CompIQ TWAIN
CompIQ STELLA
CompIQ MINI
CompIQ ONE
OD / MIDI Switcher
With so many controls, one may wonder how can this be tamed and furthermore, properly used in a live setup. Don’t let yourself overwhelmed. We provided sufficient options not only for in-depth control but also for making things easier. For instance, with the flip of a switch, you can take out the Manual Attack & Release controls (the most daunting of the art of compression) and let the Dynamic Auto Timing analog circuit do the right thing for you. Two choices are available for here, Fast or Slower timings, and both respond gracefully to any playing style. In both settings, transients are handled faster while steady signals benefit from longer release timings.
Additional features are available for the very demanding players. The Side Chain Filter has three selectable options – Normal, Low and Deep -, very helpful for bass instruments or when a fuller output is needed. To keep things simple, set the filter to Normal and the compressor will just act naturally in most instances. The Normal side-chain processing presents a non-linear, high-pass characteristic above 1KHz, which balances the potential trigger-difference between the energy of low and high frequency. Such a feature is usually available only in high-end studio compressors, and it is intended for a natural effect application even on higher compression ratios. If lower-frequency notes trigger compression yet too fast, then the Low (-12dB@90Hz) or Deep (-12dB@200Hz) high-pass filters will slightly delay the compression, freeing up the low-end just enough for the spectrum to breath out and prevent the early or over-compression of highs.
On top of all these, we added an analog Saturation circuit which can add harmonic distortions to the dry line (only), which can then be mixed with the compressed wet line, for precise balancing of the effect. This circuit rivals the vintage studio tape-overload compression effect which was a studio recording trick during the ’60s. Tape saturation is a pleasing sort of distortion arising when high amplitude audio signals are recorded on magnetic tape.
In short, it’s what I’ve always wanted of a compressor pedal. The Stella can sound wonderfully transparent, or full of character, and there’s oodles of control at your fingertips. Bass players should absolutely love this thing (though I suspect they may be even more enamored with the company’s new split-band compressor).
The CompIQ Stella has a ridiculous amount of power for a small stompbox. Better still, it's a transparent compression that only colors the tone as much as you allow it, unlike many lower-end boxes that simply squash tone and volume. That's the sign of a good unit - delivering compression power, clarity, and flexibility to control exactly what you want to hear from a guitar.
This pedal is designed to provide an array of features – with rack unit-levels of tweakability – in a pedalboard-friendly format. A highlight of the CompIQ Pro Stella Compressor is its analog tape saturation circuit.
CompIQ PRO Stella for guitar and bass delivers dizzying array of features. There are a staggering number of parameters onboard, which promise the versatility of a rack unit in a compact stompbox.
This is a highly versatile and pedal board friendly compressor. I'm not aware of anything on the market that packs this much punch in terms of functionality. In many ways, it has raised the bar for compressor pedals. The words "Pro Compressor" on the face of the compressor is appropriate. There is a whole lot of versatility in an amazingly small package.
Knob-heavy pedal offers compression, limiting, tape saturation and more.
WHAT USERS SAY
Howdy! Hey, my Becos arrived today, really a GREAT compressor! Super clean, no mud...Just what I was hoping for (actually it is even better then I'd hoped)! And all of those features are really useful to me, so I appreciate them. STUNNING COMPRESSOR!! Totally worth the money. You guys really know what the hell you're doing! ROCK ON!
Bass players should absolutely love this thing (though I suspect they may be even more enamored with the company’s new split-band compressor). In short, it’s what I’ve always wanted of a compressor pedal. It can sound wonderfully transparent, or full of character, and there’s oodles of control at your fingertips. Read the complete review.
