Alesis NanoCompressor

Takes some reading to dial in some decent sounds. Manual was great for understanding how to use the device and to inform you on where to start. Once you get the hang of it, you can use this for a multitude of purposes and sounds.

Setup = 84 American Strat equipped w Noiseless pickups, 91 Charvel w Dimarzio Area 58 and 61 pickups, or 73 Ibanez Les Paul copy equipped with Seymour Duncans. All w gauge 10s. Crate Palomino v32 212. Connect by itself with monster cables and thru my Carl Martin Combinator 2 with George L cables. Also tested with Vox Pathfinder model v9158, Fender FM 100 head, Marshall MG 250 DFX.

Sound = This baby was added to my pedalboard believe it or not. I play in a large variety band with a horn section, keys, ... It helped me even out my sound, tighten up my rhythm work, and cut through the mix. I have DOD, Aphex, Ibanez, and RMC Teese compressors and I decided between the RMC and Alesis. I still rely mostly on the Alesis for 90% of my sounds.

I can get great tight funk and blues rhythm sounds out of it. I can use it for metal and rock. I use it with an EQ, delay, and sometimes chorus.

yes you can depend on this device. you can use it with no backups.

never had to use it

Soul, funk, r&b, blues, rock, latin, latin rock, tejano, jazz,??? This compression has really worked for me.

been playing 25 plus years

I own Boss, Ibanez, Morley, RMC Teese, DOD. Alesis, Digitech, MXR, Aphex, and Analogman modded pedals.

I would definitely replace it with the same one. Depend it too much to not replace it.

I wish that they would make a pedal version of this where you could switch the hard / soft and peak / rms. OR better yet - make a two channel / two setting model.

Best purchase I ever made.

The only complaint about the ease of use is that Alesis only put the lowest and highest setting on the dials. For instance, "attack" is listed at something like .1ms at the bottom of the dial, then there are a bunch of non-labled markings, and finally 200ms is listed at the highest setting. But it's not hard to tweak around the knobs and get a decent setting.

not very noisy. i usually use this box when tracking, recording vocals, bass, drums, acoustic, etc. I find the sound quality to be good, and i've compared it against another compressor of similar price (behringer composer) and the sound was nice and full. For this price, this is a good sounding compressor, although at some settings you can hear it pumping.

very well built for small box (1/3 rack space). Hell, i dropped it down the stairs accidentally the first day i got it and it works fine!

never had to deal with them.

a good cheap compressor. fine for home recording and for using in a guitar or bass singal path.

Very easy to use. Everyone should have at least one. Seriously. I use one inbetween my keyboard and amp, another comp between my bass and it's amp, and a separate comp for my vocals and guitar. This is the best compressor I've used. It isn't as easy to set as some of the generic stomp boxes with one adjustable setting, but that's okay. This unit has the right balance between versatility and ease-of-use. You will need to likely spend a half-hour getting to understand compression basics if you've never used a good comp before.

I use it with all kinds of instruments, but mainly my keyboard. It's very quiet. You can tweak it so many ways that the sound quality largely depends on your ability to properly use the equipment.

I've never had a problem with mine and I feel I can depend on it with no problems.

I've actually had good luck with Alesis. I think a lot of musicians are hot-heads and they get all bent out of shape when they don't get immediate drop-everything-and-help-me kind of service. If you are willing to wait about 24-hours for a phone call or e-mail response, Alesis will help you out.

I love these units. The ONLY compaint I have is the shape. It's not a rack-mount unit, and it doesn't exactly fit onto my desktop really easy. I have it resting on my amp and that's okay, but I wish the unit had a more convenient shape. Minor bug.

Being a compact product, Alesis omitted the numbers between full CW and CCW. I'm experienced with compressors to know the effects of attack and release time, and it took some experimentation to figure out the scale of the legends. Once that was accomplished then it worked as expected.

