The Fairchild circuit could be one of the most coveted and time-tested compressors of all time. It has proven its extraordinary universal musicality for over 5 decades on countless genres of music. The beauty of its design is in its simplicity. The audio path, primarily consisting of only 2 transformers and 4 paralleled vari-mu tubes, can provide a gentle smoothing of levels or an explosive, energising compression that will make any recording leap out of the speakers. The Undertone Audio UnFairchild 670M II is a painstaking recreation of the classic sound of this circuit.
There are a few limitations of the original Fairchild that we set out to address. First, we have made careful adjustments to the circuitry that greatly improve the lifespan and reliability of the tubes. Additionally, we’ve added a whole host of exciting new features that have never before been available on a Fairchild. The Undertone Audio UnFairchild 670M II sports 6 original preset Time Constants and 4 variable Time Constants (attack and release), MS function, side chain processing, a true bypass, fine adjustment of left/right balance, user adjustable “DC Threshold”, and “Feed-Back” vs. “Feed-Forward” functionality. With the Undertone Audio UnFairchild 670M II, we’ve made this extraordinary circuit flexible enough to handle pretty much every compression task on any style of music.
We’ve added a wider range of controls. As cool as the original Fairchild is to own, it’s cooler to have that sound with modern #exibility. The Undertone Audio UnFairchild 670M II offers the legacy of the Fairchild; with much more of what one would expect from a compressor built in 2018. In addition to the original time constant presets there are:
- Independent control over the Attack and Release
- User control over the DC Offset (functions similar to a ratio control)
- Access to processing or EQing the side chain signal
- Fine-trim adjustments for precise matching of the L/R balance
- True stereo linking
- Multiple M/S processing modes
- Options for feed-forward compression
- Calibration for meter level accuracy and channel compression matching
- True bypass
- Output metering
