OverTone FC-70 Review - Fairchild 670, Really?

[Aiynzahev]

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer"

So I dunno, both very good and quite similar. IK for me though.

Any possibility to give us some small audio demo of this?
I am very curious to hear this but I can't test it myself yet for various reasons.

Two steps ahead of you!

http://soundcloud.com/aiyn-zahev/670s-d ... ry/s-TBHZt

First dry, then IK, then Overtone then dry.

Both pushed to the limits, 20dB+ GR on time constant 1.

I think I understand the confusion here, IK modelled a 670. Overtone found a dragon in the English shires then turned it into a compressor. Don't ask me how.

This thing is immense, now, finally I understand the fame of the fairchild. Fair? Child? This is no normal child



Looks like the go to for smooth but vibrant compression. I bet it could handle anything. For the price? Shut up and take my money! As soon as the funds are a little more free here I'm snapping it up.

[bmanic]

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer".

Couldn't disagree more. The FC70 sounds much more "analogue" in my opinion. It actually softens the transients in a very nice way. Drive some very clicky/ticky hihats through the thing.. then compare with the IK 670. The IK actually exaggerates the ticky thing at the very start of the sound whereas the FC70 mellows it out.

This softening is very often what I associate with proper tube equipment. It's a sort of rounding of things while still being deceptively transparent.

A well maintained 670 inspired hardware thing that I've played with many years ago (the Fairmann TMC Tube compressor) had this exact behavior. So does the Manley Vari-Mu and Knif Vari Mu II that I've had the immense pleasure of enjoying a couple of times lately.

In fact, I'll have to be very careful praising the FC70 here as I'm doing all my testing on very mediocre gamers headphones but even on these I hear a distinct tonality and shaping of the transients. I'll be at work, in the studio, tomorrow where I can audition the plugins more thoroughly but so far I am extremely impressed. They have none of the "faux analogue wannabe degrading" plugin sound that I sometimes get annoyed by (the IK comps don't really suffer from this either though). I'd even go as far as saying that these have some of the Nebula(ish) mojo magic going on. Very subtle and very pleasing.

As a pure compressor that controls things I think this is the best 670 emulation to date. I can easily slap on a nasty, hard piano riff and compress it way over 10dB and it still sounds relatively natural with that slight 670 splash and suction which is heard on countless records. Love it!

I hope this is not just a honeymoon thing but I'll find out more tomorrow.

Cheers!
bManic

[Aiynzahev]

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer".

Couldn't disagree more. The FC70 sounds much more "analogue" in my opinion. It actually softens the transients in a very nice way. Drive some very clicky/ticky hihats through the thing.. then compare with the IK 670. The IK actually exaggerates the ticky thing at the very start of the sound whereas the FC70 mellows it out.

This softening is very often what I associate with proper tube equipment. It's a sort of rounding of things while still being deceptively transparent.

A well maintained 670 inspired hardware thing that I've played with many years ago (the Fairmann TMC Tube compressor) had this exact behavior. So does the Manley Vari-Mu and Knif Vari Mu II that I've had the immense pleasure of enjoying a couple of times lately.

In fact, I'll have to be very careful praising the FC70 here as I'm doing all my testing on very mediocre gamers headphones but even on these I hear a distinct tonality and shaping of the transients. I'll be at work, in the studio, tomorrow where I can audition the plugins more thoroughly but so far I am extremely impressed. They have none of the "faux analogue wannabe degrading" plugin sound that I sometimes get annoyed by (the IK comps don't really suffer from this either though). I'd even go as far as saying that these have some of the Nebula(ish) mojo magic going on. Very subtle and very pleasing.

As a pure compressor that controls things I think this is the best 670 emulation to date. I can easily slap on a nasty, hard piano riff and compress it way over 10dB and it still sounds relatively natural with that slight 670 splash and suction which is heard on countless records. Love it!

I hope this is not just a honeymoon thing but I'll find out more tomorrow.

Cheers!
bManic

No there is no disagreement between us here, I fully agree with you after testing some more suitable material.

[bmanic]

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer"

So I dunno, both very good and quite similar. IK for me though.

Any possibility to give us some small audio demo of this?
I am very curious to hear this but I can't test it myself yet for various reasons.

Two steps ahead of you!

http://soundcloud.com/aiyn-zahev/670s-d ... ry/s-TBHZt

First dry, then IK, then Overtone then dry.

Both pushed to the limits, 20dB+ GR on time constant 1.

Your sound example shows exactly what I'm talking about when it comes to the transients. Every now and then (too often for my taste) the IK compressor has a nasty "Tick!!!" or "click!!" to the drum, just before it smashes it down. Kind of makes me feel like there simply isn't enough resolution in the way the compressor shapes the output. It's the difference you can hear with The Glue compressor too when comparing non-oversampled version to ridiculous amounts of oversampling (try the x64 times oversampling setting). It's the Achilles heel of any digital compressor when compared to the analogue ones, very noticeable during a very fast and brutal attack. Only a select few digital compressors seem to be able to deal with a smooth, very fast, attack without using "cheats" like look-a-head. One of the first plugins to pull this off admirably was the original UAD 1176 model.

In this regard I feel the FC70 is far superior to the IK model and much MUCH better than the Waves one.

Cheers!
bManic

[bmanic]

No there is no disagreement between us here, I fully agree with you after testing some more suitable material.

Alright!

Cheers!
bManic

[filter303]

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer"

So I dunno, both very good and quite similar. IK for me though.

Any possibility to give us some small audio demo of this?
I am very curious to hear this but I can't test it myself yet for various reasons.

