Anaheim, CA (January 19, 2024)—Following Fairchild’s recent reintroduction of the 670 vacuum tube compressor at the Audio Engineering Society convention this past October, the company will unveil its modern recreation of the original vintage 660 model next week at The NAMM Show next week in Anaheim, Calif.
The original Fairchild 660 was a single-channel compressor/limiter that became one of the most sought-after ever made, due to its ability to inject warmth and coloration to a signal. Only 1,000 Fairchild 660s were ever built and very few of the original are still in working condition.
Re-Launched Fairchild 670 Nests at Blackbird Studio
Now the Fairchild 660 will be made available again, built to original specifications, utilizing the same tubes and custom-wound transformers, point-to-point soldering and turret-style construction. The Model 660 is a single-channel unit with an extra 8 dB of gain; it also utilizes 12 tubes and single-channel controls instead of 20 tubes and dual mono controls as the 670 does
One of the first users of the 660 was Capitol Records in its Hollywood recording studios., where Abbey Road Studios engineer Peter Brown heard the Fairchild 660 for the first time. In the wake of that moment, he decided to purchase multiple units for use in Abbey Road Studios, making the Fairchild 660 one of the only pieces of gear used at the famed London facility during that time to not designed and built by EMI. Those original 660 units at Abbey Road are among the only ones still operational and are said to be still used regularly on sessions in the UK.
