UBK Fatso

[raal]

Originally Posted by u b k

For those interested, the manual is progressing nicely.

thanks UBK.

[u b k]

Alright, I know folks are itching to dig a little deeper with this box so I'm gonna put up what is essentially a first draft of the manual. The one thing it's missing, aside from a slick intro and outro and glossy cover, is a section on the Transformer Emulator. That's gonna be a mighty short section anyway, because I don't know much about it other than the basics outlined in the ELI Fatso manual.

I would love it if anyone were to post some feedback, questions, typos, or anything else that might help me to make the thing clearer, because I cover some ground in those pages and am doing my best to take some mildly complicated topics and make them straightforward, or at least comprehensible to the average joe.

Let me know!

UBK Fatso Manual, Draft 01


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[bigfurry]

Great work, UBK, this is a step up from the "tips and tricks" you have previously posted, and had made clearer some of the inner workings of that wonderful box.
As for typos, there's the word "myster", which just needs a "y" on the end, and then in the section describing the gain staging of the Splat comp, you talk about needing to set the input/output at "2/9, or 10/1" Did you mean "2/9, or 1/10"? Any input above 2 is rare for me on that compressor, so I've been wondering about that...

One final question I've had is: Is there any way to get a "Smue", ie., a Smooth into Glue setting? I was imagining for two-bus work, it might be quite the thing- a little peak smackdown into that lovely, well, glue...


Thanks again!

[Everlast]

Can someone share thoughts about using trafo/tranny on various sources? What that circuit exactly does to the signal? I would be grateful if someone explains that

[Brad McGowan]

I'm pretty sure the "tranny/trafo" setting actually puts a small transformer in the signal path or maybe even parallel to the actual signal path. If you open up the unit you can see a small (Xicon IIRC) transformer on the PCB. I bet it was chosen for it's saturation characteristics.

Brad

[joninc]

are you kidding? there are no tranformers in this box. it emulates the effects of transformers.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by bigfurry

you talk about needing to set the input/output at "2/9, or 10/1" Did you mean "2/9, or 1/10"? Any input above 2 is rare for me on that compressor, so I've been wondering about that...

No, I definitely meant 2/9 or 10/1. If you browse below, you'll see a post by me where I start by exclaiming "AT LAST!" That's because someone else finally discovered one of the most magical aspects of Splat, which is the effect it has on kick, snare, or drum buss when doing 15-20db of reduction. It starts to push the room back rather than suck it up, and you get an insane degree of leveling but the drums have their original, pre-compression decay/length.

It's a startling effect, something akin to a Transient Designer or Gate/Expander, but with tight compression happening as well, and it's the reason I kept the gain structure of that preset so skewed. If I brought Splat up to the operating level of the other presets, you'd lose access to the part of the knee that behaves that way.


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[u b k]

Originally Posted by joninc

are you kidding? there are no tranformers in this box. it emulates the effects of transformers.

There actually are little transformers on the board, but it's completely unclear to me what purpose they serve. Mysteries abound!


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by u b k

There actually are little transformers on the board, but it's completely unclear to me what purpose they serve. Mysteries abound!


Gregory Scott - ubk
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Balanced / unbalanced ??

[Quint]

Originally Posted by u b k

There actually are little transformers on the board, but it's completely unclear to me what purpose they serve. Mysteries abound!


Gregory Scott - ubk
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So are they (tranny's) in the signal path or not? I'm wondering as I'm seriously considering picking one of these up.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Fleaman

Balanced / unbalanced ??

That's my main suspicion.


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[SonOfSteven]

I realy want the mod done on mine, i have emailed Elysia but they say they still arent able to perform the mod. When will we be able to get the mod in europe ?

[u b k]

Thanks everyone in Europe for your incredible patience; this has been a logistical challenge from the outset because up until now the only way to q.c. the UBK Fatso is by ear, and I'm the only one with the ears. The trick has been to find a way to set it up so that Elysia knows what to look and to listen for; we've now cleared that hurdle, so I'm assembling the final package to ship to them and it should go out the door Monday or Tuesday.

I also had to shoot and edit a video where I step thru some parts of the process visually, that took a bit of time!

Thanks again to everyone for their patience; I have no idea how long it'll take the package to get across the pond but I'd say we're extremely close to being ready at this point.


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[WunderBro Flo]

Originally Posted by Fleaman

Balanced / unbalanced ??

I doubt it because if they were used for balancing ins or outs then the tranny on/off option of the fatso would make no sense.
Rock!
Pat

[TRW]

The small transformer in mine is from Mouser and it is tiny. Like some of those popular, colourful little Beyer ones. They will saturate a huge amount when hit hard. Hence the spread of harmonics.

I assume that it is switched in series with the clipping circuit or perhaps ahead of the output section and is wired with both primary and sec -ve grounded to work as an unbalanced internal stage.

I didn't bother tracing it out as the box is far too fun to listen to! I may one day for curiosity sake.

-Tom

[strewnshank]

Oh man, just used "glue" in a mastering session...the mix didn't have any 2buss compression on it. Really awesome! Got it peaking just under 7dB of reduction on it, with the warmth circuit engaging only on some of the vocal sibilance that didn't get taken out on the LV in the mix. I keep finding new uses for this killer unit!

