Neve 1073LB 500 Series Mic Preamp

Dropped on the studio world in 1970, Neve's 1073 Audio Preamplifier immediately made its bones on the recording studio scene. Renowned for its ability to capture, complement and create a uniquely great sound no matter the source, the 1073 has been the go-to recording preamp of leading artists and producers from hit recordings too numerous to mention. If you think of any famous recordings of the past 45 years, chances are more than good that the artists' voices, instruments or illegal activities first saw tape through a Neve 1073.

And now it is available in the 500 series format.

The Neve 1073LB is still manufactured in Great Britain to the exacting specs of Neve's classic 1073 preamp. Featuring painstakingly recreated original spec hand-wound input and output transformers, matched components, as well as specially recreated tantalum coupling caps, the 1073LB bathes your ears in vintage Neve glory. With a build quality the British Admiralty would approve, the 1073LB's massive input level switch contacts are gold-plated to withstand decades of marathon tracking sessions.

As magical as owning a rare piece of vintage kit can appear, the lack of modern conveniences can ultimately detract from the recording experience. That's why the boffins at Neve gave the 1073LB switchable microphone input impedance, signal presence LED and intelligent protected switching on the front combi-XLR input connector so you don't accidentally fry a line-level device with 48v. The new Fine Trim control lets you squeeze the maximum level of sparkling clean signals or crank the gain for some Revolution distortion. The 1073LB Preamp's smart Audio Processing Input design and Lunchbox Insert architecture allows you to create a classic Neve 1073 channel strip when used with a Neve 1073LB Series EQ.

And all this sonic potential installs in an empty slot of your compatible 500 series rack, ready to inject your microphone or line level signals into that legendary universe of Neve sound.

Features:

• Classic transformer microphone preamp amp (Class A design)
• Audio path is absolutely 100% discrete and the same design as the 1073 Classic module mic/pre circuit
• Neve designed hand-wound transformers
• Both Mic and Line inputs are transformer balanced and earth free
• Gain knob with Signal Presence LED
• +5/-10 dB level Trim control with integrated phantom power on/off switch
• Phase, Impedance and Front Input selector switches
• Front combi-XLR connector with intelligent switching of phantom power
• Audio Processing Insert design allows processing from adjacent Neve modules in the same 500 series rack to be inserted into the 1073LB's pre-output stage
• Microphone Input: Gain -80 db to -20 dB in 5 dB steps
• Line Input: Input impedance 4 kOhms bridging, gain -20 dB to +10 dB in 5 dB steps
• Output is transformer balanced and earth free
• Distortion: Not more than 0.07% from 50 Hz to 10 kHz at +20 dBu output (80 kHz bandwidth)
• Freq Response: ±0.5 dB 20 Hz to 20 kHz, -3 dB at 40 kHz
• Crafted in England by Neve engineers

Note: The Neve 1073LB will not work with the A-Designs 500HR 2-slot rack or the Empirical Labs EL500 2-slot rack.

Click here to learn more about the history of the Neve 1073 Preamplifier.