Neve Portico II - Warning: Fanboy Content!

[RTL]

Recently, I picked up a Portico II (per RumblinBass' recommendations) because it apparently kills for bass.

Now, obviously being something from the brain of Rupert Neve, it will no doubt be a fantastic unit for tracking (that's what it was designed to do, after all), however... I thought to myself, "Why couldn't this be used as the voice of a live rig? JohnK has been using studio pre's with PA power amps, so why not?".

So, I bought myself a QSC RMX1450 and gave it a go...

Before you go any further, I will warn you that the following will probably read like an advertisement. Let me assure you, I have nothing to gain from writing this - it really is that good.

Upon hearing about the Portico II, I was really excited to try one. However, justification of this move would be tough, since I already had an Eden WT800 that I was quite happy with. Well, as luck would have it, mere days before I'm scheduled to start tracking an album, the Eden develops a grounding issue in one half of its power section. Well, I can't be expected to record without a fully functional bass rig, now can I? So, the Eden went to the shop, and I brought home a Portico II.

What is a Portico II, you ask? Essentially, it's a 2U channel strip that was engineered with the classics in mind (high voltage, single ended class A, no integrated circuits, extremely high quality transformers, etc), but with modern features.

You get:
Mic Pre (goes all the way up to +66db)
Continuously Variable HighPass Filter
4 band eq with selectable frequencies/eq curves/bandwidths/etc.
De-esser (not really necessary for bass people)
Full-featured compressor, (with the ability to put it pre or post eq, AND a blend knob for mixing compressed and uncompressed signals.)
AND, one of my favorite features thus far.. Silk and Silk+ modes, which can dial in the flavor of the old 1073/1081 modules. There's a knob to control how much of that you want in your signal as well.

There are so many more cool things happening in this unit, but I really don't want to go into any further detail. I will say this, though.. It's VERY intelligently laid out, with features you'd think were put there for bass players.

First thing you notice (as you're taking it out of the box), is that it's heavy for a pre. Easily 20 lbs. But, I kind of expected that.

Secondly, you notice how well made it is. Again, something you'd probably come to expect from a $3K+ pre - especially one with Mr. Neve's name on it.

Every control on this thing just oozes quality. The knobs are anodized aluminum, and they're smooth as silk to turn. The detented selector knobs do their business in a solid, weighty, and very pleasing manner - they go "thunk". No wussy clicking going on here. It's also very very pretty to look at, so you naturally want to be very nice to it and its multitude of intricate buttons and switches. But seriously, you're in no danger of breaking any of them off. It's a freakin' tank.

I will admit that my experience with Neve products is limited to the vintage stuff (mainly the 80 series consoles, 1073's, 1081's, 1084's, etc.), so I wasn't really sure what to expect with this unit. My love for the classics set the bar high, so I wasn't exactly expecting this thing to blow me away.

Yeah... If only I could express just how wrong I was...

Like most people on TalkBass, I've been through an embarrassingly large amount of high end bass amplification, chasing a sound that simply didn't exist outside of my own head. Everything I came across seemed to be built on compromise, by a company where the engineers were outranked by their accountants. I've either owned or played through most of what's out there, and it's been a very long, frustrating, and expensive journey of trial and error, to say the least.

Well, guys, I believe my search is finally over. I was absolutely hooked in 5 notes.

You know when you pick up a bass, and you just know it's "The One"? We all get that feeling, don't we? It happens almost immediately. You feel a strong connection with it, everything feels perfect, natural, like it was made for your own hands. It's a very powerful sensation when everything falls into place that way. You feel at home, the instrument becomes part of you, and, if you're not made of stone, you even get a little emotional. You simply cannot put it down. You guys know what I'm talking about.

Amplifiers never had that effect on me. Before this, I'd never plugged into anything that really moved me and made me feel like I couldn't live without it. After all, amplifiers are inanimate objects that solely exist to make things louder, right? Sure, most of them sound good.. But that was always the extent of it. "It sounds good!" Well, let me tell you. The Portico II doesn't sound "good". "Good" almost qualifies as an insult in this case.

