Rupert Neve is a name synonymous with high‑quality analogue audio engineering, and a great number of his designs have been released under a variety of company badges. Rupert is currently producing studio hardware under the Rupert Neve Designs brand, and his Portico series of half‑rack units have received much praise, including positive reviews of four models in SOS April 2007 and July 2007. AES saw the announcement of the first unit in the Portico II range, the full‑width 2U Channel Strip.

The Channel Strip includes mic, line and instrument inputs, as well as a Thru jack located on the front panel, which feeds an unprocessed signal back out to be used with a guitar amp, for example. The unit includes a compressor with a similar set of controls to the Portico 5043, including a switch to select either feed‑forward or feed‑back modes (for quick or vintage transient‑response respectively) and a Blend knob for mixing dry and processed signals. The high‑mid section of the four‑band EQ can act as a de‑esser, and a high‑pass filter can either be used as is, or to control a side‑chain for the compressor.

Perhaps the most exciting feature is the Texture knob, located at the far right of the control surface, which controls the amount of ‘Silk’ (analogue harmonics) introduced into the signal path. A new mode, called Silk+, gives the user an even more mid‑rich sound, which is closer to that of vintage Neve consoles. The Portico II Channel Strip will be available from Sonic Distribution, though no price is currently available.

Sonic Distribution +44 (0)845 500 2500 
www.sonic‑distribution.com/uk
http://rupertneve.com