Neve

[DCMagnuson at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/23/99 11:04:31 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jocke at netcontrol.fi writes:

> I'm under the impression that Neve mixing boards became
>  fashionable in the mid-'80s mainly because they had a
>  "good-sounding" EQ section.
>  
>  Now, from what I have heard, even though many people copied
>  the circuit they didn't end up with an EQ that had the Neve
>  sound, until someone discovered that there was a PCB layout
>  error in Neve's boards that apparently changed the
>  characteristics. The error was dumb enough that even Neve
>  themselves hadn't noticed it.
>  
>  I heard this from people in the audio industry, so it should
>  of course be taken with a grain of salt. :-)
>  

Actually, Neve isn't known only for their EQ... their mic pres have a very
distinct sound to them.   There's a few things that makes Neve sound good.
First, the most desirable modules are all class A discrete circuits, and is a
large part of their sound.  Secondly, is their choice of transformers.  I've
heard that swapping out the input or output transformers on a Neve will
drastically change the sound (to the point of no longer sounding like a Neve).
Everyone deserves a coupl'a 1272's in their studio.  Tasty.

Dave Magnuson
Independent Music Site
http://members.aol.com/dcmagnuson

Dav