Maxon CP-9 Pro+

This is a nice compressor pedal. Three knobs; threshold, ratio and gain (correct terminology), compression LED (like having this indicator), power LED, input and output jacks. True bypass. Very easy to get compression from subtle to squishy. Transparent. No added noise or coloration. Can be use to get a little boost. Found it works well with different amplifiers. No added noise or coloration. Solid build quality. IMO reasonably price for a quality pedal these days. Decent size and like the fact it runs on the common 9V adapter. I can't believe how I lived without a compressor pedal for so long. A must for anyone's board.

This is an excellent compressor. I do not play in a group. I typically use it whenever I play now. There are other good boutique brand compressor pedals out there. While many get high regards, supply are nil to none. These pedals are readily available. That's an important fact. If it were to disappear I would definitely replace it with same. Definitely should have a compressor pedal of some sort on one's board.

Easy to use and dial in with three knobs designated with proper compressor terms. Convenient LED indicates when there is signal compression. I very nice feature.

Top notch sound. No coloration. No added noise. Fine with various amps, single coil and humbucker guitars. Nice adjustment range from subtle to squishy without funking up the tone. Typically on whenever I play now.

Solid look and feel aka Boss and Ibanez pedals. Build like a tank. Totally reliability.

Will never be needed.

This is a nice compressor pedal without all the boutique hipe amd unavailability. Easy to use. Set it and spend time playing as oppose to needing to tweak and fuss around with it to find one's sound. You know it's a good pedal when you find you are using it all the time. Did alot of research on compressors prior to purchasing this unit. Glad I discovered this unit. It's definitely a keeper. If it was lost or stolen, I'd certainly replace it with the same.

This compressor works with and sounds good with both my Fender and my Mesa amplifier. Easy to dial in the amount of compression I'm after. Three knobs; Threshold, Ratio and Gain which the the proper designation for a compressor. This pedal has a handy LED indicator that lights when there is compression.

Overall I find that this comnpressor does a wonderful, subtle job at evening out and taking those spikes and edges off the tone. It does not add any coloration to the tone or alter the tone is a bad way. I don't find that it provides real heavy squish. This suits me just fine. For the settings I prefer, the pedal remains quiet and does not introduce additional noise. However, I have found that boosting / increasing the Gain control does generate additional noise.

Build like the tank. Common box shape and knobs to the Boss pedals and others. No concern about it not holding up.

I like this pedal alot because it doesn't required alot of fuss. I don't want to spend all my time tweaking as oppose to playing my guitar. Set it and leave it. The settings I have chosen provide me a subtle compression so the pedal is typically on whenever I play. I am pleased to have homed in on this one. I did a fair amount of reseach on the web on various compressor pedals prior to my purchase, the likes of select boutique units such as Barber and Keeley, and Diamond, T-Rex and others. Some folks may discount this unit since it is not a boutique pedal, but frankly the Japanese make some of best electronics around. I'm pleased to have found this available, seemingly unknown, unregarded pedal. Now it has secured a permanent place on my pedalboard.

No sweat if you allready know how to use a comp.

OK guys ...... this is it. The sound. I have a modified Boss compressor and a Keeley. This sounds so nice with no signal weirdness. The Boss still barks too much ..... the Keeley under heavey compression looses low end. The Maxon doesn't. It even handles high input levels like from an active bass guitar with ease. The others don't. This thing just works ... and it is fully bypassable. It's clean, full frequency compression like a rack compressor and it goes from super light to super heavy compression and everything inbetween.

Maxon CP-9 Pro+ > Fulltone wah > Diezel VH4S > Alesis Q2 > Palmer ADIG-ST > 2 custom 4X12 cabs

Keep the batteries fresh!!

This compressor sounds good in any type of amp. I have a Marshall 5275 (75 watts) and a Orange Crush 15R (15watts). This is the only compressor which sounds good in booth amps, with or without distortion, reverb or any other fx. Very good quality, robust, true bypass, incredible low noise, great dynamic range (runs at 18v internal). Now my CP-9 Pro+ is always on on my pedalboard, sound great in all settings.