I like it for stereo program material. In fact I use it between my DVD player and my stereo, because DVD MOVIES ARE TOO DAMN DYNAMIC!! If you hate having to turn up the TV to hear spoken dialogue and then get blown off your chair when the next explosion scene blasts you at +30dB, then get one of these boxes it will make movie watching MUCH more enjoyable.

The acid test of compressors is steady state program material with latin percussion mixed in. I played with some live material with it and got good results.

The frequency range certainly seems adequate, I get plenty of low end subsonics and the high end is crystal clear.

This is a set-and-forget module, the buttons are rather small and the knobs are squeezed together tighter than a can of sardines. It was ideal for the DVD player and it was cheap. Good compressor for stereo program material, but don't try using independent instruments through a stereo compressor because the VCA limiters are internally linked and won't work as independent compressors.

This is the most basic of all compressors.Not hard to figure out.

For the price this is the best compressor to use.It adds punch to bass,drums,guitars without any noise.I play alot of heavy music.I use this thing with a Marshall dsl tubeamp and it adds tons of punch to my sound.With alot of distortion it has that Slipknot,Hatebreed type guitar tone.I love it.

Ive used it at gigs for over two yrs.Its never stopped working.

Ive never dealt with them.But like most companies now days they probably have terrible customer skills.

Ive been playing music like Slayer,Metallica,Morbid Angel for about ten years.I just added this to my gear and it makes my guitar sound so much better.Takes the mud out of my lowend and it evens out the highs so my ears dont bleed.lol

I found this unit pretty straight forward while using the manual with it. I am not a real technical person and havent owned very many stand-alone compressors but I got this to do what I needed it to do in a matter of minutes.

I only used this for smoothing out vocals and bass guitar while laying tracks in my basement and personally thought for the money it was quite efficient but havent tried it in any other applications.

I didnt have it very long because I went to all computer based gear (although this would still work fine for a setup as such) so I can not comment on that.

Never needed to call support.

I think this little thing is well worth the money (approx. $59 to date Jan 2003)but then again if you are needing more out of a compressor of course you pretty much get what you pay for. Very nice simple unit with good quality for a good low price but may not work well in all applications (for instance-Guitar rig)

I didn't get a manual for this thing because I bought it used. I looked up some general information on the principles of compression though, and that was enough to use this compressor effectively. The dials and buttons are clearly marked in widely-accepted terms; ratio, threshhold, knee setting, RMS or Peak(you can look that up online if you have to like I did), attack and release. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

I'm using this compressor on my bass rig, a 500W GK head with a GK 4x10 It's the only effect I use. After playing a few gigs I don't know how I got by without this thing. Slap bassists will be very satisfied with this product; you can tweak the settings so your thumbwork cuts through and the pops don't overbear. You do need to be careful not to use extreme settings, otherwise you get some hissing and pumping/breathing, otherwise it sounds great. And I haven't even used the stereo feature yet.

Seems pretty solid so far. I've had it for about four months now. I've dropped it a few times, it's kind of hard not to drag it off the amp since it's so small, but it still works great. I can live without compression so yes, I would use it without a backup at a show. I'd be surprised to have it die on me anyway.

Bought it used, so I don't suppose I'll get much help here.

I've been playing bass for six years now, and I love to keep it funky. This compressor is a boon to me. I love the tight, percussive sound I can get out of it, nad the versatility and ease of use is great. If this thing got stolen or brokern I would replace it the next day. It also looks like it would be good for recordings and whole-band compression since it's stereo, but I don't want to sacrifice it to find out. Definitely a great value.

Five knobs, four buttons, lots of LED's. About as simple as compressors get.
Compression is very subjective and not at all intuitive to use, but the manual and quick setup card are quite good.
Putting it into RMS mode disables the attack and release pots, so all you have to do is sort out ratio and level.

