Product: Trace Elliot TAC-1 Comperessor
Price Paid: US $75 used
Submitted
10/22/2005
at
01:50pm
by
David
Ease of Use
:
9
Really quite simple, high and low band compression, input and output levels and eq balance. The eq balance between these compressions is really what makes this unit's versatility to stand out. The led changing color with overload is a nice bonus as well.
The 18v performance is really better than 9v and comes from a good design point. I power with 2 9v's or using a Dunlop PowerBrick 18v out but I needed to go to radioshack and buy a special cord and barrels to make the conversion.
Sound Quality
:
10
This is an acoustic compressor, however this shines also on bass. Sound very smooth and is "transparent". I don't use extremely high settings but just enough to smooth thing out. Through my Trace V-Type 300H head and avatar 15 I get a real nice sound that sounds good when both slapping and playing fingerstyler.
For acoustic guitar which this was meant for, with a breedlove/marshall acoustic combination I manage to get some good sounds for fingerpickin' stuff. Also good to take a little edge off my hard stumming progressions.
Reliability
:
10
Very solidly built, solid metal enclosure. Definatly gig worthy.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Trace Elliot was a truly excellent company that I hated to see go down. There is still support in the US from a place called British Audio Service. Trace Elliot was one of those companies that while known for their bass amps also made well designed guitar and acoustic stuff as well.
Overall Rating
:
10
I play a vartiety of music and this along with other tools aid my music making. I plan to hold on to this for a while. Really no dislikes. I have found this so be a somewhat cheaper alternative to the smx compressor made by Trace Elliot. The SMX compressors are the sought after ones while these are simply an updated circut with the word acoustic written on it. Im very glad to own this along with other great products made by TE.
