As I indicated earlier, I was interested in the Fairman mastering line for my mixbuss. I met up with Gearslut ROUNDBADGE and headed down to Glendale to Mark Linette's studio with two other friends to do some crucial listening with the Fairman TMEQ (tube mastering EQ), the Fairman TMC (tube mastering compressor), the Mercury M66 (mono tub Fairchild-type compressor) and also some Pultec EQP1A3s. I tried, tried, tried to get two Fearn VT-4's, but to no avail.

First off, Mark is VERY cool and spent a lot of time making sure the listening test was exactly how it should be. And was very informative and lended a pretty serious pair of ears. Thanks Mark, if you read this.

Okay. First we hooked up Mercury M66 (wish I had two of 'em, but we made best with the mono test) and we compared it to the TMC. Both were incredible. They were used very subtley and gave the mix a rich warmth. After several A/B-ing. We determined that the TMC was clearer, a little brighter than the Mercury. The Mercury was darker, and gave the mix more glue. It was a toss up for me and Roundbadge. Linette preferred the TMC to the M66. He felt that the M66 would need a little EQing and that discouraged him -- although he really liked it. Roundbadge and I enjoyed the M66. We felt that in the world of digital recording where things can get bright, the M66 would add great glue to the mix. From here on in, it's all subjective. Which do you prefere, the Rolls Royce, or the Bentley?

Then we plugged in the Fairman TMEQ. Yes, it's the granddaddy of EQs! We first started changing EQ settings very subtly, then more extreme. What can I say? It's perfect. Amazingly transparent for a tube EQ. It's like an 800 pound gorilla that can walk on its tiptoes and bust down the house. I couldn't find any flaws with it. Having owned a massive passive, the Fairman is in a league of its own -- although I did like my Massive Passive for mid-range sculpting.

Roundbadge and I where were gung-ho to buy one of the uber EQs, but we lost some interest for these reasons: It truly is a "mastering" EQ. Surprisingly transparent. Mark Linette explains that he only adds 2db of this or -1 db of that. So for my purposes, 9000.00 dollars is a lot of money to spend for a little EQ-ing on a masterbuss. But if i was a mastering engineer, or a top enginner like Linette, I'd grab one of these and never look back.

Then we put a couple of Pultec EQP1-A3s across the mixbuss. They were great. Pultecs have that "sound." Ad wether you add EQ or not, you hear it. I love Pultecs, plain and simple.

In conclusion: for my purposes, I want vibe and color. I'll let the mastering guys spend all the serious bucks on transparent. More and more, I have been selling my "new" gear and going back to the classic sound: 1073s, 1176LNs, LA2a, Pultecs, etc... I will probably (although haven't totally decided) to buy a matched pair of Pultec EQP1-As, and maybe an AMS Neve 33609JD, use that for my mixbuss for the time being. I'll keep my M66, maybe buy another down the road. I like the warm 'fairchild' sort thing they do, I find that recording in the digital world, things can get a hair bright. The M66, for me, might be just the trick to glue down that digi-brightness.

thumbsup

:O~~~

thanks ...

FYI:

I had a great time with the VT-4s in their all too brief visit here. You can read about it in this month's EQ magazine.

I have one of the first Fearn stereo compressors, the VT-7, arriving here Monday. I'll stay in touch.

Cool post. I know the guy who owns that UA console, but that's the first time I've seen it. He's the same guy who has the Messenger gear, which is Vac Rac on steroids.

From what Mark told me, it recorded a lot of Beach Boys and Patridge Family.

I was trying desperately to get a couple of VT-4s for the shoot-out. No luck. I'm very insterested in your opinion of these. Can't wait to hear about the VT-7.
thumbsup

thumbsup What Tetness said..
Fun day,really nice to meet you guys..I'd love to check out the 33609JD ,if you get it.
More GS'rs gotta hook up in LA.
The TMC, I'd pass on. ..not for me..I'm diggin the Phoenix comp[and it's 1/2 the mula]
The TMEQ is just absolutely sick..you can crank the hell out of it and it still sounds like music.but small doses could go a long way indeed. not quite as colored as we expected,but just incredibly sweet.especially on the air freq's
But I think after me and Tet talked some sense into each other, I'm realizing it's serious overkill for the my mix buss stuff.A pure luxury item.
Brian,have you heard it?
I'll probably just grab an Ibis and call it a day.
Yeah ..and it was really great meeting Mark L..
lovely studio at his place.. and man ,does he ever have the real toys....
He'd make a great guest mod here..We could spend a week on Brian Wilson alone!
whoops ..I think we forgot to ask.

