The first time I drove a sports car, I found it hard to handle. I was used to driving a far simpler car with easier handling. Similarly, when I got my first pair of Little Devils, I was surprised how much harder they were to work than the 1176, 2a and 3a variations I was more familiar with. A lot of people blow them off because they don't take the time to learn how to work them.

The Little Devil really is two different compressors, just like their Opto. Both have a pair of knees that dramatically changes the character of the compressor. Unlike the Opto, the mix knob adds a level of modern control that lets you absolutely smash a source (drums,) then dial back to taste. This makes it an absolute beast. I wouldn't hesitate to fill a rack with them. In fact, I'm on my way; I own four and two Optos.

Like a sports car, the Little Devil is insanely powerful, initially daunting, and well worth the investment to learn to work properly.

First off, the build quality is incredible on this thing. Once I plugged it in I realized the output on this unit is even more incredible! The Devil will color vocals a lot (depending on the setting) and you can really squash or gently apply with the settings. The color is present, but it sounds very musical. Honestly, I've stopped using any software compression on my vocals when mixing. I've found it to sound very vintage on more organic sounding tracks and very contemporary on more electronic tracks. It just seems to mold to the performance and gets it right every single time!

I don't own one of these, but I was able to demo one for a couple of weeks in my home studio. So, take my opinion for what it's worth given that limited experience.

I found the Little Devil Compressor to be an extremely colored, vibey compressor, as if adding a bit of pleasant distortion to everything I ran through it (mostly, vocals). As such, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as an only compressor, but it would add a nice crayon to your box. I found that it did a good job of taking some edge off of a too-bright vocal mic (a common problem I think).

My only complaint would be that the little knobs made it a little tough to dial in the exact amount of compression that I wanted, sometimes. Call me old fashioned, but I like a big bakelite knob to grab with my whole hand...

All I can say is WOW! Full of color! This beast can give you the subtle gentle compression. At the same time, you can compress the hell out of the sound! Mix control is a must have! And the sound, yes, the sound of iron and all analog pathway! It is my favorite on bass and drums, and a bit of electric guitar! A must have piece if you are looking for a colorful character compressor in 500 series format!