GEAR SPOTLIGHT
J. ROCKETT
AUDIO DESIGNS
I.Q. COMPRESSOR
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $229.00
J. Rockett’s I.Q. Compressor
is a hefty little pedal
with a curious set of
controls. Essentially, the
I.Q. Compressor is a
compression pedal with
a built-in equalizer. The
equalization occurs prior
to the compression, which
means that the boosted or
attenuated frequency will
be compressed more or
less, respectively.
Like other J. Rockett pedals,
the I.Q. Compressor has the
heft and feel of a military-
grade tool. I suspect that it
could stop even an armor-
piercing bullet, but my
editor frowns upon these
sorts of tests, so I have no
solid data to report on this
52
GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
front. (Readers can submit
comments on this matter to
the editor via email.)
The I.Q. Compressor is
more than a sturdy pedal,
however. Its design also
merits attention. Six sliders
with illuminated tips control
the levels of six frequency
bands, spanning from low
to high. Each slider will
boost or cut its frequency
range by 18dB. That’s
actually quite a lot—more
than enough leeway for
noticeable changes to
the compression. Band 1
centers on 100Hz; band 2
on 200Hz; band 3 on 400Hz;
band 4 on 800Hz; band 5
on 1.5kHz; and band 6 on
3.2kHz.
J. Rockett Audio Designs I.Q. Compressor
Aside from its six sliders,
the I.Q. Compressor
features only a Volume
and a Mix knob. The Mix,
thankfully, moves from a
totally dry signal to a totally
wet signal. Both control
knobs are fashioned from
anodized red aluminum,
and complement the
sliders’ glowing red tips.
I found that the neutral,
middle slider setting
delivered very subtle
compression. I didn’t
notice it on individual
notes as much as I did on
strummed chords. Some
of the higher frequencies
were attenuated by the
compression. I suppose I
could describe the resulting