Walrus Audio releases the High Point Optical Compressor - essentially a prettier and larger replacement for the Mira with some extra features onboard

This is the 3rd Walrus Effects Compressor I’ve covered on this site, a cool replacement for the Mira - with the additional VU display and modes, as well as the Sidechain High Pass Filter.

The enclosure follows the styling set by the recent Mantle Bass Preamp, but in portrait format. It comes with a $100 hike in price too (vs the Mira) - but is mostly kind of worth it, while I would have preferred a more compact enclosure.

As I’ve said previously - you need to decide what your lane is for each effect category - and how much real estate you wish to devote to that. There are plenty of fantastic compressors in the compact format - and while the High Point is quite an attractive proposition - I’m not sure I’d want to dedicate that much real estate, when I have so many killer compact compressors in the collection already.

Those who find the High Point too large can seek out the earlier and now discontinued Mira - which contains a lot of the same functionality and feature set - and is also an Optical type obviously. You also have the option of the original Deep Six Walrus Comp - a FET type, which is still available!

High Point Controls - Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, Output, Dry>Wet Blend, Makeup Gain, SC Sidechain HPF, VU Mode : Input Level [Green], Output Level [Yellow], Gain Reduction [Red].

Mira Controls - Threshold, Ratio, Make-up, Level, Attack, Release, Blend.

Deep Six Control - Level, Tone, Sustain, Blend, Attack.

There’s no question that the High Point is the most capable and appealing here - but it is also the largest and priciest proposition - but nowhere near the Mantle price point - so probably a fair result all round. I chose the Flower Pedals Dahlia instead of the Walrus Audio Meraki, and I would definitely prefer to deploy either my Becos FX Stella or Yuna over the High Point. I really am most comfortable with the compact enclosure format for this type of effect. I’m still tempted by the High Point - but it’s just a little too large for me.

Should be available everywhere now for $349 and equivalent, including direct from Walrus - albeit weirdly not quite listed yet at UJ dealers - which is unusual for Walrus - their releases are normally more closely coordinated!