TuoKaerf
New member
Anyone have any experience with one of these? I'm looking to add one to my setup.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Fatso/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Fatso/
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xstatic
New member
Personally, I love the Fatso. It's much easier to use than a Distressor, and seems to work easier on more sources, but lacks the finer controls that the distressor brings to the table. For me the Fatso always seems to impart at least a little of its sound, but can also be a pretty drastic tool as well. It never seems to do the whole "clean" thing though. A fatso and a pair of Midas XL42's are on my short list for a small FOH rack for me to tour with.
TuoKaerf
New member
Awesome, thanks.
I'm looking at it to do a few things; Run a drum sub mix through, track guitars through, and possibly use on my stereo buss if the music merits it.
I'm looking at it to do a few things; Run a drum sub mix through, track guitars through, and possibly use on my stereo buss if the music merits it.
X
xstatic
New member
If the cost is not prohibitive, I would imagine you wikll love having a Fatso. Resale on them also stays very high should you ever change your mind. I like them for drums a lot, some guitars, making a bass sound a little "grittier" or giving it a hint of "dirty aggression". I love them as a master comp in live situations, but under the scrutiny of studio monitors you can here a few of the more "negative" artifacts that it creates on the master out. For some styles though those "negatives" are almost more of a positive. All in all, I always like using Fatso's
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
I guess I'll provide the dissenting opinion.
First, the Fatso is a great piece of gear. Well made, beautifully designed and engineered, first class. I owned one for a brief time and then sent it back to my dealer in exchange for a pair of Distressors, which I still own and love years later.
What I liked about the Fatso was the "warmth" control. That is truly a great feature and one I would have liked to keep in my studio, but $2,000 is a lot to pay for that one feature. The "warmth" feature is brilliant at taking harshness out of digital sources like synths, it softens them up interactively and leaves them a little more rounded out and pleasant to listen to. It's a great thing, and I wish I could get just that one function in a box for $500, minus everything else.
The other features on the Fatso are not as compelling, at least for me. The compressor, while good, does not offer enough control to be truly useful as a compressor in most situations. The 'tranny" feature is one that I frankly could never hear. I wondered if it was doing anything at all, or if it was just sort of a placebo thing.
I'm sure the Fatso is more useful for those people who are recording and mixing completely in the box with no hardware outboard. But for me, who uses an analog mixer and hardware outboard, I've already got that analog signal path and the Fatso just didn't do it for me.
The Distressor is another story, I love my Distressors! What great units those are. I've also checked out the Lil Freq eq in person and that's on my short list as well.
The Fatso is just one of those units that either it works for you in your situation or it doesn't. There are those that love it, and I respect their opinion because it is a great piece of gear. However, it's not a slam dunk for everyone, and you should definitely try before you buy if possible.
Also, I personally don't consider resale when buying gear. It's the last thing you should be thinking about when buying gear, in my opinion. The only consideration that's important is whether the gear sounds good to you and will help you to accomplish your musical goals.
First, the Fatso is a great piece of gear. Well made, beautifully designed and engineered, first class. I owned one for a brief time and then sent it back to my dealer in exchange for a pair of Distressors, which I still own and love years later.
What I liked about the Fatso was the "warmth" control. That is truly a great feature and one I would have liked to keep in my studio, but $2,000 is a lot to pay for that one feature. The "warmth" feature is brilliant at taking harshness out of digital sources like synths, it softens them up interactively and leaves them a little more rounded out and pleasant to listen to. It's a great thing, and I wish I could get just that one function in a box for $500, minus everything else.
The other features on the Fatso are not as compelling, at least for me. The compressor, while good, does not offer enough control to be truly useful as a compressor in most situations. The 'tranny" feature is one that I frankly could never hear. I wondered if it was doing anything at all, or if it was just sort of a placebo thing.
I'm sure the Fatso is more useful for those people who are recording and mixing completely in the box with no hardware outboard. But for me, who uses an analog mixer and hardware outboard, I've already got that analog signal path and the Fatso just didn't do it for me.
The Distressor is another story, I love my Distressors! What great units those are. I've also checked out the Lil Freq eq in person and that's on my short list as well.
The Fatso is just one of those units that either it works for you in your situation or it doesn't. There are those that love it, and I respect their opinion because it is a great piece of gear. However, it's not a slam dunk for everyone, and you should definitely try before you buy if possible.
Also, I personally don't consider resale when buying gear. It's the last thing you should be thinking about when buying gear, in my opinion. The only consideration that's important is whether the gear sounds good to you and will help you to accomplish your musical goals.
