Mercury M66

[D.F.]

So, I am standing on the verge of getting a pair of Mercury M66s and I need some advice. Users/owners out there, how are you liking/using them? Are they linkable? Apart from the Fairchild is there anything else out there comparable to their sound that you may recommend? And this may appear stupid, but I can't seem to find this information anywhere, are they 2 or 3 U? Anything else I should know?

By the way, thanks to everyone here for the help. I bought a Massive Passive, a pair of EAR 822s and a pair of Distressors yesterday.

Cheers.

D.F.

[MGA]

Hello D.F.

I hear that the EAR 660 (mono comp), the ADL 670 (stereo comp but serious $$$) or the Fairman TMC (also stereo comp) are pretty close to a Fairchild 660/670. Seeing as you're in the U.K. give the guys @ Funky Junk London a call. I believe they stock these 3 units and should be able to tell you what each unit is like sonically.

Cheers,
MG

[Jules]

Or lend you all of them so you can try them out...

[D.F.]

Yes, thanks. I'll give Funky Junk a call on monday and see what Mark can do. Could be more difficult getting to try the Mercury M66s as they don't have a UK distributor, so any experience shared on these would be most welcome.

D.F.

[Tetness]

I have the Mercury 66 and will never part with it. I was with Mark Linette and I heard it against his Fairman TMC. Here's the skinny:

Fairman TMC sounded incredible, probably better for the mixbuss as it is the most transparent of the three. The EAR 660 is a little more dark, more fairchild sounding, but with a modern flavor. The Mercuy 66, the best made of the three from the research I've done. Also the most expensive. It is dark, like a fairchild. But rich, sparkly, and massively huge. Put your voice through it, it's like someone injected your ears with heroine. The Mercuy 66 is linkable, designed for just that reason. Out of the three, it's ALL tube. Talk to Marquette and he'll explain. Sorry my post was late. If you want to buy one, Vintage King is great. And I think they have a demo for cheaper, or an open box one.

[Mrs. Fairman]

Originally Posted by Tetness

I have the Mercury 66 and will never part with it. I was with Mark Linette and I heard it against his Fairman TMC. Here's the skinny:

Fairman TMC sounded incredible, probably better for the mixbuss as it is the most transparent of the three. The EAR 660 is a little more dark, more fairchild sounding, but with a modern flavor. The Mercuy 66, the best made of the three from the research I've done. Also the most expensive. It is dark, like a fairchild. But rich, sparkly, and massively huge. Put your voice through it, it's like someone injected your ears with heroine. The Mercuy 66 is linkable, designed for just that reason. Out of the three, it's ALL tube. Talk to Marquette and he'll explain. Sorry my post was late. If you want to buy one, Vintage King is great. And I think they have a demo for cheaper, or an open box one.

Were still old tubes in it, or new inexpensive into the TMC?
If original E81CC/ECC801S von Siemens or Telefunken of 1966 then sounds or to that all more firmly, more in music and into the ears.

Dirk

[Tetness]

Dirk, don't get me wrong, the TMC is incredible -- we actually prefered it to the M66 on the mixbuss or for mastering. It was Mark Linette's, so you would have to ask him about the tubes. But it was amazingly transparent for tube compressor. The M66 is darker and for me, more of a tracking piece, lots of color.

[Mrs. Fairman]

Originally Posted by Tetness

Dirk, don't get me wrong, the TMC is incredible -- we actually prefered it to the M66 on the mixbuss or for mastering. It was Mark Linette's, so you would have to ask him about the tubes. But it was amazingly transparent for tube compressor. The M66 is darker and for me, more of a tracking piece, lots of color.

more transparent yes, lots of color?



..... ??? old Tubes, China Tubes... ???

Ask Mark which for tubes in the signal path were with the test.
If not our ECC81/ECC801S N.O.S - Siemens / Telefunken from 1966 then I would exchange and again approximately would hear these.
Also in your studio tests.

[Tetness]

Okay, I will try to make this clear.

The TMC was amazingly tranparent. Perfect for mixbuss or mastering.

The M66 is darker and more colored. More of a tracking piece.

I don't know what tubes were in Linette's TMC. You would have to ask him yourself.

-----

On another note. I had Lucey master a song for me using your TMEQ and it sounded GREAT!!!!! I want one!!!!!

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by Dave Reid

Anyone played these directly next to an Ear model ?

