Jackson Audio Bloom

The Jackson Audio Bloom is a compressor, EQ and boost pedal in one enclosure, built around what Delicious Audio describes as an LA2A-style optical compressor with a three-band studio-grade EQ¹. Jackson Audio pitches the current version as "six studio-quality compression modes, active EQ, transparent boost, and MIDI control, combined in one complete dynamic engine"². The optical compression circuit works with a Blend knob, six preset compression modes, and an original boost/sustainer circuit called Bloom that can swell your level rather than simply jump it¹.

The Bloom arrived after what Guitar Pedal X called "some long-term development difficulties," launching at $329³. Premier Guitar reviewed it at a $329 street price⁴, and Guitar Pedal X listed it at $379⁵.

What the Bloom does: optical compression, EQ and boost

The Bloom manipulates your dynamics through three circuits you can switch independently: a precisely tuned optical compressor, a three-band EQ, and a boost/sustainer¹. Optical compression, the same approach as the classic studio LA2A, uses a light-dependent element to control gain reduction, which players often value for its smooth, gradual response.

The EQ is a Baxandall-inspired three-band design with ±12dB of adjustment for bass, middle and treble, and center-detented knobs that sit flat at noon². The boost side delivers up to 20dB of transparent boost: tap the footswitch for an instant level jump, or press and hold for a programmable one-to-five-second ramp that creates swells and extended sustain².

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the EQ became a fixture of the pedal:

The same reviewer called the one-knob bloom control "a quick-and-easy way to give fills and solos plenty of air and depth"⁴.

The six compression modes

The Bloom's compressor is organized around six preset modes, each tuned for a different playing situation, with attack time as the main variable⁷³. You select them by holding the left footswitch to enter program mode, tapping to cycle presets, then holding again to save to EEPROM⁶.

²¹⁶

Slide Mode, also known as Joey Mode, is the one preset that changes the circuit rather than just the timing: it adds an additional internal compression stage in series before the primary compressor, for dual-stage compression and extended sustain¹. That makes it the natural choice for slide playing, where you want a note to hold rather than get clamped.

The Aux Compressor preset is the internal compressor circuit used in Preset 5, set with a fast 7.5ms attack and with no external controls of its own. Instead, two trimmers mounted on the right side of the pedal adjust its COMP and VOLUME, so you can dial in a custom compression setting of your own and recall it as a preset⁶.

The controls and footswitches

The pedal has two footswitches and three control groups⁵⁷:

• Compression controls: Volume, Blend, Comp, and a Type selection via the COMP footswitch (Ultra Fast, Fast, Medium, Slow, Slide Mode)⁵
• EQ controls: Bass, Middle, and treble adjustment, switched by pressing both footswitches together⁵⁷
• Boost control: the Bloom knob, with its own footswitch⁵

The footswitches do more than toggle. The left one triggers the compressor; pressing both at once triggers the EQ¹. The right one handles the boost: a quick press and release gives a set boost level, while pressing and holding ramps the level up to the boost setting, and pressing and holding again fades it back to unity¹. Guitar Pedal X describes the same behavior as hold for Blooming Boost or Fade⁷. That ramp is what turns the boost circuit into a sustainer, since the swell can be stretched over several seconds².

Power and connections

The Bloom runs on a 9V DC supply, maximum, center negative, and draws 300mA minimum²⁶. That current draw is well above what a typical compact analog pedal needs, so it calls for a proper isolated output rather than sharing a small daisy chain.

Input impedance is 1MΩ and output impedance is 100kΩ². The bypass is programmable as true bypass or buffered bypass, so you can decide whether the buffer stays in your chain when the effect is off²⁶.

From the original Bloom to the V2 with MIDI

The original Bloom launched at $329³⁴. Jackson Audio then updated it as the BLOOM v2 MIDI, which the maker says "takes everything people love about our original BLOOM and updates it with MIDI"¹. The V2 offers MIDI control over all six compression settings, the on/off state of the COMP, EQ and BLOOM circuits, and the bloom level, which can be expressed via MIDI¹. From a MIDI expression pedal you can recall all six compression modes, switch the three circuits independently, and control the boost level².

MIDI arrives through the ring connection of a TRS jack, so the pedal requires a MIDI (DIN-5) to TRS conversion cable rather than a standard MIDI cable⁶. Guitar Pedal X's reviewer notes his own unit is the first edition, "which preceded the MK2 one which added MIDI handling"⁵.

There is also a limited-edition finish: the Blackout BLOOM Compressor/EQ/BOOST V2, a Blackout colorway of the same V2 pedal⁸.

What reviewers made of it

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, who kept the Bloom on his board for several years, called it "a very decent optical compressor with some considerably smarts onboard"⁷ and later "my longest servicing compressor to date," praising it as "a really smart multi-tasker with amazing presets"⁵. Premier Guitar's review, titled "Is This the Most Versatile Compressor Ever?", found the EQ and the bloom control were the features that stuck⁴.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions