It uses WALL WARTS !!!!!!!!

wall-wart....hmmmm....very interesting...I wonder why....I wonder if it compromises the bass response.....and from the Man hisself.....hmmmm...very interesting.

A wall wart!!! RUPERT! How could you?? and ... it's 9 to 18 volts! :shock:

Well I wanna hear one now, just to hear what it sounds like.

I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed.

now here is the question. did he desing it or is it made by "Rupert Neve Designs"? if its made by the man, then i have hope. but it says "Mr. neve returns to manufactureing"

I stumbled across the site today when I went hunting after discovering the Amek Pure path links are all dead -so much for continuing to support their Neve designs.

The PorticoTM 5042 Duo Tape Channel looks interesting to say the least.

John Stafford

I'm quite sure he designed it. It was few years ago I saw him at AES in LA trying to get close enough as I just wanted to shake his hand and thank him for all work and effort through the years and someone beat me to the question of what are you working on next? He said he was doing a preamp for an acoustic guitar company and then he was going to design a high quality preamp at a resonable cost for the little folk that coudn't afford his other stull old or new.

I would bet on there being not the slightest chance it doesnt sound great.

if he desinged it and he signed i would bet on it being good.

so kurt have you put in a pettition for review yet?

AudioGaff wrote: I'm quite sure he designed it. It was few years ago I saw him at AES in LA trying to get close enough as I just wanted to shake his hand and thank him for all work and effort through the years and someone beat me to the question of what are you working on next? He said he was doing a preamp for an acoustic guitar company and then he was going to design a high quality preamp at a resonable cost for the little folk that coudn't afford his other stull old or new.

too cool!

my grace 101 uses wall warts. you can hear a mouse fart a block away with a decetn mic running in it. quiet as death, the thing is...

The world is changing and it's out of my control ... which I absolutely hate! This is almost tantamount to someone saying that one plus one does not equal two ...

Who's to say what the man is thinking? Perhaps, although it is still quite pricey, this is a response to marketing demands and pressure the "budget" segment is placing on manufactures, which IMO serves to exemplify what is soooo wrong with the whole "budget" approach (it appears even the best are being forced into the pig sty with the usurpers) . But will R. Neve claim this pre to be an equal to his time tested previous designs as he did when he released the 9098 series? I have a feeling the answer may be "no".

Yes it's a Neve ... but does that alone, make it really good? Past experience dictates yes ... wall wart says no ... I'm confused .... but much more willing to investigate the question than with past offerings from other manufacturers, simply because of the respect I hold for the history that the man has. But I have to say that I remain skeptical (ohhh! sacrilege!).

Everything I have ever learned in the past says that a good power supply is an absolute requirement for decent voltage swing to provide proper phase, bass and transient response, especially so with mic pres.

With much due respect, I would be very interested in hearing what Mr. Neve has to say regarding that. Perhaps he has a new trick up his sleeve .... However herein lies the rub. You cannot transform energy from one form (AC) to another (DC), without incurring loss. If you could, you could create free electricity by running it through a transformer. Wall warts are essentially transformers that convert AC 110 / 220, to DC, in this case 9 volts. Designers of auto stereos know that 12 volt batteries do not have enough power reserve to supply sufficient current to drive sub woofers without crapping out. To remedy the problem they employ massive capacitors as electrical reservoirs for the amps to draw upon at peak demand.

Up to now, everyone has pretty much agreed that volts, not amperes are what counts with mic pres. This is particularly important with condenser mics that draw lots of volts ... an 8 volt dc power supply is going to provide sufficient current to power the mic pre and the condenser mic? Hardly! Perhaps this is a misconception on my and others part, in which case I need to reassess my POV on much of this. But so far my ears have borne out what I have always thought / been told was the case. However, I would never go so far as to say that I myself am beyond being affected by placebo effect as the next guy.

Yes! I would be interested in reviewing it, although I think I am about finished doing the whole review thing as soon as I finish up what's currently in progress (KEL HM-1, The Brick and the Sebatron THORAX), unless I can figure out a way to make it pay. It's a lot of work and I get more grief than anything else for doing it. At some point I have to ask myself why I subject myself to it, especially when I see what other writers are being paid for work of a similar nature. In the long run doing reviews has actually cost me out of pocket.