Matt Houghton - Sound on Sound Magazine
I got the STELLA today and it is amazing. I bought this device as a compressor for an acoustic rig, but I made the mistake to try it with a Telecaster the (otherwise unused) overdrive section, which as a matter of fact sounds much better than the TS9 !! Dammit...it can also be blended with the compressor, it is crazy good you know. An excellent overdrive and still have to adjust with internal jumpers. So instead of spending an afternoon with the Taylor and the compressor, I spent an afternoon playing the overdriven telecaster with Stella(r) Overdrive. My setup is a hybrid acoustic or electric guitars straight into PA. When I use electric guitars, I enable the Ethos Clean preamplifier (Dumble emulator). The rig is DOUBLE STEREO into an onboard Yamaha mini mixer. Connection to PA is mixer-to-mixer balanced or unbalanced. I mostly play soundtracks using a Taylor 514, a Godin nylon and an electric PRS custom 24.The Becos Stella compressor is now permanently onboard, being extremely versatile and TRANSPARENT. And the capability of the side chain filter is unique because especially with acoustic and classic guitars it is imperative to exclude lower strings to engage the compressor. The manual is clear and exhaustive. I know it is a bit unfair, but I must say this Stella beats my previous [...] compressor every day and twice on Sundays. This is a real studio-grade unit. But the rock soul sometimes wakes up and I pick up a standard telecaster, bridge pickup, like today: heaven sound when overdriven by the Stella(r). The packaging is excellent, everything looks excellent and sounds great. You did a top of the line product! Thanks!
The Becos CompIQ Stella Pro Compressor is a studio compressor housed in an MXR-sized chassis. Yet that tiny footprint offers no fewer than 13 controls, making it as powerful or as simple as you need. Another high-end feature is the Soft/Hard Knee compression switch, which lets you almost imperceptibly bring in warm compression after a certain point or a hard chop when you need to tame an unruly signal. Meanwhile, the Tape Saturation control dials in vintage distortion (think John Bonham's drums on LedZep records), and complements three Side-Chain Filter presets, Auto-Timing presets that respond to playing dynamics, an LED Gain Reduction display, and a 9-volt battery option. The CompIQ Stella has a ridiculous amount of power for a small stompbox. Better still, it's a transparent compression that only colors the tone as much as you allow it, unlike many lower-end boxes that simply squash tone and volume. That's the sign of a good unit - delivering compression power, clarity, and flexibility to control exactly what you want to hear from a guitar. Read the Review on Vintage Guitar Magazine USA - May 2020 Issue, p.106
- Pete Prown - Vintage Guitar Magazine USA
This is one of, if not the best pedal format compressor I have ever used. Being a VCA circuit it's not a one-trick pony, lends itself particularly well to transparent compression anyway, but coupled with the advanced features here its capable of incredibly transparent leveling to help 'glue' your bass into the mix better. Or fast enough attack speeds and extreme enough ratios and thresholds to make compression a fun in your face effect or super fat core tones completely achievable. If you want a tool to help on the gig, or to get a 'signature' compressed tone or a device in your hands to help you really get an understanding of what compression can do for you then this has to be really high up on your list. It certainly deserves to be there. I hope the review helps anyone sat on the fence over this little beauty! Read review on Basschat.co.uk
This compression pedal helps me very much and replaces any external preamp that I've used. Very accurate and with so many features! Congratulations!
Decebal Badila - Musician / Jazz Artist / Bass Player
J’ai été agréablement surpris par la saturation du Stella qui combiné au « sidechain » et X-EQ permet de colorer le compresseur et d’obtenir un des sons intéressants comme par exemple une sonorité ampli à tube légère jusqu'à de la distorsion en passant par toutes le nuances possibles. Il n’existe à ma connaissance aujourd’hui aucun compresseur sur le marché qui fournisse autant de fonctionnalités dans des formats aussi compacts. Les CompIQ sont entièrement analogues, fait main en Roumanie, donc facilement accessible en Europe et à un prix plus que raisonnable pour les fonctionnalités et la qualité qu’ils offrent. Les CompIQ n’ont pas à rougir et mériteraient d’être plus connu sur le marché. Becos vient de sortir le CompIQ One pour ceux qui recherchent la simplicité mais avec les même exigences de qualité. Read review.