Driving this unit with a high level signal is not a good idea, unless you really like to see red LED's, but it seems to work ok in my bass amp fx loop.
Used it a couple of times for home recording, with OK results, generally it gets used on the main outs on our desk, to limit the transients going into the amp (and the speakers)
I lent it to a DJ friend of mine who used it for talkover ducking, h liked it so much he bought one himself.

Fairly reliable. Before I bought this unit the band didn't have a compressor, and it wouldn't be a big deal to go back to not having one.

All round, a useful little unit, especially considering the price. Anyone running large PA should get one of these, as there's no cheaper way of protecting your amps, speakers and ears.

Compression is not an intuitivly obvious effect to use, but this unit does a very good job for an affordable unit. The instructions give good settings to start out with, and with a little tweaking many more subtle effects can be achieved

I have used this compressor for work on recordings, and to add a more polished sound to my acoustic guitar and singing in live situations. I play a Guild D-25 acoustic through a Tech 21 Acoustic DI, then into the compressor and finally to my SWR California Blonde. The sonic quality is very clear and crisp. But DO NOT intend to use this unit as a boosting effect. For that you should go with a pedal style compressor, such as an MXR or Boss, for electic stage situations. As many of the other reviews have mentioned the nanoCompressor will clip in situations in which it is not intended to be used. For use in the studio and with acoustic music, i have found that using this unit has been a delight.

I would rely on this unit completely, as long as i was using it to add a polished more profesional sound to my live acoustic playing. I would not ever bring this unit along with my Marshall and Les Paul and try to crank insane solo's through it, it is simply not designed for that type of use, and cannot handle it.

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This compressor is a great match for an entry level compressor with many versitile high end features at avery affordable price. I have been playing for seven years, and this unit fits perfectly into my home studio. I have used it to compress vocals and acoustic guitars in live and recording situations and it hasn't disapointed me yet. In fact I am serously thinking about buying a second one so i can run my vocals and guitar each through their own when i play live. If it were lost or stolen i would buy another in a second. Compared to other similar products in this price range it is far and away the best. Just remember not to try to use it as a boost or sustain box, because it won't work.

It is relatively easy to use if you want to stay basic. If you select rms, then you disable your attack and release. For starters, I would suggest that you use the rms and set the threshold at 10:30 and the ratio at around 2:00. If you don't know much about compression then I would suggest you read some about it before you start messing with the attack/release functions. I use this compressor exclusively for guitar(unlike what others have said about it not being made for guitar) and have had only joy with it. However, since it is not your standard boss looking pedal (which gives you crappy tone sucking sound any way), it is not the easiest of pedals to start out with.

I play a PRS Hollowbody II through a Vox Wah, 2 TS-9 tubescreamers, and a Harmonizer into a Peavy Blues Deluxe. The beauty of this compressor is that the sound is very transparent and it allows the tone come out of your guitar. I rarely change the knobs on the compressor and I keep it on all the time. Even when I have all my other effects on or none on at all, it sounds extremely good and keeps the levels perfect. I am into jambands such as Phish, Dead, Widespread Panic and String Cheese Incident and it allows my guitar to show off its outstanding tone.

I have only had it for a few months but it looks like it would stand the test of time. My only concern is that the switches for rms and bypass may break although they have shown no signs of deterioration. I would and do use it without a back-up and feel very confident about it.

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If you have a nice guitar and want the sound of your beautiful axe to come out, I highly suggest that you pick yourself up one of these. They are inexpensive and the sound quality is unparalleled. This quiet piece of joy has improved my sound tremendously and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. If you have the means, I sincerely suggest it.

This unit allows enough user control to get a good sound for most any situation although someone who is not familiar with compressors, in general, may have some trouble setting it up properly.

The manual does a decent job of explaining each control but gives detailed hookup information for specific uses at the expense of more general setup examples such as limiting when recording stereo signals.

I have been testing this unit for spoken word recording and full mix limiting when recording to digital media. I was somewhat surprised at how well it performed in each situation even with extreme ratio settings.

