UBK Fatso

[thedommer]

this thing is marketed as basically awesome at all compression. if its that versatile then it is ideal for the home studio user who needs something very multipurpose. How would this compare to say a purple MC77 or 1176, LA2A. Im looking for something on the input mainly for vocals. I don't have a single outboard compressor so I need something very multipurpose but still great at everything it does. Im toying with building an LA2A clone right now. Definitely like what I hear so far on this fatso though. really was diggin what it did to the bass.

[Beastie]

where can i get one of these in the uk?

peace

[jetplane666666]

I see you have 1/2 rack gaps between the ELI units.

In a rack with 2 Distressors, 1 (UBK) Fatso and 1 Lil' Freq do I have to leave a 1/2 rack between each unit? They will be powered down at night.

I know it's better for cooling, but I don't want to waste the space, and I already have a ton of gear racked gapless, and I haven't had many problems.

How hot does the Fatso get?

[Fleaman]

Fatso/distressors don't get hot or even warm at all. No space is needed between those units.

I think they were spaced in the video for aesthetic reasons (easier to visually separate the different instrument tracks).

[u b k]

Originally Posted by thedommer

if its that versatile then it is ideal for the home studio user who needs something very multipurpose. How would this compare to say a purple MC77 or 1176, LA2A.

it's not just marketing, my Fatso is indeed that versatile because that was my paramount design goal when i set about to mod it. so it's a swiss army knife not just in the way it handles any instrument gracefully, but also in the fact that you have quite a few different knees to work with. most comps have 1 knee, which is why even at different attack/release/ratios they tend to impart the same 'grab' on a sound.

the 1176/mc77 are also extremely versatile, they're workhorses. mc77 is very bright and modern sounding, if you're tracking everything thru it your sound will have a distinct edge. 1176 is a lot smoother, but still a forward sound, it excites the hi mids a bit but i like the way it does it. i love 1176's on drums, and if you know those comps you'll hear how Glue on my Fatso is in that same family. 1176's are also very 'compressory' sounding even at low gain reduction, so transparency is not an option. i give you Smooth, which can be downright invisible when used in moderation, so it kills for tracking without painting yourself into a corner.

la2a is one of my favorite boxes in the world, but versatile it is not. if you're only going to have one comp, this is the wrong way to go. but when it works on a source (which is never a given), it is unequaled in what it brings to vox, bass, kick, and acoustics.

honestly, as much as i'd like to be a pimp and tell you the UBK Fatso is the obvious choice, the simple truth is that an 1176 is equally as strong a choice for your only compressor. the distinct advantage to the UBK Fatso is that it's completely brainless, i made all the hard choices regarding attacks/releases/ratios, so you can't screw it up. the 1176 is also a very safe machine, it's difficult to get a bad sound out of it, but it is possible, and it does happen.

both comps add weight and depth to the tone. in terms of sonics, the 1176 only goes one way --- forward --- and the UBK Fatso can do this, but it also has the Warmth circuit so it can really mellow and smooth out sounds that need help. this makes it a lot more versatile as a tone shaper and problem solver.

last, the most obvious difference is that the 1176 is mono, and the UBK Fatso is 2 channels, so you can use it on stereo busses or even the whole mix. 1176's are good at a lot of things, but the mix is not one of them. so if you ever want to do homebrew mastering or pump up your mixes, glue them together and add coherence, i got the 1176 beat hands down.


gregory scott - ubk
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[GilWave]

Originally Posted by Beastie

where can i get one of these in the uk?

Kevin Walker at Unity Audio - Unity Audio News

[u b k]

i truly do appreciate all the compliments and kudos here, this definitely is the kind of thing that warrants popping the top on a bottle of bubbly. but it needs to be said: whatever i've done here, and however amazing the outcome, is only because i'm standing on the shoulders of giants.

most notably dave derr, the man who conceived and built the Fatso in the first place, a feat of skill and cunning i am still light years from approximating; and also gil griffith, who has helped me out and introduced me to more influential and knowledgable people than i could possibly name, and whose generosity and vision has been indispensible in getting me to where i am today.

and now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.


gregory scott - ubk
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[Absolute]

That is sweet brotherthumbsup

[kingsley]

Looks awesome!!
Question.....I have never got to try a fatso, but a do own a pair of distressors el8-x. Is this a different beast all together? I know the distressors really well (had them for 4 years).....is this fatso more of an bad ass way of geting you there in a simpler easier preset way, or is it doing something different?

[u b k]

Originally Posted by kingsley

I know the distressors really well (had them for 4 years).....is this fatso more of an bad ass way of geting you there in a simpler easier preset way, or is it doing something different?

really, it's both. dead simple to get badass results, but it can do things the distressor can't: sweeten and saturate the tone, compress hi freqs separately, and do styles of compression unavailable on the distressor because of the completely novel knees.


gregory scott - ubk
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[andrewj]

So the UBK Fatso will be available through soundservice in germany? Looks and sounds yummy!

[Nantho]

What about France ?

[GilWave]

Originally Posted by Nantho

What about France ?

Oui!

JukeBox Audio.

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by GilWave

Oui!

I read my fathers Oui a lot as a kid

.

[Nantho]

Oui!

What a good news !!

I can't wait to grab this "little" thing

[Solar]

I can not wait this beats to arrive in Montreal canada at Steve's music so i can put my hands on it!!!

[Watersound]

I'm pumped, I ordered mine last week. Hey Gil, any word on when it may arrive?

I am eagerly awaiting!!


Peace,

John

[GilWave]

Originally Posted by Watersound

I'm pumped, I ordered mine last week. Hey Gil, any word on when it may arrive? I am eagerly awaiting!!

Shipped today!! You should have it tomorrow.

