NEVE Channel Strip vs. 1073 et al.

[Suntower]

Just wondering how people feel about the channel strip vs. the various individual NEVE plugs. Although it definitely is cool, is it just me, or does it sound less 'Nevish' than the individual plugs?

I guess I'm wondering if it's something one could get and use -instead- of the other Neve plugs. Does it provide enough 'Neve sound' to make the other purchases somewhat unnecessary.

I bought the Helios instead of the 1073 because it seemed to have more Brit 'character' and after listening to the RS88 it seems like the channel strip has even a bit less.

Thoughts?

----JC

 

[bedhoe]

I've mixed with neve gear and i personally think the 88RS sounds more \"neve\" than the 1073... I might get bashed for saying this.

Someone here said neve sounds like a fuzzy peach and that right about nails it for me.

If you want to buy one of the neve plugs I would recommend the 88RS.

 

[Macc]

It has less colour, but that's why it is so great - you can slap it on pretty much everything without it getting too much (unless you really go to town). Besides which, it has much finer control available in the eq and so on.

It works so well in concert with the super-character plugs, after just a week I don't think I can live without it. Gone are the days of trying 4 or 5 native plugs and settling for one of them - just use this

 

[Plec]

I've come to use it A LOT more than the other plugins. Compared to the 1073 and other Neves' it adds a lot less obvious color to the signal. I love it for sounding more \"extended\" EQ wise. You can actually get air above 12K with this EQ, which isn't the case with the more vintage emulations. If that's Neve or not, I don't know. I just know that the strip fits the majority of processing better than the vintage emulations for me.

 

[Dan Duskin]

IMHO... comparing the 88RS to the 1073 is like comparing the Pultec to the 1073. i.e., it may be \"Neve\", but that is the only thing the same (\"the name\"). It is TRUELY a different flavor! No need to look for \"the best Neve\"... think of it as a different company... actually, it is a different company when you think about it!
The 1073 & 1081 are Rupert... the 88RS is post-Rupert. So die-hard Rupert fans may hate it (Rupert was brilliant!), but I see no need to disregard the talented engineering team at Neve who could make such a great product as the 88RS (even if it doesn't have that \"Rupert\" sound to it, it has another great sound!).

 

[Trebor Flow 2]

For me the new Neve 88RS is the plugin I have waited 5 years for.

The Holy Grail of the ITB mix.

Finally a \"console to mix on\"

You know the same strip over and over and over, rather than a desk called .... \"The SonSSLneveasonalkapocothingyme ... 4000\"

Not only does the 88RS sound totally legit \"analog\" but it takes 1% of a four card system and means you can asseble an actual desk. duh. and your mixes sound like they were mixed on ... wait for it ... an actual desk.

Then you can then pepper in the odd \"special\" piece for vox, snare and lead and wammo ... a professional sounding mix.

Now if UA did a cheap plastic MIDI controller for the Neve 88 - that looked exactly like the plugin - I would probably agree to pull my plonker on You Tube.

I have tried to match it's sound with a Sonalksis compressor followed by my Sony oxford and then I tried other combinations of various plugs ... to no avail... nothing had the analog magic of the 88 - it's just sooooo analog sounding, I'm repeating myself, it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,
Ahhh STOP.


I F*CKING LOVE IT.

Trebor

 

[Macc]

For me the new Neve 88RS is the plugin I have waited 5 years for.

The Holy Grail of the ITB mix.

Finally a "console to mix on"

You know the same strip over and over and over, rather than a desk called .... "The SonSSLneveasonalkapocothingyme ... 4000"

Not only does the 88RS sound totally legit "analog" but it takes 1% of a four card system and means you can asseble an actual desk. duh. and your mixes sound like they were mixed on ... wait for it ... an actual desk.

Then you can then pepper in the odd "special" piece for vox, snare and lead and wammo ... a professional sounding mix.

Now if UA did a cheap plastic MIDI controller for the Neve 88 - that looked exactly like the plugin - I would probably agree to pull my plonker on You Tube.

I have tried to match it's sound with a Sonalksis compressor followed by my Sony oxford and then I tried other combinations of various plugs ... to no avail... nothing had the analog magic of the 88 - it's just sooooo analog sounding, I'm repeating myself, it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,
Ahhh STOP.


I F*CKING LOVE IT.

Trebor

:lol:

I don't need to quote that but I am going to, as I would say exactly the same.

Apart from the 'plonker/youtube' bit :lol:

 

[Suntower]

I'm more a player than a mixer, so obviously I have a bias but here's what I want to know...