More vintage tone or cleaner ?

Does the audio go bigger like an RCA ?

One of our clients told us....

"You ain't heard a bass, until you've heard one through a Mercury M66"

It is a Holy grail compressor by my watch, and yea....its big sounding.

Sorry to say I haven't heard one next to an EAR 660.

[unit7]

Have you auditioned the Analoguetube AT101? If not, you should contact Simon Saywood for a demo. Incl customs/VAT from the US I believe the price is more or less the same as two M66s. You could try to setup up a shootout in a studio where they have an EAR and/or an M66. I'm sure that Simon would provide his demo unit for an occasion like that.

[unit7]

Originally Posted by Dave Reid

Thanks, The Analoguetube looks nice but is a few thousand more than the M66's.

I have tried the EAR 660's at a friend's studio, liked what it could do but didn't like the tone - looking for a more RCA ba6a type vibe but modern and thought maybe the M66's might fit the bill.

xcuse me! I was answering the OP (british). A few years too late! Still, it would be very interesting to arrange a shootout of the Fairchild copies/clones. Mercury, ADL, Analoguetube, EAR & Anamod against a well maintained original. Not many of these units in my small country, so it'd be hard to setup here.

[tapehiss]

sorry to post off topic, but is the anamod 500 series 660, the same as a single channel of their new 670???????

[RoundBadge]

Originally Posted by unit7

xcuse me! I was answering the OP (british). A few years too late! Still, it would be very interesting to arrange a shootout of the Fairchild copies/clones. Mercury, ADL, Analoguetube, EAR & Anamod against a well maintained original. Not many of these units in my small country, so it'd be hard to setup here.

We did a good A/B btw the anamod and a real Fairchild here:
Anamod660 / Fairchild 670 test
I bought one & still enjoying it.

I had a Mercury a few years ago .wish i kept it.
it didn't necessarily nail a 660 but it was nice and fat sounding.
if you can find one for a good price they're good bang for buck now.

i got a chance to do a little comparing w/ the Ear 660 and a few other comps.
don't expect a Fairchild 660.they're different.
more hi fi but very rich sounding at the same time.they aren't of the "set and forget " variety.
They're not super easy to dial in and setup.
I usually run tones to get L/R even.
i think some people who've demoed them had slammed a mix through them and didn't like what was happening.
that's not how they work.they take a bit of futzing.
they are very very touchy on the mix buss but when you get them in the sweet spot they'e great.if you get it right you won't need any HPF sidechain stuff.
the low end stays big and they're s some real velvety stuff going on in the upper mid's/hi's.
I've been using a pair followed by Pultecs and a SH mastering comp[Nickel or Iron transformer]
just 3/4 to -1 db on each.
they sound best when you're hitting the inputs a bit harder so I highly recommend using an A-designs ATTY on the outputs for proper gain attenuation after.

when you run them in limit mode and slam them they are unreal on parallel drum buss .
bigger then the Chandler TG,etc and will give your Neve 32264's 2254's a serious run for the money.

[exwel]

Originally Posted by RoundBadge

just 3/4 to -1 db on each.
they sound best when you're hitting the inputs a bit harder so I highly recommend using an A-designs ATTY on the outputs for proper gain attenuation after.

when you run them in limit mode and slam them they are unreal on parallel drum buss .

You mean still the EAR660?


There is only a input gain on the EAR660?no output gain.
Or there is a output gain(like the mpressor) when youpush it hard it sounds better(sweet distortion) and to get a proper gain you put the ATTY on it tolower the levels?

I really want to know....the EAR is high on my wish list.

[RoundBadge]

Originally Posted by exwel

You mean still the EAR660?


There is only a input gain on the EAR660?no output gain.
Or there is a output gain(like the mpressor) when youpush it hard it sounds better(sweet distortion) and to get a proper gain you put the ATTY on it tolower the levels?

I really want to know....the EAR is high on my wish list.

The Ears.
no output gain control.The Atty is a good way to go.

[syra]

What the EAR 660 does best... it sounds like an EAR 660.

My favorite bass, snare, and parallel drum compressor I own. Also can work miracles with the right voice. Last but not least, the most 3D buss compressor I have ever heard.

[exwel]

Originally Posted by RoundBadge

The Ears.
no output gain control.The Atty is a good way to go.

ok thanx