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Behringer CL9 Compressor Review – Affordable way to try a compressor?
Introduction
I get a few requests for reviews on this site, and out of all the brands that I get requested, Behringer is at the top of the list. Now, I have reviewed the Behringer Klon-style overdrive (Review Here); however, I have decided to review another one! This time it is the Behringer CL9 compressor pedal. A super affordable, super common-to-buy pedal that could be a diamond in the rough!
Why the Behringer CL9 compressor? I have found myself diving into the world of compressors more and more recently, so I decided to grab this pedal to see what it was like! How does it sound and play for the money? So why don’t we go over the pedal, plug it in, get some sounds, and then tell you all my thoughts on the Behringer CL9 Compressor pedal! So what is the CL9, and what is it all about?
Behringer CL9 Pedal
The Behringer CL9 is based on the Ibanez CP9, which is an 80’s compressor pedal that various guitarists used. The most famous one I can think of is David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, who used one alongside other compression pedals throughout the 80’s. The original CP9 can fetch good money online now, so is the Behringer CL9 a good option to go for? Why don’t we find out!
Released in 2007, the CL9 is Behringer’s take on the Ibanez CP9. With its three simple controls and red housing. Giving you the option to compress your signal in various ways to create a whole host of tones and sounds. In the almost 20 years it has been out for, it hasn’t changed much!
More on the Behringer CL9
Speaking of controls, why don’t I go through each one and find out what they do?
- Attack Time: Controls how fast the compressor responds to the input signal.
- Level: This adjusts the output level of the pedal.
- Sustain: Determines the amount of compression and sustain you will get.
The whole pedal is enclosed in a red plastic housing with black screen print. The CL9 has side-loaded jacks with the input on the right and the output on the left. You will also find the 9v power in on the right-hand side alongside the input jack. The pedal can also be powered using a 9v battery under a foot switch.
Lately, you can pick up the Behringer CL9 from most guitar shops from around £15 to £20. Even though this is cheap, is it still a waste of money? Shall we move onto some sounds and demo songs? Then I can go over my thoughts on this pedal, as there is a fair amount to cover.
The Sounds
For the demo song sounds, I ran a fairly simple rig. I was using my custom RD amplifier, which I was using my two notes to run it directly. For pedals, I was running a Klon-type pedal (more on this in an upcoming article), with the Behringer CL9 Compressor going into it. I really liked the sound of this rig! Any reverb you hear is from the built-in reverb in the amp.
For the sound samples, I just simply put the Behringer CL9 compressor into the front of my Nano Cortex with an amp capture of the RD Amp that I used in the demo songs. Adjusting the gain to get the clean and crunch sounds. Any effects that you might hear are from the Nano Cortex. Make sure you head over to the YouTube video below and leave a comment about your thoughts on the sounds, tones, and the pedal in general!
What are my thoughts?
The Design
I have reviewed two other Behringer pedals (Links below), and I have the same note for all of them. The plastic housing! I understand why they have done it, to keep the price down! It isn’t the worst housing in the world and it won’t give up and give in straight away, but there is no getting around the fact that it is plastic and could break!
The box is very plain, in fact all the packaging is plain! This is another area where they have cut costs! No box goodies, barely any graphics and no stickers or anything! I don’t mind this, it is a super cheaper pedal so I expect it!
'What I do love using it for is a boost pedal!'
The Sounds
Do you know what I noticed when I listened to the sound samples back? You can’t really hear it! Demonstrating a compressor is a tough ask! A compressor is mainly the feel where you notice the effect! Hitting the strings hard or soft but getting the same volume is a strange sensation.
This compressor has a lot of compression in it! You can really hit your signal hard and get a very squashed and compressed sound if you wanted to. However, rolling it back a bit, you are able to get more of a transparent and subtle effect. Not a clue if it is by accident, but the controls allow you to get very usable sounds! Even maxing every knob out, you still get a usable sound!
Attack time is where I was struggling with this pedal. I couldn’t find the actual times for this setting, but I don’t think there is a massive difference between minimum and maximum. Even using feel, I couldn’t really feel a huge difference!
More on the Sounds
What I do love using it for is a boost pedal! Set the attack to minimum, sustain to almost max, and adjust the volume to taste. This will give you a huge volume increase but also compress the sound, meaning you can get soaring lead tones and huge amounts of sustain! Believe me when I say that the Behringer CL9 has a huge amount of volume on tap! It is wild how loud this pedal can go!
The Drawbacks
As with any Behringer pedal, it is a cheap pedal! It is built to a low, very low cost! This means that while it might sound good and “do the job” it won’t last as long as a higher end pedal. The parts, materials and product are built as cheaply as possible so you will find issues start to creep into the pedal quicker than you will with other pedals.
Another issue I have with this pedal (and all the pedals in this line-up) is the battery compartment! It is such a task to open and get into! There isn’t a chance you are going to be able to hot swap batteries mid-song, you might not even be able to swap them over mid-gig! It takes a little bit of work to swap the battery out. Of course, if you are not using batteries then you won’t have to worry about this!
'It is super affordable and great for grabbing and trying out to see if you like compressors before getting something of higher quality!'
Final Thoughts
For the price that is, it is just fine! It is a compressor pedal! It didn’t surprise me as much as the EQ pedal did (Review Here); however, I am not a huge compressor user! If you like your compressors, you might have heard the tones and sounds above and thought it sounded either amazing or rubbish (Please let me know your thoughts on which one it is).
If you are looking to get into compressors and want to try one out, I think the Behringer CL9 would be the perfect option! It is super affordable and great for grabbing and trying out to see if you like compressors before getting something of higher quality!
Conclusion
So that is my review of the Behringer CL9 compressor pedal! A super affordable compressor pedal. It does the job that it tries to do, but is it a great option for a pedalboard? I guess it depends on your uses and your budget! The other question I wanted to answer is, is it as good as the Ibanez compressor? For that, we will have to wait and see!
I will be getting more Behringer pedals in for review at some point! I want to complete and review the whole collection of their plastic pedal line-up! I am very excited about the “Green Overdrive” pedal that they do! I honestly think that if that sounds good, it could be a great buy!
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Behringer CL9 Compressor Links:
- Behringer CL9 (Thomann Affiliate)
- Behringer CL9 (Andertons Affiliate)
- Andertons Affiliate Link
- Thomann Affiliate Link
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