One of the best parts of this gig is discovering new pedal companies that are doing innovative, exciting and non-traditional building in the effects pedal world, and today’s pedal and company both have captivated us in the best of ways. The DB-CL Dual Band Compressor Limiter takes all you thought you knew about compressors and turns your brain upside down, spins it around and sends it into a musical abyss from which you’ll hope you don’t ever return. Ready to check out FEA Labs and their gear? So are we!
Looking at the DB-CL can be initially daunting, and once you sit down and plug it in, you’ll find your fears were correct: this thing has a LOT of controls and sonic options, but the exploration of it is one of the best parts. The pedal is split into two halves, Lo and Hi, each with their own special set of compression parameters. As with most compressor, there’s Threshold, Ration, Attack and Release, and FEA Labs has added a Gain section to each side as well, to make up for any signal loss you might encounter. A Freq knob in the middle adjusts the crossover point of the frequency, with a range tailored specifically for bass/low end. The control ranges for the Attack and Release knobs have been optimized for each side as well, coving a TON of sonic ground with ease.
A Hi Bypass footswitch lets you take the Hi side out of the equation, focusing solely on control of the lower frequency portion of things, perfect for bass but also for screaming hot or treble-y guitar pickups as well. Switch to the Limiter mode, and the Lo side Ratio control is bypassed, adding in some hard limiting, which is now set by the Threshold knob. There are two outputs as well: Hi is used in conjunction with more guitar-based effects, allowing you to send a Lo signal to another amp or mixer, while the Lo/Full output mixes the Hi and Lo signals together, for a complete and full range signal.
There’s even an onboard internal charge pump that allows the DB-CL to operate at 18V from a 9V power supply (you can use a battery, too, if you like), for tons and tons of headroom, great for active pickups and aggressive playing styles. Basically, this is the super-compressor you never knew existed, and that you never knew you needed. If you’re on a budget, this might not be the pedal for you, but if you’re looking to buy probably the last compressor pedal you’ll ever need, make sure to visit the FEA Labs website to find out more about how to grab one of these beauties for yourself!
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