I have never in my life, actually enjoyed hearing myself play, until I heard myself through this unit. All of those whimsical emotions I've attempted to describe above hit me hard, and I actually had to stand back and try to process what I was hearing. I had never ever heard such a warm, full, detailed, rich, multi-demensional sound come from my cabinet. It was like opening my eyes for the first time - I was hearing my instrument's voice in all its glory, and it was breathtaking! For me, the term "Full Range" was redefined forever.

Where this unit really shines, is in fretless territory. Most amplifiers I've owned tend to almost fight the natural bloom, sustain and "muah" of my beloved Roscoe fretless. The Portico does the opposite. It has such a wonderful inviting feel to it, and it just wants to work with you and your instrument. It pulls the notes off the fingerboard in such a sweet manner. You just kind of hand the notes over, and it does the rest. I've never experienced that before. Ever.

The Portico II is without question, the sweetest, most musical, most intelligently designed anything I've ever had the pleasure of playing through. Every tone shaping tool I could ever possibly want (or have the capacity to understand ) is here, and everything works together, like each stage was carefully designed for the next (I'm sure they were, but you can TELL!). Nothing in this unit feels like an add-on or an afterthought; there's no "bonus features" or "But wait! There's more!" nonsense happening here. It's just pure, lush, gorgeous, and it compliments everything you put through it.

Even with ridiculously extreme settings, it doesn't sound bad. In fact, I've tried to make it sound bad, but I can't seem to figure out how. Every knob you turn just gives you more sweetness. That's really the only way I can describe it. It just sounds so incredibly sweet. I'm still not sure how they've accomplished this, but you can dial in all the warmth you can possibly stand, but every note remains defined, and clear as a bell. I can play chords at the bottom of my 5 string's register, and every note in that chord will come through. Every little nuance comes to life through the Portico, and you can even bring out the unflattering characteristics of certain basses if you really want to. But, even then, the Portico never wants to sound harsh - it just won't get ugly. Even if you try and do something stupid like laser-focus the high mids where your fret/string noise live and boost them, it won't hurt you with sharp, painful transients. It just wants to sound gorgeous all the time!

One interesting thing about the Portico II, is the absence of an input pad. Surely, you'd get an input pad on an uber expensive studio pre, right? Well, according to Neve, it doesn't need one. They say that it can handle 26dBu without clipping, and I tend to believe them. With the 18v Bartolini preamp in my Roscoe cranked, I couldn't detect a hint of distortion.

What really makes this thing practical as a bass pre, is the fact that it has such a healthy output. The sheer amount of gain available here is almost ridiculous. 2 or 3 clicks up on the gain, and your power amp has all it needs. Other practical touches on the front panel include a mute button, and a thru jack (which is unaffected, wired parallel to the instrument input, and is perfect as a tuner out.).

Downsides? Hah! Yeah, as if there were any...

Oh wait, there are a couple.. Even though they're minor, they're worth noting...

1) As mentioned earlier, it's not cheap. They're selling in the $3,200 range currently. Of course it's worth every penny, and right in line with other high end channel strips, but still. Many people would argue that there are better ways to spend your money. I, of course, am not one of those people.

2) It only has one XLR output, which you will obviously need to feed your power amp. So, no DI.

But! The guys at Neve have confirmed that you can use a Y cord to split that XLR into two XLR's, and because the Portico II has such a strong output and clean signal path, you won't notice any decrease in sound quality.

3) It weighs more than 5 Shuttle 9.0's.

In closing, I've spent more than my fair share of time with all kinds of high-dollar pre's and eq's, and I haven't heard anything that even comes close to the Portico II. Everything you put into it comes out better, more balanced, sweeter (there's that word again), cleaner, warmer, than you ever could have thought possible. All of this without ruining the sound of the source.

I really do consider this brilliant little box to be more of an instrument than a simple tone-shaping tool. It's absolute magic, and in my opinion, outperforms the originals.

I seriously encourage all of you to get some time in with one of these, you will hear your bass like you've never heard it before.

(Fanboy rant over!)

