SanJune GB-CP Optical Compressor Guitar and Bass Effects Pedal, Black

This kind of control at this price point is amazing. While I usually prefer FET compressors this is a pretty good LED one. Controls are very functional with an acceptable noise floor and small box form. I compared it side by side with a Barber Tone Press(the newer small box form) which is my current favorite because it really makes clean tones bigger and better. The construction is solid, switch feels good, and the control pot motion is well-damped. The text is sharp and clear. The SanJune has a noticeable bass roll-off on some guitars. I had to adjust the guitar tone control to recover that bass. With some tweaking I was able to get fairly close to the FET sound that I like. The compression control is too sensitive. The range for usable compression is very small but when it is set right it sounds good. i would have preferred a blend control instead of a gain control which i find of little use. Because of it's blend control I prefer the sound of the Barber Tone Press but it costs more than twice as much and has fewer controls. For those that love to tweak there is nothing close in price that covers what the SanJune does.

This optical compressor is an incredible bargain. Optical compressors have advantages over other types: they're predictable and won't compress strangely when confused, like digital compressors, they're reactive, sensing the music organically, automatically and adjusting their behavior, & the optics provide disconnection from the electronics lessening noise and providing a measure of both physical and auditory safety. This pedal has most of the compression controls you'd find in a recording studio's rack: attack, release, knee (or slope), ratio (compression, etc.. Most pedal compressors, including those costing 5X more, generally have two functional knobs: attack & ratio (compression). Sometimes they'll add a level control (which this one has also) and/or a tone control (bizarre and unnecessary, they're just giving you an extra knob to help you pretend they're adding audio "value." Thankfully this does not include that absurd nonsense). That's what I wanted, a compressor that was similar to the compressors I was used to using in the studio. I got what I wanted, but found when gigging live fidelling with & fine tuning compression settings is a pain and it's probably better to just have two knobs, like most have.The compressor is physical solid & impressive. It sounds fantastic. It's inexpensive, and super inexpensive when consider its feature set. Best usage case would be to dial it in before the show, & then tape the knobs down, or just leave the ratio/compression knob untaped so you could turn it. Setting the slope might be super necessary, but when playing live it just gets in the way if you're the one both playing and fiddling with knobs..

This sounds like a JHS Pulp and peel. The gain knob is super powerful. If you max the gain and the level, it sounds like a pleasant overdrive that sounds very transparent.The sound I get is amazing. This thing super versatile. It can do the normal levelling but for me the power is in the attack knob. Gives it that punchy feel, or syrupy feel like notes are pulsating volume wise. Really powerful studio like punch that I couldn't get on a pedal. Ableton has a compressor that adds punch. This pedal does it for a fraction of the cost of a Origin Effects Cali76 Deluxe. Which I refuse to spend that much on.Can't say I experienced any real noise issues. Thinking maybe user error on some users or they may have improved the design. I think San June may have improved it.The first picture is the pcb of a review awhile ago from the compressor guy.The last picture is the pcb of the pedal I just bought. A lot of changes. But I notice right away they put some gunk on the power adaptor pins. The pcb is flipped also. Was gonna swap the op amp but looks way different now. I'd have to completely disassemble. The first pcb had a socketed IC chip.The threshold is super useful if you have different guitars or maybe your pickups aren't balanced.Nothing else compares to the features available here for the price. Compresses like Ableton compressor studio software.

Took a chance with this Chinese off- brand. While I must admit when the pedal intermittently worked in the few days that I had it, the sound was exceptional with the compression even and smooth and doing the job it was intended do to, and for under $100 the features were also impressive. However within a couple of days of gently using the pedal and dialing in my sound which was securely mounted on my pedal board , it started shorting out and finally lost all power. Either faulty solder connection or cracked circuit board in the manufacturing process. Also the output jack was experiencing connectivity issues. For a new pedal just outside the box this is unacceptable. A new item should work without any issues. Hopefully for the company's sake, this is either an isolated incident or they are fixing this issue on future units. No choice but to return the pedal.

With the slope below 3:1 and the gain above 3/4 the output has a scratchy sound when plugged into amp. Connected a oscilloscope to the output and observed a ~1.2MHz sine wave oscillation. Bought a second one. It too had the same design flaw (oscillation was 2.3MHz on second unit). The ultrasonic oscillation can damage the equipment that is attached to it so I sent them both back.Other than this design flaw, it’s a great unit. And you should not have this problem as long as level knob is below 3/4.