Garbage Ideas FK Comp

This quirky 500‑series module is designed for colour and attitude rather than cleanliness.

I always enjoy learning about the story behind small boutique pro audio companies, and that of Garbage Ideas appears to be the classic ‘engineer meets tech’ tale, where a connection is made, and they decide to develop a product they think people will like. The engineer in this case is Atlanta‑based Jason Kingsland, who’s worked with artists including Band Of Horses, Belle & Sebastian and Bryan Ferry. Although proficient with a soldering iron and capable of repairing and maintaining much of his own gear, he decided to free up his time by taking on a young local tech, Vic Fischer. The pair soon began to explore how certain pieces of esoteric equipment behaved and why, with a particular focus on Jason’s love of ‘wonky’ old compressors that did something unusual or musical to the audio passing through them.

For review here we have the first fruits of that pair’s endeavours. Called the FK Comp, it’s a 500‑series module that very much nails its flag to the mast as a creative studio tool. It pairs a FET‑style compressor with a Class A line‑amp circuit, and is intended as a simple‑to‑use device that can control the dynamics of a source or deliver more aggressive saturation‑style effects.

Trash Talk

Controls‑wise things are unfussy, which is good. Input and output knobs control the levels coming into and from the unit and, in the traditional FET‑compressor style, you use the input knob to bring the signal as far above the compressor’s threshold as desired. Amusingly, a single LED at the top lights when 15dB of gain reduction is introduced, and its label proudly announces ‘You Did It!’. I’m not sure how useful this is as a meter, but it certainly has the practical effect of encouraging you to dig into the processing, and invites you to just use your ears.

The FK Comp has two distinct operating modes. Comp brings the assertive compressor circuit into play, while Drive disengages the side‑chain circuit,...