I've worked in a lot of studios with different desks. When I was paying attention (which wasn't all that often) I recall SSL, Neve, the odd API or Amek (Amtek, Amtrak?)

I would usually see the same engineer over and over. And these guys became welded to a particular console---which makes sense since it seemed like it would take a while to get really fluid on a big desk.

What I'm getting at is this... Can you see yourself saying 'OK, this is it. I now have an ITB solution. I'm done.' Or do you see this as just another flavour.

Every guitar player I know, at some point, stops and says, 'Enough. I have the guitar(s) I need to work.' Simply because when you show up for a 4 hr session, you can't spend all day trying every variant of Gibson.

If the RS88 really -is- a Neve in a box. Is this it?

Can you really spend all day going through the SSL, API, Neve, etc. emulations on -every- track looking for just the special sauce?

Or is there a built in excitement with -any- new gizmo that makes one want to use it on everything? Does that sheen wear off?

To get to the point: I'd personally like to get to one set of tools I can use for most things. I feel overwhelmed by all the choices. I wonder if the channel strip is meant for this, or if I'd get it and end up doing what I do now which is, auditioning all manner of flavours based on the day, biorhythms, whatever.

I'm just amazed that anybody gets -any- mixing done these days with all these choices.

---JC

 

[wishingwell]

For me the 88rs completes my existing collection and i don't need anymore eq's and compressors (does'nt mean my 'wants' won't get the best of me from time to time). The 88rs will now be one of my main tools, and most other tools i have simply surround and support it. I'll need to repurchase Izotopes for mastering and other purposes, also a couple different type plugins like 'analog flux', but far as mixing eq's and compressors the 88rs was the one piece i was missing that would bring me true satisfaction, something that serves well for everyday purposes, my arsenal was missing something very big and important for a long time, the 88rs is that. It's no doubt a main tool for me. It's that 'philosophers stone, lost treasures of atlantis, fountain of youth, Holy Grail, evidence of Aliens, and all that other good stuff i've searched long and hard for.


P.S. La3a is of 'GREAT' importance to me as well.

 

[Merlinmrk1]

For me the new Neve 88RS is the plugin I have waited 5 years for.

The Holy Grail of the ITB mix.

Finally a "console to mix on"

You know the same strip over and over and over, rather than a desk called .... "The SonSSLneveasonalkapocothingyme ... 4000"

Not only does the 88RS sound totally legit "analog" but it takes 1% of a four card system and means you can asseble an actual desk. duh. and your mixes sound like they were mixed on ... wait for it ... an actual desk.

Then you can then pepper in the odd "special" piece for vox, snare and lead and wammo ... a professional sounding mix.

Now if UA did a cheap plastic MIDI controller for the Neve 88 - that looked exactly like the plugin - I would probably agree to pull my plonker on You Tube.

I have tried to match it's sound with a Sonalksis compressor followed by my Sony oxford and then I tried other combinations of various plugs ... to no avail... nothing had the analog magic of the 88 - it's just sooooo analog sounding, I'm repeating myself, it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,it's just sooooo analog sounding,
Ahhh STOP.


I F*CKING LOVE IT.

Trebor

ME 2. I just bought the Neve bundle; now im wishing i waited and got the 88RS instead.

 

[Cabbage]

To get to the point: I'd personally like to get to one set of tools I can use for most things. I feel overwhelmed by all the choices. I wonder if the channel strip is meant for this, or if I'd get it and end up doing what I do now which is, auditioning all manner of flavours based on the day, biorhythms, whatever.

I'm just amazed that anybody gets -any- mixing done these days with all these choices.

That is all in your head! Do you honestly feel that you do not have to right tools to use (every time) to get a good result? I will always lust for new plug-ins and gear, but it is not going to make a big difference to how my mixes sound. Not large enough that other people will notice it. And if that is the case, then what is the point, and will the plug-ins ever pay for themselves?

(On the other hand, if I am mixing in a great-sounding room, people start to notice a difference...)

Petter

 

[Jidis]

Now if UA did a cheap plastic MIDI controller for the Neve 88 - that looked exactly like the plugin - I would probably agree to pull my plonker on You Tube.

I did that for the 1073 (the controller part, not the YouTube), and while it was "cute", it didn't help all that much with workflow, and Nuendo's Generic Remote link didn't make it much better. I built a controller for the PEQ a few months back, but need to work out a panel (labeling) design for it. I'm trying to put a "pot setting" mode in it, and it's got switches and LEDs for some of the "stepped" controls, which will hopefully make it a bit more useful than the other one, but the Steinberg thing still offers a few stumbling blocks for a good two-way control link. A really efficient one for something like the 88RS would probably be either motorized pots or encoders with decent light rings, and ideally, it's own custom link to the DAW app (with metering too???).