[naturalkinds]

Out of curiosity, how much are you using the EQ and compressor?

If you like the Portico, I strongly recommend giving the A-Designs and API gear out. The Pacifica is absolutely wonderful, not so distant in the tone universe from the Portico. And one benefit is you can buy just the preamp itself -- single-channel if you use 500 series, and, unfortunately, dual-channel if you need to rack it -- if you find you don't really use the EQ or the compressor for your purposes. The API stuff is just killer, too. Cleaner than the classic UA stuff, but with a really nice airy, upper-mid tightness as you drive the gain stage. Just great.

That said, I'm surprised to hear you bought a channel strip prior to recording. Does that entail the recording studio you're going to doesn't have sweet gear? Too bad, 'cause that's always one of the best parts of tracking for a bassist: trying out amazing channel strips, preamps and compressors we'd never ordinarily be able to afford!

[RTL]

Originally Posted by naturalkinds

Out of curiosity, how much are you using the EQ and compressor?

If you like the Portico, I strongly recommend giving the A-Designs and API gear out. The Pacifica is absolutely wonderful, not so distant in the tone universe from the Portico. And one benefit is you can buy just the preamp itself -- single-channel if you use 500 series, and, unfortunately, dual-channel if you need to rack it -- if you find you don't really use the EQ or the compressor for your purposes. The API stuff is just killer, too. Cleaner than the classic UA stuff, but with a really nice airy, upper-mid tightness as you drive the gain stage. Just great.

That said, I'm surprised to hear you bought a channel strip prior to recording. Does that entail the recording studio you're going to doesn't have sweet gear? Too bad, 'cause that's always one of the best parts of tracking for a bassist: trying out amazing channel strips, preamps and compressors we'd never ordinarily be able to afford!

I actually love the way the Portico sounds flat, but resisting the eq on this thing is futile. There's just so much magic in the midrange of these Neve units, that I can't help myself. So yeah, I'm using the eq. Definitely

I also love the compressor, and the flexibility of it. Admittedly, I'm a "set it and forget it" type when it comes to compressors, but I have been playing with it a little more today and I'm still trying to decide where and how I'm gonna set it.

The studio I'm recording at has a vintage Neve 8048, so no, I didn't grab it for that reason. I was just tired of being disappointed with bass amps in general, and wanted to go a different way. This thing hooked up to a good power amp and into my HS410 is the closest thing to perfect I've ever encountered, so it's my new rig. I forgot to add in the original post that I sold my Eden the day it got out of the shop. After experiencing the Neve, I have no desire to mess with it again.

Oh, and yeah.. I really dig API, but I haven't heard one of their units yet that has really done it for me with a bass. The massively punchy midrange presence of those things are amazing on vocals, and even better on drums.. But on a bass... Nothing that has really grabbed me yet.

[KJung]

Looks like an amazing unit.

Per you comment about no input pad, isn't that what the 'trim' knob is?

I dig the EQ and the variable hi pass filter. I bet it sounds great. Probably overkill for live performance, but in the studio, I bet it is magic.

[RTL]

Originally Posted by KJung

Per you comment about no input pad, isn't that what the 'trim' knob is?

Well, sort of. The gain knob isn't variable, it moves in 6dB clicks and the trim knob is basically there to fine tune between the clicks. I actually really like it this way. Makes balancing the output between different instruments a pretty failsafe thing.

Originally Posted by KJung

I dig the EQ and the variable hi pass filter. I bet it sounds great. Probably overkill for live performance, but in the studio, I bet it is magic.

The EQ really was what sold me. There's so much you can do with it! I love being able to change the bandwidth of the frequencies I'm boosting/cutting, AND you can change the shape of the curve as well. My big gripe with the Eden's eq, was that even though you had some control over what you were boosting/cutting, the amp always sounded best flat. Trying to boost or cut with any accuracy was like fishing with dynamite.

And yes, it's definitely overkill for live performance, but I'm one of those weak guys who can't play if he doesn't sound right, so I need all the help I can get!

