Squish As might just be my new favorite compressor. As someone who typically uses a compressor "always on" Squish As delivers that tone sweetening that doesn't get in the way, but that you miss when it's gone. Its control set is intuitive and user-friendly, and the gain reduction LED meter gives valuable user-feedback to see what the compressor is doing.

Squish As features a full-range design, useful from 20Hz to 20kHz with ultra-low noise floor. It provides a nice range of compression settings, from subtle, always-on tone sweetening to more intense fast attack/slow release squish.

If you've used compressors like the Cali76 and found them too coloring, or have been intimidated by other studio or pedal compressors because they were hard to navigate or understand, Squish As is a great option and a perfect addition to your pedalboard.

From the builder -
At its core, the Squish As features a best-in-class Blackmer® Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA) and True RMS Detector. Optical and JFET compressors are popular for their musical character; however, this character often comes with increased distortion, limited dynamic range, and a somewhat unpredictable transfer function. The high-end VCA and True RMS Detector deliver natural, high-fidelity dynamics processing. Use it to make notes sound more consistent, tame peaks, and boost subtleties; or add depth to your tone with parallel compression by setting the Ratio high and rolling back the Blend control. The Squish As is the perfect always-on compressor.

Full audio frequency bandwidth and a Sensitivity range of -6.3dBu to -46.3dBu make the Squish As suitable for a variety of input signals including bass guitar, high output pedals (up to +12dBu), and synthesiser. The -96dBu noise floor is low enough that the Squish As can be used anywhere in the chain. The variable Ratio from 1:1 (no-compression) to ∞:1 (limiting) can take you from transparent smoothness to brick-wall limiting. Up to 20dB of makeup gain on the Output control and a tilt-style Tone control will ensure that nothing is lost along the way.

The LEDs are not just for pretty colours. I've found that to understand what a compressor is actually doing, the most helpful thing is visual feedback. That's why I have added a gain reduction VU meter to the Squish As. The VU meter indicates the amount of gain reduction in decibels that is happening at any time. Squish As is the compressor you can actually understand.

The Squish As Compressor’s Attack rate is programme-dependent, meaning that the Attack is automatically set to a very musical rate based on the player’s input. Put simply, the harder you play, the faster the attack. The mathematics behind this are fairly complex, but some useful rules of thumb for Attack are:

3dB gain reduction will take approx. 42ms
6dB gain reduction will take approx. 20ms
10dB gain reduction will take approx. 15ms
20dB gain reduction will take approx. 5ms

The Release will always be slow relative to the Attack, at a fixed rate of 125dB/s or 8ms/dB. Some useful rules of thumb for Release are:

3dB recovery will take approx. 24ms
6dB recovery will take approx. 48ms
10dB recovery will take approx. 80ms
20dB recovery will take approx. 160ms
The resulting attack and release rates mean you will always have a slower release relative to the attack.

POWER : 9v standard, center negative; 70 mA