As I mentioned before, a guitar compressor IMHO gets compared to the venerable Keeley. The Mrs. is a compressor and a clean boost, which may justify the additional money that she beckons. When putting The Mrs. side by side with a Keeley, it simply comes down to a matter of taste, not quality. The Mrs. sounds different but I think it is just as good. The clean boost is a nice option to have as when you're running a tube amp with some drive on it, it will provide enough dirt to push it over the edge. Very well thought out and it makes playing through her very fun!

Sound
"Sweet Singing Squeeze" is a good way to describe The Mrs, as she'll get your amp singing into harmonic bliss. Being open to the fact that sound is never perfect, this pedal scores a 9 here, but for all practical purposes, I think it is as good as a Keeley, albeit a different sound. I'm not saying dump your Keeley, not by any means, but the DVK Mrs. does a stellar job of squeezing out sustain without squeezing out your tone. I was also able to get some twangy effects out of her as well, but this is not my guitar slingin' forte. Rather, I really like the ability to plug in and make an anemic amp sound larger and have mega-sustain.

Features
The Mrs. comes with no accessories but I can't recall a stomp box that did, with the exception of a TC pedal with a USB cable. But there is no USB port on The Mrs. It's not needed. All controls are on the box, and are… read more logically laid out so you can get that tone you are looking for without having to drill through menus or unnecessary knobs.

Ease of Use
Compressors can be tricky when you're trying to get that sound, especially if you've ever used a good studio compressor; I've found that they have too many options, which make it difficult to recall the sweet spots. The Mrs however, has many sweet spots! The compressor side has 3 rotary controls and one switch, so you don't need to waste time tweaking your sound to get comfortable with the Mrs. In fact, everything sounded good out of the box. The Overdrive is very simple with just a Gain and Level control, but what more do you need in a simple boost channel? Well, there is a Mid-Range bump switch, so I suppose the Mrs. has answered! Here you will find a mild clean boost right up to tones that push a tube amp over the edge to sweet harmonic bliss. When combined with the compressor, it makes your amp sing.

Quality
The Mrs. is an extremely well made product through and through. Upon receiving it I was greeted by it's glossy finish and graphics. This is great and for some people, possibly unnecessary, so I looked inside and this is where it gets good! The entire pedal is filled by the way with the highest quality PCB boards. The kind that are used in Class A electronics. They are a blueish sort of color and are surface mounted. Excellent quality craftsmanship here!! There is a nice "snap" to the buttons when pressed and all knobs feel nice and smooth--not too loose, but just right. And this is coming from a guy that owns a collection of analog synthesizers, so I'm pretty picky. The build quality is exemplary for a stomp box.

Value
Well, this is where I think some consideration should be given. This is a pricey piece of gear. There are many other compressors on the market for half this price, albeit not all of them are as good. I would say that if this were lost or stolen, I would buy another one for $50 less! But time will tell... After playing with it for a couple days, turning her off makes an amp sound anemic, so you have to ask yourself if your sound is worth the investment. Definitely a quality product but a little pricey.

Manufacturer Support
I'm giving them an '8' because I haven't had to deal with them. After reading another review about DVK on this site, I found that it took a couple days for someone to get a response. Two days from a vendor in Australia isn't bad, especially seeing as I've experienced a lag time of weeks from large companies here in the U.S.A. such as Presonus.

The Wow Factor
Very sexy product. It has an attractive and alluring graphic on it which is nice when looking at pedals online, seeing as I never got to play through it before purchasing. Aesthetically, they don't get much better! However, there is definitely a niche market for this pedal as I know players that will think it's a bit cheezy looking. I don't however; I think it's pretty hot!

Musical Background:
Active Musician, Recording Engineer

Musical Style:
Alternative, Rock, Industrial read less