It’s a really popular pedal.
You’d be fine with it or the sub-n-up.
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Is the Sub n Up polyphonic?
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Yep!
Many of the modern digital ones are.
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they’ve been around for quite a while
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(and a lot of people want the OC-2 because it’s not, and it behaves in its own special way - analog, synthy, and delicious when it glitches.)
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Here’s the sound I mean. This is mine. It’s an OC-2 clone that sounds close but not exactly the same.
He makes it glitch nicely, both tracking low and chording. I 
this. But it’s not what you want if you want an accurate tracking octaver on low notes, or with chords.
But oh that evil synthy goodness 
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I have an old Boss OC-2 , it sounds great but I never use it with a bass. it’s just too much low end.
but with a guitar it can bring some very interesting Hammond-like tones, that’s why I keep this pedal.
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I just purchased a TC Electronics Sub n Up on Reverb
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Me too, me too. I want to give an answer.
@PamPurrs This is something you can investigate in your recordings how compression may help you or not matter to you at all.
Some things to look for may be:
Case 1) Consistency between repetitions
One thing to do would be to go into your DAW and look at the consistency between the waveform burst sizes from measure to measure. Assuming the intensity of the song isn’t changing, the playing of the pattern from measure to measure would not have too much variation. If it does and it’s not what’s best for the song, that can be evened out by compression.
Case 2) Note sustain
If the playing is slower and the sound of the note dies off before you want, compression can be used to extend the ring-out of the sound.
Case 3) Sharp attack
If the initial pluck/pick/tap sound is getting to be too much after turning up the ring-out tone sound to be loud enough, it’s possible to take the edge off that sharp initial transient with compression. This is a case where you may be using two compressors in a row with different settings, one to bring up the sustain and the other to take off the sharp attack.
I think Warren Huart explains things well . . .
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Agreed, but isn’t this something I can do while editing the recording in Reaper? What I’m wondering is how much I really need a compressor when gigging. Is it really that important? Do the drunk people on the dance floor even care?
With that in mind, If I was gigging at a venue with a sound guy/gal, wouldn’t he/she tell me to disable the compressor so he/she can take over from the console?
Just a couple things that come to my mind.
** DISCLAIMER ** I am far from an expert on this subject.
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you barely need a bass 
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Yes. I’m suggesting investigating it there to learn more about what it’s doing. Then you may or may not notice you need it on stage.
Depends how good the sound person is and how many compressors they have. Their first one is going on the vocals.
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real answer now : only YOU can decide what you need.
I would compare a compressor somewhat to the foam block we sometimes put underneath the strings near the bridge. or the type of strings (I say that because I know you tried different things between roundwounds, flatwounds, tapewounds) : it’s a part of the final sound and feel (including dynamic reactions of the instrument) but it’s not strictly necessary.
other axis of answer : for studio use, a compressor is an absolute necessity because you can’t really produce a mix without compressors everywhere, including the bass track. but a software VST compressor will work like a charm, you don’t “need” a hardware analog comp.
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a compressor before the preamp (typically a pedal like @howard or myself always use) is different than a compressor after the amp / on the console. it’s not at the same place in the signal chain and it won’t behave the same.
but if you play without saturation, it will still be relatively close.
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This, sir, was a real eye-opener for me*! Thank you!
I realize that guys like @terb and @howard have been trying to educate me (and others) about compressors for ages, but this example brought a lot of things home! Finally… 
I am really grateful for the knowledge residing in the people in this forum!
*I am talking mostly about the first video! I have almost no idea what he is doing in the second one 
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@PamPurrs I’ll just answer from a different point of view but still the very exact same thing that I always say (and I’m pretty sure the tone geeks like @howard will be OK with that). it’s kinda important to understand that, in my opinion.
- if you don’t know if you need something : you don’t need it.
- if it’s something you currently don’t use and you wonder if you could play without it, considering you still play without it every day : no, really, you don’t need it.
- if it’s a question because a lot of people use it but not you : still no.
- if you’re not sure if something will improve your tone : again you don’t need it, but in this case you’ll have to try it
just to know
really it’s hard to tell about this because I know we all have a very different experience with music playing, we’re all here because of B2B but we all did a very different musical journey. we don’t like the same music, we don’t like the same playing technique, we don’t like the same tones, the same basses, amps, effects … how to extract a rule ? it’s impossible. and it’s cool.
just to say that if you don’t have a compressor, you don’t HAVE to use one. it’s perfectly fine to play without a compressor, no shame at all. and it’s true even when gigging.
you “need” really, really few gear.
about studio it’s a bit different, but it’s another story and in this case you will never “need” to choose the hardware way. a lot of cheap and great software solutions.
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@terb you just won the “Prolific Comment of the Day” award.
Thank you!
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Cheers 
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Here’s my conclusion, based on several recordings on my Reaper:
I don’t need the compressor for my purposes. If I ever get a studio gig or a venue gig, they will just have to deal with it.
The DynaComp is off my pedalboard and is going on Reverb.
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