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Rupert Neve Designs 542 500 Series Tape Emulator

500 Series Processor with "True Tape" Silk/Texture Circuitry
32 Write review Item ID: 542
$849.00

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Rupert Neve Designs 542 500 Series Tape Emulator
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Put the Portico Sound in Your 500 Series Rack

Rupert Neve Designs brings their acclaimed tape emulation (from their Portico 5042) to the 500 Series format with the 542 module. Add the thick, musical sound of tape to your tracks, with the added bonus of Neve's Silk/Texture circuit to fine-tune your sound. Once you hear the 542, we're pretty sure you won't want to mix without it.

Related Videos: 542 500 Series Tape Emulator

Rupert Neve Designs 542 500 Series Tape Emulator Module Features:
  • Add the rich, musical sound of tape to your digital tracks
  • True Tape circuitry uses real tape heads to emulate the characteristics of tape recording
  • Versatile Silk/Texture circuit gives you additional sonic-sculpting potential
  • Wet/dry control lets you fine-tune the amount of tape saturation
  • Soft-clip circuit helps you tame the sound of harsh, transient signals

Additional Media

500 Series Buying Guide
Signal Processing Buying Guide

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Tech Specs

  • Type: 500 Series Processor
  • Processor Type: Tape Emulator
  • Number of Channels: 1
  • Controls: Saturation, Blend, Silk/Texture, Trim
  • Module Slot Size: Single
  • Power Usage: ±16V DC, 125mA
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 542

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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5

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Warm, smooth Neve magic

Words cannot express what the Neve 542 will do to your recordings. It will thicken and smooth out the mix. You just have to be careful with it. Although it smooths out "digital harshness," you may want some of that harshness for certain tracks like distorted guitar or snare. You can use this unit as a smooth compressor. Just know that it does kill the highs a little so you want to put an EQ after it. There's been a few recordings I've done where I would listen to the final mix and realize I may have overdone it by having the blend up too high. Also, I don't hear much of a difference between the 30-ips setting and 15-pis. I just leave it on 30.

Other than that, this unit will work wonders to your tracks. True analog, vintage tone. When I first got this unit, I put it at the end of the channel strip and it gave way too much low end. So I ended up placing it right after the pre-amp and before the compressor/EQ.
by Tortilla Man from Earth on
Music background: Always learning

This is what's been missing...

In my constant pursuit of tone I found this, I bought two for across my mix bus and it was there. Actually reading a review of the Tascam DA-3000 mentioned putting these in the signal chain and you get that sound of tape compression. Very happy with my purchase.
by afterworkinhours from Easton, MA on
Music background: musician, engineer, producer

Burnished Warm and Crystalline Sound on Acoustic Guitar

Having been a consumer of pro gear for many years now Ive become skeptical of every claim that something "will make that difference,"..... BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I therefore connected my new pair of 542's with a healthy amount of prep for critical listening and a dose of skepticism. I had heard enough of a difference on the dozen or so youtube videos when I was researching that it warranted a further look.

My recording chain for this evaluation was an SE electronics RNT mic connected to a Shelford Channel and then through a 542 (30 IPS) and into my Apogee Symphony Mk II. I sat down with my acoustic guitar and tracked several different playing styles to capture a wide range of dynamic yet clean input (picking, strumming, finger picking, plucking, etc). The 542's were in a RND 6 hole chassis along with an SPL Big I also purchased with these (more than adequately powered, 2 dots on the chassis power meter).

I AB'd the sounds with tracks that didnt have the 542 in the chain on Focal monitors and found when I got the signal up to one or two yellow dots on the 542 the sound was burnished, warm and crystalline. I could not see any significant difference in spectral content on the tracks when the 542 was applied but the sound had noticeably better girth and clarity. I have used the UAD FATSO plugin for the past few years and found that to be lacking compared to these by a large degree (I have never tried the HW version of the FATSO).

The 542's do precisely as advertised and do so in a way that is pleasant and controllable when you hear the effects. I see these being a permanent resident on my recording chain. I did try and use them on the stereo buss and found I didnt like it as much as applying to certain tracks in a mix. However maybe that will change with time.

Lastly, I used the silk on my Shelford channel on the way in vice that on the 542's. However, the silk response on the 542 worked just as it does on my Shelford so it can certainly provide that color if you dont have something that already has it.

These are a bit pricier than your average 500 series unit but for the cost they are worth it.

Great unit that gives noticeable color in a way that just sounds damn good.
by Guitarmusica.com on

Mixing & Mastering Secret Sauce

100% recommend this for mixing and mastering. I bought a pair of these and I get best results on the mix bus or before eq while mastering. I have used it on drums tracks with great results. Still getting to know it, but very glad I made the purchase.
by Olokun from Tampa on
Music background: Musician, Music Producer, Mastering Engineer, Mixing Engineer

A Game-changer

I just bought this after watching several videos about this online. I was a bit nervous about this, since I hadn't actually used one before, and wasn't sure how much this would impact my sound.

I currently own a pair of Neve 1073, as well as Rupert Neve Design 511 modules and a 5059 summing mixer. I wasn't sure if this would be overkill, or would be useful.

The very first item I ran through this was a stereo mix I had just finished, and the results were eye-opening. The 542 essentially glued my mix together in a way that I haven't felt since I last recorded using actual tape 30+ years ago.

I then went through an active project and ran each track through the 542 prior to mixing. The results on this were incredible. The drums were suddenly much more alive; the vocals had the right amount of dirt, and the guitars fit quite nicely into the mix.

Some features that made this really useful:

1) The ability to switch from 15 to 30ips was quite useful as it allowed me to optimize each track.
2) The silk feature allowed me to dial in a tone that compared quite favorably to the real Neve 1073.
3) The drive feature allowed me to really add a nice texture to the mix - it really did feel like I was hitting tape. This was most apparent on drums, bass, and vocals. The harder I pushed it, the better these sounded.
by Meghan Gohil from Reseda, CA on
See also: Rupert Neve Designs, Rupert Neve Designs Other 500 Series Processors
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