RECORDING November 2022 - 63
Lift and Cut
The passive EQ section has a fixed Bass
Lift (0-10dB @ 50 Hz) and Top Lift (0-12dB
@ 10 kHz) with a pair of similar bass
and top cut filters. Each is a Thermionic
'Varislope' design where the curve gets
narrower and bolder the more it is pushed.
The cut sections employ a sloping 6dB
per octave pass-style filter in settings 1-3
but switch to a broad-reaching shelf filter
in settings 4-6.
The Lift bands are hard to make sound
bad and can be pushed to delicious
extremes, and by design, they interact
nicely with the cut filters. However, the
cuts (especially the top cut) are on the
quickly apparent side. I found it easy to
shape the low-end with the classic simultaneous
boost/cut tighten trick but rarely
found a use for the top cut on its own.
Power Up!
The active gain section of the unit is a
pure valve affair with a pair of 5965 tubes
on the input stage and a pair of 6SN7 tubes
on the output, working in a dual-triode fashion.
A fifth tube inside the unit powers the
Spread Filter (12AU7/ECC82).
Width
The Spread Filter alters the perceived
width of the stereo signal and, at
extremes, can even remove center
frequency information. This
those magical controls where a little turn
of the dial yields significant changes. To
help dial it in, Thermionic has added a
4-position filter (flat, 100 Hz, 250 Hz
and 3 kHz) whereby only the frequencies
above the filter point are affected. This
is great for adding just a touch of depth
to vocals, cymbals and the upper register
of instruments without throwing the lowfrequency
information out of whack.
Bass to the Centre
The final tone shaping control on the unit
is the 4-position Bass to Centre control. As
described, this constrains low-end information
to mono at 100 or 200 Hz and below.
You can also mono your entire mix.
Monitor Section
The remaining section is the output/
monitor section. You can precisely attenuate
the output levels with a beautiful
24-position stepped Precision ELMA
switch. New on the second generation
unit is a second monitor control complete
is one of
with an internal/external monitor source
switch. This is useful to toggle between
a ref mix, the raw unsummed mix from
your DAW and more. There is also a
master pan pot to compensate for when
a mix pulls to the right or left. This section
is rounded out by a pair of square VU
meters and a master power switch with a
giant green glowing filament.
An XLR stereo output and 1
/4
" TRS
monitor I/O are on the rear of the monitor
section.
In Flight
I have reviewed and used many summing
mixers throughout the years-both
active and passive options-and in my studio,
I have an 8-channel active, solid-state
summing mixer built into my Dangerous
Music D-Box+. This, however, is my first
tube-based summing mixer experience.
Comparing the two functionally and
sonically is truly a chalk and cheese experience,
to borrow a phrase from my
British friends. The D-Box+ is about 6dB
louder with excellent dimensional clarity
and depth. The Fat Bustard II, even at unity,
exhibits a gentle density and high-frequency
sheen that I would call almost a
hi-fi tube opulence. Neither is better or
worse. It's all down to taste and needs.
Summing and Mixing
The Fat Bustard II is a summing mixer
you need to mix into and mix with for the
best results right from the start. Before I
even began fine-tuning individual tracks,
I got the best results by starting with an
" all faders up " DAW mix, bussed out to
the Fat Bustard II.
From there, I did some initial shaping
of the bass, high frequencies and width.
With the latter, I found it worked best to
push the stereo spread past the point of
sounding good, then dial it back and use
the filter to fine-tune the results. The one
control I have not quite found a use for is
Bass to Centre. In most cases, I preferred
it off, but I am also not cutting to vinyl.
That said, I did use the full mono setting for
frequent mono-compatible mix checking.
The Attitude control is the secret sauce
to this bird, and it is more subtle than you
might guess. I found 3 and 4 to be my favorite
spots, even on largely acoustic, folkbased
tracks. I also liked that I had to rely
less on additional outboard gear thanks to
the onboard tone and width controls.
By the Numbers
With 12/14 channels available, it
was like having bonus channels after being
used to an 8-channel summing device
for so long. I especially liked sending my
stereo effects returns to their own stereo
channel with additional mono effects sent
to the AUX channels and/or routing all of
my effects to the AUX channels in stereo.
Final Impressions
It's easy to be impressed with the rich,
full and opulent tonality that the Thermionic
Culture The Fat Bustard II added
to my tracks. The one downside to
a single piece of gear with this many
components, features and tubes is the
price is a serious consideration. Then
again, when you consider the costs of
other boutique summing boxes, passive
EQs, spread filters and such, it's not an
outrageous price. Thermionic offers the
more affordable 16-channel The Purple
Bustard if you can forgo the knobs, pan
pots, EQ spreader, mono and monitor
section-it still includes Attitude.
