Empress Effects Unveils Bass Compressor and Compressor MkII Pedals
Ottawa’s Empress Effects has expanded its lineup of compressors with the Compressor MkII and the Bass Compressor. While their flagship compressor model has been revamped to include a “tilt” tone EQ control and a selectable side chain, the new Bass model has been retooled for us low-enders.
“On top of the full range of features and controls normally only seen in high-end studio equipment, such as input and gain reduction metering, independent attack and release controls, a mix knob for parallel compression, and an external sidechain insert, we’ve now added a fully variable sidechain high pass filter, and a two-position ‘tone + colour’ circuit which adds gentle tone sculpting and harmonic distortion, giving your bass some delicious character,” the company writes.
The Bass model is all-analog and has three compression ratios – 2:1, 4:1, and 10:1 – for flexibility. It also has an improved low-end frequency response that is flat down to 20Hz. Other features include True Bypass, True Display LEDs, and a compact enclosure.
See the features on the MkII and Bass Compressor in the company’s demo video:
The Empress Effects Compressor MkII and Bass Compressor will both be available for $249.
Empress Effects Bass Compressor Pedal Features:
| All Analog Signal Path |
| Extremely Transparent |
| 3 Compression Ratios - 2:1, 4:1 and 10:1 |
| Attack and Release Control |
| Mix - Blend uncompressed signal in with the compressed signal for parallel compression |
| Gain Reduction and Input Level Metering |
| Tone + Color - Adds mild harmonic distortion with a mid-range cut or an upper mid-range boost. |
| Sidechain Send/Return- 3.5mm TRS jack send and return for sidechain compression. |
| Sidechain High Pass Filter - a variable high pass filter that filters low frequencies from the sidechain. The filter frequency ranges from 20Hz to 400Hz. |
| Improved Low End Frequency Response - To handle those low low sounds, completely flat down to 20Hz. |
| True Display LEDs |
| True Bypass |
| Small Size |
Empress Effects Compressor MkII Pedal Features:
| All Analog Signal Path |
| Extremely Transparent |
| 3 Compression Ratios - 2:1, 4:1 and 10:1 |
| Attack and Release Control |
| Mix - Blend uncompressed signal in with the compressed signal for parallel compression |
| Gain Reduction and Input Level Metering |
| Tone - New tone knob, a “tilt” style tone knob centered at 500Hz to nail that perfect tone. |
| Sidechain Send/Return- 3.5mm TRS jack send and return for sidechain compression. |
| Sidechain High Pass Filter - No need to add a high pass filter to the sidechain, now there is one built-in that can be toggled off or set to 120 or 240Hz. |
| True Display LEDs |
| Power On Bypassed or Engaged |
| True Bypass |
| Small Size |
