PRS Mary Cries Review (compressor pedal)
Verdict and Review Summary
The optical compression is very well-tuned in the Mary Cries and does a fantastic job of compressing your sound without it sounding "compressed" if that makes sense. It's far more natural than other compression pedals I've used and also adds some nice sustain, especially with the gain boost. I haven't tested a ton of compression pedals, but this is my favorite so far.
BEST FOR: Playing live, recording, preserving natural tone, lead styles, and expressive pickups.
TONE
95
VERSATILITY
95
CONTROL
90
COST/VALUE
93
- Gain boost sounds great
- Lots of sustain
- Compressed sound doesn't sound unnatural at all
- Does a good job of preserving the nuance of each note
- None to speak of
Compressors are simple pieces of technology, in terms of the desired result, but there's some nuance that goes into making one. I typically look for a smooth and consistent "squashing", some sustain, and a compression that preserves that natural sound of the notes. Like I mentioned in the summary above, a compression that doesn't sound too compressed. The PRS Mary Cries checks all those boxes as it's a very natural-sounding pedal, typical of optical compression that responds very faithfully to your playing cadence and intensity. For this review, I'll use the picture and video approach since compression-related sound and features are quick to summarize.
Compression Sound and Response
The optical compression is really smooth and responsive to your playing, and somehow manages to sound really natural even while heavily compressing the tone. It's great for nuanced lead styles and expressive pickups.
The Mary Cries Gain Boost
The gain boost gives you some nice breakup, which you can then settle by turning up compression. It's kind of aggressive, even without maxing it out. It's definitely easy to overuse the gain here.
Compression Controls
As with most compressor pedals, the controls here are self-explanatory. The blue LED light next to the compression knob brightens dynamically as you play, when compression is being engaged.
Price and Value and the PRS Mary Cries
PRS prices the Mary Cries at the middle of the road for boutique compression pedals, though on the higher-middle end for compressors with limited control. Still, we don't mind the asking price. $199 (instead of $219) would be a little more palatable.
Ideal Use Case for the Mary Cries
Compressor pedals have a wide range of application, and are useful pretty much anywhere. But we especially like the Mary Cries for lead styles and single note picking patterns or arpeggios. The simple control scheme might also be appealing to those who want to set and forget.
Summary of my PRS Mary Cries Review
I like simple compressors that I don't have to mess with, and since the Mary Cries sort of does the work for you, this is actually a very good fit for my board. It can't be stressed enough: This pedal is very good at responded to the dynamics of your playing, so you won't need to make many adjustments once you find a sweet spot.
It's a good companion for your live pedalboard, or if you want to send a compressed signal to a recording interface. Overall, I have no complaints about this pedal, even if the pricing is a smidge high.
I'm still happy to recommend it.
If you have questions about my PRS Mary Cries review, feel free to reach out via the comments section below.
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Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pedals & Reviews
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Pedals & Reviews
Live Price
Price updated Fri, August 21st, 2026.
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