Feature Gear Review : Diamond's Compressor pedal
Review
Ever wish you could put your studio compressor in a blender and pour it into a foot pedal? Diamond did and they built it.
Diamond pedals first impressed us with the Fireburst and did not disapoint a bit with the new CPR-1 compressor.
There are no doubt some great pedal compressors out there. Two of my personal favorites are the Keeley and the Homebrew comp. Both give that magical sheen to a clean guitar sound and the endless sustain to an overdriven one. But what really makes one different from another besides the tone variation? Features not seen before thats what, but more on that later.
The CPR-1 from Diamond pedals not only performs guitar compression as well as the competition but has added features that a boutique pedal compressor has not seen before. A clean guitar tone never had a better friend. The CPR-1 adds the extra sparkle and sheen to a clean tone that needs to be heard. It also excels at Gilmour type liquid sustaining leads with an overdrive in front of it. The CPR-1 will add fullness and sustain to your tone that can literally make the difference between just being happy with your sound versus" grinning like Tommy Lee at a frat party happy" with your sound.
The most obvious new feature in an EQ knob. This feature gives you tone shaping options not seen before in a pedal comp. The EQ knob set to center is a flat EQ response. Too much high end for you? You can dial it out. Too much Woomph? You can dial it out. Need a Ric "Jangle" ? Turn it to the right. Need a warmer country lead tone? Turn it to the left. This type of EQ shift is standard on high end studio compressors but Diamond pedals is the first to put it in a compact pedal for guitarists. I wouldnt be suprised to see this feature on other comps on the market in the future. It really does open up your tone shaping options and makes it very hard to go back to one without an EQ.
Ready for the next "Diamond exlusive" feature? A 2 color LED that actually shows the level of the compression depth. I havent seen this on any other pedal before and is a very useful feature to have. Its been argued in the past but we are a very visual race. Would a Univibe sound as good if the LED did not throb in time? Sure it would but not having it just does not feel right. Same thing goes here , actually seeing the amount of depth with the LED change is a very cool " bell and whistle" that just sets Diamond apart and again will not be suprised if we see this used in other effects down the road.
Just like the Fireburst we tried before, the CPR-1 is built like a tank. Clean and very neat workmanship on the inside and only top quality parts are used here.
It can handle voltage from 9 volts all the way to 24 volts. Can you say overbuilt ? Not only is this good if you have a voltage spike but you can also experiment with different voltages, alot of times it does make a tone difference at higher voltage. Even though most folks wont experiment the piece of mind of having the pedal built to handle higher voltages is comforting.
The CPR-1 is a great sounding and great built compresser with features not seen on a pedal compressor before. All these features at 179.00 makes the CPR-1 a serious contender for your compressor budget.
