High Quality Neve 1073 preamp pedal?

[nshuman]

That was quite an unflattering review! He went on-and-on about the background noise and then eluded to a poor application of the Lundahl transformer in the Colour Box, by making a comparison to the Cali76-TX use of a Lundahl transformer. He goes even further to diminishes the skill level of JHS by saying he is just a "stompbox builder vs studio equipment engineer". I am sure that JHS copied the original Neve circuit with the transformer, so the reviewer is essentially making a comment about the Neve design more so than JHS.

He then states, "...Bearing all this in mind, it’s not fair to make comparisons to other pedals as there really isn’t anything else out there that does what this pedal does." Then he continues to make comparisons to other pedals again when he is suggesting upgrades to a V2 version of the Colour Box.

At the end he gives the pedal 4 out of 5 stars.

-Frank

"The hotel was awful. I got mugged in the lobby, there were cockroaches in the shower, the mattress was wet with dog pee. 4.5/5 would stay there again."

 

[cavemanbass]

There's a review of the BPA-1 in this month's Sound on Sound magazine, copy here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Looks interesting, I wonder how the individual foot switches for the EQ bands will work. No foot switch for the compressor.

thanks for the link! The reviewer definitely likes the unit, and sort of answered one of my questions... which is whether the unit has enough gain to be overdriven. Apparently it does, but the reviewer didn't say much about the sound quality of the overdrive.
Reviewer liked the compressor but didn't say anything about attack and release characteristics. Just that it can be subtle or squishy... my concern is that it probably has a fast attack which is not my preference.
Wish list items for an all-in-one solution like this - separate threshold / output for compressor along with a footswitch, and at least a slow / med / fast attack switch. HPF / LPF (thanks to TB I'm hooked on those now). Tuner.
Have to mention, I love that they included level metering on every section and GR.

 

[Phagor]

That would be a cool all-in-one, don't think it exists at the moment.

It misses a few things on your wishlist but have you looked at the new Trace Elliot Transit B? Trace Elliot

 

[beans-on-toast]

There are two things that make a Neve sound so good, the Class A amplifier design, the high quality transformers, wide bandwidth, and low distortion. Mr. Neve knows transformers. When it comes to products billed as based on Neve, that can mean just about anything. Even if the design is copied, it can sound very different. There are some very good products out there though.

Unless you are well informed as to what you are getting inside the chassis, it’s hard to know how close it will sound and perform like the original.

It makes buying gear like this pretty difficult.

 

[cavemanbass]

That would be a cool all-in-one, don't think it exists at the moment.

It misses a few things on your wishlist but have you looked at the new Trace Elliot Transit B? Trace Elliot

Yes, been interesting to see the reviews of that one!

 

[ddnidd1]

There are two things that make a Neve sound so good, the Class A amplifier design and the high quality transformers. Mr. Neve knows transformers. When it comes to products billed as based on Neve, that can mean just about anything. Even if the design is copied, it can sound very different. There are some very good products out there.

Unless you are well informed as to what you are getting inside the chassis, it’s hard to know how close it will sound and perform like the original.

It makes buying gear like this pretty difficult.

These were my concerns when the Colour Box first came out.

The JHS marketing hype sounds great, but its really difficult to believe, particularly if you've ever read an interview with Rupert Neve where he explains his design philosophy.

 

[beans-on-toast]

New to the market from AMS-Neve. Expensive but it will last a lifetime. One piece of equipment that doesn’t become dated with time. The effect send and return is very useful for a bassist, a compressor or any other effect can be added to the signal chain. Can also serve as a mic pre for recording. The proposed digital out feature is interesting.

And it comes with an external power supply, just like a pedal.

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[BASS YODA]

BP1 Compact Bass Preamp - Studio quality bass preamp at your feet
BP1 Bass Preamp - Studio quality bass preamp at your feet

 

[Parzival]

A Stufio One appeared in the classifieds today. Just FYI.

 

[Meriphew]

FWIW - You're not going to get a 1073 in a pedal sized enclosure. There might be something out there that simulates it, but not anything like the real thing.