Recommend a quiet compressor pedal

[lettmusic]

+ 1 on the SP. it never leaves my pedalboard and it's on all the time.

Just got one but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

I looked at the Keeley and Wampler pedals and the cool thing is the offer tweak controls right on the pedal in the form of easy to spin knobs.
The SP has 2 knobs and a mini toggle and then the internal dip switches.

Just found a smokin deal on a new Wampler Ego so I HAVE to get it now.
Then I can do a dual of the pedals with my own gear.

the Wampler is great too, you'll love both. I would say the Wampler does country twang a bit better, but the SP is amazing and takes up literally a very small pedalboard space.
I originally got the SP just to improve my clean tones, but it works surprisingly with high gain too, so it stays on pretty much all the time now

 

[BackCrack]

My recent MXR Bass Compressor is pretty quiet. Supposed to be a LA2A clone in a pedal.

 

[JimmyBlind]

I tend to run my Keeley first in the signal chain before my tuner.

I find it's my overdrive pedals that make the noise. Noise suppressor goes last in my chain.

 

[Ventura]

Keeley.

 

[C1-ocaster]

+ 1 on the SP. it never leaves my pedalboard and it's on all the time.

Just got one but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

I looked at the Keeley and Wampler pedals and the cool thing is the offer tweak controls right on the pedal in the form of easy to spin knobs.
The SP has 2 knobs and a mini toggle and then the internal dip switches.

Just found a smokin deal on a new Wampler Ego so I HAVE to get it now.
Then I can do a dual of the pedals with my own gear.

the Wampler is great too, you'll love both. I would say the Wampler does country twang a bit better, but the SP is amazing and takes up literally a very small pedalboard space.
I originally got the SP just to improve my clean tones, but it works surprisingly with high gain too, so it stays on pretty much all the time now

I'm going to pick up the Wampler this afternoon and then compare both pedals to hear which works better for me.
I'll post my impressions once I get a chance to play with them.

Thanks to all for the advice and input.

 

[Jofipe]

Tried the Xotic. It shaped the tone quite allot... The Empress is the cleanest i'v heard. It's really good. That one for me was a keeper

 

[C1-ocaster]

Got a chance to try out both pedals this evening.
At first I couldn't get the Wampler to sound very good.
But, I didn't know what I was doing. Read the manual to get acquainted and still couldn't quite get anything good.

Then I tried the Xotic. This pedal is designed to take a lot of guesswork out of a compressor.
Left the dials at noon, compression level at mid, plugged in and sweet!
Very nice. Tried all 3 levels and they all have a great flavor.
This pedal does not have a blend control so it's all "effect" all the time, but it sounds very nice.
Played "Another brick in the wall" and with my Strat and 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb with the Xotic it is beautifully like Gilmore's tone.

So I went back to the Wampler and started by mimicking the Xotic's control settings.
Started by setting the blend to full compressor. Rolled the "attack" and "sustain" to 0 and started there.
Found the sweet spot for me with the attack around 10-12 o'clock and the sustain around noon.
VERY much like the xotic.
Then started dialing some blend towards the original input.
This is where the Wampler has benefits over the Xotic as you can dial in more of less of the compressor to retain some dynamics.
Plus the Wampler has a tone control that is really cool. At 0 it's as natural as the no pedal, and going up brings in some cool chimey treble.

Both pedals are quite, but since the Wampler has more onboard/on top adjustments and blend it's quieter over all compared to the Xotic. Don't consider the Xotic a noisy pedal cause it's not at all. Only on the high compression setting does it have some hiss, but even the Wampler has the same hiss if the blend is 100% pedal.

Which one to keep?
I'm not sure yet. At this point I really like both.
Both have a great "compressed" quality and tone.
Xotic is cool because it's small and compact, and simplified in control, with the the preset's sounding great.
Some have said the Xotic "colors" the tone.
But from my experimenting that's only because the Xotic doesn't have a blend control, so you hear the pedal at 100%.
With the blend on the Wampler you can retain some of your original unaffected tone and I think that makes it seems as if it colors the tone less. But if you turn the blend to 100%-effect, then both pedals affect the tone in the same way, meaning both "color" in the same way.
I used the same guitar, same amp, same settings to keep the comparison consistent.

Price wise the Xotic has the Wampler beat at $132 and $200 respectively.
For the extra money you get more easy access controls, blend, and tone.
For less money you get a great compressor that's less versatile, but it really doesn't need it.

I wouldn't use a compressor every time all the time though.
For some things I don't like compression as it smooths out dynamics too much even at low settings.

 

[gibson08]

Now try the Keeley 4 knob and then make your decicsion I liked the Xotic cause of space and it works great with gainy amps, do you think the Wampler works as well with gain? I probably should have the Xotic for dirt and the Keeley for clean.