Neve Electronics

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Neve Electronics
IndustryProfessional audio design & engineering
Founded1961
Key people
Rupert Neve

Neve Electronics was a manufacturer of music recording and broadcast mixing consoles and hardware. It was founded in 1961 by Rupert Neve, the man credited with creating the modern mixing console.[1]

History

Neve VR-72 with Flying Faders, Studio 1 Control Room Center
Studio 1 Control Room Left Quarter
Studio 3 Control Room Center
Studio 3 Control Room Left Quarter

Company formation

Rupert Neve formed Neve Electronics in 1961.

Class-A circuit designs.[2] In 1964 the company moved to Cambridgeshire. That year Neve Electronics built one of the first transistor-based mixing consoles for Philips Records Studios in London.[2] The company moved to a purpose-built factory in Melbourn, near Cambridge where in 1968 they designed the 2254 compressor limiter for ABC Weekend TV in the UK.[2] It was also in 1968 that Neve Electronics began to distribute their products in North America.[2] Vanguard Records, of New York City
, was the first American recording studio to take possession of the Neve console in October, 1968.

1970s

In 1970, Rupert Neve designed the 1073 module for the new A88 mixing console; this console was designed for Wessex Studios.[2] During the seventies Neve Electronics produced a whole series of mixing consoles for both broadcast and recording studios. In 1973, the 8048 console was produced; this included the newer 1081 microphone/line preamplifier and equaliser.[2] In the same year Rupert Neve sold Neve Electronics to the Bonochord Group. He continued working alongside Neve Electronics until 1975 when he left altogether.[3]

In 1977, Neve Electronics began using digital technology with the introduction of their Necam system. Necam stood for Neve Computer Assisted Mixdown. The first

Air Studios in London.[2] Necam also gained popularity in television post production facilities, including the BBC. Before the introduction of Necam, all fader mixing had to be done as live, a considerably skilled and stressful task for any dubbing mixer. Necam allowed for fader movements to be stored and recalled at a later point, allowing the dubbing mixer to build a mix in stages and focus on the creative and artistic elements of a mix, rather than on managing the technology. For those working in television post production, this was seen as a major breakthrough.[4] In 1979, the 8108 console was produced using both analog and digital technology. The console had assignable controls and memory mixing faders.[2]

Merger with AMS

In the 1980s, there were concerns about Neve Electronics' financial situation. This was partly due to their ambitious investment into research and development of projects such as the DSP console and the Necam system.

Advanced Music Systems to form AMS Neve which continues to produce products under both the Neve and AMS Neve brands.[2]

Notable products

  • Neve 8048 Mixing Console
  • Neve 8068 Mixing Console
  • Neve 8078 Mixing Console
  • Neve 2254 Compressor/Limiter
  • Neve 1084 Mic Preamplifier & Equaliser

Neve 1073 Console Module

The 1073 is a

Class-A design microphone/line preamplifier with three equaliser bands.[7] The equaliser has a fixed 12kHz high frequency band and switchable low and mid range bands with cut and boost controls.[7] There is also a passive third-order (18 dB/octave) high pass filter. Two switches were also fitted on the module's front panel for equaliser bypass and phase polarity.[7] The 1073 module was designed to be part of the 80 series Neve console. It was never intended for use as a stand alone module.[7] It is now regarded as a "desert island" preamp by many recording engineers, and has been used on a countless number of hit records over the past 30 years from Rock, Rap, Hip-hop, to Classical. The sound is described as very big, fat, and colored. The factor contributing to the larger than life sound is greatly attributed to the design of the transformer which seems to add subharmonics to the signal.[8]
The Equalizer section of the 1073 is regarded as very "musical" and practical and has become the favorite choice of many engineers for tracking and mixing.

Neve 33609 Compressor Limiter

The 33609 is a 19” rack mounted compressor limiter produced by Neve Electronics for broadcast and recording purposes.[9] The unit can be linked for stereo and multi-channel operation. The compressor processes the audio signal before the output amplifier, meaning the output level can be raised after compression of the signal.[9] The controls include compression attack and recovery times. There is also a bypass control to switch the effect in or out of the circuit. Other configurations were available at the time of the product's release.[9] The Neve 33609 compressor limiter was re-designed around 2009 by AMS Neve and labelled as the 33609JD stereo compressor.[10]

Timeline

References

  1. ^ AMS - Neve History 60s Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "AMS Neve Celebrates 45 years of Innovation, Growth and Technology Leadership". 5 October 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b c www.ibs.org.uk[permanent dead link] 2009.
  4. ^ "The evolution of television sound mixing". www.adapttvhistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  5. ^ Filbin, Patrick (9 April 2013). "Rock Docs: Sound City (2013)". Buzz Weekly. Champagin-Urbana, Illinois. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. ^ Scoppa, Bud (1 March 2009). "L.A. Grapevine, March 2009". Mix. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Mix Online Archived 2009-05-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  8. ^ Fuston, Lynn (1 December 2004). "AMS-Neve 1073". Electronic Musician. NewBay Media. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Dan Alexander Audio Archived 2007-12-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  10. ^ AMS-Neve Archived 2009-12-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2009.

External links