Compressor Shootout!

This was such a fun project. As a bassist, compression is vital to success and tone, so being able to shootout Capital University's compression units in Studio E was such a blessing and joy.

Compression is a weird and mysterious effect that many fail to grasp. However, it can be the difference between the best mix of your life and the worst to ever grace the earth. As an engineer, I thought it was a good idea to try to come to grips with some of the compressor units on campus. As a bassist, I thought it was the best idea ever. My goal for the shootout was to record bass lines: a fingerstyle flatwounds line, a fingerstyle roundwounds line, and a slappy percussive roundwounds line. Then, I aimed to route them through 4 different compressors, at three general settings for each one. My first setting being “tone-shaping”, with very little compression being applied. The purpose of this is to hear what physical tone the unit imparts just by being on. My next setting was “4:1”, or as close as possible. Just a middle of the road, -6dB of gain reduction compressor setting. Something familiar and easily comparable. My last setting was “NUKED”. All buttons in, full gain reduction, everything. This brought out a lot of characteristics in each compressor unit, and was super fun to hear. I think these three choices were best at demonstrating the characteristics of each unit at a wide range of settings, while also not taking 4 days to record. 

In my own personal experiences, bass is a super dynamic instrument (more so with inexperienced players) and this can make it super hard to deal with in any mix situation. I looked at forums and articles concerning this and found I was not alone in my thinking. This made it perfect for the experiment. I even committed myself to playing more dynamically, just to see what a compressor could do in that situation (VERY HARD TO UNTRAIN YOURSELF). I think this really adds to the results of the shootout. If I had been playing as clean as normal, I think it would’ve been harder to hear the action of the compressors. I am glad I decided to incorporate this, as it really helped the results to stand out.

The gear I used going into the compressors was pretty simple. I switched between two basses. My short scale Squier Jaguar bass with La Bella flatwounds, and my multiscale Ibanez EHB with DR Hi Beams roundwounds. Two very different basses, for different styles and different lines. I ran these into my Line 6 HX Stomp, with a subtle amount of drive and an Ampeg amp and cab simulation. I then used a Radial DI box to go into my preamp of choice, the Focusrite ISA 428 MKII. I chose this preamp because it adds very little color to the sound and is super clear. I recorded all three lines, with the blank DI tones sounding like this! Now, on to the star of the show: the compressors. The 4 compressors I chose were the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor, the UA Classics 1176 LN Limiting Amplifier, the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5015 Mic Preamp / Compressor, and I chose to shoot out the 1176 circuit in the UA 4-710d Mic Preamplifier, just because I had that circuit here already and wanted to compare them. It’s a pretty wide range of gear that all have a wide range of applications. All are intuitive and have a place in this argument, but are all extremely unique in this regard. Let’s examine them and look at the results closer. 

The Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is truly a classic in its own right. It’s versatile, and sounds killer in any mix. Don’t believe me? Go check out the reviews at the bottom of this website. Those publications all agree. With so many ratios, selectable distortion modes, and more, what’s not to love? It fared extremely well in this shootout, unsurprisingly. The Distressor performed well in all categories. It handled the mellow nature of the flats, the zinginess of the rounds, and the percussive slap attack. It’s so versatile, and I wish I had truly explored the distortion modes here, it just wasn’t fair to the other units. The unit just has such a musical vintage sound, and I think I could compress any genre of bass I put through it. I would be slightly concerned at how it will handle external effects, like pedals or other rack units, but I cannot wait to test that in the future. Listen to how the Distressor fared here!

The Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5015 Mic Preamp / Compressor truly surprised me. I’ve always heard hype around the Rupert Neve name in the bass community, and I finally understand why. This compressor was so CLEAN. It sounded absolutely amazing in every regard, and I can see it being used in so many genres for that reason. The only downside being that it doesn’t really get grindy and noisy like others on this list. If that’s what you’re going for, this simply can’t be done. However, it can do absolutely anything else. And it is fantastic. Listen to the Portico here!

The UA Classics 1176 LN Limiting Amplifier has always been my desert island compressor, and for good reason. It just has such a good, natural sound, and it sounds good on anything. It definitely has vintage flavor, but it still isn’t out of place in a modern mix. The downsides to the unit are that it is a tad noisy, but it’s still worth it to me. Unlike the Portico, it can get grindy, fuzzy, and downright nasty. The all buttons in mode is just such a cool sound. It’s also intuitive, and easy for anyone to understand. Listen to this legendary compressor here!

I’ll admit it, the UA 4-710d Mic Preamplifier is outmatched here. It isn’t a dedicated compressor, and doesn’t have the controls to really pretend to be. However, it still sounded decent. It had moments where it definitely held its own. And it also sounded like garbage at points, but I didn’t expect it to replace every compressor ever. I will say, when trying to replicate the all buttons in mode of the original 1176, it definitely had more of a hi-fi fuzz tone, which was super cool to hear, as it was like an entirely different take. It definitely had good moments, but it just didn’t blow me away (not that I expected it to). Listen to it here!

With all of that said, I want to rank each unit and give some brief pros and cons. 

1. UA Classics 1176 LN Limiting Amplifier- IT JUST SOUNDS SO GOOD

Pros: vintage sound, intuitive, simple, versatile, all buttons in mode is so cool

Cons: slight noise

This unit just cannot be replaced for me. Very close battle between this and my #2 pick, but it just wins out. I think it’s that heavy vintage tone that just puts it over the top for me. 

2. Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5015 Mic Preamp / Compressor- Crystal clear sound

Pros: SO CLEAR, simple, punchy, extra features, the Neve household name

Cons: can’t get grindy like the 1176

This isn’t a case of the Portico being worse than the 1176. The 1176 is just a tiny bit better to me. I love the Portico though, and want to start incorporating it into my processes more. I think it’s a must have piece of studio gear, and I cannot wait to have my own.

3. Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor- Versatile and punchy

Pros: versatile, punchy, awesome tone, so many features, NUKE RATIO

Cons: a little tricky to dial in when you aren’t nuking something

It truly hurts me to put the Distressor so low on the list. But once again, it isn’t worse than the other two; they are just a bit better. The Distressor does its thing really well, but for me, I like the 1176 and Portico more. Still dying to have one in my studio one day. 

4. UA 4-710d Mic Preamplifier- Unfair comparison, but still awesome

Pros: bundled into the preamp, good sound, cool grindy fuzzy sounds

Cons: not a dedicated compressor, limited compression controls, a little troublesome

Fine, it doesn’t belong on this list. I don’t like this as a standalone compressor, but the preamp is awesome too, if that counts for anything. I think it could’ve been better had I experimented with the solid state vs tube with the compression, but it wasn’t fair to the other units. Definitely on my list in the future. 

All of these compressors rocked in their own ways. It was awesome to examine them in this way, and I think it is a great blueprint when I want to test them with other instruments in the future.

Thanks for reading! Peace!