A legendary Neve console and how to maintain it

We visited Metropolis Studios in London to ask studio technician Jake Elsegood if he could show us how he maintains the functionality of a vintage Neve studio console - so he did!
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[@paulEmotionalaudio]

Brilliant! If you were every slightly curious about what recapping was and the effort to do it... this video tells you!

[@sheadooher1154]

I used to do this as a job, Its bringing back a lot of memories.

[@Dunk0The0Punk]

That was my Desk a long time ago ! not a lot has changed except the new door to the Maintenance area.

[@donnythompson408]

I don’t own a Neve, but I still find this video to be very interesting, and, not just for Neve circuitry, either, but for all analog audio electronics, as some of the issues mentioned here (like the electrolytic caps on the EQ filters drying up and failing) could be encountered on any older analog desk. I love analog gear, it has a sound and vibe of its own. As a young engineer coming up in the early 80’s, I learned the craft of audio recording/mixing on analog consoles, tape machines and outboard processing. And when everything was working, it was a wonderful thing. But, analog gear does indeed require maintenance, and this video acts as a good lesson to impart to those engineers who are too young to have worked in analog studios, but who are thinking about integrating analog recording gear into their own studios... and that lesson is that analog audio gear doesn’t perform at its optimum forever. It’s not a question of “if” analog gear will ever need repair... but only a certainty of “when”. And, sometimes components did fail gradually over time...but they could also fail without warning...which, of course, always seemed to happen in the middle of a session. That said, if one has a solid working knowledge of circuitry and its repair, or component replacement, (IF you can still get the parts you need), then these people are better-suited for having and working in an analog studio. 🙏

[@LEWITT-audio]

Wow Donny, thanks so much for sharing your interesting thoughts. Really appreciate it!

[@carlgarthwaite6935]

I can really relate to this... I used to do a great deal of troubleshooting of PC boards with bad Vias. Often boards with 8 layers just for the DC power. Ground plane on the outside front and back (for shielding), then layers for+5V, -5V, +12V, -12V, +15V, and -15V power. Then maybe 3 more layers for signals. After so many iterations of soldering, some of the internal layers may become disconnected from a via. You have to be a damn good tech to sort it all out.

[@Mrpsblobsoflowendmung]

On average £12K a year on electricity yes just electricity , and usually depending on how big of a knob the singer you have in the studio and extra few Grand a year in whatever module or Aux Goes down unless as I mentioned before singers who like to balance Brandy and coke on the edge of the meterbridge and get excited and knock it in to write of an entire 12 channel bucket . I called it quits after that one and sold the rest on . 23 years and countless tens of thousands of pounds later we sold her on to a studio in Greece , I did keep 2 1073 moulds and 2 1064 from the Bucket that got killed , still have them now . Also had a VR for a few years nice board not as sexy as the 8024 but still a lovely board

[@LEWITT-audio]

Ahahah! These sound like some very interesting sessions you've had! 😅 It's definitely a lot to maintain, are you mostly in the box these days then or what have you transitioned to?

[@YamenNazer]

12:02 Oh my god😮😮😮look at how many ICs are there That is really really complex! I love videos like this one please upload more💜

[@fredrikmixer]

I mixed Nessun Dorma and Time to say goodbye, with Paul Potts, on that console. Metropolis and its staff are fantastic! Those were the times…

[@LEWITT-audio]

Awesome! Yes Metropolis is a great spot

[@HitTheRoadMusicStudio]

Awesome content thank you so much!!! 🤘🤘Lewitt Rocks !

[@bertHarbinson]

Wow, interesting insight. Cool shirt Gabriel!

[@thedrewh10]

This is amazing! Thanks for this video. I’d like to see more like this.

[@LEWITT-audio]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@TheMdbProductions]

The big problem of neve v series is the switches because of the heat that the console creates inside, reduces the age time of the of plastic latches. Latches break inside the switches due to heat aplied to them, not the durty from behing used. Those switches when were made there was 2 types of lacthes used : the white plastic latches that was more or less good, then neve realised the problem they had in hands, they changed to a black type of latches that supposed to be better to heat, in fact they proved to be worse then the white ones. Today we have tech, i improved my neve with a reduction heat system, in fact it actually heats less then my duality because extracts the heat faster frim inside, also we have new latches for high temp. Plastic, that we replaced in the console, now actually the console reduces almost 95% of the issues that she had, caps switches problems is a thing of the past, we stop 10 days a year to maintenance of the console first 2 years, now actually we are doing 5 days a year, and we don't need any tech present. We got 5 spair working channels, and we swap a year 1 or 2 channels to repair. Top console

[@helmanfrow]

Would love to see you go Louis Rossmann on that Neve module.

