Buyer's Guide: Rupert Neve Designs Master Buss Family

Rupert Neve Designs Master Buss Processor, Master Buss Transformer, and Master Buss Converter.

Audio veterans are likely well-familiar with the “Rupert Neve Sound”: warm, punchy, and smooth as silk. But for those looking to craft their own signature within the gear and circuitry pioneered by the man himself, then the Rupert Neve Designs’ Master Series is your answer.

Despite the name of the series, these units can be used for more than just mastering. With intuitive but wide-reaching controls and a seemingly endless of built-in tonal combinations, these literal tone machines give you plenty of room for experimentation and customization. In fact, you’ll regularly find producers and engineers using this gear for adding Silk-powered color and shape during mixing and even tracking as well as mastering.

While any of these three units will transform your sound and setup for the better, there are some key differences and features between them that may help you decide which one is right for you. With that, here’s a guide to the RND Master Series.

RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS PORTICO II MASTER BUSS PROCESSOR

This two-channel compressor and limiter was originally designed just for mastering, which it does really well. But like most RND gear, the Portico II proved to be a sonic workhorse, adding presence and punch to tracking sessions, mixes, and even FOH mixes.

The Portico II features two compressor channels that strike the perfect balance between simple controls and near-limitless versatility. Along with your classic Threshold-Ratio-Gain combo, both compressors also come with a Peak/RMS button for switching up your Attack and Release signatures, a Blend knob for bringing in your dry signal, and a side-chain HPF to instantly tame lower frequencies. For vintage lovers, the compressors also feature a Feed-Back Mode for a more musical and colorized sound along with a modern and transparent Fee-Forward Mode.

The limiter might just be a single knob, but it uses Adaptive Release Technology to adapt to a given signal in real time, responding in a flash to snare hits and slowing down for guitar chords. And of course, there’s the legendary Silk, which transforms your sound from subtle warmth to thick harmonic drive at the turn of the Texture knob.

Finally, the Stereo Field Editor lets you tie your mixes together by refining, shaping, and expanding your stereo image with ease. In other words, the Portico II can enhance and transform your sound at any step of the recording process, from tracking to mastering, making for a treasure trove of possibilities from a single unit.

RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS MBT MASTER BUS TRANSFORMER

RND fans will tell you that the best thing about using RND gear is the quintessential “vibe” that it adds to audio—a quality that primarily comes from the bespoke transformers that have been used from the beginning by Rupert Neve himself. The MBT fully embraces the power of said transformers to become a lean, mean, coloration machine.

While the Portico II certainly adds some color and texture to your sound, the MBT is designed from the ground up to enhance, sweeten, widen, squash, and, well, transform your sound in any way you wish.

The MBT utilizes RND’s classic transformers across its sonic toolkit, giving you plenty of controls and combinations for endless experimentation. The simple two-band EQ circuit offers a surprising amount of dexterity across the frequency spectrum, while the aptly named Color Comp utilizes an expressive Opto cell and non-linear harmonic distortion for a more present and realized sound.

Next up is the Width circuit, which is inspired by the Portico II’s Stereo Field Editor but also has a few key differences. The most obvious one is the inclusion of a variable HPF (50 Hz to 800 Hz), but under the hood, the circuit uses subtle high-frequency tapering to tame more ice-picky sounds. Plus, the control is only additive for a wider width range and more dramatic shaping.

Finally, if you love the Silk circuit, then you’ll adore the Super Silk. While the regular Silk lets you switch between the distinct Red and Blue harmonic drive signatures, Super Silk lets you blend both modes thanks to its independent Red and Blue channels. The Zener Drive button also throws in a diode-based soft-clip circuit for even more aggressive and chunky tones.

RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS MASTER BUSS CONVERTER

Last but not least, the MBC offers Neve-powered tonal crafting in a top-quality analog-to-digital converter that’s ideal for tracking, mixing, or mastering.

All of RND’s hits are present in their all-analog glory across two channels, including a well-rounded limiter and the Silk button. But a new feature on the MBC is the Transformer button, which lets you switch between a clean, hi-fi signal or a more vintage, quintessentially Neve sound when turned on.

On the conversion side, the MBC utilizes 24-bit/192 kHz converters painstakingly designed by RND’s engineers, as well as AES, S/PDIF, and TOSLINK outputs for multiple linking options. There’s even a built-in world clock to keep all of your gear in sync and latency-free.

Mix and Match with the Masters

Just one of these units in your setup will dramatically change your sound for the better. But given the different features and purposes between these three units, you can also seamlessly use them together. The MBT can add plenty of personality to your tracks, which can then feed into the Portico II for extra compression and shaping, followed by the MBC at the end to send to your digital audio interface. This is just one of many setups that will give you plenty of control, versatility, and silky smooth sounds only possible by Rupert Neve.

If you’re interested in purchasing some Rupert Neve Designs gear, contact a Vintage King Audio Consultant via email or by phone at 866.644.0160.