Recreating the finest sounding mono tube compressor in history
The Stamchild 660 recreates every drop of character of the original Fairchild 660 originally developed in the US in the early ‘50s. The original Fairchild 660 quickly became a key weapon at Abbey studios finding its way into almost all Beatles recordings where virtually every single vocal, drums and guitar takes when through this vintage tube compressor.
While developing this project we had two main objectives: first and foremost, the audio path had to remain as close as possible to the original units, and it had to be affordable. With this in mind we developed a few prototypes and carefully tested each component and it’s interaction with the circuit. After many months of research and test we determined there was a way, and so the SA-660 was born.
With the aid of premium transformer reproductions made by Brian Sowter in the UK and the use of eight NOS 6BA6 tubes and one 12AX7 tube, we have managed to make this unit virtually indistinguishable to the original. The StamChild SA-660 also uses a German made chassis and faceplate, as well as the historically correct VU meter, Knobs, and Neutrik XLR connectors.
In order to reduce the cost of manufacturing these units we have made some modern implementations which do not affect the audio path. We have changed the tube based power supply to a solid state one, which we found had no bearing on the sound. We also changed the control amp to a hybrid setup maintaining the tube character.
With this measure we were able to greatly reduce the cost of production, while preserving the original tone, without touching the audio path, and without removing the character produced by the tube on the control amp.
100% satisfaction guarantee – if you don’t love your StamChild SA-660, we’ll refund you
If you’ve used an original Fairchild 660 before, we’re extremely confident the Stam Audio SA-660 will put a big smile on your face every time you use it. However if you’ve never touched the original before, as gear-lovers ourselves, we understand that the only way to really know if this compressor is for you, is to put it through its paces. That’s why the SA-660 comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. This allows you to get it into your rack and see how it impacts your recordings. If you love it (and we think you will!), great…keep the unit and create amazing music with it. If not, no problems. Just send it back to us and we’ll fully refund your purchase. Don’t worry, whichever way you decide to go we will remain friends.
joe p. –
i absolutely love love love…… the “thought of owning these”……. and cant wait till it they are boxed up and enroute to my studio here in Nashville!!
MS –
I received my Stamchild mono 660 a short time ago and here’s my initial experience so far. While I’m sure the mk1 sounded very good, It’s hard for me to imagine it beating the mk2 with the added DC threshold knob that seems to be a combination of knee and ratio control so you can go from hard knee/higher ratio to soft knee lower ratio or in-between. the wide variable effect it has on the signal is a very nice option to have in how it effects the transients.
I used a prerecorded vocal and ran it through the Stam 660 at different settings and compared it to my other compressors also. After comparing the mk2 circuit with DC Threshold in my 660, I found the stamchild dimensional, and slightly bigger in size or sonic footprint at times than my other comps. It was a little more open and depending on how you set the DC Threshold you could go from huge and pillowy to harder knee and more compression. The Stam 660 also seemed like it could handle the initial attack of louder bursts at times a little better and I also thought while some of my other compressors sounded very good, it seemed like there may not be as much room for later processing after using them, while the Stam sounded like it would allow you more room sonically for multiple passes of gain reduction if you wanted it without degradation. The other thing I think I noticed at times with the Stam 660 is it seemed like it had a little more height sonically than some of my other compressors. Hard to explain that I know and it can be subtle for some but since we tend to hear high harmonic content as “up” and low harmonic content as “down.” The vertical scale seemed a little taller or broader than some of my other comps.
I think the Stamchild 660 is quickly becoming my new favorite vocal compressor finding it can be huge, dimensional, with different curve options with its DC Threshold than I otherwise have in hardware and it seems very forgiving over all. I am very impressed with the Stam 660 and what the DC Threshold brings to the table and this may be my favorite Stam product of all.