Isolate Audio is a small boutique, analog audio electronics brand based out of Perth, Western Australia. The handfull of pedals are designed, hand built and tested in Australia. In this review, we are looking at the Squash the Jam compressor which is a high performance feed-forward VCA compressor design. The circuit incorporates the reputable THAT4305 chipset in a configuration designed to be super transparent and extremely accurate compression across a broad range. Squash the Jam incorporates a high performance Blackmer® Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA) with a full frequency, true RMS level detector.
You also get a highly responsive 7-LED meter that lights up green indicating the gain reduction taking place. It is very well implementeed and highly useful and precise. It is quite similar to the responsive precision of the LED implementation on the Empress MKII or Empress Bass compressor or the various compressor pedals from Becos.
It is nice to see another compressor on the market implementing quality metering like this.
On the face of the pedal are four dials and the footswitch.
Threshold controls the amount of signal to compress from -40dBu (counterclockwise) to +20dBu (clockwise). It is highly useful and responsive across the entire range. It should work well with passive or low output instruments all the way to high output instruments like basses with on board preamps.
Ratio sets the amount of compression from 1:1 to inf:1 (limiting). The more you rotate the dial clockwise, the more aggressive the compression. With various basses and guitar, I found a like the Ratio somewhere between 7:00 and noon on the dial. If you desire versatility in amount of squah available the Squah the Jam could be a good option.
Level adjusts the output signal level. Think of it as makeup gain to restore lost volume due to more aggresive compression. All the way clockwise adds +20db of gain which is plenty.
Finally, the Blend control allows you to combine the amount of compressed signal (wet signal) with your original uncompressed signal (dry signal). It's called parallel compression and is very useful especially with bass guitar where you might want some of your original signal in the mix to help restore natural dynamics. Squash the Jam works great with bass guitar and handled any level of intensity thrown at the input.
This is a compressor that can be as subtle or squashy as you'd like. The Squah the Jam compression incorporates a feedforward approach to audio signal processing. Feedforward circuits are typically described as having faster and more precise response to transients. Another way to say it is the feel is often more more aggressive and modern sounding. On the other end of the audio signal processing spectrum is feedback compression which is often characterized as smoother and more natural sounding. This style typically has a slower response to transients which tends to make the compression feel less aggressive.
Squash the Jam is inherently punchy and transparent. A rare combination, but that's what you get.
If you are looking for transparent, controlled, and modern compression that packs a punch this one might be just the ticket. I found I really liked playing through the Isolate Audio Squash the Jam with a Jazz bass or bass that was naturally scooped in the mids. It naturally restored a level of punch that was quite appealing. With a single coil guitar, I was just as pleased. If you like feedforward style compression I suspect you will love the Squash the Jam. If you want smooth and organic, maybe not as much.
Something interesting I discovered along my journey with this compressor is that it sounded really, really good with certain instruments. Notably my old Tobias bass built in the 80's with old Bartolini TCT circuit and proprietery Bartolini drop shoulder pickups. The Squash the Jam does something remarkable with that bass. It's difficult to put into words, but the signal becomes thicker, wider, almost tube like, and three dimensional sounding. This is possibly an input impedance phenomenon. Not sure, but it puts a smile on my face. I did not experience this tonal spendor with any other basses and guitars I used to test the Squash the Jam. If you have one of these compressors and have experienced something similar, drop me an email and let me know what instrument you use. I'm really curious. The pedal itself is low profile being not as tall as many other pedals on the market.
It seems very well made. The dials rotate with authority and nice resistance. In my opinion, it has a nice look to it.
There are internal dip switches that allows you to set the footswitch bypass option between true bypass and buffered bypass.
An internal control allows you to adjusts the amount of makeup gain available on the Level control on the face of the pedal. You could also use it as a unity gain adjustment.
Input and output jacks are side mounted as is the 9 volt power input. The pedal draws just 53ma. Aside from my finding with the Tobias bass, the Squash the Jam is not a compressor that colors your tone. It would be described as transparent. True to a feedforward compression design, Squash the Jam might also be described as hard sounding. I suppose some might call it clinical. I would prefer using the word 'precise' to desribe it. In all cases, it somehow manages to pack a punch.
It's a VCA style compressor but unlike any I've experienced before.
It is generally quiet enough to deserve a permanent spot on your pedalboard. It isn't as quiet as some devices on the market but I doubt it will be much of an issue in most scenarios. Like many (maybe most) compressors, it will tend to increase the noise floor of an otherwise noisly signal chain. From my experience, the Isolate Audio Squash the Jam compressor can handle pretty much any input signal you might throw at it. It will stay true to that signal while applying anything from very subtle compression to plenty of squish. I typically prefer compressors that offer control of attack and release but somehow Squash the Jam does a great job of automaticaly managing these parameters based on your style of playing. Is it the most versatile pedal on the market? Well, no, but it is easy to dial in and tweak. That fact combined with the wonderful gain reduction meter and you have a compressor that is easy to adjust on the fly and during the jam. This one surprised me in a good way. Pros: • Punchy sounding • LED metering • Ease of use • Precise compression • Feedforward implementation (if that is what you are looking for) • User selectable buffered or true bypass • Broad range of compression • Highly useful control of threshold Cons:
• Possibly not smooth enough or organic sounding for some (but it is a feedforward design afterall) • Possibly not versatile enough for some • I suspect many prefer to mounted jacks
Retail price: A$329, approximately $214 US dollars at time of writing IsolateAudio.com Read all compressor pedal reviews.