Becos CIQ-5 CompIQ Pro Stella

The Becos CompIQ Pro Stella is a compressor pedal for guitar and bass from the Romanian company BECOS¹. It is an all-analog, battery operated unit, and a VCA-style compressor hand-built around the THAT Analog Engine, the same technology used in rack compressors made by the likes of DBX, Presonus, Dangerous Music and Revive Audio¹. For a player, that means rack-style compression in a compact stompbox format, with a balanced DI output for sending a clean signal straight to a desk or soundcard².

What it does to your sound

Delicious Audio's product page, written by Paolo De Gregorio, says the Stella "preserves the original guitar or bass tone while providing unobstructed, pristine audio compression," with high dynamic range and low noise, without the distortions usually introduced by optical compressors¹. Guitar World's reviewer heard much the same thing: "There's no obvious coloration of the sound, just a very high degree of control over the shape of the dynamics"².

The heart of the circuit is a True RMS-level detector, and the timing can be set either manually or with Fast/Slower dynamic auto attack and release timings¹.

The controls

The Stella carries more controls than most pedal compressors. Guitar World lists the full set: Ratio, Threshold, Attack, Gain, X-EQ and Release pots, plus Knee, SCF, Knee Pivot and Timing switches, and Wet/Dry, Saturation and Level rotary controls, with a balanced output².

The knee switch is the control that shapes how compression starts. With a hard knee, the set ratio is applied abruptly once the signal crosses the threshold; with a soft knee, the ratio eases in as the signal approaches it. Guitar World describes it as "a switchable hard and soft 'knee' control for how the threshold and ratio controls interact at the point when the effect kicks in"².

The X-EQ works alongside it: its frequency switch selects either 330Hz or 1kHz as the pivot point, which sets where the tonal balance pivots as gain reduction is applied². For bass players in particular, choosing between those two points changes whether the low end or the upper mids are held in place under compression.

Power, size and the DI output

The Stella runs on 9-12v DC and, unusually for a feature set this deep, it is battery operated as well²¹. Guitar World measured it at 4.4" x 2.7" x 2" (112 x 68 x 50mm) and 14 oz / 400g, housed in a standard-sized pedal that "meets the modern pedal design aesthetic"².

The balanced DI out is the second output, described by Guitar World as "a super-clean, studio quality second output to send to a desk or soundcard"². That lets a player run one compressed signal to an amp and another to a mixing desk or audio interface at the same time, which is where much of this pedal's appeal for live bass work lies.

What reviewers said

Guitar World's verdict was aimed squarely at bassists: "The answer to the prayers of any bassist wanting studio-quality control on stage"². The reviewer's praise centered on the depth of control and the uncolored sound rather than any particular tonal character². Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio framed the same point from the design side, calling it a one-of-a-kind compressor in terms of the amount of control and versatility it provides¹.

For players who want the same VCA approach with fewer controls to dial in, the wider range of compressor pedals includes simpler alternatives; the Stella sits at the deep-featured end of that spectrum¹.

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