actually sounds like it’s doing something with the audio and it’s all good, too. It doesn’t overshoot, unless you set it wrong, and it has a warm, smooth sound and the attack can be pretty transparent, even on large changes in vocals I sample recorded with a music mix.

It even helped me realize how inferior my dynamic mics are. Put a good ribbon velocity, tube or large diaphragm condenser mic on this through the channel strip and it sounds even better. No complaints so far.

Love the analog VU meters and the ability to monitor the output of the gain reduction is wonderful, you can get a real feel for how much processing is being applied to your audio with this. The mix of bar graph meters with the analog on this unit is a nice touch.

One caviet though, both channels don’t warm up at the same time. This is typical of tube equipment, so don’t be surprised if one channel starts working within a minute and the other doesn’t start working until after about 3 to 5 minutes.

That’s what I experienced. It reminds me of the days when everything was vacuum tube in a radio studio. But, once up an running, The ART worked great! For a broadband compressor, this is one of the best for the price point.

I second all the other great comments made about this compressor’s features, the fine-detent controls, the meters, the dynamic range, quietness, transparency all are superb. I hope, as with all other ART products I own, this one will last for years.

This unit is far ahead of the Klark in tone and in my opinion the Hairball clones I’ve heard have sounded too bright and steely like the Klark. A 76 has a presence to it that some describe as “bright” but it’s not harsh bright like those.

The Warm lives up to its name and more or less sounds like a Rev D. There are versions of this with internal and external power supplies; the circuit more or less remains the same other than opamps which are socketed and can be swapped easily from 4560’s that they used to use to TL072’s that they use more recently if you want.

The Cinemags remain the same and are the heirs (literally) to the Reichenbach originals. I have a pair of these for less than I’d pay for a single unit of a clone that sounds better than this. I’d also argue these are better than any plugin to date at doing what they do.

Overall: Warm Audio seem hell-bent on bringing high-end audio down to Earth. Case in point: the WA76 Discrete Compressor. Here we have a nearly indistinguishable clone of the Urei 1176LN in a unit costing only a quarter of that of the “official” reissue.

Some corners have been cut, to be sure, the most obvious of which are the use of an external power supply and a somewhat generic enclosure. However, the inside is loaded with the “good stuff” (tantalum caps, Cinemag transformers) a fact which becomes apparent once you plumb a signal through the thing.

It does just what you want from an 1176. It’s a familiar tone from countless records made over the past (almost) five decades and it’s a thrill to hear it one’s home studio. I myself have primarily used it on vocal tracks thus far.

On its own, the WA76 provided presence, clarity and an instantly recognizable vintage vibe. I got my best results with the WA76 slotted between Warm Audio’s EQP-WA and a vintage Urei LA-3A – a combination that sounded like a million bucks.

The WA76 breaks no new ground in design. It looks like an 1176LN (with the exception of two splashes of gaudy orange legending). You get the same Attack and Release controls, the same four Ratio buttons (and yes, you can do the famous “all buttons in” trick), the same four buttons for selecting the VU meter’s display options (with an “Off” button at the bottom) and, of course, the big Input and Output knobs for dialing in your input level/threshold and make-up gain levels, respectively.

I have yet to experience any issues. Upon arrival, the VU meter required adjustment – due, according to Warm Audio, to the temperature in the surrounding environment. Minor calibration is facilitated by a trim pot easily accessed from the front panel.

Broader adjustments are made with a pot accessed around back. Initial versions apparently required opening the case to access the latter – it’s rather nice to see that the company is willing to implement such design changes to make life easier for users.

I was pleasantly surprised with the WA76. Sure, it’s gotten a lot of good press and word-of-mouth, but I always take such things with a grain of salt – after all, we all would like to believe we’ve scored a great deal.

In this case, the scuttlebutt is on the money. This is a terrific compressor for a ridiculously low price.

I live this compressor. Adds wonderful depth and tone to everything I run through it. Bass instruments with “nuclear” all buttons compressed is wildly fun. This will remain in my studio forever. Couldn’t be happier with this purchase.

AMS delivered on time 2 day! and the item was well packed. I highly recommend this unit for anyone wanting to explore outboard gear. You can’t get this sound in the box. You just can’t. Buy it and realize the great potential of professional sounding gear.

Love the sound of this item and is a great compressor pedal. Only complaint I have is that the on/off switch doesn’t feel very nice (for lack of a better word) when used. It just feels cheap and rough but as long as it keeps working it’s not a biggy for me.

The rest of the pedal is very solid. Much much better than the Marshall compressor I replaced with it and the price is fantastic.

The Enhance feature adds top end and articulation – makes vocals stand out in the live mix. Haven’t used in studio yet. Most of the longer echoes and reverbs are not useful for me but they sound fine.

In live situations for me it’s pretty much set and forget. The pitch correction is less noticeable than I expected, even turned up full. Very happy to get a power supply for free!.

