Thermionic Rooster

[analogjeff]

Bump... anybody know anything about the Thermionic Rooster at this point??

thanks!

[Fletcher]

It's been released... but I guess thanks to Gearslutz the first shipment went through the building like lettuce through a goose so we had no opportunity to pull one out and play with it in our control room.

Hopefully one from the next batch will be able to hang around for a while. If all goes according to plan then our "Earlybird" may be up on the "demo page"... but we won't know until we've been able to give it a solid [several week] trial.

Peace.

[iangomes]

Hey Fletcher, did you get a chance to try out the Rooster?

[jackdrummer]

Tried it at Recording Show in Milan!(thank you Funky Junk )
I've been impressed with quality and sound,but played with it for only 30 minutes
so it's hard to be a statement!

Bye

[Fletcher]

Heard a load of Thermionic stuff was coming in the back door as I was heading out the front... I know we have orders up the ying but hopefully one will get to stick around long enough for me to get to play with it... I have a pretty heavy vocal session coming up next Wednesday evening and would love to give it a go.

Peace.

[iangomes]

any word Fletcher/anyone else?

[soundpilot]

Anybody know when will the balanced version be out?

I messed up and ordered one of these without realizing that it's unbalanced. Realizing my error, I was told the balanced version isn't even out yet, even though Thermionic's ad copy says it's available upon request.

[Fletcher]

In a word... "WOW"!!!

The pre is wonderful, the EQ musical... the "attitude" simply amazing!!!

We got one of the 'unbalanced' ones and quickly discovered a small design flaw that is easily remedied... fortunately the guy that does US Warranty service on Thermionic stuff has space in our shop so we were able to catch [and fix] the problem quickly.

We've given a shout out to everyone who has gotten them from Mercenary that we're going to be swapping out their units with the fix in place and all future units shipped by Thermionic will have the fix in place... that said, the reaction is still "WOW".

I just haven't heard a piece of Thermionic gear I wasn't nuts about... the Rooster is no exception.

Peace.

[iangomes]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

In a word... "WOW"!!!

The pre is wonderful, the EQ musical... the "attitude" simply amazing!!!

We got one of the 'unbalanced' ones and quickly discovered a small design flaw that is easily remedied... fortunately the guy that does US Warranty service on Thermionic stuff has space in our shop so we were able to catch [and fix] the problem quickly.

We've given a shout out to everyone who has gotten them from Mercenary that we're going to be swapping out their units with the fix in place and all future units shipped by Thermionic will have the fix in place... that said, the reaction is still "WOW".

I just haven't heard a piece of Thermionic gear I wasn't nuts about... the Rooster is no exception.

Peace.

how does the DI Sound? What did you use it on? I'm thinking of getting one as a synth pre.

[Fletcher]

I will admit... that with like 35 DI's in my control room... the DI is about the last thing I ever get to with a unit... in this case I started with the mic pre and EQ. I'm currently using it with the "attitude" on "2" on the lead vocal in a mix.

It's freakin' awesome for the song!!

[iangomes]

fair enough! di reviews in general are harder to come by for the most part.

[r.staettler]

well, did anyone else test the rooster...?

and would you recommend the rooster to someone looking for a
tube saturation + "mojo" EQ device ?

[gundam]

It would be interesting to know if the Rooster also works nicely on the master fader to give the mix some extra warmth.

[IntenseJim]

hi

.

[nicolasmasset]

bumpety bump! More info please about the rooster on synths and mastering please!

[justjonathan]

First post, because I'm excited about the Rooster. I use it on the MIX insert of my Neve 8816. It has such a unique flavor. The attitude switch on 2 or 3 really helps samples, or if you are looking for a really warm tube retro thing, it is wonderful for that as well. The EQ is pretty darn amazing, you can dial up about any combination and it ranges from anywhere from useful to amazing. It's fiddly, though - you have to experiment with many combinations of gain, attitude and eq...It's by no means a box to set on one setting and leave it be...

My current use is mostly on the mix for sample based music for television (you can hear it on Verminators on Discovery Channel)...but I've also just recorded Slide, Dobro,Mando, and Banjo through the Rooster for a new show on TLC coming up soon. Oktavamod Mk-012 into the Rooster.

Hope this helps!

[nicolasmasset]

Originally Posted by justjonathan

First post, because I'm excited about the Rooster. I use it on the MIX insert of my Neve 8816. It has such a unique flavor. The attitude switch on 2 or 3 really helps samples, or if you are looking for a really warm tube retro thing, it is wonderful for that as well. The EQ is pretty darn amazing, you can dial up about any combination and it ranges from anywhere from useful to amazing. It's fiddly, though - you have to experiment with many combinations of gain, attitude and eq...It's by no means a box to set on one setting and leave it be...

My current use is mostly on the mix for sample based music for television (you can hear it on Verminators on Discovery Channel)...but I've also just recorded Slide, Dobro,Mando, and Banjo through the Rooster for a new show on TLC coming up soon. Oktavamod Mk-012 into the Rooster.

Hope this helps!

Thanks! Do you think as a master chain, a coloured rooster followed by a cleaner ssl type comp would be good?

[justjonathan]

I'm not sure. I use some rather usual methods to get what I want. My approach varies at mixdown...Sometimes I'm out of the box through the Neve, Rooster...Sometimes in the box through plugs, etc...Different software, etc.

