The Broughton Audio Apex Compressor is a VCA compressor pedal optimized for bass, designed by Josh Broughton. A VCA compressor uses an electronic gain element to control the signal level, and in this pedal it is fed by an internal charge pump, which gives the Apex what Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer described as "a huge amount of clean headroom suitable for nearly any signal level"1. That matters in practice because bass signals, especially with active pickups or a hot preamp, can clip the front end of a compressor that runs short of headroom. For more on how this effect type works, see Compressor Pedals.
Broughton Audio also makes other compressors, including the Broughton Audio Omnicomp and the Broughton Audio Monocomp.
What it does
The Apex's headline control is its variable ratio, which runs from 1:1 all the way to infinity:11. At 1:1 the pedal applies no compression at all, and as the ratio rises it clamps the output progressively harder, with infinity:1 acting as a hard limit. That range covers everything from gentle leveling to firm limiting on a single knob, which is unusual among compressor pedals.
The designer's stated goal, quoted in the review, frames the pedal's intent:
"The goal of the Apex was to provide a high fidelity, transparent, low noise, easily tunable compressor"1
What reviewers said
Bass Musician Magazine's reviewer, Jake Wolf, writing in December 2018, called the Apex "a great sounding comp, optimized for bass"1. He placed it against the high-end compressors he had used in recent years, naming the Empress, Demeter, and Diamond compressors, and found the Apex contends strongly with them overall1.
Sources (1)
- Review - Broughton Audio: Josh Wah, Low+High Pass Filter, and Apex Compressor - Bass Musician Magazine, The Face of Bass, Bass Musician Magazine, 2018-12-24
