Question:
Can you guys here on the boards tell me how to appropriately use the compressor effects with my POD?

More specifically, in what situations would I use one? What type of tone can it be used to create? Are there any good songs (mainstream or Christian artists) that a compressor really stands out?

Thanks!
-T
Answer:
A compressor works like an automatic level control, restricting the overall dynamic range of an input signal. In other words, it limits the amount of variation between the loudest and the softest sounds. Basicly, it adds more sustain to your tone.
Answer:
Hey! So how's my old POD treatin you these days?
A compressor is going to both raise and limit the level of notes so everything is kinda squeezed into a more narrow spectrum. This adds sustain to your notes. Its great for playing single note lines with a clean tone because it adds sustain and makes the level of each ntoe the same (country players LOVE compressors for this reason) Its also good for getting more string to string definition out of clean chords. With distortion it can help smooth out distortion sounds and create a different type of sound.
As a start I would say try using it in songs where you are arpeggiating chords with a clean tone. listen to how it changes the sound of the attack of each note and to overal tonal feel that it produces.
I personally love compressors, I use them all the time!
Answer:
Try here:
/forum...d.php?t=130354
Answer:
Thanks guys for the response! (and thanks, Jon for the link )

Hmmmm...now I have yet another thing to play with on the POD
Answer:
the compressor on the POD xtl is, sorry to say IMHO, not good at all for what I use it for. Granted, I used it on most of my patches, but since learning more about tone, took it off the patches that I use for my tube amp. I leave it on for the patches that go directly into the PA.
The tube amp really accented the digital 'stepping' and 'pumping' of the POD's compression. It's not analog, so its not going to level off in a bell shaped curve, it will step down at 16 bit increments. Some processors are 24 bit, but not the POD. However, I use stomps for distortion because switching a bank causes a split second delay sometimes, and on some patches, I am forced to use compression so that the clean and distortion sound levels are closer in DB. I personally think some of the POD's stomp compressors (red and blue) work better then its main compressor, and some guitarists use an analog compressor chained in before the POD.
Just be careful on the threshold: it can really cause clean tone to warble or shimmer when notes are sustained.
Answer:
I don't use the POD's "studio compressor" at all. However, I make use quite often of the stompbox compressor models.
Answer:
yah, I like those better. I do have a hard time sometimes with the POD's stomp models— I like the amp model's distortion way better than the stomps, so I try and get a distortion by pushing the 'amp' through a compressor stomp.
It seems to react decently, like a tube would with a booster . . .