Behringer COMPRESSOR/SUSTAINER CS400 Ultimate Dynamics Effects Pedal, Green

If you have a problem with sustain, you have a problem with your guitar or your playing technique.If you're looking to even out slight level imbalances between strings, different guitars and/or your rhythm playing, then this'll do fine.Compressors work by turning down any signal that's louder than a predetermined level to bring the loud bits closer in level to the quiet bits and then turning everything up to an acceptable level. Bear in mind ALL guitar signal has some degree of background noise present, so when you turn up the quiet bits, you are also turning the noise up.Anyway, bought one of these (and a GE700) for my dear old Dad. I already own the Boss pedals that these are obviously cloned from - same colour schemes and similar model numbers? Who are they kidding?What can I say? It does everything it's supposed to do.I tested using an EMG equipped Strat through a Blackstar ID15TVP at my home - which was rewired a few years ago - and a new battery, so zero noise pollution.Is it noisy? No, not in the slightest.If you use an old/cheap guitar with dodgy soldering/wiring, through a high gain setup and valve amp, in a building with questionable wiring... well, ALL compressors are going to be very noisy.Why a quarter the price of the Boss? Made in China, (probably) using very cheap electronics with wide tolerance specs and the casing is moulded plastic.Like I said, it does exactly what it's supposed to do. The casing will only break if you're an idiot. The electronics? Who knows.Let's face it, if you're reading this you're either just starting out or strapped for cash, right?Yes, buy one of these, BUT do a little reading about what compression is about and don't expect miracles. This is a good piece of kit. The more expensive stuff is probably more durable, but by the time you break this, hopefully, you'll have figured out whether you really need one - I've rarely used one in over 30 years of playing.

Hmmm...I have several of the effect pedals in Behringer's excellent "budgety" range and I think they are great. Well made, thoughtfully designed, easy to use. Creatively, they are good to work with as they are intuitive (you turn nobs until it sounds right- it's not a mission to Mars type software bore). So, the Compressor/Sustainer : how is it? I am using it for electric guitar work being fed in to a mutitrack recorder, the notion being that compression should help parts to "blend"in rather than sounding like a guitar part is STUCK-ON to another piece of music. And do you know what?...it does that. It' is also good for punchy bass guitar and keyboards that sound less muddy. Just one thing...with the Sustain effect (it works) turned up, there is a lot of noise and hiss coming from the unit- unfortunately this is a bit like having a stone in a running trainer: it doesn't STOP me enjoying the other features, but every now and again "CROWNCH!" there it is. Mocking my dreams.I'm renaming it Compressor and Gramophone Sampler.

With arthritis spreading into my wrists and fingers, I felt my bass playing had become sloppy with some notes sounding louder than others. I have used Behringer products before and found them ok so bought the compressor to give me a little help. The CS400 does the job and my bass playing now sounds as even and percussive as it always was. At under £20, it is a bargain and is as effective as the more expensive boxes on the market. I only tweak the pedal but it is capable of far more and would recommend it. I have given 1 less star for durability as obviously metal cases are better but don't worry about the plastic casing, it's solid and should take the traumas of gigs easily and at this price you could buy several.

£20 for a four knob compressor where all the knobs do something meaningful cannot be sniffed at. I dunno which electronic technique is being used and for the price I don't care. I've built my own compressors before using optoisolators, JFETs and even BJTs as the limiting resistor but this thing sounds and works better than all of them and cost less than the soldering iron I built them with. It does what a compressor's meant to do: throttles your guitar sound and peaks, softens the attack, sustains like crazy and brings up all the other little subtleties that normally get lost. Play a powerchord, hear it get squashed then tap a couple of harmonics and hear them sing.

Good features balances out the load Ed’s on all stringsGreat sustain goes on for everAttack from soft to sharpUsing a les paul and marshall valve state amp

If you don’t here a difference out of the box,play with a clean tone for a bit then turn it off.that’s when you hear what it’s doingBAD NEWS since I posted this review the pedal has developed a loud hissing sound and has become unusable cba to return

in a nutshell, and for beginner's unsure what it does, this will will even out the difference in audio levels, especially on cheaper guitars/ bases with cheap pickups. Can be used for vocals. i bought it, to use on a cheap bass where A,D strings weren't very responsive and way out of equilibrium with the E,G strings audio levels. nice budget pedal which does its job.

I am a bedroom intermediate player so I don’t ask a lot of my kit, but this is a worthwhile addition to my armoury. Some report that it is not as robust as the far more expensive but similar to look at option, but for the money, to my ears, it is fantastic VfM and does the job for my needs.