ilovefuzz.com

I literally cannot hear what it's doing at all. Might as well be an empty box with an LED. No offense to Fairfield, I obviously don't get compressors. The ONLY one I've heard in person that sounded different was a Keeley.

jwar wrote:I literally cannot hear what it's doing at all. Might as well be an empty box with an LED. No offense to Fairfield, I obviously don't get compressors. The ONLY one I've heard in person that sounded different was a Keeley.

Even Dyna Comps that make your attack go all fucked up and duck weirdly?

Confession: I had a Dyna Comp.

jwar wrote:I literally cannot hear what it's doing at all. Might as well be an empty box with an LED. No offense to Fairfield, I obviously don't get compressors. The ONLY one I've heard in person that sounded different was a Keeley.

The only use ive ever really had for a compressor is a buffer and eq..

I think compression is something that at first I hated, never really saw the use of, but then found the right type of compression that I enjoyed and rolled with it. A Dyna Comp is TOTALLY different than an optical compressor, visa versa. Some can be totally color/dynamics changing like a Dyna Comp, or they can be more transparent like the Fairfield and boost your fingerpicking or bring harmonics more to the fore-front. Crystal lattices and shit man. Compressors are where the lattices hide!

sustain and feedback
for those of us who sound better
when were not actually playing
after that 3:21 mark
if you listen when he clicks mid sustaining
thats what i use it for

Yeah, the only comp I've ever tried was the Dyna. I hated it, but maybe I'll give an optical a shot. I've noticed my clean sound can be a little flat sometimes












But probably I won't.

I mean for the price, I'd definitely give this one a whirl. Maybe see what I'm missing.

The Keeley though had a noticeable boost, so I figure "ok...it's a boost pedal?". I guess I just don't quite understand what compressors do. Maybe I's stupid.

Nah you're not stupid dude. I've used optical compressors as boosts before as well! It seems like this Fairfield also can get some grit to it too, which is awesome

I kind of like to think of compressors as allergy medicine- they take the grey away and let your instrument speak clearly. I know that sounds stupid, but they bring a lot of little interesting details and artifacts out

jwar wrote:I mean for the price, I'd definitely give this one a whirl. Maybe see what I'm missing.

The Keeley though had a noticeable boost, so I figure "ok...it's a boost pedal?". I guess I just don't quite understand what compressors do. Maybe I's stupid.

it's basically reducing the volume of your signal as it passes over a certain threshold, and then applying make-up gain to bring the new peaks back to the original level (or higher/lower if you wish). So you'll be hearing an decreased dynamic range and it allows for greater perceived loudness without necessarily increasing the peak volume.

it is a subtle effect, can't blame you for not noticing it i was only able to appreciate compressors after actually learning about them and even now I don't really use them outside of a recording environment.

Backwards has just said all of this but I've gone to the trouble of writing this on my goddamn phone and I'm going to post it anyway.

Compressors have a gain recovery stage, to make up for the fact that you are squashing the dynamics. So with a low compression ratio and a lot of gain you are essentially getting a clean boost. It's the same thing really as using an OD at the end of your chain. The OD will clip a bit (ie compress the signal) and then you crank the output, getting a boost.

If you are using a fuzz you are already compressing the shit out of your signal.

So this site is like... Ilovecompression.com.

Ps: I own a compressor and never use it...

The only compressor I've ever loved was my old Akai Hexacomp. But that was more like some kind of weird EQ exciter / compressor thing. Sounded awesome on bass. Might have to check out this Fairfield, though...

EDIT: yeah, on second listen, the demo sounds great. I wish he was proactively accounting for the volume jump on activating the pedal, so we could get a closer read on what it's doing tonally without the distraction of the boost (maybe as a second demo, since it's been noted that some people dig using compressors as boosts).

goroth wrote:So this site is like... Ilovecompression.com.

backwardsvoyager wrote:

goroth wrote:So this site is like... Ilovecompression.com.

More like ^^^^.

Who else can spur this much talk of compression here?

poor Keanu. i would HATE to have pictures from my horrible youth floating around like that.

.... then again he gets to do any silly movie he wants, seems a really interesting guy, gives away tons of money because he has said, "i already have more money than i'll ever spend.", and is about 50 years old and looks 30.

never mind.

not poor Keanu.

ruck that guy.

(i have a bit of a crush on Keanu. JEALOUS OF HIS LIFE.)

Chankgeez wrote:

backwardsvoyager wrote:

goroth wrote:So this site is like... Ilovecompression.com.

More like ^^^^.

Who else can spur this much talk of compression here?

I dunno man, the Diamond Comp is pretty bitchin'

behndy wrote:(i have a bit of a crush on Keanu. JEALOUS OF HIS LIFE.)

TROOF