Tonight will actually be a great test for the Portico II in a band setting. I'll be in a small-ish, rather unpleasant sounding rehearsal space with a full drum kit, and three different types of guitars (acoustic/resonator/electric). I guess we'll see what happens!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by RTL

Well, sort of. The gain knob isn't variable, it moves in 6dB clicks and the trim knob is basically there to fine tune between the clicks. I actually really like it this way. Makes balancing the output between different instruments a pretty failsafe thing.



The EQ really was what sold me. There's so much you can do with it! I love being able to change the bandwidth of the frequencies I'm boosting/cutting, AND you can change the shape of the curve as well. My big gripe with the Eden's eq, was that even though you had some control over what you were boosting/cutting, the amp always sounded best flat. Trying to boost or cut with any accuracy was like fishing with dynamite.

And yes, it's definitely overkill for live performance, but I'm one of those weak guys who can't play if he doesn't sound right, so I need all the help I can get!

Tonight will actually be a great test for the Portico II in a band setting. I'll be in a small-ish, rather unpleasant sounding rehearsal space with a full drum kit, and three different types of guitars (acoustic/resonator/electric). I guess we'll see what happens!

Having full parametric EQ versus the semi-parametric of the Eden is useful sometimes, although it live performance, I've never noticed much of a difference within the typical 1/2 octove to full octave Q that most tend to use. Nice for creating a notch cut with DB though.

The Eden is a nice head, but like anything else, has its own voice that you either dig or don't. IMO, it is a good thing that an amp head sound best with the tone controls neutral, which then allows you to use EQ as IMO it was meant to be used in a live setting... to keep that inherent voice of the amp head relatively constant from room to room and gig to gig. The issue with the Eden EQ is, to me anyway, not the lack of a Q control, but rather the type of pots they used on the level pots, which resulted in HUGE boosts and cuts when barely turning the knob. They compensated for this in later models by using 'detented' posts (if that is the right word... clicks were included to help you control that very jumpy impact), but still not optimal.

[RTL]

Originally Posted by KJung

Having full parametric EQ versus the semi-parametric of the Eden is useful sometimes, although it live performance, I've never noticed much of a difference within the typical 1/2 octove to full octave Q that most tend to use. Nice for creating a notch cut with DB though.

The Eden is a nice head, but like anything else, has its own voice that you either dig or don't. IMO, it is a good thing that an amp head sound best with the tone controls neutral, which then allows you to use EQ as IMO it was meant to be used in a live setting... to keep that inherent voice of the amp head relatively constant from room to room and gig to gig. The issue with the Eden EQ is, to me anyway, not the lack of a Q control, but rather the type of pots they used on the level pots, which resulted in HUGE boosts and cuts when barely turning the knob. They compensated for this in later models by using 'detented' posts (if that is the right word... clicks were included to help you control that very jumpy impact), but still not optimal.

Yup! My Eden was the WT800-C, Maybe the C stood for clicky? Haha.

I agree, it was a nice head.. But to me, the EQ almost sounded like it was voiced for a different amp. Funny thing is, I've played through plenty of the A and B versions and thought they were fantastic. I thought the only real difference with the C, was that it could bridge at 4 ohms.

Oh well, someone else is enjoying it now... And I've got a setup that makes me stupid happy!

[rumblinbass]

Hey RTL,

Glad you are enjoying the Portico II!


Lucas

[rumblinbass]

...
you do not have to worry about clipping the input stage. you would have to throw some serious signal levels into this thing before it clips.

(...Rupert thinks pads are cheating, but don't tell anyone...)

Also, the output XLR is on the secondary of a transforer, so yeah, you can use a y-cable.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by RTL

Everything I came across seemed to be built on compromise, by a company where the engineers were outranked by their accountants.

Too true!!! Very glad to hear that's not the case with this one.

[RTL]

Originally Posted by rumblinbass

Hey RTL,

Glad you are enjoying the Portico II!


Lucas

Lucas,

I really can't say enough about this thing, it's just so impressive on every level. I've been trying to sound like this ever since I started playing bass. You guys have really made magic here.

Seriously, THANK YOU!!!!

Also, thanks for recommending it!

