Fairchild Recording Equipment announced that it is introducing the new Fairchild 660 vacuum tube compressor, an authentic recreation of the original unit that joins the 670 in the product line, at the 2024 NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center at booth 14104.
In the mid 1950s, Sherman Fairchild licensed a design for an intelligent limiting amplifier, the Fairchild 660. Out of production for nearly six decades, Fairchild limiter/compressors have become rare and costly to maintain, and the original units are unaffordable for most. In 2020, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik founder and CEO Toni Fishman began working with a builder in Estonia and was able to faithfully revive Fairchild Recording Equipment and begin manufacturing once again its limiter/compressors.
The model 660 is a single-channel compressor/limiter that has been used on many classic recordings throughout history. It’s ability to inject “warmth” and “coloration” to any signal makes it suitable for producers and audio engineers for initial recordings, mixing, or mastering.
Due to the universal popularity of the 670, only 1,000 Fairchild 660s were ever built and very few of the originals are still in working condition. Designed and built to the original specifications by Rein Narma and recording legend Les Paul, the new 660 utilizes the same tubes and custom wound transformers, point to point soldering and turret style construction.
One of the first users of the 660 was Capitol Records in its Hollywood recording studios. This led to an historic meeting between Abbey Road Studios engineer Peter Brown and the Fairchild 660. After hearing the 660, he decided to purchase multiple units for use in Abbey Road Studios, making the Fairchild 660 one of the only pieces of gear that was not designed and built by EMI. Those original 660s are some of the only ones still operational and are still used regularly on sessions in the UK.
While the basic design points of the 660 and 670 units are the same, the 660 is a single-channel limiter/ompressor with an extra 8 dB of gain. It also utilizes 12 tubes and single channel controls instead of 20 tubes and dual mono controls.
