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anonymous 4 January 2002

does anybody knows where I can get vintage Neve preamps (2 channel) - I think TL Audio does something but where can I find them?
lukee

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anonymous Sun, 01/06/2002 - 01:01

I'm not too sure but I don't think that TL has a fuckin' thing to do with Neve stuff.

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From

TL audio or Tony Larking.... actually started repackaging neve modules nearly a decade ago when the Word Neve was long and forgotten and we were all running around make records on E series SSL's!!!!!! YUK.. ( i mean as Awesome as the Stone Roses eponymous album was.. sonically it sounded a bit thin because it was all recorded and mixed on an E series...) E series mic -pre have no real soul. So when people started realising this guyslike TL, Brent Averil etc started repackaging modules for single use in racks.

As to 1272's they are infact line driver amps with a maximum fixed gain of around 45-50dB. THe only palce they were generally used as a mic pre was in the talk back section of classic neve consoles. Mods can be done to the 1272 to get around the fixed gain staging and hence they come into use as a mic-pre albeing they have less gain than the king daddy class A modules like 1073,1084, 1076 etc etc etc which can have nearly 20 dB more gain.

The Neve 3415 line map is in the same boat as the 1272 but it is in the class a/b mode not the full tilt class A. Some people prefer these to class a because they believe they are a bit 'Sweeter' but then again some like Red wine and others like White!... it's all in the application.

The key to the Neve sound is the 'Iron' in the trnasformers themselves. It has to be said that that is the main component of the classic sound that seems to be so sought after these days, as well as Rupert's superlative engineering and musical circuitry (which goes without saying..like who are we to question God!)

check out this Australian site that has some nice info and schematics
http://www.jlmaudio.com/1272mod.htm

Hope it helps
Peace
Wiggy

2" till I die (regretabbly started using Alishad)

anonymous Wed, 01/09/2002 - 12:26

On a more technical level:

With a gain of up to 50dB, signal on the mic input of 1073 goes through an input transformer, a rotary switch, 1 gain stage, and then to an output transformer (in greatly simplified terms, EQ out); above 50 dB of gain, signal goes through 2 gain stages. The 1272 has the identical input and output transformers and first gain stage. Thus, by adding a correctly wired rotary switch and a few other components, it's possible to exactly duplicate the signal path of a 1073 with a 1272 with gains up to 50 dB. But hey, if one is using the 1272 in common close miked applications such as drums, loud guitars or vox with a condenser, 50 dB is more than enough gain.
I found it easier to mod my 1272 based on the 1073 than testing the other gain topologies possible. For my application, 50 dB is always enough

Roger

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