The new Mercury 66 Studio Limiting Amplifier (Mk. III)
is an ‘All Tube - All Transformer’, fully balanced, variable-bias
limiter. Based on the most sought after product in this genre, the
legendary Fairchild 660. This limiting amplifier is recognized essential
tool for making great recordings. Many manufacturers have tried to copy
the Fairchild circuit but have failed to capture the true sonic essence
and presented a similar look and functionality but failed to capture
the overall tone of the original. Until now.
Mercury Recording Equipment has gone to great lengths to recreate the
pride and passion of the past, both sonically and aesthetically, while
offering the reliability of a modern build. The choices made in looks,
layout, functionality, features and build quality all answer back to one
question: How would "they" have done it today? So, the Mercury 66, like
all Mercury products, has no I.C.’s (chips), and is proudly hand built
and or assembled in the USA. Using no-compromise parts / components and
has transformer balanced input and outputs. As well, with the Vintage
style VU Meter, large bakelite knobs, powder coated chassis and front
panel the Mercury 66 has a very distinctive 1950’s aesthetic so that
they look as good as they sound!
Some might ask, Why recreate one of the most complicated pieces of
recording equipment ever made? The Mercury 66 has a massive, custom
power supply transformer, a choke, 3 audio transformers, a control amp
transformer and 8 tubes squeezed into a 3U chassis. All together the M66
weighs in at 38 pounds for a mono amplifier! The answer is: Mercury 66
Studio Limiting Amplifier is based the classic Fairchild 660 limiting
amplifier because we were inspired buy the unique sound that only this
can circuit deliver to your audio signal path. There is truly nothing
else like it. Proudly, using parts that are available today, we have met
all the original specifications, but most importantly, the Mercury 66
sounds like a Fairchild 660.
Its performance features include: exceptional tone and musical focus;
absence of audible thumps, distortion or noise; extremely fast attack
time that can produce full limiting in 1/5000th of a second; variable
release time from .3 seconds to 25 seconds; useful as a limiter or a
compressor depending on the program material and control settings;
reliability and stability (All components operate well below their rated
maximums); all tube, fully balanced (push-pull) transformer coupled
circuitry; and simple, easy to use controls.
The Mercury 66 Studio Limiting Amplifier uses a single push-pull stage
of amplification which is transformer coupled input and output (XLRs)
with no capacitors in the signal path) with a high control voltage. The
result: the unit never produces any audible thumps, and has low
distortion and noise under all conditions (either as a limiter or
straight through amplifier). The Control amplifier is also fully
balanced, transformer coupled in/out. The unit makes use of a very
stable high current vacuum tube voltage regulator. It has ample and
accessible input, threshold, attack, release time and metering controls
allowing for convenience in the control room when making adjustments.
The attack time is very fast and catches short transients. The release
time of .3 to 25 seconds provides real flexibility: Three positions of
the six available make the release time a function of program material,
with fast recovery for short duration peaks and overall reduction of
program level should the program level remain high. It can be used as a
limiter or compressor. For example, use it as a 2 to 1 ratio compressor
with a threshold 5 dB below average level, or as a peak limiter with a
20 to 1 ratio with threshold 10 dB above normal program level, or
anywhere between these extremes.
One notable change on the Mercury 66 is the addition of the DC Adjust
Control. On an original Fairchild 660 this was called DC Threshold and
was on the rear of the unit (not accessible from front panel). We put
that control on the front panel and labeled it DC Adjust to not confuse
the Threshold function. The DC Adjust lets you control DC (Direct
Current) in part of the circuit to give the user more control of the
functionality and level of compression. This gives you the control how
the amplifier reacts to the audio signal and basically how hard the
compression tube ‘works’, allowing you to ‘smash’ the signal or just add
a ‘soft touch’ of compression along with the velvet tone and
overwhelming musicality of the amplifier. This is possible by turning
the DC Adjust to the far left (counter clockwise) on the M66 you are
adding more DC and adding more compression [or saturation] and if you
turn to the far right (clockwise) you are decreasing the amount of DC
and the amount compression [or saturation, for a lack of a better term
and to make things easier to understand]. The best thing about this
feature is you can find that ‘sweet spot’, for that perfect amount of
compression. We like to think of this as the 'magic knob' as do most of
our users and this sets the Mercury 66 apart from the original and other
compressors and limiting amplifiers available today.
Front Panel Controls
Input Gain, AC Threshold, Attack/Release, DC Adjust, Meter Zero (Trim),
Stereo Link and Power on/off Switch. M66 Attack and Release Times:
Position 1 - Attack [ Fast - 0.2 ] Release, in Seconds [ 0.3 ]
Position 2 - Attack [ Fast - 0.2 ] Release, in Seconds [ 0.8 ]
Position 3 - Attack [ Med. - 0.4 ] Release, in Seconds [ 2.0 ]
Position 4 - Attack [ Slow - 0.8 ] Release, in Seconds [ 5.0 ]
Position 5 - Attack [ Med. - 0.4 ] Release, in Seconds [ Auto: 2.0 peaks, 10.0 program ]
"The Mercury 66 has that thick, glommy quality that you just can't get
with any other device. It's killer at taming kick drums, beefing up
vocals, squashing room mics, giving that magical shimmery sustain to
acoustic guitars, etc." - Pete Weiss, TapeOp Magazine
Mercury M66 Users include: Joe
Chiccarelli, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Rhett Lawrence (Kelly
Clarkson, Christina Aguilera), Devin Powers (Devin Powers Music, Movie
and TV Scores), Scott Humphrey (Rob Zombie, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi), John
McBride (Black Bird Studios and Rentals, Martina McBride) and Manny
Marroquin, who has used his M66 on mixes for many Gold and Platinum
Artists including: Alicia Keys, Brandy, Janet Jackson, Monica, Nikka
Costa and many others!
