Rupert Neve Designs MBT Master Bus Transformer

The Rupert Neve Designs MBT Master Bus Transformer is a master bus processor with roots in Mr. Rupert Neve’s six decades of audio transformer design philosophy. With five stages of flavorful processing, the MBT is the ultimate tool for tonal coloration. Packed with RND’s custom transformers, MBT provides powerful options to sweeten, enhance, drive, widen, and transform any source material. Equally at home on a full mix, groups, stems, or individual sources, the MBT pairs legendary tonal quality with a flexible set of controls to shape your sound.

HIGH-PASS FILTER SHELF EQ

First in the MBT signal chain is a smooth high pass filter with variable frequency selection from 100 Hz all the way to 15 Hz for delicate handling of sub-bass content. Next comes the newly designed 2-band Shelf EQ with a three-octave range, gentle slopes, and minimal phase shift. Each band offers up to 9 dB of boost or cut with a smooth and musical character ideal for tonal enhancement.

OPTICAL COLOR COMP

The Color Comp is an all-new optical design built to bring out colorful compression characteristics and nonlinear distortion. With selectable 2:1 or 5:1 ratios for subtle or dramatic behavior, its variable high-pass side chain filter can tailor the response to leave your low-end untouched while taming the rest of the source material. A blend control allows for easy parallel mixing of the uncompressed signal with heavy compression settings. The Color Comp introduces audible nonlinear harmonic content with even a touch of gain reduction and its wide-ranging variable release time can be set for smooth action or active pumping. With 20 dB of Class A makeup gain, the Color Comp has enough level on tap to compensate for its gain reduction and drive the transformers in subsequent sections of the MBT.

INCREASE STEREO WITH WIDTH

Inspired by the award-winning Master Bus Processor’s Stereo Field Editor, The MBT’s Width section increases the perceived stereo spread without losing low-end focus. With a variable high-pass filter to ensure low frequencies remain centered, the additive Width control increases the spread of mids and highs while subtly sculpting the top end to avoid emphasizing harshness.

SUPER SILK - SILK ENHANCED

Super Silk is the latest advancement in RND’s beloved Silk circuit design. With independent Red, Blue, Harmonics, and new Zener Drive controls, MBT’s Silk section gives you complete access to harmonic enhancement. Like other Silk-equipped RND processors, Silk Red accentuates harmonics in the upper mids and highs to add sparkle and sheen. Silk Blue accentuates harmonics in the lows & low mids for enhanced depth and weight. The Harmonics control increases the overall harmonic content by saturating the MBT’s custom interstage transformers. Finally, the switchable Zener Drive is a diode-based asymmetrical soft clip circuit that introduces mostly odd-order harmonic content as the signal approaches the edge of the MBT’s headroom.

I/O AMPLIFIERS

MBT’s processing stages are all heavily interactive with the others, encouraging experimentation and discovery. To maintain optimal gain staging, the MBT is equipped with Class A input and output amplifiers to match pre/post levels or drive the interstage transformers if desired. The output amplifiers feed Rupert Neve Designs’ custom output transformers for line balancing and isolation.

FEATURES:

• Built around Rupert Neve’s Class A, transformer-coupled signal paths
• Revitalize mono or stereo tracks, stems and mixes with a suite of new controls
• Add that missing weight and power with Super Silk circuit
• Add dynamic character with the opto-based Color Comp
• Quickly adjust tone with the gentle and musical LF and HF shelves
• Use the newly designed Width section to create dimension without losing focus
• Drive and level-match the interstage transformers with the I/O amplifiers