Great little box for gigging and live performances. Can use battery or buy mains lead. Sound quality good and lots of extras. The memory button is a little confusing but you don’t necessary need to use it.

Well made and easy to transport. All in all very good value sound machine.

Has all the features you could want with none of the ones you don’t. Bought this for grown up son and I’ve had various vocal effects from basic to the highest end rack units and you will be happy with this one if budget is a issue.

As a vocal processor, I love it it connects & supplies phantom power to my mic no problem & the effects are really diverse. But as an audio interface, it won’t work at all because it won’t connect to my computer no matter how many times I redownload the driver/firmware updates or change micro USB cords.

I wouldn’t have been able to use this thing at all since I got it if it weren’t for the fact that I happened to have another separate interface for me to connect it to. It also won’t charge through micro USB even though it’s supposed to be able to 🙁 thus I’ve had to buy rechargeable batteries & replace them every few hours which is getting pretty tiresome.

Zooms customer service is atrocious, their emails back to me are just automated poorly translated gibberish. but Rubber Monkey have a good reputation so hopefully I’ll be able to get this issue sorted through them.

I purchased this product because of one single feature(baby voice effect) and found it to have quite an array of other useful features as well. The build quality is excellent it doesn’t take up too much precious room in my studio and I think the value is very good, the only downside is it does not come with a power supply.

Great product as always from zoom , lots of bang for you buck and quality , I will use this product all the time , the harmonies are terrific, easy to use , sound natural , tip don’t colour your sound too much , don’t over do it , just a little it will do the rest.

Thanks zoom.

My set up wouldn’t sustain notes/chords very long. The sound would fade away very quickly, making solos and long bends sound terrible. I was told compressor pedals help augment the sustain so that notes ring longer and more fully.

So I decided to buy the Tone Corset, not fully understanding exactly what it did or how it worked. Boy am I glad I did. My notes and chords now ring as long as I need them to, no more premature fading and limp sounding solos.

Compressor pedals typically dont alter the tone, and arent specifically meant to do so. The tone corset certainly does, it can clean up and bolster both clean and distortion tones. I love the thing, its one of the few pedals in my loop I almost always have on.

It wont drastically change your tone unless you specifically want it to, and everything I play sounds better with it on.

This is my first compressor pedal, and this one is a great choice. It has a blend knob which is awesome because you can control how much compressed signal gets mixed in with your True Tone. I have this always on, definitely keeps the bass strings from overpowering scales and just keeps things nicely balanced.

Also helps tighten up flabby distortion. EHX is always great quality as well. Very satisfied.

A solidly built pedal, though the footswitch is a bit clunky compared to other makes. Compression is good, with little added noise, and it gives a nice warmth and polish to my sound. The name and graphic is contentious (for some) but I like it 😊 A good pedal for the money but if I was buying again I’d probably go for the Keeley.

This is my second 76-KT for my studio, after being so impressed with the first unit, so I can perform either mono or stereo outboard compression. The quality is impressive for this price point and it closely matches the character of the 1176 Mod C (1176LN).

Very happy!.

Excellent-sounding compressor with simple controls – blend, volume and 3 levels of compression. I set the blend and volume to half, and use low compression for most songs. That evens things and adds a little sustain.

Medium compression is good for adding sustain to clean arpeggios or fingerstyle. High compression sounds a bit unnatural. There are internal switches for attack, etc. but I found the default settings sounded good.

A better sounding pedal than the Wampler Ego Mini that started to make crackling noises after 3 years.

The Xotic SP Compressor is without a doubt a 5 Star product! For many years I used a 1953 Gibson ES 175 or 1966 Telecaster plugged into a MXR Dyna Comp and grew to appreciate the warm squash this device had to offer as I lost the taste for most all distortion devices on the market.

The Dyna Comp was a simple two knob device that squeezed my signal rather nicely to which I still have 3 of them floating about the house. I also have the more expanded version, MXR Limiter dating from the early 80s that also does a nice job modifying my signal.

The only initial down side to the Dyna Comp was a little bit of noise. However the real down side to the old Dyna Comp was sometime in the early 90s, after Dunlop acquired ownership of the MXR Product, decided to reduce the cost of production by having all the jacks, pots, and switch connected directly to the PC Board via solder bath.

Not only did this process of assembly affect the durability of this classic old compressor, it also compromised the tone and performance of a one great pedal. The vintage Dyna Comps wired point to point are far superior product.

If you have one, keep it! In the wake of the cheapening of the Dyna Comp came the Keeley Compressor. I bought a Keeler Compressor somewhere around 10 years ago a noticed an improvement in performance over my old Dyna Comps with less noise.

And with going into great detail, every guitar, from my old 1951 L5 to any of my old Fender sound great through this compressor. So now a new and somewhat revolutionary compressor has hit in the market by way of the Xotic SP.