[@KO-iq2kv]

Love this content hope for more soon!

[@bobby_summerfield]

Love it Mate. I came up with a great and simple and cheap heat reduction mod to reduce the heat of the VR by about 20.5 Degrees. I Have a 36 in VRP that runs so cool you dont know its on ;-) Now my Caps last for ever ;-) happy to show you. - Bobby

[@Seitan-enjoyer]

When he pulls out the whole channel... So cool

[@krg1965]

Really cool custom extraction tool. And that the whole console is designed that channels can be pulled (and presumably replaced) hot. Great video.

[@4wheelwarrior]

No kidding ... that was too cool. A single Neve channel is nearly as big as my entire board 😂

[@RW918RW]

This didn’t age well. They pulled this console out and got rid of it.

[@wmrg1057]

A full time job for someone with good eyes and a steady hand, and the knowledge. I like the way this guy thinks. Would hire him in a minute if I had a Neve.

[@amazeus1980]

happy to have a plugin xD

[@marcusdolby1]

Our Neve V series was a heat hog even with AC vents blowing underneath. Our tech was always recapping channels so much so he spent every day repairing. Great consoles but a fortune to keep up and running.

[@artysanmobile]

And ultimately unsustainable. These consoles stopped sessions.

[@marcusdolby1]

@@artysanmobile Ours was a 64 input so it never stopped a session. But we were swapping modules to keep sessions going.

[@mleightle9289]

So, I take it heat is principal in getting the right sound, even in non-tube class A systems like that Neve board, or does it matter? But the question I have is do these vintage Neve consoles have fans built in to help divert heat away? There's always the fan noise you want to avoid , but still, some circulation would help "cool" things to a degree and increase the life of these capacitors wouldn't it?

[@LEWITT-audio]

Don't believe these older consoles had built in fans, but I'm not 100% on that. Studios definitely have to invest is quality HVAC systems because these consoles can heat up the whole room!

[@artysanmobile]

This console is, I believe, one of the early VR series which in my opinion went beyond the available tech to offer features that would soon appear in better engineered equipment. Imagine a car so overloaded with options that it required major service every 100 miles. While that’s perhaps hyperbole, the point is valid. Neve’s reputation at the time was suffering greatly from the unreliability of the previous 5 years’ hastily engineered monsters. Don’t believe the hype about how wondrous this thing is. The truth is it stopped sessions and broke the budget at studios around the world. In attempting to build on the justly beloved sound of the 80 series while adding demanded features and a very large channel count, Neve boxed themselves into a corner of an unworkable design, one that was doomed to overheating for its entire life. It’s very hard for me, having worked not long before as a design engineer with MCI and at the time of this console’s construction as a music producer, to understand how so august a builder as Neve could fail to anticipate this. Keep in mind these were ‘cost no option’ choices for the most successful and/or brave studios of the day and yet no one had the courage to say STOP! This isn’t going to work! I made records with Neve consoles right through the series 8068, 8100, VR, and on into various digital iterations. It is not unusual for us recording engineers to spend over 12 hours a day right over the console and I distinctly recall tiring of the blast furnace of the latest analog models. Studios found they needed to do the engineering Neve forgot - or ignored - by ducting their HVAC right into the chassis to placate annoyed customers. Doing that noiselessly being impossible, customers, including me, started a move to Solid State Logic, a very modern manufacturer who successfully addressed this make-or-break problem with no sacrifice in features, albeit with a different sound. Once I moved on I did not look back.

[@АнтониоБандера-п6й]

So...did he fixed it?

[@ahmtTyln]

carrying the channel strip.....looks like carrying a boombox radio.. hhehe..

[@aerojoea]

Is it left on 24x7 because it's in use that much or because that's best practice?

[@miningforish]

My cousin works in this studio, they're pretty busy.

[@pbee73]

I cant see leaving leaving electronics on for the hell of it to be any good. Constant heat is an enemy of circuity (even under normal operating temps) and would wear the components out faster and shorten the life of them. That is why this board maintenance is a full time job due to being always on.

[@vintageaudioworkshop]

AC units are installed running up to the important areas with ducts. Best to leave on to avoid spikes when switching on/off the ac units bring the area down to a very chilled temp.

[@artysanmobile]

It was a theory that proved incorrect.

[@broderhjalmar]

One reason is that on many of these consoles the sound changes as they heat up, so if you turn it off you have to start it up several hours before you start recording to give them time to heat up.

[@chris_share]

Was I dreaming or was there was a similar video about maintaining an SSL console at the same studio put out a while back? Anyone have a link to it?

[@milanthedrummer]

Why is he touching the PCBA constantly? Did he hear about ESD?

