Origin Effects Cali76 Compact review

A scaled-down pedal from Origin Effects

  • £199
  • $385
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MusicRadar Verdict

One of the best compressors around now fits on your 'board. Excellent.

Pros

  • +

    Compact size.

Cons

  • -

    Very few.

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Origin Effects compressor pedals are well-respected and used by many famous players, but their large footprint doesn't exactly make them pedalboard-friendly, so the company has shoehorned the circuitry into a new range of compact pedals about one third of the size.

The original Cali76 is based on an all- time great studio compressor, the Urei 1176, and, likewise, this version retains the low-noise circuitry and Class A signal path while simplifying the control surface.

Besides the input and output knobs common to all the pedals, there's a high/low ratio switch for lighter and heavier compression. The single combined Attack/Release knob has a completely useful range from slow attack/fast release, which works well for percussive playing with equally weighted notes, to fast attack/slow release for smooth overall feel.

Trevor Curwen

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.