Heritage Audio Herchild 670 stereo compressor.
Heritage Audio have announced the release of the Herchild Model 660 and Model 670 tube‑based compressors. These two new products aim to provide a modern alternative to the incredibly rare Fairchild 660 and 670, two vintage devices that are becoming increasingly difficult to find and hugely expensive. We covered the originals in detail in this article back in 2016.
Herchild 670 rear panel.As with the originals, the Model 660 is a mono device, with the Model 670 operating in stereo. In addition to staying true to the Fairchilds in terms of visual design, Heritage Audio have carefully reproduced the circuitry of the originals, with the 660 featuring 11 valves and five transformers, and the 670 sporting no less than 22 valves and nine transformers in its signal path. All of the original controls can be found on the front panel of each, with the six Time Constant settings faithfully reproducing the exact attack and release times as the originals.
Some new features have been added however, the first being a continuously variable DC Threshold (Slope/Ratio/Knee) control that now exists on the front panel, rather than via a screw adjuster on the originals. In keeping with other modern day compressors, Heritage Audio have also included a side-chain filter, which can be set to 50, 100, 200, or 350Hz, or left bypassed.
Heritage Audio Herchild 660 mono compressor.
Herchild 660 rear panel.Both units feature front panel VU meters, which can be configured to display either gain reduction or valve balance via a selector switch. The rear panel of each is largely populated by protruding valves and transformers, with audio I/O provided on XLR connectors, whilst an IEC power inlet feeds an internal power supply.
Both are available now, with the Model 660 priced at $54995499 Euros, and the Model 670 at $99999999 Euros.
More information is available on the Heritage Audio website.
