Years ago was over at a friends studio and he pulls out this huge red piece of gear labeled a VT-15! I was like what the hell is that? He was like just wait.. I'm gonna hook it up and run some stuff through it and you tell me what you think..... UMMM OK!!!! So he starts to run some guitar and drum tracks through the thing and i'm sitting there like Oh My GOD!! Was almost breathtaking! I was like i gotta get one of those! Sadly the VT-15 model he was using was discontinued. At the time i was checking out some of the other pieces he had available but never pulled the trigger. Today i was looking around Youtube checking out samples of highend gear and i started to think back to that Fearn piece i heard and looked up to see if D.W. Fearn was still in business. And he is! So i'm thinking about pulling the trigger on VT-12! Anyone own the classic VT-15? or other pieces made by Fearn? If so tell me about your experience

As part of an upgrade and expansion to my studio last month, I ordered a new VT-1 through Pro Audio LA. It's been on back order now for three weeks. D.W. Fearn: they're cool, they're bitchen, and they're in demand. They're worth the wait.

Mine's supposed to ship this week. I really wanted a VT-2 or a VT-12, but with the other gear I've ordered, they were just barely beyond reach. So close! Something about that deep red fills my soul with lust. I cannot wait to get my hands on that bloody VT-1, so help me!

Use a VT-7 almost every day. Still sounds as good as the day I bought it (seven years ago).

Terrific equipment, built to last.

VT-7 here, too. One of the best pieces of gear I own.

Threads like these tend to jack up prices for used gear. I was kinda hoping they’d fall off the radar for a while.

VT-2 all the time.

I have owned my VT-2 for about 10 years. Love it beyond words. It will NEVER leave here.

BTW: the Hazelrigg VLC-1 is a nice choice for a "Fearn-Lite" channel strip. It doesn't strip your wallet. But provides VERY nice results if you were to ask me.

Of course, the VT-15 was a stunning product. I have sold a few VT-12's over the last few years and its a wonderful product for Ribbon mics. If you are recording quiet sources with Ribbon mics, it may be VERY hard to beat that sound. IMHO.

I plan on using the VT-12 with some dynamic mics! I'm sure the SM7B will sound lovely!

Yup.

I just bought a VT-4 eq from vintage king yesterday. I cant wait to dig into it.

My new VT-1 shipped yesterday! Probably no hope that I'll have it by the weekend. But it's finally on the way. That's all that matters.

Another very happy long-term VT-7 user here.

Anybody have a VT-12 and SM7B can make me a quick audio sample? Thanks

Yes, hundreds are rocking with Fearn. VT-1, VT-2, VT-4, VT-7.

OP, why wouldn't they be using Fearn?

VT-1 here.

VT2 and pair of VT4s here....will keep them as long as I’m making music

I have a VT-1 that gets used everyday. It was the first big gear purchase I ever made and I’ve never regretted it or considered selling it. I think it’s #19 . Doug lives right near by me and has personally serviced it the one time in 20 years that it had an issue. Great guy. Also the hazellrig stuff is awesome and a a bit more affordable.

Got it! I have just added a brand new D.W. Fearn VT-1 to my signal chain and rack! Woo! Now if I just had a bigger rack.

... happy to see those Mackie speakers as well ...

That was sort of what I was wondering...

$$$$.$$

Yeah, love those 824s. I got them around 2004 when they were all the rage. And they still sound great after all these years.

Before they can appear on the used market, people would have to be getting rid of their Fearn gear. The majority opinion here seems to eBay will have to pry it from my "cold dead hands".

IMO, the question in the thread title is poorly phrased - as it implies the OP expects to find few people. Is anybody still rocking a mullet? Is anybody still rocking a code-a-phone?

Hey, remember that "fad" of DW Fearn gear?

Exactly.

Hey i need something to talk about if i plan to get anywhere near your 24,000 posts

How? How, I ask, has this gear flown so far under the radar? It is so seldom mentioned, yet the quality is astonishing. It's abso-tutely fabulous! I mean: Wow. Just wow. I've been putting the mighty VT-1 to the test ever since I got it. Drum OH and room, guitars, vocals, even bass. Everything sounds big and fantastic! If I can make an observation, lower end gear often has lots of knobs and lights and tricks and features to make the stuff seem like a big bang for your buck. You don't find tricks taking up any part of the time-space continuum on D.W. Fearn gear. And when you plug your mic into a D.W. by God Fearn preamp, you immediately know why. There's no need to fiddle with knobs because you're using a truly Great Preamp! The mids, the highs, the lows! Everything sounds like it is in perfect place already. It's like my whole signal chain is passing through air. I'm trying hard not to litter this post with F-bombs because that's the only word that really conveys my impression of this awesome f-ing machine!

Welcome to my studio, Mr. Fearn. Yes, they will have to pry you out of my cold, dead hands.

VT1 and VT7 user here. They've been with me for several years.

Back in 2015 I contacted Doug to ask him some questions about the VT15 after I'd started hunting around the used market for one.
One thing I was concerned with was if it had a cooling fan like the VT7. Reason is that I wanted a unit with a mic pre and compressor for VO work but no EQ, and needed to situate the unit close to the work station & mic so silence was a big factor.

After answering my questions about the VT15, and discussing cooling fan requirements on his units that have them, Doug graciously offered to build me a custom unit with a VT1 mic pre and a single channel VT7 compressor without a cooling fan. So I took him up on the offer and he went to work designing it. He drafted the schematic and after he was confident in the design and we discussed control feature options he built what he called the VT17. (VT1 & VT7 = VT17).

Being a prototype, he used a VT7 face plate and rearranged & relabeled the control knobs and switches. The build was beyond my expectations and has been my signal chain for VO since the day it arrived. I guess one day I'll reach a point where it's time to send it to a new home but it's gonna be pricey!

5 Years with a Vt-1. It's my Desert Island preamp..best I have heard.

Could you make a comparison between the Fearn and another Preamp, like Neve 1073, or API or even Apollo preamps, so we can hear it?
I‘m also very interested in Fearn preamps...

send it to my home