26th June 2005
#1
FAIRMAN & MERCURY DEMO W/MARK LINETTE
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.
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.
. the pultec needs about 3 weeks for restoration 
)
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...