I am also interested in hearing what Mr. Neve has to offer on the topic. But I am not quite ready to start backpedaling on my previous opinions and remarks just yet. I suspect there are others who will feel the same.

Man, I wish Sebatron would come up here and give us all a lesson in mic pre topology.

Great post Kurt.

Interesting...here we are, commenting on how we think an unreleased preamp may be deficient just because of the power supply it uses. I'm sure the only reason it even gets the benefit of the doubt is because of who designed it.

My first reaction when I saw this was "great, he's using transformers again". That to me seems much more significant than the power supply he chooses to use.

Up to now, everyone has pretty much agreed that volts, not amperes are what counts with mic pres. This is particularly important with condenser mics that draw lots of volts ... an 8 volt dc power supply is going to provide sufficient current to power the mic pre and the condenser mic? Hardly! Perhaps this is a misconception on my and others part, in which case I need to reassess my POV on much of this.

I think that volts adn amperes are both very important, and both related (Ohm's law, right?). An 9V power supply certainly can provide the current necessary to power the mic pre and the microphone if there's enough amperage. According to the specs, this thing clips just above +26 dBu and puts out a true 48 volts of phantom power. I don't think we have anything to worry about. I highly doubt that Rupert opted for an external power supply solely to cut corners pricewise...there are certainly advantages to using external power supplies, and I don't imagine he'd use a cheaper power supply if it negatively affected performance. This is by no means a cheap preamp.

-Duardo

it does not look like its and off the shelf wall wart either. i dont think this thing is goin to work with your old NES wall wart.

I think it's more of a "wall-wart-like" switching power supply (anyone notice it sin't supposed to need any converters for european or american power recepticles). Also, where is everyone getting 8 volts from?....the website states anything from a 9 to 18 volts power supply may be included depending upon the dealer.

On top of that, this single power supply is supposed to offer enough current handling that it can easily power several of the units daisy-chained...that's usually a testament to the quality of the power supply.

Let's reserve our judgments until hearing the new designs.

Yes, I made a typo and wrote 8 V instead of 9 (I've edited it).

I also agree that any final judgments should be witheld until the pre amp is heard. The name Neve deserves this.

I am a bit concerned with the low voltage power suppliy All that I have learned in the past said that a 24 volt power supply was the minimum required for a serious mic pre.

But who knows, Mr. Neve may have finally found the "magic bullet" that overcomes that design obsticle. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. I don't think they are available yet, so we will have to "wait and see".

But just because it has the name Neve on the front, is no reason to give it a free pass .... especially considering the departure from the use of internal high volt power supplies like those found in all other Neve designs and clones.

There has to be something that is different about this one to allow it to run on such low voltages. The truth will be known once some of the real serious cats get a hold of these things for test runs. Then we will find out what the skinny is. That will most likely be a year or so out, so in the mean time I'm gonna continue down the same merry path I have been on all my life and stick with mic pres that use 24 volts or more ....

But just because it has the name Neve on the front, is no reason to give it a free pass .... especially considering the departure from the use of internal high volt power supplies like those found in all other Neve designs and clones.

Most of the clones I've seen (all of the Vintechs except for the Dual 72, the Chandler, the Averill etc) do not use internal power supplies. The original Neve designs were never intended to be rackmounted and were pulled out of large consoles that shared a power supply. An external power supply can be a bit of a pain but is the easiest way to keep noise down. As for the voltage, that's another thing, but I guess the jury will have to be out until someone actually gets their hands on one of these things. I do agree that it shouldn't get a free pass just because Rupert's name is on it, but I don't imagine it will be an issue for that same reason. I don't think he's likely to need a free pass for any of his designs. And I don't think there's any real secret to it either...looking at the specs, it lists the amps required for different voltages (as one goes up, the other goes down, just like Mr Ohm said it must), and I don't imagine it will perform differently as long as it's within the specs listed.

-Duardo