X
xstatic
New member
I am curous, where you using the Fatso as more of a channel comp? Or as a 2 buss comp? It can be used on channels, but was really designed to be used as a buss comp of sorts. I love my Distressors, but I find that even with fewer control parameters, I usually get a better two buss sound out of the Fatso's then I do out of Distressors. Also, were you using the Fatso on sources that you wanted clean? Or sources that you wanted to rock out a little? Clean is not how I would describe a Fatso. The Fatso's are chock full o character.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
I tried the Fatso out on a bunch of different sources, both individual instruments and mix buss. My issue with it was that I wasn't hearing *enough* of it. I felt there was a placebo thing going on, especially in reference to the "tranny" feature.
The lack of greater compression control did bother me a lot. For me there was a narrow window of where it worked, and I wanted more flexibility. The Distressors offer that in spades, but are touchy to set up for buss work. That's why I use other compressors on the mix buss!
Also, I don't do heavy rock or beat oriented music, and it's quite possible that the Fatso shines on those styles but not on my more laid back music. I had a similar experience with the Manley VariMu. I bought one and it just didn't work for me--at all. I felt that the Manley VariMu needed harder hitting music to "punch through" it better. The Fatso might be in the same category.
So I sold both those great units and bought other gear that suits me and my music better. That's all part of the process of putting a studio together, finding the gear that works for ones' personal style.
This is also what I consider the great advantage of home/project studios--they can be designed to suit the personal style and sound of the owner. A commercial studio has to buy a ton of gear in order to be able to accomodate a wide variety of customers. But a project studio owner can build the whole studio around his or her own vision of their ideal sound.
The lack of greater compression control did bother me a lot. For me there was a narrow window of where it worked, and I wanted more flexibility. The Distressors offer that in spades, but are touchy to set up for buss work. That's why I use other compressors on the mix buss!
Also, I don't do heavy rock or beat oriented music, and it's quite possible that the Fatso shines on those styles but not on my more laid back music. I had a similar experience with the Manley VariMu. I bought one and it just didn't work for me--at all. I felt that the Manley VariMu needed harder hitting music to "punch through" it better. The Fatso might be in the same category.
So I sold both those great units and bought other gear that suits me and my music better. That's all part of the process of putting a studio together, finding the gear that works for ones' personal style.
This is also what I consider the great advantage of home/project studios--they can be designed to suit the personal style and sound of the owner. A commercial studio has to buy a ton of gear in order to be able to accomodate a wide variety of customers. But a project studio owner can build the whole studio around his or her own vision of their ideal sound.
kojdogg
bollocks redux!
Can anyone offer any insight on how the "warmth" feature compares to some plugs like the PSP vintage warmer, the Cranesong tape simulator (forget what it's called), T-Racks tape sim, etc.?
Definitely have either the Fatso or some Distressors on my "someday" list
Definitely have either the Fatso or some Distressors on my "someday" list
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
The warmth feature is completely different than those others you mention. It seems to function in conjunction with the compressor, as a kind of dynamically triggered eq. Kind of hard to describe, I'm sure others will be able to do that a lot better than me. The "warmth" feature is the best thing on the Fatso in my opinion, it's really nice.
TuoKaerf
New member
Thanks guys, the info is what I needed.
I normally work in an analog enviroment, using mostly outboard gear. I can't afford (yet!
) to have a 48 track console sitting in my house, so I'm doing mostly work in the digital world at home.
I own a Distressor already, and was looking to add something else along with it.
I normally work in an analog enviroment, using mostly outboard gear. I can't afford (yet!
) to have a 48 track console sitting in my house, so I'm doing mostly work in the digital world at home.I own a Distressor already, and was looking to add something else along with it.
mrbowes
New member
With that in mind I say get another Distressor. Sure, it ain't the bee's knees for the mix buss, but it's awesome for tracking electric guitars (as I'm sure you already know) and on drum sub mixes.
It's hard to find a stereo comp that will really shine on tracking and mix buss applications. I've heard the Buzz Audio stereo comp is pretty sweet, but more on the clean side. You might want to check that out.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
mrbowes said:
This is a great suggestion, I totally agree. Get another Distressor and while you are at it have Empirical put the Brit mod and stereo image mod in both your units. I've liked this *much* better than the Fatso I used to have.
TuoKaerf
New member
I think that's what I'll do. I take it the Brit mod is pretty sweet?
Price isn't too much of an issue right now, walked out of a casino a few bills up this past weekend.
Price isn't too much of an issue right now, walked out of a casino a few bills up this past weekend
.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
Just don't walk back into the casino and you'll be okay!
I love the Brit mod, it's usually switched in on my Distressors. The sound is kind of hard to describe, but I find the distortion to be really sweet with the Brit mod. Really worth having, it changes the response of the unit when you've got it switched in.
I love the Brit mod, it's usually switched in on my Distressors. The sound is kind of hard to describe, but I find the distortion to be really sweet with the Brit mod. Really worth having, it changes the response of the unit when you've got it switched in.