[zulusound]

Used my UBK Fatso on kick and snare tracking last night. Absolutely insane.
I love this box. LOVE it.

[lakeshorephatty]

Originally Posted by zulusound

Used my UBK Fatso on kick and snare tracking last night. Absolutely insane.
I love this box. LOVE it.

If you or anyone with it haven't started using the sidechain yet, do it! It really helped me push the box. Opens up a new world of possibilities! It totally rocks!

Russell

[strewnshank]

Originally Posted by lakeshorephatty

If you or anyone with it haven't started using the sidechain yet, do it! It really helped me push the box. Opens up a new world of possibilities! It totally rocks!

Russell

I used it to duck guitars off a kick drum....got any other suggestions on how it changes things?

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by TRW

The small transformer in mine is from Mouser and it is tiny. Like some of those popular, colourful little Beyer ones. They will saturate a huge amount when hit hard. Hence the spread of harmonics.

I assume that it is switched in series with the clipping circuit or perhaps ahead of the output section and is wired with both primary and sec -ve grounded to work as an unbalanced internal stage.

I didn't bother tracing it out as the box is far too fun to listen to! I may one day for curiosity sake.

-Tom

The small transformers on the circuit board are indeed the transformers used for the tranny circuit. Watch the new UA FATSO plugin video and Dave Derr explains this. I mentioned that this was their function either earlier in this thread or in another thread and somebody jumped on me. So I feel vidicated now.

Brad

[lakeshorephatty]

Originally Posted by strewnshank

I used it to duck guitars off a kick drum....got any other suggestions on how it changes things?

Duplicating a track and processing it is great. I like to as Greg once mentioned compress the signal going to the sidechain so that the grab of the compression stays more even through dynamic passages. I used to do multiple passes to preserve dynamics but its not necessary anymore. Its also wonderful to really control the level of distortion, i.e. give me way more operating distortion when i'm running low compression. Finding the sweet spot with both the compression and distortion is great! I also can easily affect how the compression grabs using gating or eq with it. For instance boost the kick to get it to clamp more on it and get the perfect balance.

Russell

[xist]

Hi, it's only partially on topic, but you could be interested in knowing that Goldbaby has released a new sample library, called FatsoSynths Vol 1, and all the synths have been processed though an UBK Fatso.
We've talked about this release here:

Fatso Synths: Goldbaby meets UBK Fatso - AudioNewsRoom

[DivideByZero]

What happens to the old black faceplate when it's replaced with the brown one? Could it be returned for use as a bitchin' filler panel?

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by DivideByZero

What happens to the old black faceplate when it's replaced with the brown one? Could it be returned for use as a bitchin' filler panel?

I'm sure UBK uses it as a 'core' plate for his 'UBK' fatso plates....

[u b k]

Good call Fleaman: the faceplates are stripped and repainted, it's a small thing but it does reduce our carbon footprint.

I do have a few that are bent at the ears and can't be reused, I could let those go for a nominal amount.


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[frankymax]

Hey Gregory- thanks for the manual- it's very helpful, as you have helped me understand a bit more about how the Fatso compression and sound chain works. I wouldn't mind a few helpul suggestions as to any favorite settings you've run across for individual instruments and buss mix ideas. I know I should just use my ears but it sometimes helps me to have a starting point to reference from.

[warhead]

n/a

War

[u b k]

Originally Posted by frankymax

I wouldn't mind a few helpful suggestions as to any favorite settings you've run across for individual instruments and buss mix ideas. I know I should just use my ears but it sometimes helps me to have a starting point to reference from.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mnt2gq...so_Musings.pdf

Enjoy!


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[lakeshorephatty]

Originally Posted by frankymax

Hey Gregory- thanks for the manual- it's very helpful, as you have helped me understand a bit more about how the Fatso compression and sound chain works. I wouldn't mind a few helpul suggestions as to any favorite settings you've run across for individual instruments and buss mix ideas. I know I should just use my ears but it sometimes helps me to have a starting point to reference from.

I haven't been able to make it sound bad! It just sounds different on different settings.

Usually when i'm trying to see if it will help compressor wise I'll scroll through the "curves" on various volume levels to see if one of them grabs the source in a pleasing way. I'll then use the sidechain if i want to focus more on certain aspects of the source material or bring in some more distortion. I love the fatso's distortion!

I wanted to share something i've been working on but its a little too big file wise and I can't chop it here.. sigh : )

[bigfurry]

Senor UBK,
can I use the sidechain to high pass a 2-mix, and if so, would the audio quality of the high pass matter? I read your blurb on how the sidechain can be inserted with a cheap level control to raise or lower the compression threshold, and it got me thinking how nice it would be to use Smooth on signals above say, 140Hz, or try Glue with a 90Hz HPF...
However, I only have one kick ass EQ, which I 'd like to save for, um, EQing... so can I go into the sidechain with any ol' EQ and not effect the sound quality? I feel I should know this...but I don't, so what'd ya think?

Thanks again- I am covering so much ground with the UBK fatso, that I may have to get better at rationalizing if I am to buy another comp this year, damm it. Well, there's always EQ's...