“Offers musical feel that responds like a great amp”: Orange’s animalistic King Comp looks to level up your compression game

Orange Amps has released the King Comp, a “super low noise” compression pedal with high headroom and envelope shaping controls. It hopes players will never feel the need to turn it off.

The firm designed the stompbox “to meet the ever-evolving musical needs of guitarists and bassists,” with the Class A VCA compressor benefiting from 18V DC power for ample headroom.

That likely necessitates the need for a versatile power supply for users slapping it on their pedalboards, but it does make for a more transparent effect. It's built with hot pickups, bass guitars, and complex pedalboards in mind.

Looking beyond that, the Class A VCA circuit ensures a warm, natural feel, with a buffered bypass also at play to maintain clarity and punch at all times.

There’s talk of “studio-quality” compression here, and that the pedal “enhances sound by adding sustain, snap, and sparkle rather than flattening it,” helping it stand out from a legion of competitors.

Its Attack and Release knobs make for a double-act that dictates the speed of the compression and the shape of every note. They’re on hand to tighten tones, or offer a “pronounced pogoing bounce,” with a versatile range of uses intended. Its quartet of controls is rounded out by Volume and Compression level knobs.

For visually-minded players, an onboard LED, which switches from blue to pink, gives real-time feedback on the amount of compression that’s being applied. The King Kong-inspired artwork, which covers the entirety of the pedal face, is pretty cool, too.

“The King Comp pedal offers precise dynamic control with a musical feel that responds like a great amp,” Orange says. “It brings studio-style compression dynamics to any pedalboard and offers a warm musical response with an exceptionally low noise floor.”

The Orange King Comp is available to order now for $179/£159.

Check out Orange Amps for more info.

For other recent Orange drops, see Orianthi's small but mighty Crush 20RT combo, its “ludicrously loud” O Tone 40 solid-state beast, and its compact and affordable Baby Range of amp heads.

The firm has also explained why, swimming against the tide, it won't be entering the amp modeling arms race, revealing what it is set to focus on instead.