Hissy compressors

smigeon

Hi all,

I recently bought a Mooer Yellow Comp compressor for my mini board. I'm really impressed with it - it's just what I like in a compressor: nice and transparent and helping to bring out the subtleties. And cheap!

Only problem is, it's a bit hissy, especially when I put it in front of my Rat, or into my Roland JC-40. Much more so than my "main" compressor, which is a T-Rex Comp Nova.

From what I've read, there are other nice mini-sized compressors around that are in a similar vein - I'm thinking especially of the Fairfield Accountant and the Xotic XP. Of course these are more expensive that the Mooer, but I might stretch to one if it's less hissy than the Mooer. Anyone know if this is likely to be the case? Any experience with these compressors?? 

impmann

Marshall Ed the Compressor.

Cheap as chips. Sounds better than most compressors at any price.

Oh and quiet.

smigeon

Thanks. Edward the Compressor - love the name! But do they do the subtle transparent thing for jazzy cleans? I thought they were more for the sustained dirty tone thing. And I think one of those would be too big to fit my mini board (Pedal Train nano).

octatonic

Be sure that it isn’t source related.
Compressors, by design, raise the noise floor.

Putting a comp on the front end of a distortion would and should make the noise more obvious.
You won’t hear it when you are playing.
Noise can be exciting to listen to, as well.

I frequently crunch things up just to get a mix sounding less clean.

builttospill

Boss CP1X it’s lovely! I can’t get a bad sound from it, and it’s quiet

smigeon

Yeah, i know what you mean, but here I’m going more for a pristinish clean thing with maximum nuances (was probably misleading me mentioning the Rat - this is not actually the main use case, it’s just that it gets *really* hissy with the Rat).

My T-Rex Nova Comp is nice and quiet, and I’m just hoping for a mini sized compressor that does a similar job. The Mooer sounds damn fine - just as good as the Nova Comp - apart from the damn hiss...

Babones

Not mini, but the Rothwell Love Squeeze has no hiss at all. Very silent.

impmann

smigeon said:

Thanks. Edward the Compressor - love the name! But do they do the subtle transparent thing for jazzy cleans? I thought they were more for the sustained dirty tone thing. And I think one of those would be too big to fit my mini board (Pedal Train nano).

Yes, its a proper compressor - I use mine for Gilmour-esque clampage and its as transparent as you set it. I don't use it for a sustained dirty tone... And its no bigger than a Boss pedal (and a shit load nicer sounding!).

Seriously - I've had some very expensive compressors (Keeley, Rothwell etc) and I kept this.

MikeB

If you like the Mooer it's based on the Diamond Comp which I had. It was exceptionally quiet. 

smigeon

MikeB said:

If you like the Mooer it's based on the Diamond Comp which I had. It was exceptionally quiet. 

Ah, thanks. I need to try one in a shop I guess...