Ok the word "Neve" is being way over use

NEVE MELBOURN

On a visiting trip to a "famous" studio in Ho Chi Minh city Vietnam, one of the intern there, after yapping with me on how well knowledgeable he was about the audio (mostly crap from forum he'd read but never actually see or hear), showed off a racked Neve preamp to me and claimed that he got the Neve sound in his recording. I took a glance at the dam thing and have to just chuckle inside, the dam thing is some AMS or ADK clone bullshit...That is why you are an intern (your boss do know something).

What worse was he could not stop talking about how he know so much about the Neve sound. Can you please stop saying that word please?

While most of the people I met have not have a chance to really...really listen to a true Neve preamp with a good working original console, what you heard is not really a Neve.
Let's take a look, what is the different between Amek Neve, AMS Neve, Neve VR/Melbourn stuffs, Neve Portico, old verse new...so on and so on.

This old pair of 1073 in this condition...worth $8000.00

The truth is that there is only one answer, they all have nothing to do with each other, sonically...sort of like Sting and the Police. Same name but totally different sound, color, and ...Sting is boring! I don't really care what you say but I think Sting is really boring...really...musically!

To me all the new Neve stuffs or even the copy of a Neve gears have part or some of the color and detail of what a complete Neve sound have...which I may add, none of the 2 "old" Neve sound the same anyway. What the newer stuff lack these days is the "hair"...the "man hood" in the audio which pass out of it.

Neve timeline

So don't fall the marketing rhetorics you hear surrounded by the Neve word...not all Neve's are good and wonderful. Just like how you can get an Amek Neve console these day for about $8000.00 for 24-32 channels but you could not touch a good working condition Neve Melbourn 12 channels for less than $30,000.00...if you can find one or pry it out of a dead engineer's hand.

What is the big difference...they are all Neve? The sound and the "mojo" that come with the old original Neve.
Yes in some way some of these gears have some touch of mr. Rubert Neve but touch...not total design and none of his designs are the same anyway. You can take 2 of the original "old" Neve 1073 preamps side by side and they will both produce different color.
So enough said, which is the best Neve preamp to get?

Go out and test drive each one and find out which one will work and fit for you, don't fall for the word Neve...again, STING IS NOT THE POLICE!

peace,

Tran Duy

PS...fuck the Amek, a piece of shit and if you can't get a real Neve and just too desperate to get one...get this one below, Vintage Design LTD