Oh and Lynn .thanks for the VT-4/GR article
and yeah ..keep us posted on the VT-7 ..I'd love to hear that thing

Yeah.I think I saw that stuff under the UA.Ive heard its the bee's shnizzet

cdog has an Ibis in the second hand section right now for $3,200. I'd grab it myself if I had the apparently endlessly slutty funds that you do!

Thats still for sale?
cool.

I put a picture of and a link to the Messenger stuff on this thread here.

Inward Connections Sidecar 820 thread

roundbadge - step away from the IBIS sir...thats mine heh
i was going to suck that thing up today but i ended up gambling on too many other ebay auctions. maybe if i hit up the bloodbank a couple times this week i could stack enough cheddar for that ibis .


well after you and lynn hyped up the vt-4 and the pultec i did what anybody else would do - get em both!

bought a pair of vt-4's at a steal of a price second hand and also bought 1 eqh2 from vintage king. (the thing is mint i tell ya ) the fearns are arriving on ye old doorstep monday . the pultec needs about 3 weeks for restoration

between girlfriends right now. gotta move all of this $$$ so the next one doesnt know i have it .

I'm still interested in renting Fearn VT-4s if anyone has any thought on how to get hold of some.

What, no mp3s????

Sounds like a fun field trip. thumbsup

What are those Messenger stuff??!! Never seen 'em before. Is it the same designer as Vac Rac ?

You sir, RULE! How Much??!!$$$
hehBTW ..my girlfriend is getting pretty deft at tha game of "Spot the new piece in the rack" lately..hard to explain that the nicerizer 16 is a new "hard drive enclosure"
UUh ..no dear ....thats just a loaner ...erm.. demo ...ahem uuuhh..it was really cheap..
Anything with word Neve on it is a total bust..she figured that one out a while ago

must have been a nice day!! thanx for sharing...


man, that UA console !!!! that looks sexy...never seen it before, how many were built of these ?? how much are they today, if you would ever have the chance to get your fingers on one ?? now I see where the inward-stuff-look comes from.....and did you hear it ??? *drool*

serious slutty racks...lovely

They are built for my friend Bruce by Inward Connections. Most of the design is very similar except that the Messenger has that super beefy all-tube output stage, and they look fancier. The parts used are also more expensive, such as Hovland Musicaps, Mills, Holco, Caddock resistors, and other audiophile components.

Carlos at Watersound borrowed my stereo limiter for a while. He said "This is the best limiter. You cannot hear this limiter. Everything you put through it becomes highly liquid."

They are pretty much built to order at this point, as Bruce does not have a factory like Manley. People like Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson have used them, Quincy Jones, etc... Rappers like them a lot too. They had a bunch of the preamps set up over at Radio Recorders (used to be Studio 56) for a Snoop Dogg drum tracking session a while back.

We're working on that Fairchild style limiter module. Last I heard it's ready to go to Steve Firlotte for more tweaking. Those eq's are really nice too! The inductors were custom made, and Bruce was talking about doing a mid eq recently.

I want a pair of those eq's, and he has the parts ready to go for those. I heard C.L.A. liked them. The problem with this stuff is that the power supplies are big and expensive. There is a solid state power supply now, but it's still not cheap. If you were to be interested in these, I could get you some quotes, better pictures, and some sound samples perhaps too.

6k for the vt-4 pair. totally mint. they also had the tubes matched up for stereo work 3 months ago at D W Fearn. not even a scratch on the face. cant wait to turn these puppies up to 11.

oh yeah and 2450 for the eqh2 (servicing includded). they had 4 and i got the pick of the litter. i hope it sounds the way it looks.

electric

thumbsup

After hearing the ones that were here in town, Blackbird bought four. ($4400 list, each. Do the math.) You can rent them from Blackbird Audio Rentals. Talk to Rolff.

www.blackbirdaudiorentals.com

I doubt you'll find them at any other rental company. It's still a pretty well kept secret. Not for long though.

who's gonna start the thread MARK LINNET reverb sound???

REV 5 BABY! thumbsup

nice photos!
i love that UA console

Ughh. I haven't used a REV 5 for reverb ever (although for some reason I still own one)

Its plates, and real and/ or sampled chambers for me brother........ Mark

Mark please see your PM.

If anyone has any info on UA modules etc. I'd love to hear from you also. (mine has been a project on hold for a while now )

couldnt help myself there! I just get my kickers because that's the one reverb I use when I mix...no emt's or chambers available...