A classic – the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer. It’s a very simple feedback-based compressor using JFETS as variable resistors, driven by a single diode acting as a half-wave rectifier.
This makes it pretty snappy to play, unlike an optical compressor which is traditionally a bit slower and smoother – not that there’s anything wrong with optical, just a different feel.
I decided to use a single opamp for this layout. I also started down the rabbit hole of replacing the opamp with a transistor-based amplifier, but more on that in another post.
