In the world of audio recording, fewer names get producers more excited than Rupert Neve. He was a pioneer who helped invent and produce equipment that was used to record and mix the likes of The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, and countless more musical icons.
Neve gear—particularly their preamps, EQs, and mixing consoles—are often touted as being the secret ingredient on many classic records. Some even refer to Neve gear, particularly their 1073 preamp, as the sound of classic rock. They contributed a sound that is generally considered to be very musically pleasing and fairly unique.
So, what is the Neve sound? As you might expect, the answer isn’t so straightforward, as Neve makes a number of products that all contribute something different. For example, the 88RS preamps found in their flagship desk will sound different to the legendary 1073 preamps—the former being a little more modern, warmer, and cleaner-sounding. But we can make some general statements when talking about "the Neve sound."
It’s difficult to objectify and quantify what it is, but it’s just…better. Neve preamps—the 1073, 1084, and 1081 specifically—aren’t necessarily associated with a particular frequency shape; it’s more that they coat the signal in a lovely, rich, saturated texture. They can help add bite and vintage-style warmth to guitars, add some thump to kick drums, and punch to snares. They can help vocals stand out more, and when everything comes together, the Neve preamps and EQs can act as the glue keeping it all together so that all parts are sitting nicely.
A lot of the magic of the Neve preamps is in the transformers. Much like a tube, pushing a transformer will lead to distortion. A lot of producers agree that this is where the Neves excel—by getting them to clip the right amount, you can get some really nice harmonic content that’s very musically rich. This can work really well on a number of sound sources. Some guitarists would even plug directly into a Neve preamp and push the signal hard to get it to distort (think the guitar sound on The Beatles’ Revolution). They also help mellow out certain harsh peaks in the signal, acting as a nice, natural compressor.
Neve gear is used in some of the best and most revered studios in the world, and as you might expect, can often come with a fairly hefty price tag. That said, you can pick up some AMS Neve 500 series units, particularly their 88R LB, for a reasonable price. As a result, people have sought to get the Neve sound for less, and companies around the world have tried to offer them exactly that.
Warm Audio WA73
This is a straightforward, rack-mountable mic preamp that’s unashamedly imitating a Neve 1073 and sounds great on any number of sound sources: vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, drums—they’re even great for bouncing a full mix through. This unit features class-A circuitry and each one is hand-wired and assembled, harking back to the early days for some old school mojo.
Warm Audio worked with Carnhill directly to create signal transformers that are faithful to the ones found in early 1073s, giving you that sweet saturation when pushed. There isn’t an EQ section on here; for that you’ll want to look at the Warm Audio WA-73EQ. However, there is a four-position hi-pass filter and a tone button, which changes the input transformer impedance.
Golden Age Project PRE-73 JR
This is a scaled-down version of the popular Golden Age Project PRE-73 and acts as a great-sounding and affordable mic preamp. It doesn't have a ton of features, but for those seeking that big, rich, classic 1073-style sound without having to drop a load of cash, the PRE-73 JR is worth checking out.
It features 70dB of gain, 100% class-A analog circuitry, and an XLR/TRS combo input for connecting instruments and microphones directly. There’s also a jack insert, should you want to connect an external EQ unit. Inside, there’s a Carnhill transistor, which reacts nicely to being driven fairly hard and provides plenty of punch when you need it. It’s nice and small too—you could fit four of these in a rack for a fraction of the price of four 1073s!
JHS Colour Box V2
Whilst originally designed as a guitar pedal with the aim of recreating the famous "plugging directly into the desk" sound, the JHS Colour Box V2 can do much more than that. Players and engineers have ended up using the Colour Box on a variety of sound sources: synths, overhead mics on drum kits, vocal busses, and more. There is a combo XLR/jack input, both XLR and jack outputs, as well as phantom power, so it’s really easy to use with both microphones and instruments.