The "rms" mode disables the "attack" and "release" controls and puts the unit into auto-detection mode which works quite well with the program material I have put through it.

I have read reviews on the net about this compressor that weren't favorable. Maybe it didn't work well for their particular use but I am quite pleased with its operation.

The nanocompressor has quite good build quality. Having designed and built many electronic units, I could hardly wait to take it out of the box and open it up to look at the components used. It uses ordinary carbon resistors and a TL084 quad opamp for some of the audio sigals. These parts are not that impressive but the TL084 is better than average and the unit is quiet.

The box in which the components reside is very well built and could probably take quite a bit of abuse.

I haven't used the Nanocompressor long enough to comment on its long term reliability but I've owned many Alesis products and have never had one fail.

I have never dealt with Alesis when needing customer support.

I am involved in all styles of music because I operate a music production service. I use a fairly extensive MIDI setup along with live recording when producing custom music for clients. I also record and edit live events. I use a Pro Tools system for multitrack work and Sound Designer II (Audiomedia card) for stereo editing and mastering.

If it were stolen or lost I would probably get another one because it offers a lot of control and metering options when compared to other units in this price range. Guitar Center blew them out at $49 new so I can't imagine getting anything close to this for that price. If it had been up in the $200 range I probably wouldn't have even looked at it.

I love its sound, functionality and metering.

There's nothing I really hate about it.

My favorite features are the ability to switch between "rms" or "peak" detection and "hard" or "soft" knee operation.

I didn't really compare it to other products before I bought it because the price was so ridiculously low for a new unit. I compared it to two other compressors I already owned after I brought it home-a dbx mono unit and a Yamaha stereo unit. I will still probably end up using the dbx compressor for vocals and spoken word recording. The Nanocompressor isn't bad for these uses but I just like the way the dbx unit handles some things. The Nanocompressor does a much better job at brick wall limiting than the Yamaha.

The only complaint I have is that it is set up for nominal -10dB operation. If I'm recording directly into any of my digital units this is not a problem because they operate at that level also. I have an Ebtech Line Level Shifter that can deal with the input to the compressor from my +4dB mixer. But, if I want to to use this unit in the mix inserts of my main mixer, this becomes a problem. It is also a problem when using my external A/D converter which expects a hot +4dB nominal signal. The output of the Nanocompressor can be turned way up to compensate for this but that constitutes poor gain-staging.

This unit is fairly easy to use. It has all the typical compression box features that have been adequately covered on other reviews. It is easy to dial up the compression that you want, and adjust the attack and release to get the pinpoint of the cut. The problem with this uit is that IT IS NOT MADE FOR USE WITH GUITAR. I will explain this in the overall rating block.

The sound and compression quality of this unit is really good. It would be very suitable for compression of vocals or keyboards. It is really quiet, and doesnt really need to have a gate on it.

After taking one look at this thing, you can tell its gonna last you a while. Its small, compact, sturdy, and built out of a some hard A$$ stuff. Unfortunately I cannot depend on it though, because it does not fit my needs.

Ok. For those of you out there who are looking for a lower price alternative to getting great compression for your guitar.....look elsewhere. I have a set of Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups in the bridge position of my guitar. Naturally the output from my guitar is high, because I have some roaring pickups. The Nanocompressor cannot handle this high of a guitar output. It CONSTANTLY clips. The input monitor on the unit is in the RED zone 99% of the time while im playing. This distorts your signal, and has potential to damage your amplifier. I personally called Alesis, and a representative told me flat out. "The Nanocompressor was not constructed with the guitar in mind. It is not for use with guitar". The impedance levels on this unit are too low, and the output of a good guitar is just too high. They do not mix. Bottom line is......unless you want this thing to clip and stay in the red zone with every note you hit, do not buy the Alesis Nanocompressor.

