Fredenstein F600A 500 Series Compressor

The Fredenstein F600A 500 Series Compressor is truly a novel and unique compressor. It does not use VCAs, FETs, Optos, remote-cutoff (vari-mu) tubes, diode bridges or pulse-width switching. It uses a pair of digital controlled attenuator/amplifiers for gain reduction and make-up gain. Thus it gives a unique sound that is extremely useful regardless of which other compressors one might own. It has been described as exceptionally smooth, clean and capable of extreme output levels.

The F600A is a high performance tool for professional recording and mastering engineers. It comprises of a analog gain control circuit and a digital side-chain based on two DSPs. This technology can easily achieve more than 20 dB of gain reduction while maintaining very low distortion. Up to ten units can be linked together to form a very accurately matched multi-channel compressor.

Familiar controls include; Threshold, Compression Ratio (1:1 to 100:1), Attack and Release times (dB/linear), and Make-Up Gain. A button selects RMS or PEAK and Hard-Knee or Soft-Knee, another selects Link and another button is used for Bypass. A tunable high pass filter can be tuned from flat up to 4 kHz(!). The F600A can be used as De-Esser, or on a lathe, as a cutting speed limiter. It also uses an analog VU meter to traditionally display gain reduction.

If placed in a Fredenstein Bento 6D or 10D, settings will be automatically displayed on the Bento's LCD display which makes accurate recalls a breeze.

The F600A features a fully externally and internally balanced signal path with much lower distortion than conventional compressors. This simply translates to noticeably cleaner punchier sounds. And it doesn't sound “digital” and doesn't sound like plug-ins – it's still analog. The extreme low output impedance with its high current design allows even the most difficult and complex loads to be driven up to +26 dBu without sonic impact. Yeah, it's unique.