Bondi Effects | Squish As | Blackmer VCA Compressor

The Squish As is the compressor you can rely on to preserve all of the richness of your tone while bringing out nuance you might never have noticed before.

At its core, the Squish As features a best-in-class Blackmer® Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA) and True RMS Detector. Optical and JFET compressors are popular for their musical character; however, this character often comes with increased distortion, limited dynamic range, and a somewhat unpredictable transfer function. The high-end VCA and True RMS Detector deliver natural, high-fidelity dynamics processing. Use it to make notes sound more consistent, tame peaks, and boost subtleties; or add depth to your tone with parallel compression by setting the Ratio high and rolling back the Blend control. The Squish As is the perfect always-on compressor.

Full audio frequency bandwidth and a Sensitivity range of -6.3dBu to -46.3dBu make the Squish As suitable for a variety of input signals including bass guitar, high output pedals (up to +12dBu), and synthesiser. The -96dBu noise floor is low enough that the Squish As can be used anywhere in the chain. The variable Ratio from 1:1 (no-compression) to ∞:1 (limiting) can take you from transparent smoothness to brick-wall limiting. Up to 20dB of makeup gain on the Output control and a tilt-style Tone control will ensure that nothing is lost along the way.

The LEDs are not just for pretty colours. I've found that to understand what a compressor is actually doing, the most helpful thing is visual feedback. That's why I have added a gain reduction VU meter to the Squish As. The VU meter indicates the amount of gain reduction in decibels that is happening at any time. Squish As is the compressor you can actually understand.

The Squish As Compressor’s Attack rate is programme-dependent, meaning that the Attack is automatically set to a very musical rate based on the player’s input. Put simply, the harder you play, the faster the attack. The mathematics behind this are fairly complex, but some useful rules of thumb for Attack are:

• 3dB gain reduction will take approx. 42ms
  
• 6dB gain reduction will take approx. 20ms
  
• 10dB gain reduction will take approx. 15ms
  
• 20dB gain reduction will take approx. 5ms
  

The Release will always be slow relative to the Attack, at a fixed rate of 125dB/s or 8ms/dB. Some useful rules of thumb for Release are:

• 3dB recovery will take approx. 24ms
  
• 6dB recovery will take approx. 48ms
  
• 10dB recovery will take approx. 80ms
  
• 20dB recovery will take approx. 160ms
  

The resulting attack and release rates mean you will always have a slower release relative to the attack.

Tech Specs:

• Input Impedance: 500kΩ @ 1kHz
• Output Impedance: 560Ω @ 1kHz
• Input Level: Rail to rail, approx. +12dBu
• Output Level: Rail to rail, approx. +12dBu
• Noise: -96dBu, A-weighted 20Hz to 20000Hz
• THD: Typically less than 0.02%, any compression amount up to 40dB @ 1kHz
• SNR: Typically less than 82dB without any gain reduction
• Frequency Response (-3dB): 20Hz to 20000Hz –suitable for Guitar and Bass
  
• Attack Time: Program dependent;-3dB ≈ 42ms, -6dB ≈ 20ms, -10dB ≈ 15ms
• Release Time: 125dB/s or 8ms/dB
• Dimensions: 126.5mm * 66mm * 55mm
• Power requirements: 9V centre negative, < 70mA