Perfect compressor, in my opinion even better than Keeley. Recommended for all users who wants a great professional tone with no noise.I wish i could explain it better but i'm spanish and is hard for me. Sorry for my poor english.

It helps to have some knowledge of studio quality compressors to get the most out of this pedal because it's not your simple guitar compressor with volume and sustain knobs. I found it very easy to use, but it may take a moment or two for some to get used to.

The sound quality of this pedal is nothing short of amazing. I've used practically every compressor pedal trying to find the holy grail of compressors. I was looking for a transparent, studio-sounding compressor that wouldn't change the tone I work hard to get with guitars and amps. This compressor doesn't get in the way of your sound, it just smoothes it out as much or as little as you want. It's warm and clean with tons of headroom, none of that fuzzy dyna-comp stuff or the midrange of the boss pedals. I also like the Emma Transmorgrifier and the Keeley comp, but this pedal is more transparent and cleaner than both of those. The Emma adds a high-frequency sheen to the sound, which is actually pretty nice, while the Keeley covers the warmer Ross-clone territory. I end up putting the Maxon back on the pedal drawer every time. I use a variety of guitars and amps, but primarily: Tom Anderson Cobra, Anderson Hollow T, PRS Custom 22 and Matchless HC30, Top Hat Emplexador, Bogner Shiva, Diaz CD100, Fender Deluxe. If you want to hear a compressor squishing the poop out of your guitar tone, this may not be for you, but if you want a beautifully transparent compressor, this thing is amazing.

It seems to be built like a tank. I have had no problems with it... no need for backup.

Haven't needed help yet.

I play country/rock/blues and have been playing professionally for 17 years. I've only had this pedal for 3 months, but I'd definitely spend the extra dough to get another one if this one were lost. It sounds great without any of the "bugs" of other compressors. It's like being in the studio with a high-dollar studio compressor on your guitar. I find it's best for the more subtle limiting compression as opposed to the quacky stuff, but you could more than cover the Genesis "squishtone" if you want.

I purchased the Maxon CP-9 Pro+ Compressor/Limiter to replace my trusty old Boss CS-2 Compressor/Sustainer that I have been using for close to 20 years. The CP-9 Pro+ is not your typical compressor/sustainer pedal. The controls are Threshold, Ratio, and Gain, not Level, Sustain, and sometimes Attack like allot of the other comp pedals. I must admit it took me a weeks worth of evenings and two gigs to get used to the Maxon. But once I got used to how each control behaves I was able to get the sound I have always tried to get with my old comp pedal.

I use this pedal with a stock Strat, stock Tele, Peavey Classic 50 2/12, Fulltone FD2, Fulltone Supa-trem, and a Maxon AD80 analog delay. I set my comp pedal to boost my signal slightly (this pedal has much more volume headroom by the way). When playing clean I keep the CP-9 on all the time and use the volume knob on my guitars to control my level. When I have my overdrive on I use it only on leads for a little bit of a boost and some extra sustain. There is very little hiss with this pedal compared to others. Definitely the quietest and most transparent comp pedal I?ve ever used. It compresses and boosts the signal nicely with out the squish. If you like the squishy sound you can dial that in also. Very versatile comp pedal.

I'll let you know in a year. I've heard both good and bad about Maxon. So far so good though.

I havent needed any customer support yet.

I play country and southern rock (Haggard, Waylon, Vince Gill, Molly Hatchet, Poco, Black Foot, etc?). But also I?m a fan of bands like Maiden, Helloween, & Priest. I?m also a big Rush and Dream Theater nut. I?ve been playing about 22 years. If my CP-9 was stolen or lost I would definitely get another one. What I love about this pedal is the clean non-squishy compression, clean boost, and slight increase in sustain I can get without coloring the tone of my guitars and amps. At the moment I cant think of anything I hate about it. I?ve compared it to the Boss CS1, CS2, & CS3, older Ibanez 10 series, Carl Martin Comp, DOD Milk Box, MXR Super Comp, vintage MXR Dyna Comp, and the Line 6 something ugly (cant remember the model name).