The design basically features two 1073-style preamp stages in series, with a step controller that allows you to increase the gain. You can get that beautiful Neve-style saturation that everyone’s after, but thanks to the Hi/Lo switch, you can keep the gain low to retain clarity and headroom on certain acoustic instruments or vocals. There’s a powerful EQ on board as well. You’ve got knobs for treble, middle, and bass, but then also shift knobs for each one too, allowing you to pinpoint the frequency range you’re tweaking.
AML ez1073-500
Based in rainy Manchester, AML are only a stone’s throw from AMS Neve in Burnley and make a superb dual slot 500 series 1073 clone. It’s both a preamp and EQ and features separate circuits (and indeed separate Carnhill transformers) for the line and microphone inputs. The preamp offers up to 65dB on the mic input and the EQ is incredibly musical and sweet-sounding. It works well on vocals, guitars, drum busses—pretty much everything.
The AML ez1073-500 is a hand-assembled unit built to last. Whilst it might not be the cheapest Neve alternative, many users rate it alongside original 1073 units. Also worth a mention is the AML ez1084-500. The preamp is fairly similar to a 1073 in character, but some consider the EQ section to be a little more usable, as it offers a little more precision.
Hudson Broadcast
One of the many uses of Neve preamps was to plug in a guitar directly and push the transformer to get a nice, gritty overdrive—or even something more akin to a fuzz, depending on the guitar and pickups. The Hudson Broadcast takes this idea and sticks it in an easy-to-use guitar pedal. It's hard to dial in a bad sound on this unit, and the old school knobs really help make it look the part.
There are two footswitches acting as low- and high-gain circuits, so it’s essentially a dual overdrive pedal. On the low gain, you can dial in some lovely, warm but bitey, mild crunchy sounds. Should you want something more extreme, the Broadcast can also act as a really usable fuzz pedal. It having the low-cut knob is really useful for knocking out some of the whoofiness that can sometimes come with preamp pedals. This is really useful for dialing in the pedal to the character of your pickups.
Chameleon Labs 7602 MKII
This Chinese clone aims to replicate the vibe of the 1073 preamp and EQ. It might not be dead on, but it’s a great unit that punches way above its price tag. It has been built to vintage specs, with 100% discrete components and hand-wound transformers. The 7602 MKII has up to 80dB of gain and sounds great when used on bassier sound sources—kick drums, bass guitars, etc.—but it will also work very well on guitars and synths.
There’s a really nice mid-range to the preamp, which might not suit all vocal types but generally offers a nice, rich sound. The EQ section is very good; small adjustments can sweeten things up and can really help glue a mix together. Whilst it might not be the most accurate Neve clone, it’s a great unit and helps deliver some of that Neve sound for less.
Vintech Audio X73i Mic Pre EQ
The Vintech Audio X73i is one of the more expensive options on this list but can sometimes be had for less than $1,000 on the used market. It's a class A, discrete, single-channel mic preamp, EQ, and line amp module faithfully based on the legendary Neve 1073.
This X73i model is a slightly less expensive version of the X73 and uses less labor-intensive parts but is still built in the US. It matches all of the EQ parameters that its more expensive counterpart has and also features additional mid-range frequencies. There's also selectable input impedance, a quarter-inch DI on the front panel, transformer-balanced mic and line inputs, phase reserve, 70dB of gain, and so much more. If you have a bit more cash to spare, the X73i is a great option.
Honorable Mention: Software Plugins
There are a ton of different plugins out there, all offering the Neve sound in a digital format. Some are better than others, particularly the Universal Audio ones. UA actually worked directly with AMS Neve to develop these software plugins, making them probably the most authentic way of getting the Neve sound without the hardware.
Using something like an Apollo Twin, you can load a 1073, 1084, or 88RS into the Unison slot which essentially turns the input of your interface into an input of the hardware you’re modelling. It’s clever stuff and it allows you to track your sound source using your interface as if it were the Neve hardware, freeing up the load on your computer.