Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5012 2-channel Microphone Preamp Reviews
The Portico 5012 from Rupert Neve Designs is a 2-channel microphone preamp that sports Neve's custom input and output transformer designs for a sound that's strikingly similar to that of classic Neve consoles. Each channel of the Portico 5012 is equipped with individually selectable phase, mute, phantom power, and a fully sweepable highpass filter, along with a "Silk" circuit, which enhances the sound, adding warmth and presence. The Neve sound is one of the most most sought-after of all time, and with the Portico 5012, it's yours at a very reasonable price.
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Highest Rated Reviews
workhorse!!
Simple controls...easy recall...beautiful tone.....built like a tank....sleek design.....i have been in and out of studios all my life and have been recorded through tons of pres (from millenia to ssl to hardy Andy everything in between) and it's easy for me to see that my new neve portico is going to be a serious workhorse in my new studio. thus far I have only sent vocals and bass through this bad boy but I can tell it is going to perform on any source. One of my favorite features of this pre is the silk button......want it colored? turn it on. Need transparency? Turn it off. I would recommend this to anyone of any studio size. This whole portico line is a grand slam.
Love it
It is a Humble preamp that is clean transparent and my go to on a lot of applications from over heads to vocals, to guitars you name it. Anything can sound crisp clear through this preamp. A lot of people would say the silk doesn't do much to the ear but I know when I enable the silk option I get a warmer more vintage feel from the pre because it is adding some low harmonic information to signal . if you want a solid preamp that is clean transparent and reliable and wont disappoint this is it.
Amazing Pres
You just can't go wrong with these pres. They work on every source you put through them.
The Silk button adds a nice smooth bottom end. The HPF filters are perfect for varied sources.
The stepped gain and variable trim knobs keep recall easy and make precise adjustments easy.
The sound is so clear and smooth. Snares and kicks sound nice and fat.
Amazing Sounds
Have great sound almost equal to those 1073.
Super punch for the price
This product is amazing!
Ok so if you read my review on the portico before i reviewed the grace m101 as better on a different post. but i guess i was wrong. who knows what i was doing wrong. cause the portico does have a great air to it and depth to it that the grace m101 doesnt really have. it just has that very high quality preamp sound to it. make sure you get a good mic to, to go with it. i use the brauner phanthera and together there both awesome!
A rare excellence...AMAZING SOUND
This preamp is a must have if you like that big expensive sound. It sounds better than my Great River one channel pre, and alot smoother than my Focusrite ISA. The sound is silky smooth on vocals, it just melts things in a nice way. The bottom end is huge, and the air this thing blows out is just incredible. I have used this unit on both female and male vocals, voice overs, acoustic guitar, synths, and some other sources. I wish it had some eq, but I needed two preamps in a small box for portability. It seems to be my to-go preamp now, and I am looking to sell my Focusrite soon. The fact that Rupert Neve designed this unit for todays working engineers, this is a quality standout.
WOW
This is the best thing ive ever bought from sweetwater hands down. Oh man and the sweet button right in the middle! Oh this is a must have
Very Nice Rupert.
Yummy
Good sound, but not what I expected
I got this device with the thought that since Rupert Neve himself designed this, it would have that 'neve' quality I heard when I rented (and loved) a neve 1272 previously. In that respect I was disappointed as it was not a 'night and day' difference that I was seeking from my current pre-amp, the difference was extremely subtle, and not enough to justify the cost. The 'silk' button's effect was barely noticeable as well.
In all fairness, I was seeking a very flavored pre-amp, not a clean one. Otherwise however, it is a good pre-amp providing a fantastic signal / noise ratio. It was nice only having to turn up the volume knobs only two clicks to get a clean, large signal (as opposed to my current pre where it has to hit 12 o'clock to start working).
Great Sound, Short lived hardware
I purchased 2 of the Portico 5012's and 2 of the 5043s exactly 25 months ago and one of each has failed already. If you need a device for less than two years these do have a fantastic quality sound to them. They are easy to use and have the options needed to get the sound you want. Rupert Neve support was helpful and knew immediately what the problem was and sent us a replacement dc/dc converter. This must be a repeat issue. Unfortunately removing the old part was very difficult and it won't be worth doing on the second unit that went bad and it only has a 12 month warranty.
