The FAIRCHILD is a compressor / limiter dated from 1959. The monophonic single channel unit, the Model 660, and the unique stereo version, the Model 670.
The origins of the 670 (and mono 660 version) are fairly humble, coming from Estonian-born Rein Narma. In the post-war years, this refugee from Soviet Russia worked for the U.S. Army as a broadcast/recording tech during the Nuremberg trials, later immigrated to the New York and took a job at Gotham Recording. Narma and several others founded Gotham Audio Developments, to build recording gear. Les
Paul hired him to modify his first 8-track and later Narma built consoles for Rudy Van Gelder, Olmsted Recording and Les Paul, who also asked him to build a limiter. After beginning the project, Sherman Fairchild heard about it, licensed the design and hired Narma as the company's chief engineer. After a stint at Fairchild, Narma moved to Northern California and was a vice-president at Ampex. The basic design uses a singl push-pull stage of amplification with an extremely high control voltage. The result: the unit never produces any audible or observable thumps and, unlike other conventionally-designed limiters, the unit has extremely low distortion and noise under all conditions, either as a limiter or a straight through amplifier. The attack time is very fast - 50 microseconds (1/5000 of a second) - and catches short transients that can, in other limiters, negate the limiting effect. The release time of 3. to 25 seconds provides real flexibility. Three positions (six are available) make the release time a function of program material, fast recovery of program level should the program level remain high. Ample and accessible input controls, threshold controls, attack and release time and metering controls. The unit can be used as a limiter or compressor, depending upon personal taste and program material. A 2 to 1 ratio as a Compressor with a threshold 5b below average level, and as a peak limiter with a 30 to 1 ratio with a threshold 10 db above normal program level. The unit can also be adjusted to operate anywhere between these two extremes. Reliability and stability: all components operate well below their rated maximums, insuring, trouble-free performance, and guarantee of day-in-day-out performance results. Masters made one day can be duplicated months later and with the same control settings. Two models are available : the single channel monophonic version, model 660, or the versatile two-channel stereo version, model 670. In addition, the Model 670 is designed for stereo level control problems specifically. The 670 on one chassis incorporates two independent limiters that will act on left and right channels or which will act on the lateral and vertical (sum and difference) components of the two stereo channels. This latter is accomplished by first bringing the two stereo channels through a matrixing network and then dividing them into their respective lateral and vertical components, limiting these lateral and vertical components and then combining through a second matrixing network into left and right channels again. Using this FAIRCHILD matrix limiter design, thousands upon thousands of stereo masters have been cut with maximum useable level and efficient use of available groove space, resulting in high level recordings with long playing times.This Limit-Matrix system of the 670 now finds the same importance in the new art of stereo broadcasting. No wonder that the FAIRCHILD limiters are used by the major labels and major recording services and quality conscious radio stations throughout the world.
31/12/2023