Behringer CS100

it's pretty easy once you get a grip on the compression fundamentals. like another behringer single effect pedal i have, every knob does what it says, the trick here is to know exactly what you want from the unit. Manual is a single sheet and very self explanatory.

this review is about the compressor sustainer used on a bass. i own a shecter diamond series custom 4, with emg hz pickups -passive, of course - with an active eq unit. i run it either thru my old and great fender bxr100 amp or a gallien krueger head and cab (don't remember the model). It really makes them alive. Level is surprinsingly smooth, and even though extreme sustain will always cause a clik and a hiss, almost overdirving the sound, it's a great sound when properly set up. it works great for a bass cause it eliminates the "quanks" and gives body to the thiner strings - now a phrase in the upper frets with the thiner strings sound full, and even. it doesn't suck bass. Attack control, that i don't like. Seems to only add ugly clips n clicks. sustain is spectacularly distinct, you will hear your bass without braking your fingers. Ideal for bass tapping. TIP: DON'T PUT IT AFTER ANY DISTORTION. THE INTELLIGENT PEOPLE PUT THE COMPRESSOR BEFORE IT. OTHERWISE IT WILL TAKE YOUR OVERDRIVE ALL OVER THE PLACE IN THE BAD WAY! my behringer bass overdirve is a completely new stomp box.

my first behringer was the BOD100, bass overdrive, wich i love. I've been giiging with it A LOT and the plastic is not an issue. Somewhere today I read another review about this new behringer stuff, and said "why everyone is pissing on plastic? safety helmets and pipes are made of it!" He was absolutely right. So, when i got this little gem, i knew better. This pedals are sturdy and reliable. Trust them. Only issue must be the loose attack knob, but it seems to be desingned that way. Who knows why. German fellas, explain to us, please!!

never dealt with them. never needed to. They seem to be a really customer focused company, thou. if not, why put killer stomp boxes for real people pockets? if that's not loving the musicians, i don't know what is

I'll state here that I've been playing non stop for 15 years. I've been rip off my money one too many times, bewitched by the tradition of certain companies, and the weight of their name. Guess what, it's really painful to see that your expensive and "original" gear sucks big time, fails every year, and, most of all, that all other musicians don't believe that a boss thing can sound like crap. The eyes have never been good to hear. USE YOUR EARS!! that's why i don't buy Ibanez, that's why i lov behringer. End of story. Besides, they really tempt you with the prices. Finally someone understands that a metal casing and a fancy list of famous artists endorsing is not what a musician want's. We all want good sound, and low prices. Am I wrong? fantastic value. Solid 10

Very Very Easy

Sounds almost like a BOSS COmpressor that i used to have. However I do have a problem though with the 3rd knob, which is "ATTACK". Somehow I cannot seem to get any response from it. From Min to Max still sounds the same, it's as if it aint working. Got a friend who had CS100 before and he said his unit had the same problem, ie the ATTACK knob dont seem to work.

But overall the sound was pretty cool, compared to the ZOOM 3000 Digital Multi Effects that I have.

Made of Plastic, Looks and Feel like Metal. Should be alright I guess. Havent really dropped it or anything just yet.

Dealt with the Dealer here in Malaysia and he was pretty damn superb.

For the price I paid, it's a gem!

Anybody can figure it out in seconds.

If you like compression, you can dial in the sound you want with this pedal.

Plastic body but seems solid enough. Treat it right and it will probably treat you right.

I've been playing forever. Back in the early 80's, Boss CS-3 compressor pedals were going for about $129. I had one back then and loved it. Now you have all these amps with all this stuff built in so why would anybody want to pay that kind of money for one pedal? But still, when you're playing onstage, individual pedals are much easier to manage than those "multi effects" units or "modeling" amps. So, individual pedals... For what these Behringer pedals cost, buy 2 of each (keep one as a spare "just in case") for less than the Boss CS-3 will set you back and you're money ahead and covered to boot. Oh yeah, and apparently they're a pain to change batteries so just get a good fully-regulated 9V power supply for 'em and forget the batteries!

This compressor is fairly simple to operate. It has 4 knobs: Level, Tone, Attack, and Sustain. It's not hard to get a good sound out of it, but like any other piece of gear it takes time and effort. Changing batteries isn't too difficult but not as easy as a Boss or Ibanez because it involves having to use a tool to get to the battery housing.