I just set to where the manual told me for bass guitar and just varied the threshold according to how much I wanted to dump

This is my beef. It started out OK then it soon developed this buzzy hum that I first thought was the AC at this gig, but it happened everywhere and it sounded like crap, unusable. What really pissed me off is that the people I bought it from (new) claimed they couldn't trace the receipt, so I emailed Alesis and asked if they would help me out. They never even replied to my email, so this piece of junk is going in the basement and I'll replace it with the ART Levelar and never buy Alesis again.

I can't use it live any more and recording would be impossible

Never replied to my email. Even Casio replied to my emails

Worked alright for a while then crapped out on me on stage

Very easy to use, but getting a "good" sound out of it requires a lot of tweaking. Standard attack release, threshold ratio stuff..

POOR! My unit clicks terribly when ever the "reduction" leds light. To get around this the only thing I can do is make sure that the leds do not illuminate, and, whats the point if you are not compressing anything.. For really busy, dirty, tracks you might be able to get away with this unit.. The clicks can fit into the groove..

Never broke, I don't gig..

Never dealt with Alesis..

Noisy and clicky.. This thing might be good for non-profesional, playing that the local bar, type stuff. I absolutly refused to use it on my tracks and have since sold it--I now have a focusrite.

The unit has four knobs: Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, and Output. There are two sets of lights: One set displays the input and output levels and is switch selectable. The other set of lights shows the amount of compression in dB. There are also four switches. The first two affect the compression: Hard/Soft, Peak/RMS. Another switch selects either input or output to be displayed in the level meter. Another switch puts the unit in bypass mode. The manual clearly explains the functions of all the controls and gives examples for different applications. Compressors, in general, are more challenging to use. This unit, like any other, requires you to do plenty of experimentaion. However, many sounds are possible from this unit. Because the manual is clearly written and the controls work as expected, I'll give this a 10.

This unit is VERY transparent. It does not change the tone of my guitar at all. Nor does it add any noise to my signal chain. It's totally quiet, which is unusual compared to other compressor pedals that I tried. I do notice that it does roll off high frequencies a little, but every compressor that I tried does. This is not a big deal to me, though. I use this unit as a limiter, to squash my signal a little when I strum the strings on my electric guitar too hard. It balances my output very well and gives my electric guitar a fuller sound.

I have not had this unit very long. It is built with a metal case. The controls feel firm and sturdy. It doesn't feel "cheap" like other pedals I've tried. I would gig with this without a backup. If you treat unit well, it should last you a long time.

I have never dealt with Alesis before. However, my dealer, Sweetest Sounds, is ALWAYS helpful.

I compared this unit to the BOSS CS-3 and the Tech21 Comptortion. The BOSS CS-3 seemed a little too "un-natural" to me. The Tech21 sounded a bit better, but didn't have the sound I was looking for. The NanoCompressor has the sound I've been looking for. I set it to limit my signal so that it sounds more even. It makes my solid-state amp sound naturally compressed, like a tube amp. I would definitely buy this unit again.

I like the fact that it comes with an AC adapter, it has two channels, and it could be used for a variety of applications. I especially like the fact that it is quiet and doesn't add noise to my signal chain. I only wish Alesis made this unit as a stomp box so I can bypass it with a footswitch. But, usually, I just set it and forget it. So, since it's so good, leave it as it is.

This is the first real compressor that I've owned. It took reading the manual and then messing around for about 10 minutes to get a quality sound. The manual is detailed enough for a beginner, but leaves it open so you can find the best settings for yourself.

I use this with my Dean Q5 bass and a P-bass copy. There is a little tweaking when switching between them, but that's OK. From either I go through a DOD Digital Delay, DOD Bass Stereo Chorus, DOD Equalizer, then the compressor. I play through a Crate BXH-220 into a custom 1X15 cab. I'm saving for the matching 2X10. When the gain is high on both the amp and comp, you start to hear the hiss, but I have a hunch it's my effects more than the comp. I play mostly rock, with a little slap mixed in. The comp. does it's job grest. You can see the reduction and output volumes in the LED's.

