The Black Comp is a Class A, transformer balanced optical compressor/ limiter. The Overcomp function allows a large amount of pre-compression to be added to the signal, with some stunning results possible where an increase in the "energy" of the signal is desired. The Smooth function switches the side chain characteristic into a dual mode where a relatively slow RMS sensing circuit allows a gentle levelling of the signal while a peak sensing stage pulls down any peaks that pass through. Gain reduction or output level can be monitored via the VU meter at the top of the module and a link mode allows 2 or more Black Comp modules to form a stereo or multi channel compressor/limiter.