FCS P3S Stereo rackmount compressor

[RogerFoote]

Here is a comment from a new owner of a P3S, a producer in the Seattle area...

I received the P3S today. What an astonishing box! Really. I spent a few hours with it on a couple of mixes and it's just brilliant! So many possibilities and they all are usable and sound killer. I also have an API 2500 and I thought that piece had a lot of mojo. I think I've found my new 2-bus compressor!

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

[tapehiss]

awesome..........

can't wait to hear this piece.

[jamwerks]

thumbsup thumbsup

[bleen]

Originally Posted by RogerFoote

Here is a comment from a new owner of a P3S, a producer in the Seattle area...

I received the P3S today. What an astonishing box! Really. I spent a few hours with it on a couple of mixes and it's just brilliant! So many possibilities and they all are usable and sound killer. I also have an API 2500 and I thought that piece had a lot of mojo. I think I've found my new 2-bus compressor!

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

That's me!

I've "known" of Roger and his work for a few years through another forum that we were both part of; he sent me some prototype pre's to try out back then and I was blown away. I knew when I saw that he had a comp he was finally bringing to market, it wasn't going to be some copy-cat box or something half-assed.

Adam at Mercenary was kind enough to set up an evaluation for me and the best thing I can say about it is that the P3S will NOT be returning to the dealer. There are so many options with this piece and they all have a place; don't like the in-your-face aggression of feed-forward mode? Punch in the F/B knob for some smooth glue. RMS mode is like compression magic.

I can use lower ratios on the P3S (like 1.5:1) and hear more of a musical effect than I've experienced on almost any other compressor I can think of.

I can't see myself ever switching the Carnhills out of the circuit because they just sound SO good - I'm an "iron man™". Since my API 2500 is now kind of living on my parallel drum bus, having the Foote on the 2-bus is taking its place and then some!

[RogerFoote]

Hi Don

Thanks for posting!

I intentionally kept your name out of my post. We have a policy of keeping our customer information confidential.

Ditto those Carnhills. Those are some great sounding transformers!

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

[rollmottle]

Originally Posted by RogerFoote

Hi Don

Thanks for posting!

I intentionally kept your name out of my post. We have a policy of keeping our customer information confidential.

Ditto those Carnhills. Those are some great sounding transformers!

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

I've got serial number 4 and have been getting acquainted with it the the past couple of days. It's an extremely versatile piece and those Carnhills are major league. I just ran a mix through it last night and it was quite a revelation. Really tied everything together in the best of ways. I've also been tracking bass and synths with it and I'm having trouble finding anything it won't do really well (Great River 500NV > API 550b > P3S is sonic gold).

My only complaint, and this is kind of stupid, is that the knobs feel cheap compared to the quality of the construction and sound of the whole box. I'm going to replace them with some Moog style knobs I think. Also, that brown doesn't photograph very well -- it looks much classier in person.

[RogerFoote]

Thanks for the feedback, especially the details about your signal chain!

Glad you like it.


Best
Roger

[RogerFoote]

Hi all

Just wanted to add that the knobs on these are actually pretty nice knobs. The plastic is a nice heavy formulation and they have thick brass sleeves with Allen set screws.

The aluminum knobs cost us 3X the price of the plastic though, and we are trying to keep this box in the under $2K bracket even though it is built and sounds like a $5K box.

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

[DeGomez&Garcia]

Is suitable this compressor for complex material like soundtracks or classical?

[emrr]

I'll have to play with those sort of sources and report back; nothing I've experienced with it so far suggests any problems. In fact, it's so good at low ratio work, it's probably perfect. You could definitely run a very low ratio with a very large swing in gain reduction over the course of a program, and likely not notice any real compressor action (in negative ways) at all. I think I already commented somewhere that in AR mode, you can set it up so it acts more like an AGC (automatic gain control).

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by emrr

I'll have to play with those sort of sources and report back

I'd be interested to hear your opinions. What are you putting through it? And especially what it does (and doesn't do) compared to other buss comps (SSL type, 2500, Red3, etc.). thumbsup

[DeGomez&Garcia]

In most comps the "auto" is a unusable mode.

Really works well this AR?

[emrr]

Roger changed the name of 'Auto' to 'NL' (non-linear), as it refers to attack time. It is immensely useful in this piece. I've written plenty about the tricks it can do here at GS. Most people will probably find themselves in RMS mode most of the time. I have personally found little need or reason to fiddle with adjustable AR mode, and I've seldom used peak mode. But, they all work and are useful. If I didn't have a bunch of other comps to use, and nothing but these, I'm sure I'd apply every mode successfully in different apps. I think it speaks volumes that I have a good number of quality comps already, and have ended up with 2 stereo and 3 mono channels of these to complement. Of what I have, if I had to pick only one type to take a half dozen of into an unknown session, it'd probably be these. The Distressors, the Langevin ELOP, the LA-2A clones, the API 525 clones, the StaLevel, the Gates SA-39's, the Collins 26U's, the Gain-Brains, the various RCA vari-mu's, they'd all stay home.

[Roc Mixwell]

MASSIVE COMPRESSOR THREAD FEATURING THE FOOTE P3S

SAMPLES IN THIS THREAD

[jamwerks]

Hats off Adam for taking the time to prepare all those files! thumbsup

[RogerFoote]

I have been finding the AR timings to be essential on electric bass tracking, possibly mixing as well.