The CP-9 Pro+ to my ears is the best compressor pedal I?ve ever used.

It took a few minutes to get used to the more studio compressor like controls which consist of threshold, ratio, and gain (Maxon claims it uses DBX patented technology). These controls offer more flexibility and fine tuning than typical compressor stompboxes so that a greater range of compression from very subtle to moderate squashing can be achieved. The threshold knob is used to set when (i.e. at what input signal level) the compression is activated and the ratio control is the amount of compression that is applied once the threshold is crossed. The gain is the amount of of amplification applied to the final signal and appears to go from unity gain at the lowest setting to quite a bit of boost at higher values. With lower ratio settings, the gain can be at its minimum but as ratio is increased toward more extreme settings, the gain can be turned up to compensate for the apparent attenuation caused by the strong compression. Since there is a considerable amount of gain on tap, the compressor can also be effectively used as a clean boost. ANother nice feature is an additional LED that lights when reduction (compression) occurs. This helps you when adjusting the threshold and ratio levels giving good visual feedback which can help tune your ears to what is happening to your signal.

So far, I have used the compressor by itself and in front of a Lovepedal COT 50 and a Keeley modded Maxon OD-9 into both a Victoria Victorilux and a Fender Vibro King Custom. The guitars consist of a PRS McCarty, '70s reissue of a '62 Strat equipped with Dimarzio stacked humbuckers, and a Burns Steer (don't laugh, I love it! Awesome neck single coil!). The amps were played at low and extremely loud volumes and this compressor delivered impressive tones! I say this even after using the famous and very good Keeley Compressor for over a year. The subtle settings just seemed to make these great amps sound even more alive while the higher ratio settings delivered perfect country twang. When I cranked up the amps and applied higher gain settings on the compressor, leads just sang and bloomed without using of the aforementioned distortion pedals. I also noticed that the compressor nicely rounded out the rough edges of the tones the amps produced at higher volume levels. When used with the COT 50 and OD-9, the compressor smoothed them out and kicked them into higher saturation levels good for maximum sustain type leads. So you can set the COT 50 and OD-9 for mellow to moderate crunch tones and then turn the compressor on to push them into lead tones. What I really liked most was that the CP-9 Pro+ is extremely transparent and retains almost all of my attack. I tend to pick hard and fast and like to keep the attack sharp.

I have only had it for a few weeks but I have read in HC reviews that Maxon pedals are built tough and are very reliable. I have an original Ibanez Tube Screamer made by Maxon and it still works perfectly despite years of hard use and abuse.

Never had to deal with Maxon.

I play classic and classic progressive rock tunes including Styx, Pat Benatar, Steely Dan, Yes, etc. I also play old singer songwriter stuff like Carol King and Neil Young. More current music would be stuff from Sheryl Crow, Joan Osborne, and Sarah McLachlan. I've been playing for over 35 years and have gone through a considerable variety of equipment during my lifelong tone quest. Other pedals I use are an Akai Headrush delay, Tonebone Classic distortion, Teese RMC-3 wah, Durham Electronics Sexdrive and will probably buy a Maxon CS-9 Pro chorus, Maxon PT-9 Pro phasor and Maxon FL-9 flanger. My other amps are a pair of Marshall 30th Anniversary combos that I truly treasure. I have owned the MXR Dynacomp, Boss CS-3, Homebrew Electronics Compressor Retro (very good), and the Keeley Compressor (very good) and I like this Maxon CP-9 Pro+ the best. Since the CP-9 is extremely transparent and seems to improve overall tone, it could be left on all of the time. This is my first review ever submitted to HC. I read reviews all the time but did not see one posted for this pedal yet which prompted me to write. I highly recommend the CP-9 Pro+.