Quietest Compressor Pedal

[cottontails1959]

Xotic SP in the low or mid setting.

Same ... volume at 11 o'clock, blend at 1 o'clock

 

[artdecade]

My Keeley Plus is not hissy.

Sustain lower / volume higher. Hit the front end of the amp harder.

 

[Obsessed]

I borrowed three top compressors from my best friend while he was in EP recording mode for two years. No question in my mind is that the more expensive the compressor pedal, the quieter. My belief is that the compressor pedal should be your most expensive one on your board. The Cali76 is the gold standard and at quite a lower price level (but still spendy) is the Empress. Next one down in price is probably the Diamond.

 

[ahiddentableau]

Forgive me if what I'm about to say is obvious, but based on what you said in your first message you prefer a dyna-comp style compressor. This makes sense to me: they have a great tonal signature. But that style of compressor is always going to have significant noise. It's just the nature of the design: it's going to raise the high-end of the signal. That's how it functions. So the Wampler is about is good as you can do on the noise front for that style of comp.

As mentioned, there are other styles of compressor like the Diamond or the Cali76 (both are opto, I believe) that can be quieter. But they aren't going to do the dyna thing in any pure sense--the juicy country response thing is kind of the house special for the dyna-comp types (Keeley, Wampler, CS2/3, etc). Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great comps that aren't dyna-comp style, but if it's the juicy country thing you're after you may not get what you want from any other style of compressor.

 

[Daddy Hojo]

I got a Biyang CO-10 Compress X quite a few years ago, simply because it had a reputation as being a good sounding Dyna Comp clone with a stupidly low price.

I'm not a big compressor user, but IMO the Comp X does do the DC thing (more than sufficiently for my modest needs), with decent lower noise.

I think i got one of these a few years back on your recommendation. It's incredible at any price point. I certainly have never felt like I need more from a compressor than what the Compress X offers.

 

[LKNJ]

Forgive me if what I'm about to say is obvious, but based on what you said in your first message you prefer a dyna-comp style compressor. This makes sense to me: they have a great tonal signature. But that style of compressor is always going to have significant noise. It's just the nature of the design: it's going to raise the high-end of the signal. That's how it functions. So the Wampler is about is good as you can do on the noise front for that style of comp.

As mentioned, there are other styles of compressor like the Diamond or the Cali76 (both are opto, I believe) that can be quieter. But they aren't going to do the dyna thing in any pure sense--the juicy country response thing is kind of the house special for the dyna-comp types (Keeley, Wampler, CS2/3, etc). Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great comps that aren't dyna-comp style, but if it's the juicy country thing you're after you may not get what you want from any other style of compressor.

that's great info. Thanks!

 

[beninma]

If you don’t like the hiss try an optical compressor like the Diamond or the Orange Kongpressor.

They do have a different more transparent tone but they’re much quieter.

I’ve owned the Kongpressor and the Keeley Compressor+ and while the Keeley definitely puts a nice EQ on the guitar it does hiss like crazy. I tried the Xotic and it seemed hissy as well. The Kongpressor keeps quiet until you stack up some serious gain with it. It’s still very quiet into a dirty amp, but if you turn on a raging fuzz or a big muff then you’ll hear the compressor bringing up the noise from the other pedal.

The Dyna-Comp/Ross style are really intended for an ultra clean setup as far as I can tell, that’s where they shine, that and the whole country sound.

On the contrary the Kongpressor sounds more funk to me.

 

[jimd]

Love my Boss CS-3. No hiss.

My Boss CS-3 was very hissy. But, I have old wiring in my house. I replaced it with a BBE Bench Press. It is very quiet.

 

[stevemc]

i use my cs3 after overdrive.no noise issues.i always read guys complain about noise.made me a little leery but after 10 yrs i am still a fan.may try the mooer some time.

 

[MojoTrwall]

Engineer's thumb 5 knob version cost 30€ to build, and is really quite even when used as a limiter.

