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moosers
Published on 11/01/09 at 11:30
The Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso is a unique piece of outboard gear that has analog hardware, although this analog section is controlled by a digital interface. This will help to transform your digital sound into sounding much more like analog tape and is probably the closest thing that you can get a tape sound without actually using tape. This is a stereo unit that has 1/4 inch connections as well as XLR, which is nice as you can hook it up to just about anything. This is indeed a rack mountable unit and will take up a single rack space.
UTILIZATION
The make up of the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso definitely takes some getting used to because all of the parameters are pretty unique. Each channel of the EL7 has parameters for input and output as well as buttons for warmth, compression, and bypass. There are a lot of combinations that you can make with these parameters because each of the buttons has a few different settings. It won't take too long to get used to this unit, but the manual is definitely helpful because it will show you exactly what each of these unique settings can do.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso is very impressive overall. I'm pretty much always happy with the sounds that I get whenever I use it and it is also versatile and capable of being used with a variety of different instruments as I have had good luck using the EL7 with vocals, drums, guitars, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I believe that this box is pretty much the closest thing you can get to having a tape sound without actually have any tape at all. If you are going for that warm tape sound, this is definitely the box for you because it emulates the distortion and harmonic saturation that is prevalent on tape. This is a great sounding piece of gear that I love to use on everything when I have the chance to...
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso for a few months and it has definitely become one of my favorite pieces of outboard gear. I love the sound of tape and the warmth that it will give you and this is the best place to get that without the noise and the hassles of using a real tape. While very pricey as a top notch piece of gear like this will be, for those professionals looking for great tone without price restrictions, the is one of the best out there in terms of tape emulation.
UTILIZATION
The make up of the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso definitely takes some getting used to because all of the parameters are pretty unique. Each channel of the EL7 has parameters for input and output as well as buttons for warmth, compression, and bypass. There are a lot of combinations that you can make with these parameters because each of the buttons has a few different settings. It won't take too long to get used to this unit, but the manual is definitely helpful because it will show you exactly what each of these unique settings can do.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso is very impressive overall. I'm pretty much always happy with the sounds that I get whenever I use it and it is also versatile and capable of being used with a variety of different instruments as I have had good luck using the EL7 with vocals, drums, guitars, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I believe that this box is pretty much the closest thing you can get to having a tape sound without actually have any tape at all. If you are going for that warm tape sound, this is definitely the box for you because it emulates the distortion and harmonic saturation that is prevalent on tape. This is a great sounding piece of gear that I love to use on everything when I have the chance to...
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using the Empirical Labs EL7 Fatso for a few months and it has definitely become one of my favorite pieces of outboard gear. I love the sound of tape and the warmth that it will give you and this is the best place to get that without the noise and the hassles of using a real tape. While very pricey as a top notch piece of gear like this will be, for those professionals looking for great tone without price restrictions, the is one of the best out there in terms of tape emulation.