The Infamous Fostex MN-50

E

evilash1996

New member
Hello everyone,

I made a quick overview and demo video for the Fostex MN-50. I was surprised to see that there were zero videos on YouTube show casing this compressor. If you've been on these forums long enough you must have seen the name of this unit come up again and again. Often touted as the secret weapon for a trashy drum sound. Some say it's a hunk of overrated junk, other's keep it in their back pocket for when it's needed to spice up a track. I hope the video can be appreciated around here.

The Infamous Fostex MN-50 - Overview & Demo

Cheers,
Mario
 
I bought a Fostex X15 four track back around 1985 or so. It came with an MN-50. The X15 was a pretty good recorder. I was so thrilled to have a whole 4 tracks and the ability to bounce and add more tracks!!

I later gave the X15 to an old band friend but ended up keeping the MN-50. I used it for lots of recordings and also for some live vocals. It's great for vocals IMO. There was a sweet spot in the adjustments that I could never get in any digital compressor later on and it added a color I couldn't get as well. I still have it and use it quite a bit.

If you can get one on a cheap side....I say try it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Mick
 
Mickster said:
I bought a Fostex X15 four track back around 1985 or so. It came with an MN-50. The X15 was a pretty good recorder. I was so thrilled to have a whole 4 tracks and the ability to bounce and add more tracks!!

I later gave the X15 to an old band friend but ended up keeping the MN-50. I used it for lots of recordings and also for some live vocals. It's great for vocals IMO. There was a sweet spot in the adjustments that I could never get in any digital compressor later on and it added a color I couldn't get as well. I still have it and use it quite a bit.

If you can get one on a cheap side....I say try it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Mick
Click to expand...
I'm interested in hearing how you use this for your live vocal setup. What exactly is your signal chain and PA setup?
 
I've used this with a number of different PA setups over the years. The mic was mostly a Shure SM57 until recent years when I've used it with my Sennheiser e935....direct into the MN-50 and out to the PA of course. It works better in lower volume venues. It's more "touchy" to adjust for higher volume setups as you might guess.

The MN-50 provides a nice touch of color and leveling / compression. The reason I use it live is to help me with my mic volume as I am not great at controlling my volume / mic distance. I play guitar and still have problems working my mic and playing live. As for color...it provides a sort of "presence" effect for both live and recording that's unique IMO.

As a side note...it seems to have a lower noise floor with a battery than the power supply. The battery option makes it very easy to use anywhere.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Mick
 
Fascinating to hear your success, I would expect the extreme compression would cause issues with feedback. I am going to have to revisit using mine as well for live purposes. I have tried before but controlling the feedback was impossible. Granted I was plugged into a guitar amp and I was doing this in a small room so feedback was almost impossible to avoid regardless of any type of compressor used. Obviously it's not ideal to have yer vocals run through a guitar amplifier but I was doing a one man band setup where I was using the same amp for vocals and guitar. It sounds like s*** but that's kinda the atmosphere I am going for haha.

The higher noise floor when plugging in makes sense considering you now are getting power from your wall outlet. Have you experienced the weird ducking behaviour I talk about in the video when using the external power supply?

Cheers,
Mario
 
I haven't experienced any ducking using the power supply...but to be honest....I almost always use it with the battery.

As for using it live....yes...it's very sensitive but as I mentioned adjusting it is very "touchy"....and it may not work in certain live environments.

Mick
 
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