These guys are making some of the best pedals that I?ve run across in years. By the time I got my SP I was already the proud owner of an EP Booster and SL Drive. To later I have to say it is the only distortion that has come out in the last 30 years with a decent sounding tone that does not narrow the bandwidth of your signal path.

Not to mention these pedals just happen to be the cutest looking signal devices on the market. What really makes the SP Compressor outstanding is the 3 position Hi/Mid/Low switch. The versatility to this pedal via of this switch is just amazing.

In the Hi mode I can match the performance of my Keeley and Dyna Comp compressors for Jazz applications. However, I have taken using the Mid position for a great Blues/Rock tone. In this position the pedal allows me to play over the top of the compressor for soaring highs.

This works in great combination with my 1960 Telecaster with Barden pickups. Anyway, I highly recommend the Xotic SP Compressor with its advantage in versatility over other compressors on the market.

And here?s the bonus, this pedal is priced about $100 less than the Keeley. My hat?s off to you folks at Xotic for manufacturing a fantastic compressor at an affordable price that will thousands of guitar players sound better and better.

Now if you can reinvent the Sola Sound Tone Bender in one of these small bud boxes, that would be fantastic!.

Buyer beware, if u are a professional vocalist looking to sing and record your vocals DO NOT BUY. You will have wasted your money. There are two effects that MAY be effective. 1. Chorus (which basically sounds like an additional reverb; there is already a reverb knob on the device) 2.

The second is possibly useful feature is the harmonizer. It has not been perfected on this device. Also, harmonies end up sounding like they are autotuned or coming out of a voice box. Not useful if you are a professional vocalist looking to record straight ahead quality vocs that are not gimmicky.

The rest of the features like ‘child’s voice, telephone, deep, robot, dormant character, whistle, talk box, distortion, and beat box’ render this doggone thing a toy. At best. I’m not even joking. It’s sad.

I wanted to love this but it is a complete and utter waste of money. You can get a vocal processor that is strictly for vocalists for less money which is what I should have done and avoid this at all costs.

Speaking of costs, this thing costs 200 bucks AND you have to turn around and buy an adapter separately but only the adapter made by ZOOM will work and it is hard to find. If you choose to use 4 AA batteries which is required for it to function, those batteries will only work 2 1/2 hours at best.

Then you need 4 more AA batteries. Not efficient or convenient when you are in the middle of writing and recording. PLEASE DO NOT BUY. You will not only waste your time but your money. And this is from someone who REALLY wanted to love this product especially considering I spent my money on it and saw those very misleading promo videos which led me to buy it.

We are currently using this as our vocalist controlled FX unit for live performance. Fairly solid sound comes out of the box, but the reverb and delay are unusable. Giving this 5-stars, as we have tested pretty much every tabletop vocal effects unit, and the portability (super light-weight) combined with easy access to functions and reasonable sound quality, this is our go to unit for live performance currently (although I strongly desire something more powerful).

Another annoyance is no XLR out (stereo TRS only).

I bought this to serve as a compressor for an on air mixer, using the inserts on the 4 mic channels. basically it works! while it doesn’t have the de esser (of the 2 channel variant of this) nonetheless it does exactly what is needed.

as the radio mixer is designed for ‘portable’ studio use, the compressor effectively is providing room echo and noise cancellation. As a 4 channel unit the controls are compact, as is the metering (in OR out) but in any case it has indication of when the gate is open or closed which is all you really need.

Operation is smooth, no clicking, very quiet even in unbalanced mode so highly recommended. I bought a second hand unit, so if that is anything to go by it works perfectly so i’d expect will provide years of reliable service.

I own other Samson gear, like their monitor controller and the matching headphone amp, and have had good results, so I figured this would be a safe bet too. I got this for my church because the compressor/limiter for the lead vocalist and the compressor/de-esser for our pastor both kicked the bucket.

Being on a budget, we needed something that wasn’t too expensive, but could still keep two voices in check; this unit does the job well! The adjustable expander/gate is a tad touchy for vocals; Overall it seems better suited for drums.

The automatic mode for attack/release is absolutely USELESS, so go manual on it for best results. Also, the enhancer isn’t too useful for singers, as it colors the sound far too much, but it works great for spoken word.

The de-esser works well too, and it’s nice to have the adjustment, rather than just an on-off switch like some other compressors. As far as non-percussion instruments, I think your money is better spent elsewhere.

This isn’t a very transparent compressor, and I feel it ate away at the tone too much when I tested it on guitar, bass, and piano. Overall, I’m pleased with the S-Com Plus; It meets our needs, and the price is great.

Samson hasn’t let me down yet!.

This is a pretty good peice of gear. I’ve used it in my home studio as well as at my bands shows. I walked out of the store with two of them for about 300 bucks. To get 8 good quality compressor channels for that price is a very good deal.

Over all this is great for the price. While there are better units out there, you wont find them cheaper.