The BB F66, which can be used on mono or stereo sources.
There are now quite a few plug‑ins that emulate the famous Fairchild 660 and 670 compressors but, as with their other recent creations, KIT Plugins have based theirs on specific units in John McBride’s Blackbird Studios in Nashville — in this case, they’ve modelled the units used for, amongst other things, Martina McBride’s vocals. Authorisation is via iLok Cloud or iLok 2/3 dongles (computer hardware authorisation isn’t permitted), and all the usual plug‑in formats for Mac and Windows hosts are supported, but for 64‑bit systems only. Curiously, the download for my Mac‑based system was pretty large (almost 1GB), though the installed plug‑in takes up only about a third of that space. Other than that, installation was hassle free.
Two separate plug‑ins are installed: the BB F66 (a 660 emulation) and the BB F67 (a 670 emulation), and with both channels always ‘in view’ for the latter you’re never in any doubt as to which you’ve loaded. Starting with the ‘single‑channel’ BB F66, this can be used as a mono, stereo or mono‑to‑stereo plug‑in. All the anticipated Fairchild controls are there, with continuously variable input gain and threshold knobs joined by a five‑position time‑constant switch, a virtual moving‑coil meter that can be set to display the input or output level or gain reduction, and an on/off switch. Despite the vintage look, there are nods to modernity here: a panel at the bottom hosts controls for a 0‑500 Hz side‑chain filter, a wet/dry blend facility and up to ±20dB of make‑up gain. At the top, you have separate, clean (ie. proudly digital and not modelling any hardware) input and output level controls, along with buttons for undo/redo and A/B comparison, as well as a generously stocked preset menu, with settings created by various famous names. The GUI is resizeable to small, medium or large, with medium being the default.
The BB F67 can only be used on stereo material, and it duplicates the main compressor controls of the BB F66, one channel appearing above and the other below the panel that hosts the side‑chain filter. As well as the other controls there, this middle panel on the BB F67 includes a stereo mode selector: in Linked mode, the top channel controls apply to both channels, in Stereo mode the two channels’ control sets are unlinked, while Mid/Sides mode implements the Lat/Vert setting of the hardware, with the top channel manipulating the Mid signal and the bottom one the Sides.
So it’s all familiar enough, but what about the sound? Of course, with Fairchilds having been around for three quarters of a century now, and individual units having aged or been modded, individual specimens will vary, not least with things like the attack and release times. KIT say the settings they measured on these treasured hardware devices differed from those given in the manual. Still, I thought I’d compare both plug‑ins on a range of material with some of the other Fairchild emulation plug‑ins I often turn to. I started by exploring and tweaking some presets which seemed to have been duplicated in the BB F66, with two entries for each setting (I’m sure that’s a bug that will be ironed out quickly), but there are some excellent starting points for those not used to a Fairchild interface, even if you obviously need to tweak settings to suit the material you’re working on. The (deliberately) limited menu of attack and release pairings means that on the right material, you can often simply adjust the top strip’s input and output level knobs to get the signal in the sweet spot for a given preset.
There’s definitely a Fairchild‑ish sonic character on offer here: a sweetening of the sound and a bit of an EQ curve applied even when there’s no gain reduction. When actually compressing, they both performed admirably on a range of sources. On sounds with some sustain, and on female vocals in particular, it could sound effortless and seductive, and I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the units that they are modelled after. But it delivered the goods when it came to smooth control of bass and acoustic guitar, and served decently on the mix bus of an Americana track.
Used on a drum bus, the KIT plug‑ins seemed to pull the image backward in the sound stage a touch. Not terrible, but not an effect that I’d choose — I just couldn’t get them to sound quite as upfront, solid or alive as the equivalent plug‑ins I’ve been using recently, even with the help of the side‑chain filter. To be fair to KIT, I’ve also heard much worse, and I should probably point out that one of those other plug‑ins is based on a hardware recreation that itself isn’t quite a direct copy of a vintage Fairchild, while the other uses a different technology to capture the hardware sound (and although that one sounds great I do find its GUI clunkier to use!)
...they’re certainly capable of doing some sweet‑sounding things to vocals...
Do these two compressor plug‑ins sound like Martina McBride’s Fairchilds? Well, some big‑name engineers who’ve worked at Blackbird — and have enjoyed far greater success than I ever will — are quoted as saying so. Obviously, without access to the Fairchilds at Blackbird, I can’t vouch for that, but what I can say is that they’re certainly capable of doing some sweet‑sounding things to vocals, and have the potential to be equally pleasing on most — if perhaps not quite all — other material.
Information
Perpetual licence $99. Also available through KIT’s Noiz Hub subscription, $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Perpetual license $99. Also available through KIT’s Noiz Hub subscription, $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.