Jackson Audio Bloom V2 MIDI Compressor EQ, Black

The BLOOM from Jackson Audio is a comprehensive dynamic engine that is designed to give guitarists maximum dynamic tonal control in ways never before possible. The BLOOM v2 – MIDI takes everything people love about our original BLOOM and updates it with MIDI! The BLOOM v2 – MIDI now offers MIDI control over all 6 compression settings, circuit ON/OFF (COMP, EQ, BLOOM) and bloom level; the bloom level can also be expressed via MIDI!

As a compressor, the Bloom features an optical limiting circuit that takes its inspiration from compressors designed during the golden age of vacuum tube circuits. Optical compressors as they are called, are known for their transparency and subtlety. While the Bloom can provide a very aggressive response at more extreme compression settings, its real strength lies in its ability to add a gentle sweetening and roundness to the tone as the optical circuit works to polish off any rough edges in the sound.

Because of its natural and touch responsive bloom, the Bloom is ideal for players who typically don’t use compression but want the ‘mastered’ response that optical compression gives a guitarists tone.

The frequency response of the compressor section is flat as a board and does not boost or cut any of your highs or lows. In fact for the demo videos we recorded, Dow Tomlin (Bass Player for Wynonna Judd) used the Bloom on his bass the entire time and loved it! Just like a well designed compressor should, the Bloom alters the dynamics of the guitar signal and not the tone. A good compressor should be felt and not heard!

Hidden inside the Bloom, is a auxiliary compressor circuit that is identical to the main compressor circuit however without externally mounted controls. This aux compressor, which is set with a fast attack of 7.5ms, has two trimmers mounted on the right side of the pedal and are accessible when the cover is removed. These trimmers allow you to adjust the COMP and VOLUME settings of the aux compressor when using compression presets 5 and 6. More on compression presets later.

When more subtlety is desired from the compression circuit, we have included a BLEND control that allows the player to blend in their clean, unaffected signal back in with the compressed signal. One of the best features of the Blend control is that it allows the player to dial in a really aggressive compression setting and then blend some of their clean signal back in with it. This produces the effect of giving the note a very natural attack while slowly fading in the sustain that comes from running a high compression setting.

Since the BLOOM first came out, we have received many requests from our players saying that adding MIDI to the BLOOM would make it the perfect compressor and we completely agree! Always we take player feedback as a primary driver of product development and we are very proud to announce that the most flexible compressor on the just got better with the addition of MIDI! NOTE: In order to accommodate this new feature, for space reasons, we were required to eliminate the SIDECHAIN that the original BLOOM featured. CABLE INFORMATION: In order to use MIDI on the BLOOM v2, you will need a cable that converts a MIDI (DIN-5) connector to a TRS cable.

If you’re not a studio engineer, many of the more fully featured compressors on the market can be really intimidating and overwhelming with knobs for everything including attack, release, ratio, knee etc. As a guitar player I typically like to keep things as simple as possible and prefer to think in terms of which settings would be the most appropriate for the style of music I’m about to play. Not all players are the same and not all songs require the same compression settings, that’s why we have designed the Bloom to have six compression presets that give the player six distinct options for their attack and release settings. These settings run the gamut from subtle to extreme and allow the player to quickly dial in the perfect compression setting for the next song.

• Preset 1 – WHITE: Limit Mode. Ultra fast attack (2.5ms) that clamps any signal and acts as a limiter.
• Preset 2 – GREEN: Country Mode. Fast attack (7.5ms) that is perfectly tailored for chicken picking or modern country.
• Preset 3 – MAGENTA: R&B Mode. Medium attack (50ms) that works well for staccato rhythmic parts.
• Preset 4 – BLUE: Ballad Mode. Slow attack (120ms) that is perfect for adding a gentle lift to the end of a phrase.
• Preset 5 – AQUA: Slide Mode aka ‘Joey’ Mode. Adds an additional internal compression stage in series before the primary compressor and allows for nearly endless sustain on clean guitar parts ala Lowell George from Little Feat.
• Preset 6 – ORANGE: Aux Compressor. The aux compressor is the internal compressor circuit that is used in Preset 5. There are two trimmers located on the side of the pedal that allow the user to adjust the COMP and VOLUME for this additional compression stage.

Note that each compression preset has it’s own color setting on the COMP led. This led color will change as you play and will change more dramatically the harder you play and especially when higher settings on the COMP control are used. If you see the color change, that means that the compressor is ducking the level of what you are playing.