All in all, the combination of passive
summing and tube gain staging in The
Fat Bustard II offers a wonderful gelled
weight that I could get used to.
Price: $5,999
More from: thermionicculture.com
RECORDING November 2022 63
http://thermionicculture.com
RECORDING November 2022
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING November 2022
Fade In
Fast Forward
Focal Sub6, Focal Sub One and Focal Sub12
Neumann NDH 30
A Family of Amphion Monitors Compared
Plugin Outlet: BABY Audio IHNY-2
KRK S10.4 Studio Subwoofer
A Space for Creative Inclinations: An Interview with David Crowder
Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins Blackbird Mo-Q
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Paragon Studios 2.0
IK Multimedia iLoud Precision MTM, Precision 5 & Precision 6
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Studio Modeling
ddrum NIO Percussion Pad
Yorkville Sound YSM5 Series II
Session Log with Marc Urselli: A Brief History of EastSide Sound
GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
State of Acoustics 2022
Thermionic Culture The Fat Bustard II
Readers' Tracks
Fade Out: Studio Thoughts from Allen Sides
RECORDING November 2022 - Intro
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover1
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover2
RECORDING November 2022 - 1
RECORDING November 2022 - 2
RECORDING November 2022 - 3
RECORDING November 2022 - Fade In
RECORDING November 2022 - 5
RECORDING November 2022 - 6
RECORDING November 2022 - 7
RECORDING November 2022 - Fast Forward
RECORDING November 2022 - 9
RECORDING November 2022 - Focal Sub6, Focal Sub One and Focal Sub12
RECORDING November 2022 - 11
RECORDING November 2022 - 12
RECORDING November 2022 - 13
RECORDING November 2022 - Neumann NDH 30
RECORDING November 2022 - 15
RECORDING November 2022 - A Family of Amphion Monitors Compared
RECORDING November 2022 - 17
RECORDING November 2022 - 18
RECORDING November 2022 - 19
RECORDING November 2022 - 20
RECORDING November 2022 - 21
RECORDING November 2022 - 22
RECORDING November 2022 - 23
RECORDING November 2022 - Plugin Outlet: BABY Audio IHNY-2
RECORDING November 2022 - 25
RECORDING November 2022 - KRK S10.4 Studio Subwoofer
RECORDING November 2022 - 27
RECORDING November 2022 - A Space for Creative Inclinations: An Interview with David Crowder
RECORDING November 2022 - 29
RECORDING November 2022 - 30
RECORDING November 2022 - 31
RECORDING November 2022 - 32
RECORDING November 2022 - 33
RECORDING November 2022 - 34
RECORDING November 2022 - 35
RECORDING November 2022 - Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins Blackbird Mo-Q
RECORDING November 2022 - 37
RECORDING November 2022 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Paragon Studios 2.0
RECORDING November 2022 - 39
RECORDING November 2022 - 40
RECORDING November 2022 - 41
RECORDING November 2022 - IK Multimedia iLoud Precision MTM, Precision 5 & Precision 6
RECORDING November 2022 - 43
RECORDING November 2022 - 44
RECORDING November 2022 - 45
RECORDING November 2022 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Virtual Studio Modeling
RECORDING November 2022 - 47
RECORDING November 2022 - 48
RECORDING November 2022 - 49
RECORDING November 2022 - ddrum NIO Percussion Pad
RECORDING November 2022 - 51
RECORDING November 2022 - Yorkville Sound YSM5 Series II
RECORDING November 2022 - 53
RECORDING November 2022 - Session Log with Marc Urselli: A Brief History of EastSide Sound
RECORDING November 2022 - 55
RECORDING November 2022 - 56
RECORDING November 2022 - 57
RECORDING November 2022 - GIK Acoustics Sound Blocks
RECORDING November 2022 - 59
RECORDING November 2022 - State of Acoustics 2022
RECORDING November 2022 - 61
RECORDING November 2022 - Thermionic Culture The Fat Bustard II
RECORDING November 2022 - 63
RECORDING November 2022 - Readers' Tracks
RECORDING November 2022 - 65
RECORDING November 2022 - 66
RECORDING November 2022 - 67
RECORDING November 2022 - 68
RECORDING November 2022 - 69
RECORDING November 2022 - 70
RECORDING November 2022 - 71
RECORDING November 2022 - Fade Out: Studio Thoughts from Allen Sides
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover3
RECORDING November 2022 - Cover4
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