The latest release from Vienna-based Becos FX arms guitarists and bassists with a powerful VCA compressor pedal that’s capable of delivering smooth, natural-sounding results even when applying significant amounts of gain reduction. Despite offering a wide range of compression characters, the CompIQ YUNA has been designed with ease of use in mind, and promises to combine its deep versatility with user-friendly operation.
Becos FX say that the idea behind the latest pedal began in 2017 when, inspired by the DBX 163, they set about bringing the simplicity and practicality of a one-knob compressor design to the guitar pedal world — the 163 features a single control that governs ratio, threshold and make-up gain. After some initial research, their goal was set aside in favour of the more detailed controls introduced in their CompIQ Stella, Mini and Twain pedals.
The company have since returned to the concept, which has now made its way into the product line-up as the CompIQ YUNA. Featuring a single Comp control that defines the ratio and threshold, the latest offering delivers a smooth, natural-sounding response that is said to enhance dynamics without sacrificing tone. Attack and release times are set using another joint Timing control, with a Speed switch offering access to a wider range of options.
Selectable Feed-Forward and Feed-Back modes offer two distinct compression characters, while an internal Voicing DIP-switch provides users with a choice of four ‘colour’ options, and an X-EQ tilt equaliser offers some overall tonal shaping capabilities. The CompIQ YUNA shares some of the advanced side-chain features found in the company’s other compressors, including a variable lows cut/boost side-chain filter optimised for bass and low-end-heavy instruments, and a Dry/Wet Mix control that offers built-in parallel compression. Thanks to some internal RMS reference calibration options, the pedal supports signals ranging from passive pickups to active electronics and other high-level devices like keyboards and synths.
Pricing & Availability
The CompIQ YUNA is available now, priced at €259. There’s also a version fitted with an optional DITOS transformer-balanced output stage, which costs €319.
becosfx.com/product/compiq-yuna-pro-compressor-pedal-for-bass-and-guitar
