F for You: when Disclosure keeps the microphone at home

When the guest list falls away

Settle introduced Disclosure as both a production duo and generous collaborators. Its opening run moves from “Latch” with Sam Smith to “F for You,” where the guest list suddenly falls away. Universal Music’s Disclosure profile identifies it as the album’s first track without a guest and places Howard Lawrence on the lead vocal. After several voices have entered the record, one of the two brothers steps to the microphone himself.¹

HFI used the Settle vinyl edition identified by the approved production master with catalogue number 00602537394883. The master credits Guy Lawrence and Howard Lawrence as writers and Disclosure as performer.

That shift in ownership gives the listening a simple human centre. Begin with Howard’s voice rather than the hardware. As the track moves forward, notice when the vocal carries the momentum and when the brothers’ production takes over the space around it. The published recording supplies the event; the balance you follow is yours to decide.¹

A vinyl route with clearly divided roles

The playback route begins with the Titan Acoustics Tx100 turntable. HFI’s master then assigns phono gain and equalisation to an Electrocompaniet ECP 2 MKII before the Mark Levinson No5206 takes the line-preamplifier role. Two Mark Levinson No5302 stereo amplifiers follow in bridged-mono configuration.

That route is a deliberate division of jobs. Mark Levinson documents the No5206 with its own MM/MC phono input, yet this session uses the separate ECP 2 MKII for the record signal. Electrocompaniet documents adjustable gain and cartridge loading for that unit. At the other end of the stated path, Mark Levinson documents a rear-panel bridge mode for the No5302; HFI used one bridged amplifier per channel.

Follow the voice, then widen the frame

For the first pass, stay with the song’s change of perspective. Listen for how Howard’s lead sits inside a record known for bringing many outside voices into Disclosure’s world. When he steps back between lines, hear what continues the motion and how quickly the vocal regains your attention on its return.¹

On a second pass, widen from the singer to the whole playback event. Keep the question modest: can you follow the voice, the pulse and the spaces between them from one stable perspective? There is no need to assign the answer to the turntable, phono stage or amplifier pair. The useful result is the relationship you can return to in the music.

Titan Acoustics from one microphone-specific perspective

HFI recorded the system at Titan Acoustics on 16 December 2025. The matched DPA-4011 pair was positioned where those microphones most closely captured the sound heard at the sweet spot, and a laser distance meter matched their distances from the loudspeakers. Vertere microphone cables connected the pair to a Zoom F8n Pro, which captured the session at 192 kHz/32-bit float. Sennheiser HD820 headphones were used during production.

Bring the headphone level to a comfortable point, then settle into your own sweet spot. Start with the brother who steps forward, then let “F for You” draw your attention outward from voice to pulse and back again.