The sound files on this page accompany Hannes Bieger's review of the Rockruepel Comp Two compressor in SOS December 2013.
rockreupel.zip | 35 MBVocals
These examples show the loudness potential of the Comp Two. This isn't even heavy compression (circa 6dB gain reduction), but the signal gets much louder thanks to the fast time constants. Some saturation adds just the right amount of grittiness — however, in this case this works better when the unit is compressing at the same time, because the signal is more even before it runs into the saturation stages.
01: Original.
02: Fast attack, fast release.
03: Fast attack, fast release, medium saturation.
04: Medium saturation (amp only mode).
Drum Room
These drum room mics get crushed heavily, again thanks to the fast time constants. A slower attack parameter and the sidechain filter help to tame the results and maintain a fuller low end.
01: Original.
02: Fast attack, fast release.
03: Medium attack, fast release.
04: Medium attack, fast release, sidechain lowcut 110Hz.
Bass
One word: punch! A medium to long attack (around 15ms) brings out the initial transients, but despite the more pronounced attacks the signal gets louder. Again, the side-chain filter helps to keep the body as full and rich as possible, and the saturation on the transients helps to blow up the signal even further.
01: Original
02: Medium attack, medium release.
03: Medium attack, medium release, side-chain low-cut 110Hz filter.
04: Medium attack, fast release, side-chain low-cut 110Hz filter, medium saturation.
Moog Bass
This example illustrates the distortion capabilities of the Comp Two. There is no compression involved, just the soft clipping generated in the valve stages.
01: Original.
02: Strong saturation (amp only mode).