Rupert Neve Newton Channel Explained

[@0856010]

For those who are wondering how are those devices are named? In south Cambridge UK, Newton is a small village 5 minutes away from Little Shelford, where Neve had a small factory some decades ago, before moving to Melbourn. Other surrounding villages are: Foxton, Sawston, Harston, Hauxton... So I won't be surprised if upcoming products are named after those villages.

[@LuisMorales-xm6wc]

This is a great master class from Jonathan Pines.Thank you!!!!

[@athonygraham8353]

I wish someone would explain how the compressor is useable, when it has no variable attack knob.

[@Johnbanthony]

The VCA comp in Newton is designed to be a nice little, do-no-harm tracking comp. The 2 over 1 ratio provides a gentler compression. The attack is fixed at 20ms so as not to stomp on initial transients which can take the life out of some performances. The variable release allows the user to adjust depending on program material. Medium to slower release times for melodic material and faster for more rhythmic stuff. I’m generalizing but that’s a good starter rule of thumb. If someone is looking for more control, the Shelford Channel might be a better choice. Or the 543 VCA comp provides variable attack. There are plenty of classic compressors of all stripes with simplified controls that work quite well. LA2a or a dbx in over easy mode as examples (although the dbx is somewhat program dependent.) The DBX 160 series, the UREI LA2, LA3, and LA4 (and all their clones and copies), the Gates Sta Level (and all it’s clones and copies), and the Manley SLAM and ELOP are but a few examples of extremely popular (and vastly more expensive) compressors without dedicated attack controls. Several of these have somewhat program dependent attack times, as does in fact the Newton Channel VCA compressor. It is nominally 20ms attack time and as you push harder into it will get to as fast as 10 ms. These constants were carefully chosen by the Rupert and the Rupert Neve Designs team to work with the widest possible choices of instrument and program material. The variable release is much more important to matching to the source materials time constants. Try faster release for Drums and Percussion and Acoustic Guitar, and more in the middle for Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, and Bass, with the slowest settings for some program materials to reduce audible “pumping”, and possibly some Bass tracks. You will find that in use it’s remarkably quick and easy to use on almost any source. Its extraordinary popularity is a testimony to it’s sound and flexibility, If you want even more control we would suggest the RND Master Bus Processor, The Shelford Compressor (and Shelford Channel), and the 500 series 543 all offer fully variable attack and release controls.

[@drumster27]

Great video! Will you be doing an in depth interview with Jonathan about the Shelford Channel?

[@Johnbanthony]

In this video he does explain the differences @17:35 but we will keep this suggestion in mind for if/when we get Jonathan back into the studio.

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

Does it sound better than the preamps on an audio interface?

[@Johnbanthony]

Any answer to this would be subjective but we can discuss the facts. Audio interface manufacturers work to hit a price point for each of their products. Sometimes certain components are favored over others based on marketing and what customers find important. Generally speaking, a standalone, hardware microphone preamp or channel strip, especially at this price with such engineering legacy behind it, will contain higher quality components and result in a better sound (again subjective). There is a reason why top engineers own several different hardware preamps. They are purpose-built with love and lend their own character to the recording.

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

@Johnbanthony I watched another video of this preamp and vocals sounded too harsh dry to me for a preamp that costs over 2k.

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

@Johnbanthony I want a preamp that will give me this type of vocal tone, kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXmoemubo9x1m6Msi=3wOz5YtPIv4Hhwet

[@Johnbanthony]

@@AnwaarAliOfficial that's interesting. Remember that everything from the actual microphone to the cables to the converters in the audio interface can also affect tone and clarity.

[@niozikpro5812]

It is better yes. Mainly because of the transformer. The transformers make it easy for the recorded material to sit nicely along with other material. Make it easy to eq. And ultimately, you can mix through this preamp and get a glued sound like no compression can. And remember, everytime you run things through this it is important to drive them into red. That is how you get that round sound without digital harshness. I woul buy these things any time of the day. Just makes recording, mixing and mastering way easier. Also, cannot stress enough how I stopped buying plugind when I started using class A stuff with transformers ie analog.

[@PropereinsteinTMG]

I've had this thing since the end of last year, and I still don't know what it's capable of lol.

[@niozikpro5812]

Lots of saturation my friend. You can literally pin it red 😂 and still sound good. Saturation is natural compression. Just like Brice Sweeden used to say: compression is for kids 😂😂 . . .

[@PropereinsteinTMG]

@niozikpro5812 facts! Lol I've been playing with it more and now I've fine tuned it for my vocals. Compressor on but not even Compressing. Definitely red silk though.