[@TheCatGoesRawrMusik]

Indeed it is -.-

[@eduardoandreoli3118]

Neve VR has serious heat problems

[@ractorstudios]

My plugins dont have this issues ...

[@mastershake9374]

Ractor really? You never had issues with a plugin or any kind of audio software? Lucky you! I guess..

[@simonbezek6382]

Yeah but they sound like crap :D

[@hithere4289]

Simon Bezek says who?

[@RemyRAD]

I might also point out. These guys are talking about a, Newer, Siemens, Neve. Which is way more complicated. Than, Rupert's, earlier offerings. Between 1968 and 1974. When it was still Rupert owned. And not, Siemens. Siemens had a rocky start. With a mistake they made. That nearly destroyed, dozens upon dozens. Of your kind of console in this video. Yes. And the story goes like this. Rupert had the utmost in, manufacturing and integrity. Siemens is not so much. When they took over. And wanted to cut costs. Raise profit margins. But of course! So for some kind of stupid reasons. They decided to downgrade, electrolytic capacitor, heat ratings. And as noted here. In this video. Yup. They get a little warm. And when each module is shelved in tight next to another module. Electrolytic capacitors will start to sweat. And they will drool out. Their destructive, electrolytic, goop. As it drooled all over the circuit boards. And blowing them up. Blowing them all up. Of course they were still all under, Factory Warranty. And they spent millions of dollars. All over the world. Trying to fix these audio consoles. Like yours. Refurbishing, restoring, recovering them as best they could. But they never quite works right, ever, again. And good luck, Charlie! Boy! Might you be in for a big surprise? I mean no wonder how you got it for such a great price! It came pre-FUCKED up! But no. I hope that's not yours? But yours is still not mine or, Dave Grohl's. You've got the modern day Siemens Neve, POS. I mean I wouldn't turn one down. For pennies on the dollar. Because it won't sound like mine or Dave's. It'll sound good. No doubt. It won't have the same pizzazz. But you can still make beautiful sounding recordings just the same. On crappy equipment. I've proven it many times over. I put on a show for people. How to make great recordings with simply dreadful old equipment. As long as you understand what it can't deliver. And not what the specifications say, it's supposed to, deliver. Knowing what it can't do is more important. Then you can use it to its, fullest. Yeah. You see. I had a do live audio for a major, US, Radio & TV Network. And there is this aspect. With moving quick. And being able to do it in your sleep. Because you might be sleeping in the control room. When they awaken you. And tell you you've got 4 feeds coming in. And we are going on the air in,: 20,: 19,: 18,: 17, and so on and so forth. And you're on the air coast-to-coast! Yikes! You're also on the satellite. Around the world. Aargh! So it's fun to get this stuff under your belt. Early on in your lifetime. And when people want the very best? They will know who to turn to. And actually rock 'n' roll is so much easier. That's why I switched after 20 years. 20 was enough of that other stuff. I had to get back to my roots again. All music. All the time. So I shall likely be switching to a low cost, used, digital audio console. Why? Because it really doesn't make a damn anymore. Everything sounds great. Everything is 100% adequate and 100%, usable. Of course… In competent, hands. That know how to do it. And do it, till, I'm satisfied. And do it again. And again. And again and again and again. It's that much fun. You never want to stop. You just wait until your body, stops you. Like from failing health and old age. Ouch! You get the point. I get the pain. It's all in a days work. And to live to do it. Another day. RamyRAD

[@YoMyNamesJakeG]

This is GAS antidote

[@Ve8g]

Not the same problems with the new Neve Genesys...

[@nebstaism]

What a cool job to have ...this job will probably be obsolete in another 20 to 30 years

[@annekedebruyn7797]

Many of this applies to digital consoles as well. The only thing that are tough to fix are microcontrollers and processors. It's just not as cool as analog haha!

[@gamezoneqwe]

The job includes maintenance for outboard gear, interfaces, cable making, and speaker repair too! I think tech engineers will probably be very handy in another 20-30 years!

[@wackerburg]

I'd never get a V-series.

[@RiotHomeRecording]

When people dream about Neve consoles it’s not that Neve console. It’s the 80 series Not the VR series.

[@wackerburg]

I also love the 88R tbh. And I worked on 8038s quite a bit.

[@toooldtocare9416]

Give me a tall boy PBR and a hammer

[@christianroddecker2930]

do i see a studer manual, wtf^^

[@artysanmobile]

Any studio with this console’s vintage would have a number of Studer recorders.

[@benperry490]

i thought you were going to show him actually doing the work on the console soldering and such quit asking questions and let him work...very.disappointing video

[@oliveroneill1388]

A.l..

[@LEWITT-audio]

What about AI?