500-series VCA Compressor

Signal Processors > Compressors

Published January 2026

At last, the channel compressor of Neve’s flagship 88R console is available in 500‑series form!

Reviewing Neve gear is always a pleasure, but as they helpfully make various preamps, EQs and processors in multiple forms for different use cases, there’s often considerable overlap between products. That leaves reviewers with a conundrum: just what is there left to say? The 88R LBC puts the 88R console’s channel compressor into a 500‑series module, and is a case in point. Neve have released standalone versions of this processor before, most recently the 88C that I reviewed in SOS May 2025. So, after confirming to you that the 88R LBC functions in precisely the way that’s claimed, works well with a vast range of sources, and sounds as good as you’d expect, I find myself at serious risk of repeating myself (see what I did there?). Thus, I’ll keep this review of what I judge to be a remarkably good compressor short and sweet!

Attack With Speed!

This single‑slot, 500‑series module offers pretty much identical functionality to the dual‑channel 88C, but aesthetically the knobs and layout owe more to the 88R console. At the top, a nine‑LED meter can indicate up to 50dB of gain reduction (with finer resolution in its top half, naturally). To each side there’s a tri‑colour LED to indicate the input/output levels. That’s slightly less visual feedback than you get on the 88C, but a design decision that contributes to a clean, open layout, despite the tight confines of the 500‑series format.

Below are pots for the threshold (+20 to ‑30 dB), ratio (1:1 all the way up to Lim, with 3:1 at the vertical position), release (0.03 to 3 ms), and make‑up gain (0 to 30 dB). These are joined by four toggle switches. One at the top right engages a side‑chain high‑pass filter (80, 125 or 300 Hz, or off), while another engages an automatic make‑up gain facility — a time‑saver we’re accustomed to in plug‑ins, but rare in the analogue world, where it’s rather harder and more expensive to implement.

A third switch enacts the automatic release mode. Yes, many compressors have such a facility, whereby dual time‑constants allow it to recover faster after aggressive transients and more gently at other times, but Neve’s approach is notable for employing three ‘layers’, which tends to make it effective on a wider range of material than most; in fact, I almost always agreed with Neve’s ‘set and forget’ suggestion. The final toggle switch, Fast, implements an ultra‑fast attack setting, and for the Lim ratio this doesn’t let anything whatsoever peep above the threshold.

Now, the eagle‑eyed among you may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned an attack knob. That’s because there isn’t one! Instead, Neve use something they call “adaptive attack technology”. Conceptually, it’s similar to an automatic release: the use of two separate circuits enables the compressor to respond at different speeds to more aggressive and gentle transients. I wrote about this in my 88C review. In short, my initial reservations about ‘letting go’ were unfounded; it works brilliantly.

Finally, at the bottom, we have push switches for In (bypass) and Link. The latter allows you, assuming you have a suitable 500‑series host rack, to link the side‑chain bus of multiple 88R LBC modules, for use on stereo and other multi‑channel material.

Neve have done a grand job of packing all this into the 500‑series format.

Key Takeaways

In terms of its action and sound, there’s really very little I can add to my already glowing assessment of the 88C but, in summary, the technical specs are everything you’d hope for from a modern Neve design, with vanishingly low distortion that translates into a superb sonic performance. The adaptive attack and ‘triple‑layer’ auto release work very well, and can make setup for most sources exceptionally quick and easy. Were you to have several of these compressors in a rack or 500‑series host console (in which scenario there should be no power problems, since the modest current draw is well within the VPR Alliance spec), that speed could prove a real advantage during a busy tracking or analogue mix session. Neve have done a grand job of packing all this into the 500‑series format too, with an intuitive layout that leaves plenty of space for fingers around the controls.

Yes, you pay a small premium for the Neve name, but it should hold its value well too, and that money is genuinely buying you a great‑sounding, ‘all‑rounder’ channel compressor with some really cool and practical features.