Whew. That's a lot. I'm not aware of any compressor on the market that packs this much punch in terms of functionality. In terms of feel and tone, I'd put the Becos CompIQ PRO Stella Compressor up against the likes of the Keeley Compressor Pro and Empress Compressor for sure. It has a similar inherent transparent quality to it. The X-EQ brings a tone shaping angle that the Keeley an Empress both can't touch. The saturation circuit is a whole new twist. The JHS Pulp 'N Peel also has an OD type circuit but it isn't as flexible as the Stella. With slight saturation added and blended well with the compressed signal, you'll get into Diamond compressor territory. In general, I think the Becos is quieter than the Keeley Compressor Pro at higher gain levels. This new offering from Becos is a highly versatile and pedal board friendly compressor. In many ways, it has raised the bar for compressor pedals. The words "Pro Compressor" on the face of the compressor is appropriate. From my perspective, Becos has done it again. I recommend this one. Read full review.
While I still enjoy my Mini, CompIQ Stella is another level !!! Not only it offers all the controls of a modern professional compressor but for a guy like me that dislike distortion, the Tape Saturation combined with moderate compression and the X-EQ (to recover/boost low frequencies) forced my admiration. I am able to get a nice warm yet light overdriven sound reminiscent of a slightly overdriven tube amp.
This pedal is designed to provide an array of features – with rack unit-levels of tweakability – in a pedalboard-friendly format. A highlight of the CompIQ Pro Stella Compressor is its analog tape saturation circuit. Read review.
Terence Stanley - Guitar Magazine
I've owned the Pro Stella for less than a month, but am already amazed at all the compression features crammed into a fairly small box -- and there's still room for tape saturation and a proper multi-LED gain reduction meter. 5 stars!
Bottom line: totally happy with the purchase. My compressor choice for each gig (when I opt for compression) has just gotten harder, as the Stella Pro is right there with the other great pedal comps I own: Empress, big-box Cali, Smoothie, DE-CL. I'm amazed by how much coolness was stuffed into such a small (and attractive) box, and the price is very nice. Special shout out for the awesome gain reduction LED ladder! Read review.
I like to set Wet/Dry balance at about 60 Wet/40 Dry, Saturation very low but Sat Level full, so that there is a slight boost. The EQ is a very useful feature and I like to boost the treble a bit - I like to colour the signal a little. I feel that Stella can really liven up the sound, especially when playing clean and at relatively low volumes (I haven’t play loud yet). Although there are many controls, they are logical and straightforward. Generally, it doesn’t feel like I’m playing a compressor !now!, instead it’s just a pedal one could leave always on because it improves the clean sound.
We’ve seen rackmount studio compressors with fewer controls than this little pedal from Romanian maker Becos. This is a fully-featured unit compared to many guitar-pedal compressors, with sidechain filtering options and more. Single notes are thickened without thumping, and chords gel together in a way that somehow makes you sound like a better player. An analog tape-saturation circuit adds harmonic distortion for a warm, vintage feel. Hiss never becomes a problem, and dialing in some gritty tape saturation can be a great way to further energize a clean tone. This is a proper gem. With a score of 9 out of 10, it gets the Guitar.com Editor's Choice Badge. Read the review.