Enjoy - post some files when you find your favorite settings!

-gil

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Solar

I can not wait this beats to arrive in Montreal canada at Steve's music so i can put my hands on it!!!

have you asked them to get one in for you to check out? not all dealers are aware this thing even exists yet. hound 'em!


gregory scott - ubk
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[Watersound]

Originally Posted by GilWave

Shipped today!! You should have it tomorrow.

Enjoy - post some files when you find your favorite settings!

-gil

Thanks Gil, will do! I can't wait to dig into it...


Peace,

John

[Solar]

Originally Posted by u b k

have you asked them to get one in for you to check out? not all dealers are aware this thing even exists yet. hound 'em!


gregory scott - ubk
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Hey Greg!

Thanx for replying and yes i've asked my friend George K at Steve's and he told me that he will be getting it very soon and as soon as he gets it i will be for sure try to put my hands on one to check out in my studio and i'm pretty sure that i will be buying one, i got the feeling that it's gonna be one of my biggest purchase this year as i promised myself not too spend too much this year but this baby simply looks like one of the swiss army arsenal to have for mixing!!

Great job!!!!

Cheers!!!

[londontown]

Just wow.

When my bloody clients pay up next month I'm buying.

thumbsup

[subspace]

I'm looking for a vocal/bass tracking compressor that'll stack up well as the primary overdub path. Didn't see any vocals in the video, how much time was spent tweaking the presets with vocal tracking in mind? I dig two knob compressors, ala the LA series, for banging through overdubs without much dialing. Be nice to hear some dynamic vocal tracks getting the UBK Fatso treatment, the bass examples sounded nice and seemed difficult to screw up a track with when tracking.

[Brad McGowan]

I'm getting my UBK FATSO in the mail today. This weekend we have a session with some vocalists and we plan to track through it. I'd be more than happy to post samples. It's kind of a spoof rap vocalist, however, and not really a singer. But it should still be revealing.

Brad

[u b k]

Originally Posted by subspace

... how much time was spent tweaking the presets with vocal tracking in mind?

...Be nice to hear some dynamic vocal tracks getting the UBK Fatso treatment, the bass examples sounded nice and seemed difficult to screw up a track with when tracking.

the answer to the first question is 'a LOT'. vocals were far and away the most extensively tested element with all the compressors, with acoustic guitars and drums right behind. i knew these were the sounds people worked with most and i wanted to give them several options to work with for different styles and approaches. i also knew these sounds are the easiest to screw up so i wanted to make it foolproof.

in response to the second paragraph above, if you post a clip of a vocal i will gladly give it a few different treatments, from invisible peak reduction courtesy of 'Smooth' to tone shaping to total domination courtesy of whatever presets work best with the source. fwiw, taming unruly vox was one of my highest priorities, the distressor kills for this but now you can have that level of control plus the sweet tone of the fatso.


gregory scott - ubk
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[themalicenote]

i'm in the market for a unit that has something like the tone of the Fatso and the comp of the Distressor and i believe you have nailed it, i can't wait to get one of these.

thank you for creating something that doesn't suck :]

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by u b k

in response to the second paragraph above, if you post a clip of a vocal i will gladly give it a few different treatments, from invisible peak reduction courtesy of 'Smooth' to tone shaping to total domination courtesy of whatever presets work best with the source. fwiw, taming unruly vox was one of my highest priorities, the distressor kills for this but now you can have that level of control plus the sweet tone of the fatso.
.

Let's not be so modest, Greg. Actually the UBK FATSO sounds way more musical on vocals than the Distressor. IMHO the Distressor is not an easy box to dial in on vocals if you want transparent dynamic control with zero tonal mangling artifacts. The UBK FATSO is...a dream in this regard really. I unboxed my newly arrived modded unit last night and spent an hour or two running some music through it at home. I had some Death Cab For Cutie mixes (one channel of a full mix) running through the thing, and I was laying into the compressors heavily. On the quieter songs that were primarily vocals (like that one song with just acoustic and vocals that got a lot of radio airplay) I was really impressed with what I heard, especially from Smooth and Glue. I had both of these compressors cranked up hitting about 7-10dB of compression and the mix sounded open and expressive with no hint of "hey you are crushing an already compressed/limited mix with a compressor" feel to it. Very impressive. I'm heading down to the studio today, but I feel this thing is going to excel at being a vocal tracking/mixing machine.

Brad

[trevort]

Nice! I'm in! I can't wait to get at least one box!

I'm brainless so it's perfect for me! ? Hmmm? who said that?

TT

[Watersound]

OK, so let me just say that this glorious piece known as the UBK Fatso is rocking my world. The "glue" setting on the mixbus is phenomenal- I can't believe how much depth and bigness it adds. It seems like you can go overboard and get away with it. I have an original Fatso which is one of my favorite pieces of gear, and I can say that the UBK fatso is truly an improvement on an already genius creation. So far I have run acoustic guitars and bass through it and put it on the mixbuss. It just kills on the mixbuss and what really sucks is that I want another one because this one is planted permanently there.

A big thank you to Gil and UBK!

UBK, I know we were planning on getting together a while back (don't know if you remember). Life and stuff got me sidetracked...it would be great to meet up sometime as we are in the same area.

Peace,

John

[Farm sounds]

This UBK Fatso really seems like the ticket for guys like me that love the sound of tape,the 70's, and so on and so fourth, but are stuck tracking to digital, in my case a HD24XR.

I just wonder if it would be overkill putting it after my Germ Pre? I always seem to pin the feedback, and the thick switch just stays in all the time.....I just can't fathom the analog juicy-ness that would spring fourth if I strapped a UBK behind it..? It would be thick I think....

If I stacked tracks like that it could be a huge gob o' sound at mixdown time.