Thermionic culture - freebird eq

[Kevlar]

Thermionic Culture launch 'The Freebird' at Music Messe 2010, marking new territory for company.




The Freebrid is a 3 Channel valve EQ, company director Nick Terry explains, "We've introduced a new product that can be considered as part of a modular system, in our own unique style of course. The Freebird has 3 channels of broad but versatile valve EQ. The unit is a half rack design but can be put together in a 19 inch rack case with another unit to give 6 channels of EQ.

There will be other products in this format to follow, so plenty of opportunity to mix and match. We decided on 3 channels because we want this to be seen as an affordable, multichannel, quality valve EQ. It’s got tons of character and can provide the kind of sound and features that fit extremely well in a DAW based system.
We feel that this is very much in line with what our users need. The format now being called a “hybrid” setup is making economic and ergonomic sense to more and more of us in this rapidly changing business.

The unit is 4 U high. This allows us to make the front panel very easy to read which, together with the large knobs and indented pots, makes recall of settings quick and easy. Why 3 channels? Well, ever sat there looking at a fully featured esoteric stereo EQ unit and wondering if it makes sense that it only ever gets used on the stereo mix bus to add a dB or two of top and bottom? With the Freebird you can relax, you’ve got 1 stereo and still 1 mono left over. It sounds great on a vocal too by the way. Or maybe 3 mono channels are more useful to you. Perhaps you could go for 2 units and then consider them as 6 channels of EQ for your summing mixer. Starting to feel like a valve console that’s easy to recall isn’t it?

At the heart of the EQ is a baxandall type circuit, effectively giving 2 shelving equalisers. One for low frequencies and one for high frequencies. The EQ point of these shelves can be switched between 2 positions for each shelf. There is also a unique circuit, originally designed by Vic in 1960, which controls the amount of presence in the signal. This is a uniquely shaped, active mid lift type EQ. We’ve included a fixed frequency mid cut similar to that found in the Rooster. We’ve also included a single position hi-pass filter to remove problem low frequency content. The gain control is there to help reduce unwanted distortion when using lots of additive EQ. You can level match the EQ’d signal to the original signal by using the gain control and bypass switch too, as the bypass completely removes all circuits from the signal path.

We feel these broad parameters are actually what is really needed from a multichannel EQ nowadays. The now universal use of DAWs does inherently mean that digital equalisation has come an awfully long way. To the point where there are some excellent digital EQ’s available and in general use. However, one thing they just can’t replace is the convincing feel provided by outboard valve equalisation. The Freebird is the kind of EQ you can turn to when you just need..... a bit more! Whether that’s more gluey bottom end to your drums, more harmonically sweet top end to your vocal sound or midrange shape to guitar tracks, all with the true valve sound you’d expect from a Thermionic Culture product"

The Freebird is inspired by a design that was developed many years ago by Vic Keary and has seen a lot of use on many different albums and hit records over the last 50 years. The unit is a single ended, unbalanced design, which we’ve kept in this format because we love the way it sounds.

UNITY AUDIO LTD
THERMIONIC CULTURE ALL VALVE DESIGN PROFESSIONAL AUDIO EQUIPMENT

[retractablezing]

very curious to see what else is planned for this format, as well as prices...

btw, does it have a built in PSU, or will this be part of a "lunchbox" type of thing with its own PSU?

[matucha]

I think TC needs to hire much better faceplate designer. This is so lame ! But I guess it sounds great..

[Lindell]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

Thermionic Culture launch 'The Freebird' at Music Messe 2010

Very cool!
Price?
Pwr supply built in?

[Recycled_Brains]

Originally Posted by matucha

I think TC needs to hire much better faceplate designer. This is so lame ! But I guess it sounds great..

What's so lame about it? It's functionality and simplicity?

[Alexi]

whats the price tag on the 4 channel pre?

[ProducerBoy]

This has got to be the first time I've heard of a 3 channel EQ. Pretty cool.

[recall]

I like the look of the Freebird, exactly the kind of thing I would like to add to my bus chain.

Are the pots stepped for recall purposes?

[Mind-Over-Midi]

Originally Posted by matucha

I think TC needs to hire much better faceplate designer. This is so lame ! But I guess it sounds great..

Lame? LOL I'd be willing to put that kind of lame in my rack.

[indie]

I LOVE the 3 channel eq idea.
So does this fit in a chassis? Or is it self powered? Also - BIG QUESTION.... PRICE!!!????? I need to know.....