I have used this compressor with my Washburn N2 and Fender Lonestar Strat through a variety of amps: Marshall JCM 900 50W 2x12 combo, Randall RG80112SC, and Marshall AVT50H with custom 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion V30's. The results were pretty much the same across the board. The CS100 is excellent for clean sounds. I can really nail Lee Ritenour's "Rio Funk". Notes are nicely articulated and even in tone and volume, and it is quiet. Not bad for a pedal that retails for around $30. However, for distorted or overdriven sounds, the results aren't quite as good. The main culprit is the tone knob. To me, distorted sounds are best with the knob turned all the way down. That is the only way to get a good uncolored sound that remains true to the guitar's original tone, which begs the question as to why the tone knob is even there. The other culprit is the attack knob, which when turned all the way up is still fairly weak overall. There should be much more. An adjustable trim pot would be handy. The level and sustain knobs function as they should with distorted sounds, and the good news is that it's still fairly quiet, of course as long as the sustain knob is kept at a reasonable level. Truth be told, this pedal would be better if it was modeled after either a Dynacomp or perhaps even a CS-2 rather than a CS-3.

I've owned several Behringer products over the years, and none of them has ever failed. I've owned this pedal for about 4 months now, and so far so good. I would gig without a backup, but as affordable as these are, why not buy two and save one as a backup?

I've never had to deal with Behringer's customer support.

I've been playing since the age of 10 when Carter was still in the White House. I play mainly jazz, funk, and soul music, but I do like to rock out on occasion too. This compressor is a ridiculous bargain for the price, but it has its drawbacks just as every piece of gear does, even the really expensive boutique ones. I don't think it is quite a versatile as other compressors I have used over the years, which include a Boss CS-1 and CS-2 and 70's script logo Dynacomp. However, what it does well, it does very well indeed. I would buy another one without hesitation.

yes easy of course

i have limited use for this pedal, but if you like compression this pedal should suit you fine.. my friend has a 70s boss comp and i see no difference in sound quality between the 2 units.
LIKES - makes an otherwise unintersting clean sound very "energetic" and "exciting". massive sustain can come in very handy
DISLIKES - more prone to feedback when using distortion. any noise in your signal chain will absoultely be amplified by this pedal, that is the nature of compression.. if you have a very quiet chain you shouldnt have a problem

never had a problem with it in about a year, but i dont use it that often. only thing that worries me are plastic pot shafts

n/a

this pedal is useful for me if im playing clean on a guitar which does not have an even volume response on all areas of the fretboard (please find me a guitar that does!), been playing 10 years, although i dont use it much it is a fine example of a compression pedal and at ??12 british pounds i wouldnt hesitate to buy it again

Easy to use. Turn the knobs and LISTEN.

OK, first of all, I have never been a big fan of compression, I always thought of it as cheating, making you sound better than you are. I am also a Blues type player and love to play with dynamics. But I was looking for something to warm up and give a little color to my clean tone. I checked out many compressors and listened to lots of clips. But I decided on the Behringer simply because of the unbelieveable low cost. If I didn't like it I'm only out $20. But I tell ya, I absolutely love this pedal. I have been playing 30+ years and know good tone when I hear it, and this little pedal sounds damn good. I am using this with a Les Paul Studio - Boss TU2 tuner - Danelectro Pepperoni Phase (this order is no mistake, try a phase up front and see for yourself)- the Behringer compressor - vintage 80's ProCo Rat, Danelectro 7 band EQ - Danelectro chorus - Danelectro tremelo - Danelectro delay (used as reverb) into a Epiphone Valve Jr head into a 2 X 12 with Celestion Vintage 30s. Laugh at my cheap pedals if you want, if you heard this rig your jaw will drop. Everything on this pedal works well, volume will give you a big boost if you want it, I keep it about straight up. The tone knob works well, I like to roll of the highs a little, this is my tone. I am not sure I can explain Attack, but you can hear the difference as you go up, speeds the compression up. The compression is great around 12 o'clock, but I have pushed it up all the way. I have not found it noisey at all. Great sustain. You get a little "click" when turned up high, but it sounds good. This pedal is quiet, no hum at all, and does not color your sound at all. I am really quite shocked at how great this little pedal sounds.

Only had it a month, but I was surprised when I took it out of the box. It is heavy and quite sturdy feeling. I was expecting a toy at this price. Feels like my Boss pedal, only plastic. The knobs turn smoothly and firmly, also very surprising. And the footpedal has good resistance too. But I pretty much leave this on all the time. So, who knows if it will last, but it's much better construction than I expected at this price.

Who knows? At this price if it breaks I'll trash it.

I give this a 10 because it sounds great and works exactly as it should. You can spend more if you want, but you won't get much better. I look around for little gems, and this is a diamond.

Easy to use even with 4 knobs.

I play an American Fender Strat with vintage pickups.
My amps are: Marshall MG15CDR and Crate VC3112.
This Behringer CS100 sounds best with all knobs cranked up to max.
I find the Attack control to be a little weak.
The Volume, Tone and Sustain are great though.
Behringer could have just left off the Attack control.
I don't think this has real life Compression.
But the Sustain is great !

I'll only give it a 5 because it's housed in plastic.
But I would gig with it, but would need a backup pedal to be safe.