Richard Purvis - Guitar Magazine UK
This little squeezer packs rack-quality features, sound, and control into a pedal that will suit bass and guitar equally. In fact, you could use the Stella for pretty much any compression application including drums and voice. Nice one, Becos FX! Watch the review on YouTube
Brett Kingman - Gear Reviewer / Australia
Yay! What a great company! Thank you! Amazing gear. Cheers. Feedback on Reverb.com
Sonically, it's very transparent and I don't hear sucked out frequencies (even in bypass) the same way other pedal compressors do (ex: the EBS Multicomp). It's generally very quiet and does not add noises, etc. It's very very versatile. I could configure it as an exceptional limiter (with manual attack and release times). Finally a compressor with sufficiently quick attack time! Generally, I like to use it in the auto-slow, hard knee, low setting in the sensing circuit. I mainly play with fingers, plucking style. I'm not experimenting the same unbalance between low and high notes, as the FEA DE-CL does. It's equally good as between bass and preamp or in the insert of the preamp. I prefer the last option, because I put a Speck ASC eq before the compressor, in the insert chain. The X-EQ, which "on the paper" caught my eye, in reality, is a wonderful plus. I love it. It's very useful for clearing up a potentially muddy sound. Watch the video test.
Can't say that I'm an expert on compressor pedals, but I read a ton of reviews for a ton of pedals to make an informed choice. The most common complaint people have are dead spots on the controls, areas where the knobs do not have any noticeable effect. The Stella Compressor has no dead spots on any of the controls! Excellent! Definitely, something you can brag about in the product description!
The build quality is excellent, the pedal has a really solid feel and is a fair bit smaller than a Boss pedal [...] To summarise, a fantastic full featured transparent compressor with added bells and whistles. Sounds punchy with regular compression settings, great for slap and fingerstyle. Sounds really good as a limiter too with the Ratio set higher. When set at unity gain it adds a discernible improvement to the same basic tone. I'm really pleased. Read review.
CompIQ PRO Stella for guitar and bass delivers dizzying array of features. There are a staggering number of parameters onboard, which promise the versatility of a rack unit in a compact stompbox. Read review.
Michael Astley-Brown - Total Guitar, Guitarist
Knob-heavy pedal offers compression, limiting, tape saturation and more. Read announcement.
Richard Bienstock - Guitar World
Becos FX announces the most feature-rich Compact Compressor available anywhere - the CompIQ Pro Stella. This needs some head-to-head benchmarking, but it looks mightily impressive on the surface! Read announcement.
Stefan Karlsson - GuitarPedalX
Pretty sweet huh? Yes indeed! It's like they stuffed a size 15 foot into a size 7 shoe...there's just too much kick ass packed into such a tiny space. That tape saturation is as right-on as I hoped it would be...and that's just a little bit of the icing on that cake. The best comparison I can come up with is that it's like the Pulp n' Peel except with a lot more control over more parameters. It can be transparent but it also has some serious punch when you dial it up. It was well worth the wait. Read the comments
I replaced it [ JHS Pulp'n'Peel ] with the Becos Stella. It's got the same punch, but offers a lot more control with all the knobs and switches... and that tape saturation is super sweet... way more usable than the dirt on the PnP, IMO. Read the comments
J'ai eu l'occasion d'essayer pas mal de chose. TC, MXR, Keeley, Empress, FEA, etc. Il n'y a pas a dire, ce sont aussi de bons produits mais... avec la BECOS STELLA, j'ai réellement trouvé ce que recherchais. Le fabriquant répond dans l'heure de manière précise. Il prend vraiment le temps de répondre dans les détails et on a à faire à quelqu'un de passionné. J'apprécie beaucoup ça. Les produits sont de très bonne qualité et pourtant dans des tarifs (pour le moment) raisonnables. Le modèle que j'ai pris offre des possibilités introuvables (à ma connaissance) sur une pédale de ce format et les fonctionnalités offertes ne sont pas des gadgets du tout pour quelqu'un qui recherche un compresseur de type studio. C'est très pro. C'est bien fait, ça sonne, c'est propre, c'est très complet, il y une personne très réactive derrière... Read the review in French Language.
I always use it in live, both on an electric guitar or on acoustic/classical guitar. It works just great. I definitely recommend it.
Awesome product & great communication. Feedback on Reverb.com
The CompIQ Stella Compressor is an always-on pedal in my pedalboard to sculpt my sound. The best compressor so far, very transparent, and easy to adjust. I couldn't be happier.