I haven't had it for very long, but it look tough and is rackmountable, so any drops are your own fault.

Never dealt with them, but Alesis is well known.

This has been well-documented by my predecessors - definitely not your "bare minimum" controls like most guitar stomp-box compressors, but so much easier to use than "serious" studio compressors like the Ural 1176. Even my singer knows how to use it!

Again, my predecessors have well-documented this one. I do wish it included a gate of some sort, but for $100 and a 1/3 rack size, what d'ya want? No detectable "breathing" like on most "cheap" compressors. Sounded so good on the mains thhat I bought another one for our monitors (where a gate REALLY would've helped!!) It does lose a little high-end, but what compressor doesn't?

Have owned one for a year and a half, the other for a month. Never a problem with either of them. (And yes, I have dropped one on a cement floor)

My only dealings with them were thru e-mail, and they did take their sweet time getting back to me. Otherwise, no need to call them.

We are a "mainstream rock" covers band based in Philadelphia. Our PA is minimal, a Mackie 1604, Alesis QuadraVerb, 2 NanoCompressors, Mackie 1200 amp (mains), some 600 watt amp (mon's), 4 Studiocraft monitors (go and laugh - THEY WORK!) and 2 EV cabinets for mains. Whether we are doing Alice in Chains, Live or Kiss, these compressors please the ear and the wallet, and it beats hell out of having to replace $70 hi-drivers due to hi-end spikes. Would recommend this little guy for everything!!!

Read the manual and you will know how to use it, but like anything else it takes a little bit of toying around.

I play bass i have both active LTD(9v&18v) and passive Epiphone basses, and i have also tryed using it in my GK's effects loops, but it still sucks ASS!! It pumps and breaths like no other and even gives out a funny harmonic-like ringing at times. It mite be that i put to much current through it, but i don't know. I have had experiences with much better compressers for bass, such as the dbx 266 (great peice of equipment); so i do know what i am doing and i have had this for a while and it just sucks. But, it is noiseless, i will give it that, but it sounds better when you just don't play through it.

I wouldnt use it. but it has been consently crapy.

don't know

go figure, crapy

let's see... You have a Threshold, and ratio dial. Threshold controls when compression will start and ratio controls how much compression will be applied. Then you have a hard/soft knee switch which basically controls how hard the compression will start. Then you have the RMS/Peak mode switch which controls the KIND of compression... i can't explain this part, I just know I like RMS better. When you're in RMS mode, you use the next two knobs: Attack and Release. Attack controls how quickly the compression will start and release is how long until the compression stops. Then you have an Input/Output switch which controls what the LED graph will show... your input or output level. Then the Comp/Bypass switch so you can do A/B comparisons of your level with and without compression. Output knob is last... controls how loud your final sound will be. Documentation is pretty good but compression is not easy to understand anyway.

Pretty damn good once you get the hang of it. Doesn't color your sound (unless you set it to extremes, see below)

Seems pretty reliable. Never heard anything bad about Alesis.

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What a value! For $99 you can't beat this quality. This is not a guitar stombox, it's a quality piece of rack gear. Compression is an interesting effect. It's not exactly as drastic as a lot of effects. it's mainly a volume control/suppression. However, used appropriately, it gives an interesting sound to Metal tones. You have to adjust it so it compresses all the time in RMS mode with the shortest attack and release times and it sounds killer. It's a very cool piece of equipment.

The manual is excellent, though anyone completley green cant expect to much. I did a lot of a/b comparisons when I went to get it and even compared to some really expensive stuff I felt it gave some good sounds very quickly.