I approach dynamics with via parallel compression, which has been covered here frequently. I don't smash my mixes for tv, so I may be the wrong person to offer feedback re: compression on the mix bus. Using the attitude on the Rooster does seem to allow me to compress less, but I think that's the saturation of the Attitude switch talkin', it sounds like tape on certain combinations. It brings elements of the mix more forward, without sounding hyper-compressed. (whatever that means...)

I will say the Rooster does something special that is really hard to achieve, which is it makes the mix more listenable. Which in this case, is probably the distortion that I'm enjoying on the low-mids. You can also crank the high end and it always sounds like "Oh, the intention was for the mix to be bright rather than harsh..." I don't really care how it is achieved, but I always want to listen to the mixes that were done with the Rooster more...Even if they are "less perfect."

As always, sound is sound...you either like it or you don't. You massage it until you get something close to what you have in your head. I like these esoteric pieces like the Rooster alot, mainly because it's not hard to get a useful sound. One mic over a drumkit, through the Rooster, smash it, perfect retro sound, run a Nord through the Rooster, fiddle with the eq and attitude, great, there it is...Run the bass into the DI, perfect for a rich tubey thump, mic an acoustic, great - sounds like a record, sing into it - sounds like it was meant to be...That's the joy of this box.

(And as an aside, I like shitty lo-fi recordings just as much as the most meticulously crafted state of the art, so to me these are just artistic choices...)

[nicolasmasset]

Thanks! As always, gotta listen to one myself!

[Hardtoe]

Just a word of caution to those looking to buy the Rooster - It is worth it to spend the extra for the balanced version - I tried two unbalanced versions which both had a serious "hum" problem before Mercenary upgraded me to the balanced version (on their own dime) to fix the problem (thanks Adam!). There are probably lots of perfectly working unbalanced units, but for me it turned out to be a real PITA....I'm not sure if this is the problem Fletcher was referencing before, but do watch out...

BTW

The Rooster totally rocks - it can add "hifi" to almost anything - using it to run a mix through can really add that final magic (tube distortion baby)

[r.staettler]

my rooster is unbalanced and doesnt hum a bit!
but it induces hum to my germanium compressors if its too close... nevertheless i think its the germanium thats picky and not the rooster thats overly "radiating"...

but another thing comes to my mind concerning the rooster: if using hi gain scenarios the mid lift 4k and 2.5k are MUCH MUCH noisier than the hi setting... i mean like 4 times noisier

still a great device with daily use here :D

[tapehiss]

I really wanna give this unit a go.

Not sure yet though about a few things. I know they have recently discontinued the unbalanced version....

HOwever, I have also had my eye on the Evol Fucifier... although it would run about $1.5K more for stereo.

or I could just get the Vulture or a pair of Level-Or's..


Rooster looks like the money though... anyone have any current opinions after having spent more time with the unit????

[Hardtoe]

The mic pres are incredibly smooth/alive and sound good for everything from drums to lead vox - very easy to mix and place elements recorded through the rooster.

The eq has a fantastic tone and is useful for tracking but always seems one band to little to me for full mixes (I would use it in conjunction with and ITB EQ if I wanted to put it on the 2buss)- good for getting.

The distortion is quite cool and can add a subtle grit to a lot of hair to any sound. Not sure if it will be the best option if distortion is your main motive for getting the cock (other more dedicated boxes will have more range), but combined with the pre and eq, it is a really great bang for the buck box.

And it always sounds frickin deadly - lots of life and a strong tool for adding the life to any source - I would never part with mine...

[Hardtoe]

Originally Posted by r.staettler

my rooster is unbalanced and doesnt hum a bit!
but it induces hum to my germanium compressors if its too close... nevertheless i think its the germanium thats picky and not the rooster thats overly "radiating"...

but another thing comes to my mind concerning the rooster: if using hi gain scenarios the mid lift 4k and 2.5k are MUCH MUCH noisier than the hi setting... i mean like 4 times noisier

still a great device with daily use here :D

This is the "hum" I meant in my earlier post - not really a hum I guess, but an unusable amount of noise added in by boosting those freq's on the eq - this is the problem that I sent two back to fix - my balanced version does not do this.

You should probably look into this - I think it is a manufacturing defect and probably the reason why they are all balanced now.

[msm07]

My favourite pre for colour. The eq seemed a bit strange at 1st but it works very well. I had a artist with a lot of "boom" in there lower mids and the bass cut worked a treat, especially as the unit doesnt have a HPF.

The "attitude" dial is the real deal. If they made a single channel version of this pre, with a compressor in it...thats my chase for the ideal mic pre done.

[jbjoubaud]

Originally Posted by r.staettler

well, did anyone else test the rooster...?

and would you recommend the rooster to someone looking for a
tube saturation + "mojo" EQ device ?

Bump

[mixerguy]

any other thoughts?

[mixerguy]

Anyone?

[kalle74]

I find Rooster highly usable for many applications. The broad EQ sounds very musical, and has just the right EQ points for most cases. I use the EQ w/ less saturation for close mic'd instruments, and the saturation (in many cases lots of it) for ambience stuff. The thing has so many options... We've had it for two years, and I've barely scratched the surface. Me likes.