Well, if this comp is rated for subtlety, with 0 being subtle, and 10 being a DynaComp this thing is about a -2. What's really nice about it is that while most comps (especially non-optical) sound great at bedroom levels they get thin and squashed at live volumes. This thing sounds really nice on my live rig at playing levels, is very quiet, and is capable of a fair bit of added clean gain. I troubleshot it till I was blue in the face till I realized that I was missing the point.