When Empress Effects released their original Compressor pedal back in 2011, it quickly became a favourite among guitar and bass players alike. Providing more than what most typical comp stompboxes could offer, many of which are hindered by oversimplified controls, Empress has now designed an improved MKII Compressor with impressive studio-like features. The original worked great, but this goes one better!
On top of the full range of controls normally only seen in high-end recording equipment, including input and gain reduction metering, independent attack and release controls, a mix knob for parallel compression, and an external sidechain insert – Empress has now added a 'tilt' tone EQ control and a selectable sidechain high-pass filter built into the Compressor’s detection circuit. The whole package is now half the size and available in two snazzy colours too!
Features
- All Analog Signal Path – No digitals in here!
- Extremely Transparent – Add dynamic control without altering the original tone of your instrument.
- 3 Compression Ratios – 2:1, 4:1 and 10:1 ratios offer lots of flexibility.
- Attack and Release Control – Allows for ultimate control over the compression characteristics.
- Mix – Blend uncompressed signal in with the compressed signal for parallel compression, New York Style!
- Metering – Meter both gain reduction and input levels on separate meters.
- Tone – New tone knob, a "tilt" sytle tone knob centered at 500Hz to nail that perfect tone.
- Sidechain Send/Return – 3.5mm TRS jack send and return for sidechain compresson.
- 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 – Bright multi-color LEDs always let you know what the compressor is doing.
- Power On Bypassed or Engaged – For musicians that never want to turn their compressor off.
- True Bypass – The Empress Compressor employs true bypass, so you can be sure that it's not affecting the signal when disengaged.
- Small Size – New enclosure approximately half the size of the original compressor, which is delightfully small when considering all the features packed into this unit.
- Beautiful Case – It has a sparkle you can't deny, in blue or silver!
Specifications
- Input Impedance: 1M
- Output Impedance: 2.2k
- Frequency Response (-3dB): 20Hz – 20kHz
- Distortion: Less Than 0.1%
- Noise: -101dB
- Power Input Voltage: 9-18V DC (Negative Tip)
- Power Input Connector: 2.1mm Barrel Connector (Negative Tip)
- Power Consumption: ~ 100mA
- Enclosure Material: Die Cast Aluminium
- Input Connector: 1/4" Jack
- Output Connector: 1/4" Jack
- Height (Enclosure Only): 1.5"
- Height (Including Controls): 2.5"
- Length: 4.8"
- Width: 2.6"
- Weight: 1lbs