Never dealt with Behringer direct.
I bought it from Active Musician which SUCK as a distributor.
I ordered it on a Sunday when they were suppose to have stock.
But it arrived on a Thursday.
From New Jersey to New York should only be 1 to 2 days UPS.
Plus their on-line order tracking isn't updated daily.
I wouldn't recommend Behringer keeping Active Musician
to sell their products because they do a very poor job of it.

I play blues and mostly down home Texas Blues.
You know Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top and Johnny Winter.
This pedal is really good despite the Attack control sucking.
I like the pedal, but I don't think I would replace it.
Behringer is a a good pedal for the money though.
I might look into buying one of their other pedals.
You get what you pay for, just like anything.

Just had it one week ago, used it only at home, living-room levels.
I own the boss cs3, and I can state it is not the same animal at all.
I find the behringer to be simpler to operate, better focused in its application.
On the boss the sustain knob has a to strong effect, always very there, on the behringer it is subtler hence easier to use.
On the boss the tone knob can tame high frequencies, which can be useful in use with a harsh piezo tone, on the behringer it seems to only add highs.
On the boss the level knob is more effective, you could use it as a booster, on the behringer it is way softer.
Please note I don't say one is better than the other.
The behringer is quite easy to use, by the way.

I use it to level my Epi ChetAtkins nylon solidbody acoustic. I need the pedal to tame the overall piezo harshness, without losing sound clarity/definition.
It does a good job at that, but again at home sound levels, I'll post if any noise problems at high sound levels.
I have the dod milkbox, too country-nasal sounding. I have the boss, far too lifeless/dusty, sounds dead.
What I like in the behringer is its transparent tone and subtle attack.It works well to limit the peaks of the ChetAtkins, and doesn't pump just after.
For what it is, a simple pedal, it is better than the dod and the boss. If the boss gets a 4, the dod gets a 6 and this an 8.
For the ones looking for the perfect compressor pedal, run to T-Rex and get a compnova, there is absolutely no comparison.

New and working, but I know better since I have other behringer pedals and some problems with them.
Please note that the construction itself has nothing to do with the encountered problems, it is more a quality check matter.

For the particular use I have it sounds more than ok.
In fact I never could use piezo-equipped guitars without a compressor to smoothen things.
As stated above a T-Rex is the must but costs up to ten times more, I just can't make the step.
I also had a ADI21 but this one sounded too dull, and had input level problems.
So far I'm quite happy with the cs100.
For the price, clearly a ten.

Quite easy to get a sound out of it, as the controls don't do very much - just 4 knobs - gain, tone (treble cut), attack, sustain. Useless manual (piece of paper identifying knobs, input / output jacks etc).

Quite noisy, and fairly obvious "step" when it sustains the note. OK as a compressor, just squashes everything to a level. Set to high sustain, it doesn't really compress well (levels go up and down when switching pickups) but with sustain at 12 o'clock it sounds OK.

It's noticeable that bass attack gets sucked out by this pedal, no matter where you put the "tone" or attack knobs. Yer nice bottom E riffs tend to go "sprat" rather than sproing - and that's with a Telecaster!

There are probably better compressors out there, but this is useful to add a little drive, definition and sparkle to your sound, particularly with single coils - but don't expect that "Chic" rtm guitar compression. Sort of a slightly compressed clean boost...

The case is made of plastic, so it wouldn't stand a good clogging. Controls look pretty fragile - but for the money, what does it matter.

Couldn't say, if it went wrong, I'd just bin it and buy another.

This pedal just adds a nice top-end lift in a gigging situation, but too noisy and inflexible for use in a recording situation. A useful tool to leave switched on, in-line, particularly if you've got a small amp that could do with sounding a little bigger - but beware - it does suck bass out a bit.

Grate value for the money though!

as easy as any other 4 switch compressor (i.e., the boss cs-3, after which it is modeled). compressors take a while to find the sweet spot, but the good thing is once you find it, you leave it there and don't fiddle.

i can't compare it with a lot of other compressors, other than the dynacomp i had for a while. i played with a dynacomp, which sounded great, but felt it had little too much squish to it (at the time), and sold it. got the behringer because it had good reviews and was cheap (like $20). have had good luck with behringer p.a. equipment and figured it was worth a shot. pretty solid sound quality, doesn't overcompress your signal or alter tone too considerably. does what it's meant to do. sure, probably better made (and more expensive) comps out there. are they worth the added cash? to each his own.

seems dependable enough. solidly built. only complaint is a loose attack knob, but judging on other comments here, that must be in the design. the knob doesn't feel like it's loose and coming off, just that it doesn't have the resistance as the other knobs when turning them.

chose this for price and just to "test" behringer's new line of stompboxes modeled on other classics. lived up to the sound test pretty well. haven't a/b'ed it with the boss cs-3, so i won't comment there. typically, a pedal modeling somebody else's isn't going to be as good as the real thing. but behringer has got a reasonably good sounding comp here. it does the job. for musicians on a tight budget or not really needing a boutique quality compression, this is the real deal.