I use it mainly for stereo mixes, often of digital sources onto cassette. It really can give you that on-the-radio energy if set up correctly. It slightly brightens material giving it almost and enhancer type "fizz", I like it but you cant turn it off! I also use it for processing sampled breaks and here peak mode and outrageous thresholds and ratios give good hip/hop squashed effects. Vocals sound nice and exciting as well. Noise is not a problem, though not having a gate means that heavy compression with coresponding gain make up, beefs up any noise on the signal going in, something people often mistake for compressor noise.

Build quality is excellent, in pictures it looks like a toy but I was surprised when I got a hold of one, its mainly metal and has a solid feel so gigging or taking it from studio to studio should be fine. I have not had it long enough to see if its ok electronically but I would bet on it being fine.

Have not had to deal with them yet, though the website is worth visiting if you want to know some more about compression before buying.

For the money this is a great little unit, its pretty much a risk free way of trying out and learning about compression. I love its peak mode and the energy and fizz it gives to stereo mixdowns. I would gladly have a couple but actually got the DBX minicomp to go with it just get a feel for differnt manufacturers while I am learning about compressors. The RMS auto mode on the alesis in comparison I found pretty useless since there is no slow or fast option and I found it hard to find a use for it, and I think the dbx handles bass a little better. If you are strapped for cash and are thinking about one or the other, get the Alesis if you want an exciting little unit and want to get creative, the dbx if you want a good hassle free smooth auto mode, However I cant really imagine anyone being dissapointed with the alesis for the money.

This is really easy to use, once you get past the technical terms such as "threshold" "ratio" "peak", "rms" "hard knee" and "soft knee". I found that was the hardest part -- understanding what those terms mean.
Hooking the thing up is a breeze however -- just following the appropraite inputs and output instructions and you're there.

I'm using it with a Gallien Krueger RB400, SWR Goliath Junior and a few active basses. I find it does a really good job of compressing the heck out of anything.
However, I do find that if the threshold is way down, forcing me to push the output way up, I get a lot of hissing -- this prevents me from maxing out on the compression the way I might like to sometimes.
I find it also does a good job when I use it to do the final mix in my home recording studio (using a Tascam 8 Track cassette recorder).

I can depend on it. It is totally reliable and has never failed me. I've dropped it, stepped on it, knocked it off my amplifier and carried it around in a knapsack for two weeks, and it still works great. I could gig without a backup compressor because I own this beautiful work of electrical engineering art.

Never dealt with Alesis.

I play slap bass, jazz bass and contemporary rock, however, I'm only an amateur. If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy another one immediately. I love it because it is a nice balance between control, and simplicity. It was the only one I could find in this price range, that gave me the control to set the amount and type of compression I wanted.
I wish it had an on/off button so I don't have to unplug the adaptor all the time, but otherwise, this one's a keeper.

The Nano compressor can be confusing to use at first but after about five minutes you get the picture.

I mainly use the nanocompressor for my bass rig,A Trace Elliot with a G&L Bass. I thought my setup was good before but using a nanocompressor on my amp gave it ungodly boooom! In a good way! It's a commpressor/limiter, So you have total control over the sound. and making a recording? It's somthing you gotta have!

The nanocompressor is bult like a car stereo so it can take a lot of abuse. a solid dependable unit.

never needed customer support. only heard good things about the company.

It's coolest thing since sliced bread.

Easy. Threshold, ratio, attack, release, and output level, a soft/hard knee button, peak/rms button, button to show input or output level on the meter, and bypass button. two sets of lights show input or output level, and gain reduction. Stereo in's/out's, and a sidechain jack for de-essing or ducking on the back.

Sounds as good as a compressor can in my experience.

We use it in our home studio for mix-down, and it works fine. I cant imagine it breaking down...

This seems to be all the compressor anyone would want. Although I will probably get another one, so I can have one doing some mild compression, and one set up for "brick-wall" limiting (for those times when you've had many beers and are not checking your input levels :). The hardest thing so far is finding another one. This product is apparently new and not everyone has them yet.