[ISedlacek]

I am very curious about that EQ. Is it supposed to be different than EQs on Earybird, Rooster or Pullet ? It is not exactly a "surgical" EQ , yet even then the choices are not that many ... HF boost/cut at 7 and 14 kHz (4kHz would not hurt either), mid cut only (boost is sometimes nice as well) bass boost cut 50/100 Hz. I hope it will sound great. For mastering/mix buss purpose 3 ch are a bit too much What about a stereo version as well ?
Price already revealed ?

[Jay Fitz]

C'mon guys...the "Threebird" would've been way cooler.

[Tom H]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

I am very curious about that EQ. Is it supposed to be different than EQs on Earybird, Rooster or Pullet ? It is not exactly a "surgical" EQ , yet even then the choices are not that many ... HF boost/cut at 7 and 14 kHz (4kHz would not hurt either), mid cut only (boost is sometimes nice as well) bass boost cut 50/100 Hz. I hope it will sound great. For mastering/mix buss purpose 3 ch are a bit too much What about a stereo version as well ?
Price already revealed ?

I assume the "presence" knob is the mid boost here and it will probably be in the 4kHz area.... but yeah wondering about the mid freqs too

3 ch is an original choice. would be cool to have 4 units and place then left and right from the fat bustard. Thermionic mini console!

[B.L.P]

have someone seen or tested this at musikmesse?

I'm exited and want more talk and pictures

[rrraaalllfff]

Originally Posted by Jay Fitz

C'mon guys...the "Threebird" would've been way cooler.

Well this thing is english, and in some parts in England the "th" sounds like a "f" when they speak. As in "thief" sounds like "feef". So, you may have hit the nail on the head.

[B.L.P]

[rrraaalllfff]

"...as part of a console" !!?! Good Lord.

[Pr.tiouz]

If it's like the mid cut on the rooster it should be 700hz starting broad and getting steeper with more cut.

[flute player]

Maybe Fletcher can give a nice review of this.
He is sitting next to him and could look all day long to this device.

greetz,

Paul

[B.L.P]

[Sander A]

Originally Posted by matucha

I think TC needs to hire much better faceplate designer. This is so lame ! But I guess it sounds great..

funny how tastes differ,

for me of all the brands thermionic makes the best looking gear. But it's about the sound isn't it

[unsung]

Originally Posted by Jay Fitz

C'mon guys...the "Threebird" would've been way cooler.

How'bout the "Gimme Three Steps"?

[indie]

I... must... know....price...and availability.

[indie]

No one knows?

[Kevlar]

Originally Posted by indie

I... must... know....price...and availability.

OK, OK, IF YOU MUST!

It's going to be around £1650 UK Pounds ex VAT.

[Kevlar]

Just to let everyone know that we'll be at the AES San Francisco show, booth 516 where we'll have a working Freebird, the Earlybird 4, and a brand new unit that I've not even seen yet, the Nightingale which is in the same format as the Freebird, so another module for the console plan. The Nightingale is a two channel mic pre that can sum to a mono compressor.

I'll post some pictures from the show when we have it in the rack.

The Freebird and EB4 are both shipping btw.

[peeninety]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

Just to let everyone know that we'll be at the AES San Francisco show, booth 516 where we'll have a working Freebird, the Earlybird 4, and a brand new unit that I've not even seen yet, the Nightingale which is in the same format as the Freebird, so another module for the console plan.

can you tell us anything about the console?

[Kevlar]

Originally Posted by retractablezing

very curious to see what else is planned for this format, as well as prices...

btw, does it have a built in PSU, or will this be part of a "lunchbox" type of thing with its own PSU?

It will have it's own built in power supply, and we have already previewed the Nightingale on the AES San Francisco show, I'll put a post up soon re this along with images.

[Kevlar]

Here's the final version of the Freebird which is now shipping. The unit has now been fitted with transformer balanced inputs which has risen the price to £1995.00. The outs are still and unbalanced.

It's 4u high and half rack width, there is an optional simple rack mounting tray available to house one or two Freebirds or a combination as we will be producing other models in this size format. Here you can see two brids racks together using the optional rack tray and a rear view image too.

They can be used stand-alone as they have theor own psu's or form the input building blocks for a Thermionic console, details of which are still being discussed......

[ggodzillae]

where can we have good demos ?