A slightly slower attack lets the bell tones come through. RMS attenuates these initial harmonics due to very fast attacks times that RMS imposes.

Roger

[RogerFoote]

Adam

Just looked over that comparison thread. Lot o' work there!

Thanks for taking the time (and including my P3S!)

Roger

[Roc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by RogerFoote

Adam

Just looked over that comparison thread. Lot o' work there!

Thanks for taking the time (and including my P3S!)

Roger

Roger, the P3S is holding serious water next to those other more expensive boxes.

[PaulyD]

Hi all,
long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a few questions regarding the FCS P3S.

1. Does the P3S come with the usual 1 year warranty?

2. Is there contact info for Foote Control Systems in the packaging, should the unit require warranty service?

3. Does it come with a user guide?

I know these are stupid questions, but I haven't been able to find the answers on the web. I need to know these things before considering a purchase.

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Paul

[bleen]

Originally Posted by PaulyD

1. Does the P3S come with the usual 1 year warranty?

I don't know, but I would assume so. Mercenary or Roger could let you know.

2. Is there contact info for Foote Control Systems in the packaging, should the unit require warranty service?

Yup.

3. Does it come with a user guide?

Yup.

[RDSQR]

ordered mine from mercenary today. i have a mix project coming up and i can't wait to put it through its paces. i'll let you know what i think once i get some hours under my belt with it.


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[RogerFoote]

Hi all!

The FCS products all carry a 1 (one) year warranty. However, I am very flexible. If something breaks down in 2 years and the user has not trashed the thing I will fix it for free. There isn't much that can go wrong in the compressor.

We provide a humble user's guide with all the specs and some drawings that you might find helpful.

Contact info is available freely from Mercenary before or after purchase.
If something needs service the unit is shipped directly to us and we ship directly back to the end user. If you want to contact me directly, just ask the folks at Mercenary and they will set you up. I only sell through Mercenary though, not directly.

Thanks for your support!

Roger Foote
FCS

[PaulyD]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks a lot for the replies.

If it's of help to anyone else, the external power supply for the P3S compressor is a high quality in-line unit. Where external power supplies are concerned, I'm glad for that. I'd rather have a line lump than a wall wart.

I ordered a P3S today and I'm really looking forward to it. Props to the Mercenary Audio folks, too. I'm finding them way cool to deal with.

EDIT: Oh, and props to Roger, too. Nice, prompt response via email.

Cheers,

Paul

[fragletrollet]

How is this comp on electronic (heavy kicks, sharp leads and big basses) material, I really like the SSL and API compression and color, is this comparable?

[RogerFoote]

Hi fragletrollet

The P3S is great on electronic music. It handles extreme low frequencies with ease. The Carnhill transformers add some very nice heft to bass and low mids.

Electronic music is a favorite genre of mine, being a synth builder since the '70s and still doing it when time allows.

Thanks RDSQR and PaulyD for your purchases!

Best regards
Roger Foote
FCS

[rollmottle]

I've had the last month or so to live with this beast. I've been mixing a rock record through it and I have to say this thing is absolutely INCREDIBLE.

The Carnhills definitely add major league heft to anything through it. They are switchable, but I think it would be silly to switch them out! I've got a Folcrom summing box so my mix signal chain is GR MP500 2NV > API 550 B > FCS P3S -- Everything comes out f'ing ENORMOUS. I keep the HPF engaged and usually keep my ratio at 1.3:1 and kiss it for 1 to 2db of reduction. It's been in RMS mode and lately I've kept it in Non Linear mode. I also dial 2db back at 30 on the API's and this seems to help keep all that xformer iron between all my pieces in check.

It's an impressive piece of gear at an extraordinary price.

Speaking of electronic music...that's what I make. Here's one of the first things I mixed through it. A little glue to tie the room together:
SENTRALL - Rollmottle - The Yearsong (Final Mix) - SoundCloud

[Roc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by rollmottle

I've had the last month or so to live with this beast. I've been mixing a rock record through it and I have to say this thing is absolutely INCREDIBLE.

The Carnhills definitely add major league heft to anything through it. They are switchable, but I think it would be silly to switch them out! I've got a Folcrom summing box so my mix signal chain is GR MP500 2NV > API 550 B > FCS P3S -- Everything comes out f'ing ENORMOUS. I keep the HPF engaged and usually keep my ratio at 1.3:1 and kiss it for 1 to 2db of reduction. It's been in RMS mode and lately I've kept it in Non Linear mode. I also dial 2db back at 30 on the API's and this seems to help keep all that xformer iron between all my pieces in check.

It's an impressive piece of gear at an extraordinary price.

Speaking of electronic music...that's what I make. Here's one of the first things I mixed through it. A little glue to tie the room together:
SENTRALL - Rollmottle - The Yearsong (Final Mix) - SoundCloud

[RDSQR]

so i was supposed to get my unit today, but the ups ninja somehow managed to avoid alerting either me or my hyper aware dog who barks at anything larger than a housefly within a quarter mile of my house.

i signed the slip and will be playing with it tomorrow (provided he can get here through the 12"-18" of snow)

[RogerFoote]

RDSQR

Aw man!
Hope they get it to you tomorrow.

Roger

[RDSQR]

ups made it through the blizzard. got #0007 hooked up and working on the 2 bus right now. initial impressions are definitely favorable.


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