 

[green_henry]

I can only compare it to an MXR DynaComp, Roland rack unit, and several Boss compressors, but my Carl Martin is very quiet.

 

[golfnut]

I borrowed three top compressors from my best friend while he was in EP recording mode for two years. No question in my mind is that the more expensive the compressor pedal, the quieter. My belief is that the compressor pedal should be your most expensive one on your board. The Cali76 is the gold standard and at quite a lower price level (but still spendy) is the Empress. Next one down in price is probably the Diamond.

I've had the Diamond and Empress and both were great compressors. I've also owned a Keeley, Ego and a multitude of others. The Cali76 CD is whats on my board now and will never come off. Not the most expensive on the board though. Its actually the least expensive. The Kingsley Minstrel, the page and memory lane2 all cost more. And the last pedal to go on this board the Neo mini vent 2 will also cost more.

 

[RobertKeeley]

The Keeley Compressor Plus and our GC-2/Bassist/Compressor Pro are much different styles of compression, and have vastly different noise levels. The Comp Plus is a country compressor for sure, and with the blend control, can be quiet-ish. The Compressor Pro/GC-2/Bassist are compressor limiters and really don't make noise. By their nature, would be as quiet if not quieter than any other compressor out there. Truly silent. But, they don't offer sustain/expansion like the Comp Plus.

 

[Javier668]

I have tc electronic Hyper Gravity great pedal!

 

[deus56]

This one ticked all the boxes for me.

 

[LKNJ]

The Keeley Compressor Plus and our GC-2/Bassist/Compressor Pro are much different styles of compression, and have vastly different noise levels. The Comp Plus is a country compressor for sure, and with the blend control, can be quiet-ish. The Compressor Pro/GC-2/Bassist are compressor limiters and really don't make noise. By their nature, would be as quiet if not quieter than any other compressor out there. Truly silent. But, they don't offer sustain/expansion like the Comp Plus.

thanks for the info, appreciate you responding to this thread. Like I said in the OP, the Compressor Plus is my favorite sound compressor (other than the noise), and I’m not a country player.

 

[Maroonandwhite]

Got my SP compressor in yesterday. It’s far quieter than the EHX Soul Preacher I sold off. It’s also super intuitive but very easy to dial in what you want. The toggles lo/mid/hi are obvious when changed and the blend knob is great. I played with the internal dip switches but ended up setting them back to default. I’m using it on a Tele less for squash but more for leveling. It gives a great classic country picking sound if you want though.
If I were using a humbucker I might turn off the high cut. I didn’t really notice a lot of difference with it on or off though. It’s still plenty bright.
The long and short is that it can go subtle or it can go full squash. Definitely recommend it.

 

[MrGibbly]

TC Hyper Gravity is pretty darn quiet. SP is not quite as quiet but I like the sound for some things. I bought a Origin Effects Cali ‘76 and haven’t heard it yet, but I understand they are pretty quiet. Many comps get a bad rap as they are designed to make quiet things louder. If you have a noisy power supply arrangement, for example, then when you kick on a comp, you will hear it. The trick to any quite signal chain is good clean isolated power.

I have the Cali 76 now and had a great Keeley 4-knob before it. Noise is part of the deal with compressors but a tidy signal chain in front of the pedal and clean power can make a huge difference. I’ve found having the compressor early in the signal chain reduces the likelihood that noise is introduced. In most cases, any noise that is already there is going to get louder when you kick it on...

 

[Maroonandwhite]

I have the Cali 76 now and had a great Keeley 4-knob before it. Noise is part of the deal with compressors but a tidy signal chain in front of the pedal and clean power can make a huge difference. I’ve found having the compressor early in the signal chain reduces the likelihood that noise is introduced. In most cases, any noise that is already there is going to get louder when you kick it on...

I agree. I run mine right after the tuner in front of everything with a nicer power supply. Can’t really tell it’s there unless you kick on an OD with higher gain settings.

 

[burntfrijoles]

My Keeley Plus is not hissy.

Same here