MusicRadar Verdict

Possibly the best-sounding compact compressor around.

Pros

+
Versatile tones via blend knob. Solid build.

Cons

-
Not much at all.

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

A lot of guitar compressors are based on variations of the classic Ross Compressor/MXR Dyna Comp circuitry, and the Ego is no exception - but it adds some extra features that greatly increase its versatility, most notably blend and tone knobs.

"It's great for adding a more 'singing' quality to clean (or dirty) leads"

You get a sustain control to effectively increase the amount of compression, and an attack knob, which tweaks the start of your note envelope to give it the sort of 'snap' that works so well for country picking.

But it's actually the blend knob that gives you loads more options for a natural but compressed sound, allowing some of your unprocessed tone through in parallel with the compressed. The tone knob can counteract any dulling and will add some sparkle if needed.

Adding a more 'singing' quality to clean (or dirty) leads, emphasising picking or smoothing levels for consistency - whatever you need a compressor for, this should deliver it for you.

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.

Vower's Joe Gosney (left) and Rabea Massaad pictured inside a tent at ArcTanGent Festival, with their Quad Cortex-driven live rigs on the table behind them.

“This was the first amp modeller that I’ve tried that feels like a real amp”: Vower’s Joe Gosney and Rabea Massaad reveal their festival Quad Cortex setups – and why there's a Zappa-inspired “harmonic exciter” on the 'board