Two steps ahead of you!

http://soundcloud.com/aiyn-zahev/670s-d ... ry/s-TBHZt

First dry, then IK, then Overtone then dry.

Both pushed to the limits, 20dB+ GR on time constant 1.

I think I understand the confusion here, IK modelled a 670. Overtone found a dragon in the English shires then turned it into a compressor. Don't ask me how.

This thing is immense, now, finally I understand the fame of the fairchild. Fair? Child? This is no normal child



Looks like the go to for smooth but vibrant compression. I bet it could handle anything. For the price? Shut up and take my money! As soon as the funds are a little more free here I'm snapping it up.

Thank you for taking the time to share this demo with us, Aiynzahev.
To my taste the Overtone 670 is clearly better sounding in this example. Not as much difference in harmonic distortion as I first though, but more difference with the transients itself. In your example IK670 sounds somehow more unnatural or processed than the overtone670.

I better demo all of the overtone dsp plugins when I have a chance.

Has anyone tried the dyn500 yet?

[mandolarian]

..Only a select few digital compressors seem to be able to deal with a smooth, very fast, attack without using "cheats" like look-a-head.

That's not a cheat, that's just taking the time to get the timing right. It's like a micro-rehearsal for transients.

[Eddie TX]

Has anyone tried the dyn500 yet?

Yes, those of us who discovered the OverTone plugins some time ago (which have been discussed here and in other forums e.g. GS) have tried and/or purchased them all. It's rare that the least expensive plugin in its class is also the best, but that seems to be true with much of the OverTone stuff. The Fairchild and Pultec are the stars of the lineup, but Windows users shouldn't miss the VTE-2A, an impressive 3-band EQ. Sorry, no Mac version just yet, but one is planned.

The OverTone 500 series (also Windows-only for now) includes the EQ500, which is apparently very similar if not identical to the VTE-2A, just with a different GUI.

The DYN500, companion to the EQ500, is an interesting little compressor. On certain sources, e.g. kick drum, it's as good as anything else I've tried. Certainly worth a demo, and very reasonably priced at £20.

Note: I have no affiliation with OverTone. I'm just a happy customer.

Cheers,
Eddie

[Robmobius]

I've been very impressed with Overtone's PTC-2A, it's excellent.

Cheers for posting those new test examples. I'm beginning to change my mind about O.T.'s compressor.

[softska]

FC-70 looks good but I still can't believe they decide hold the makeup gain knob hostage

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[Brother Charles]

WOW! Thanks bmanic. I feel very honored by your remarks. I know you don't say anything but the "real thing". Seriously, I feel very honored. Thank you for taking the time to check out the review, and thanks for your support of OverTone.

Wow! How on earth have I never heard of these? The FC70 and PTC-2A are absolutely brilliant in my opinion! Instant buys.

They are much more convincing than many of the alternatives. This is how I've always imagined a mint condition Fairchild to sound and behave like. Very smooth and "controlled". I prefer it much more than the IK 670 on all the sources I've tried it so far.

It really does remind me quite a lot of the Variety Of Sound stuff.. very sophisticated and nicely rounding transients, even without any compression action going on. It makes a big difference how hard or soft you drive these, the transient response and tonality changes quite a bit.

The only large minus is the lack of proper pre/post gain knobs (well we have input gain on the FC70 of course) which makes them a real chore to work with and do proper A/B comparison to the original signal at equal volume levels. I think this is a BIG minus of these plugins. The philosophy of "lets do it exactly like the hardware" is plain stupid when it comes to plugins.. always has been. The small conveniences we are allowed while in-the-box should NOT be left out!

I also feel like the knobs are not as nicely tuned as they could have been.. OverTone guy's should take a look at how the FabFilter knobs deal with mouse response. It's very easy on the FF plugins to quickly dial in exactly the value you are looking for. Their "emulation" of real knobs and "weight" is quite a bit off in my opinion. Other than that these plugins are pure awesomeness!

A big plus is the light CPU load of these plugins meaning I can use them all over the place. Absolutely love these! Massive thanks to Brother Charles for the heads up on these.

Cheers!
bManic

[Brother Charles]

Excellent! Thanks a million, Aiynzahev.

So I just did a very short side by side on drums. Well the overtone sounds much cleaner, but also more "digital" in that the signal basically sounds the same afterwards whereas IK seems to make it a bit degraded (not unpleasant) and is more like something that's aged a little and is imperfect. It does not retain the high end like overtone but that makes it sound "warmer"

So I dunno, both very good and quite similar. IK for me though.

Any possibility to give us some small audio demo of this?
I am very curious to hear this but I can't test it myself yet for various reasons.

Two steps ahead of you!

http://soundcloud.com/aiyn-zahev/670s-d ... ry/s-TBHZt

First dry, then IK, then Overtone then dry.

Both pushed to the limits, 20dB+ GR on time constant 1.

I think I understand the confusion here, IK modelled a 670. Overtone found a dragon in the English shires then turned it into a compressor. Don't ask me how.

This thing is immense, now, finally I understand the fame of the fairchild. Fair? Child? This is no normal child



Looks like the go to for smooth but vibrant compression. I bet it could handle anything. For the price? Shut up and take my money! As soon as the funds are a little more free here I'm snapping it up.

[Proteinshake]

I don't like what the OverTone FC-70 does in your review at all.

[bmanic]

FC-70 looks good but I still can't believe they decide hold the makeup gain knob hostage

Agreed! It's a HUGE oversight in my opinion. I'm quite allergic to "completely faithful emulations down to the control scheme and all" when it comes to plugin interfaces. It's plain silly. It adds absolutely no value at all to the plugin and causes a lot of frustration.

Cheers!
bManic