Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Despite the apparent complexity of this multi-function, dual-engine pedal, it is easy to operate. The manual is one of the best I have seen not only for clear specific instructions, but for explaining compression to neophytes.
One thing TC electronic does right: their website provides access to manuals BEFORE you buy. Perhaps that's why they put so much thought into making this manual clear and easy-to-read.
If you are "on-the-fence" (so to speak) about which compressor to try or buy, here are some useful facts unbiased by personal opinion:
This is a digital device. Digital is great for many things, but you must be absolutely sure to NOT overdrive this (or any digital audio device) into distortion. Analog devices can handle the occasional outburst. A high-quality analog compressor will not only handle a hot signal musically, there is little danger of the device being damaged. That is NOT true with digital devices.
So, if you are not familiar with calibrating output for digital devices, you MUST read this manual. Thankfully, it describes the simple process concisely, and the accurate meters help make the simple and fast.
Now, WHY would you want THIS pedal over some other good products?
If you play LIVE with more than one type of guitar or amp. Because this has TWO completely separate engines, you can adjust each side for a separate rig or effect. 'HOT' humbuckings in your Les Paul have more output than those vintage single-coils, so you can use one engine for each.
Another nifty feature of this; it can be operated as a noise-gate. So you could set one side to do your compression up-front, while the other side is after noisy pedals in the chain. Those of you distortion mongers out there with several gain and boost pedals will appreciate that. ( although there are better dedicated gates for guitarists... ISP decimator for instance)
Now for some SUBJECTIVE opinions that you can embrace or ignore. I have a love / hate relationship both with TC and all things digital. Certain effects, ( noticeably reverbs ) sound better when processed in the digital domain. By "better" I mean "clearer, with less noise and distortion." But some effects sound better in the analog domain; most noticeably, ANY kind of guitar or bass compression, and definitely ANY type of distortion or "amp modeling."
By using compression in the front of your chain, you can get a clean-controlled output that makes your guitar playing sound 'slick' or 'pro.' But when you do that with a digital device up front, you have irreversibly changed the signal. ALL DIGITAL devices have a high-frequency cut-off; a "ceiling" they cannot go above. Though your ears may not directly hear those super-high frequencies, your brain responds to them in many ways. One way is how those inaudible frequencies interact with the audible; they combine to produce rich harmonic interactions that are impossible to reproduce with normal digital audio. Another way your brain notices this effect is how the amp "feels" as you play.
Now this pedal has a good (though not unique) feature which supposedly helps thwart those negative effects. It has a "dry / wet" blend that allows some of the uncompressed signal to come through. However, even that great feature will not produce the complex high-frequency interactions in your amp. Why? Because the entire signal has been converted to digital inside the box. Once the signal is digital, it has a "sonic-circumcision" that can never be undone. Mazel Tov!
For all its great features, this is NOT the ideal compressor for guitar. That not because of a design flaw or cheap components. It is simply because it is digital. It has an inaudible "ceiling" of 20kHz that DOES affect frequencies your amp "hears." That irreversibly alters the "magic" of a real tube amp or even a good analog pedal.
Does that mean it sounds bad? No. It sounds fine to most people. It works great when placed before digital reverbs. It can tame dynamics so that other digital devices work better.
But if you are an experienced pro-player with any of your hearing left, you WILL notice that 'missing-mojo' if you put this in front of an amp.
If you want to squash your guitar before the amp, GO ANALOG. If you want a full-featured, dual-engine compressor / gate in a to use after the preamp but before other effects, this is about as good as they get. For the money, it is fantastic.
If you want the "blend" feature in an analog pedal, the Double-Back compressor by Seymour duncan has a knob that does that. The tiny Guyatone ST-2 has a switch that works about as well for 50 / 50 mix.
TC makes numerous good products, and this IS one of them. But they haven't read the latest science about analog vs digital, or they don't care because they are too busy raking in the bucks.
It is up to US to be informed and knowledgeable about audio products. I hope my comments in these review forums are useful to others for that purpose.
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