Classic tone & control for your mic and instrument. The Neve 500 Series 517 includes a world-class mic preamp, one-knob compressor, an Instrument input with dedicated gain control and Vari-phase, Silk saturation and blend controls for INST/MIC -- all in a single 500 series module.

GAIN: 12-position rotary switch that controls the microphone preamp gain in 6dB steps. This input can also accept line level sources when the GAIN control is set to 0dB.

+48V: Engages phantom power on the microphone input, as supplied by the 500 series rack.

POLARITY: Push button inverts the polarity of the signal path. The symbol "O" is often used to denote opposite polarity.

COMPRESSOR: Based around an LDR (light dependent resister) design, the 517's opto-coupler compressor has been simplified to a single threshold control with auto make up gain. By default, the compressor is set to a fixed 2:1 ratio with fixed attack and release. To set the compressor, simply dial the threshold control down until the desired amount of compression is achieved. An LED light indicates when the compressor is active.

BLEND: The 517 can be used to combine and compress the Mic input and the Instrument input. For example, the Instrument input could be used for an acoustic guitar's pickup output while the Mic input is being used for either a guitar amp speaker or a vocal. The blend knob can then control the tonal balance between the two sources.

SILK: Illuminated push-button that engages the Silk circuit, which enhances the source's harmonic content by utilizing the custom Rupert Neve Designs output transformer.

VARI-PHASE: The VARI-PHASE control rotates the phase incrementally, allowing two signals with the same source to be phase aligned. This control is most apparent when the signals being combined are at roughly equal levels, and is generally used when blending an instrument's direct signal with its amplified signal, as captured by a microphone.

INSTRUMENT GAIN: Front panel TRS Input and passive through for hi-z sources. Continuous gain control from 0dB to 30dB.

THRU & INST 1/4" JACKS: These 2 jacks can be used for a direct instrument input and a passive THRU output. This instrument has a dedicated gain control and can be blended with Mic Input signal.

Features:

• GAIN: 12-position rotary switch that controls the microphone preamp gain in 6dB steps. This input can also accept line level sources when the GAIN control is set to 0dB.
• 48V: Push-button switch that engages 48V phantom power supplied by the 500 series rack.
• POLARITY: Push-button switch that inverts the phase of the microphone preamp signal.
• COMPRESSOR: Continuous control of the threshold of the opto-compressor when engaged. Compression at a 2:1 ratio is applied when the input signal exceeds the set threshold level. Auto make-up gain is applied after gain reduction occurs.
• IN/ACTIVE: Push-button switch that illuminates GREEN when the compressor is engaged. This GREEN LED also indicates when gain reduction is occuring once the input signal exceeds the set threshold level.
• BLEND: Continuous control that creates a blend between the MIC and INST input signals to achieved the desired tonal balance.
• O/L METER: LED that illuminates GREEN when signal is present and RED when near clip point.
• SILK: Push-button switch that enhances the input signal's harmonic content when engaged.
• VARI-PHASE IN: Push-button switch that engages the VARI-PHASE control to phase align the Mic and INST input signals.
• VARI-PHASE: Continuous control that rotates the phase of the INST input signal.
• INST GAIN: Continuous GAIN control for the INST input from 0-30dB.
• GND LIFT: Push-button switch that separates the INST input signal ground from chassis ground.
• INST: 1/4" input jack for direct injection (DI) or instrument inputs.
• THRU: Passive loop 1/4" output of the INST input signal.