George

 

[Plec]

Basically what Petter said

The new Neve strip is basically just a new flavour, but for me it also makes a huge difference regarding to workflow. Imagine yourself as a session player, you have your assorted amps and guitars you bring to a gig. You have collected them in time because you just love that very thing that every piece of gear does, and it does just that thing you want (and what the producer wants hopefully ).

This would be analogues to a mix engineer having that hardware collection of a couple 1073s, a Pultec and other estoric pieces of gear. Now the Neve 88RS IMO would be like having that one guitar or that one amp that just did a great job at just about anything without being too particular. It's the piece of gear you would just take out if someone said, \"hey, we need a guitar fill here\", then THAT would be the guitar you reach for. Again, it's that piece of gear that just works without being anything too particular.

I still have some favourite uses for the Waves SSL Channel that no other piece of gear even comes close to doing. So, yeah sure you can still sit there and go through all those different flavours until you find your favourite sauce. But when you know what you want, you don't have to look that much. If you know the sound of an SSL, API, Neve you intuitively merge that character with the sound you're trying to get in your head and see if it matches. Just like you know how a typical Strat, Tele or Les Paul sounds for a given thing. If you need that big bottom sounding thing, you just don't bring out the Tele.

 

[Paul Woodlock]

Apart from the 'plonker/youtube' bit :lol:

You'd do that for a pint!!

 

[Paul Woodlock]

I'm more a player than a mixer, so obviously I have a bias but here's what I want to know...

I've worked in a lot of studios with different desks. When I was paying attention (which wasn't all that often) I recall SSL, Neve, the odd API or Amek (Amtek, Amtrak?)

I would usually see the same engineer over and over. And these guys became welded to a particular console---which makes sense since it seemed like it would take a while to get really fluid on a big desk.

What I'm getting at is this... Can you see yourself saying 'OK, this is it. I now have an ITB solution. I'm done.' Or do you see this as just another flavour.

Every guitar player I know, at some point, stops and says, 'Enough. I have the guitar(s) I need to work.' Simply because when you show up for a 4 hr session, you can't spend all day trying every variant of Gibson.

If the RS88 really -is- a Neve in a box. Is this it?

Can you really spend all day going through the SSL, API, Neve, etc. emulations on -every- track looking for just the special sauce?

Well yeah you can. but I wouldn't recommended it while mixing as you'll get bored with the music and do a crap mix.

Spend time auditioning different plugs away from a real mix, on test tracks.

Then when you do a real mix you can quickly say "I know exactly what that track needs and wack it on and away ya go.

Or is there a built in excitement with -any- new gizmo that makes one want to use it on everything? Does that sheen wear off?

yes and it does wear off. but it's good to try it on everything, It's part of the learning process. Like I say, try and do it away from a real mix.

 

[Macc]

Apart from the 'plonker/youtube' bit :lol:

You'd do that for a pint!!

:lol: Wrong forum

Now go and answer my upsampling question

 

[Koisan]

I'm more a player than a mixer, so obviously I have a bias but here's what I want to know...

I've worked in a lot of studios with different desks. When I was paying attention (which wasn't all that often) I recall SSL, Neve, the odd API or Amek (Amtek, Amtrak?)

--------------------------------------------------------JC

Could you remember if your part in the song/mix sounded better or worse on any particular desk?

Every guitar player I know, at some point, stops and says, 'Enough. I have the guitar(s) I need to work.' Simply because when you show up for a 4 hr session, you can't spend all day trying every variant of Gibson.

---------------------------------------------------------JC

I agree - my decision these days is more - does this general guitar sound fit the song and do I like the way my notes fit the music - you know those less important constraints like timing,groove and melody? My experience is that often individuals pre-occupied with the "tone" spend less time on the actual song... and their chops...just my HO!

Can you really spend all day going through the SSL, API, Neve, etc. emulations on -every- track looking for just the special sauce?

I'm just amazed that anybody gets -any- mixing done these days with all these choices.

---JC

Is that not because we all can actually afford to do so... I mean I live in a country where the industry is really small - most studio's have only seen an SSL in a magazine - yet now we can afford to own every emulation of every piece of hardware ever made...

Imagine being able to a 'ferrari' experience every time you drive your Toyota - this is not 'good' or 'bad' it's just LUXURIOUS!!