Front derailleurs have come in a standard radius for decades and have worked well on triple chainsets ranging from 22 to 54+ teeth. The new compact front derailleur is, well, marketing at it's best. They may, in the laboratory, provide something that resembles smoother shifting on smaller chainrings, but 999 out of a 1000 riders would not recognize this improvement on the road. They probably work best for riders who have little knowledge of the history of the derailleur. In addition, what if you want to use larger chainrings? OH OH Gotta buy a new derailluer.

So the answer is no, you do not need to buy a compact specific front derailleur.