[Darkstrike]

Sounds like a fantastic piece of kit, good to hear you have a rig you're happy with!

[RTL]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Sounds like a fantastic piece of kit, good to hear you have a rig you're happy with!

Dude, if you find one of these in your neck of the woods, grab your Roscoe and prepare to be stunned. There are so many gorgeous, complex overtones in these basses that you just don't hear with an amp. It's Roscoe in HD

Even my '80's franken-P (which I have affectionately dubbed $h!tbass) sounds like gold through the Portico II. And that's no small feat!

The rough cut I posted in the soundclips section was just my fretted Roscoe (#6113) straight into the Neve 8048 into ProTools. I'll be tracking on sunday with the Portico II/QSC/HS410 (DI + Mic) onto 2" tape!

I'm counting the hours...

[Jim C]

Congrats
The thing I've enjoyed with older Neve consoles is that you can throw huge amounts of midrange and not get that howling, fire alarm tonality that is often inherent with lesser gear. Not that I'm fond of using instruments that require this much EQ, but very useful for creating a tone that doesn't exist in the real world.
Of course, smooth, lush, musical bass response and crystal clear treble without being strident are also huge plusses.
Like the man said, no one was ever sorry they bought the very best!
(OK, one of the very best)

[RTL]

Originally Posted by Jim C

Congrats
The thing I've enjoyed with older Neve consoles is that you can throw huge amounts of midrange and not get that howling, fire alarm tonality that is often inherent with lesser gear. Not that I'm fond of using instruments that require this much EQ, but very useful for creating a tone that doesn't exist in the real world.
Of course, smooth, lush, musical bass response and crystal clear treble without being strident are also huge plusses.
Like the man said, no one was ever sorry they bought the very best!
(OK, one of the very best)

Haha, indeed!

Yeah, you've really hit the nail on the head with the midrange thing. You can pile it on, and it doesn't get that weird howl, or sound harsh or ganky. You can get excessively stupid with the controls, and it still sounds brilliant!

Probably the coolest thing about it, is the way you can change its voicing. It's a dead-ringer for a 1073 by pressing one button, and that's not just some cheap gimmick that uses a filter or a preprogrammed eq curve. It actually changes the way the unit reacts with its transformers, so it operates like the old modules (if I understand this correctly). Of course, being that the Portico II is high voltage single-ended, Class A (like the old modules) probably doesn't hurt either.

[rumblinbass]

Originally Posted by RTL

Of course, being that the Portico II is high voltage single-ended, Class A (like the old modules) probably doesn't hurt either.

minor correction...
This can get a bit confusing because I have heard "single-ended" used to describe different things. What single-ended means to me is a single voltage rail. That being the case the Portico II Channel is not single-ended, but does have high(er) voltage rails => +/-36V. Yes, that is a total of 72 Volts for your signal to move around.

[RTL]

Originally Posted by rumblinbass

minor correction...
This can get a bit confusing because I have heard "single-ended" used to describe different things. What single-ended means to me is a single voltage rail. That being the case the Portico II Channel is not single-ended, but does have high(er) voltage rails => +/-36V. Yes, that is a total of 72 Volts for your signal to move around.

Damn.

However, I could've sworn that Rupert said it was single-ended.. Something about how there's no push-pull going on, so there's no possibility of crossover distortion.. But it could also be that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Hahaha.

[rumblinbass]

Originally Posted by RTL

Damn.

However, I could've sworn that Rupert said it was single-ended.. Something about how there's no push-pull going on, so there's no possibility of crossover distortion.. But it could also be that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Hahaha.

like I said - it can be confusing.
You are correct, there is no push-pull going on...that's where the Discrete Class A Op Amp topology comes in.

[naturalkinds]

Where's the magic? I see the Portico line offers single-channel quasi-strips that might have a similar result. There a pre/comp and a pre/EQ that sell for less. I believe it's the same comp and EQ as on the Portico II, right? Which would be an admirable substitute for this?

[rumblinbass]

Originally Posted by naturalkinds

I believe it's the same comp and EQ as on the Portico II, right?

nope. not the same.