I’ve been playing around with the compression level, and it’s doing the exact opposite of what I would expect it to do.
My understanding is that 4:1 is the lightest compression (leftmost position on the knob), where a 4 dB increase in the input produces a 1 dB increase in the output. 20:1 is the heaviest compression (rightmost position on the knob), where a 20 dB increase in the input produces a 1 dB increase in the output.
I’ve linked a video below showing what’s happening. I was sitting on the floor chugging on the A string with one hand and messing with the compressor with the other hand, so please excuse the lack of fancy bass playing. I was plucking harder than normal, to make the compression kick in as much as possible.
To me the 4:1 setting sounds like heavier compression, with more loss in tone, and you can also see that almost all of the leds light up (indicating more compression happening, as far as I understand). 20:1 sounds louder and brighter and closer to the original tone to me, and lights up fewer leds. When changing from 4:1 to 20:1 the volume drops for a short while, but then increases above the previous 4:1 level. Conversely, changing from 20:1 to 4:1 increases the volume for a short while, but then drops below the 20:1 level.
While editing the video I also noticed that the volume levels are clearly visible on the screen as well. I’ve marked them on the images below, you can see that 20:1 is louder than 4:1. You can also see that the differences between highs and lows is greater during 20:1 than 4:1, and again that’s the opposite of what I would have expected.
Can someone explain this to me? Am I misunderstanding how this is supposed to work? Or is the compressor wired the wrong way around?
When learning I’d suggest turning the attack time as fast as it goes. I think on that pedal it may be for me intuitively backwards where up all the way is “more faster” where many attack knobs have lower attack times all the way down.
If attack is slow the pedal won’t affect the pluck transient. It will slip through.
What I thought might be happening is you were getting more makeup gain with the 20:1 (which would make sense) and what you were hearing was the boosted body of the signal. This would be normal.
The reason that I am not certain though is that looking at the meter, it does not appear to be limiting.
Looking at the wave forms, especially, the 20:1 has more dynamics than the 4:1, which looks more saturated. Which is the opposite I would expect.
I would personally back down with the input gain. At that level you are getting an insane amount of compression. Try something like 1 a clock on input and see what the difference is between 4:1 and 20
Yeah, the input gain would be pushing that up into the compression and at 20:1 it should be acting as a limiter rather than a compressor, really. But looking at the waveforms, it isn’t. The waveform at 20:1 has more dynamics than at 4:1.
That is intentional. I set the input gain to a level where a couple of green leds start lighting up at my normal level of playing. What you see on the video is me plucking the shit out of the strings afterwards, where I was expecting the 4:1 to do a bit more compression, and 20:1 to basically max out. But I am seeing the exact opposite.
That’s just the attack and release, and yes they control response time, with left being short (fast) and right being long (slow), which might be counterintuitive until you read the manual.
4:1 and 20:1 are pretty self explanatory however. A 4:1 compression is supposed to be lighter than 20:1.
I’ve just tested this, and the release is definitely the other way round (left = slow, right = fast). I assume that’s the case with attack as well, but I can’t really tell the difference there.
Even the manual contradicts itself:
Rotate the ATTACK knob clockwise to increase reaction time of compression or counterclockwise to decrease it.
left = fast, right = slow
Rotate the RELEASE knob clockwise to increase the time it takes your signal to return to its uncompressed level or counterclockwise to decrease it.
left = fast, right = slow
To soften the sound of your attack, dial in a faster attack time (CW)
right = fast
To accentuate the sound of your attack, dial in a slower attack time (CCW)
