Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Transformer Reviews
Massive, warm, sweet, musical, and punchy are adjectives professional recording engineers, producers, and music artists have ascribed to the sound produced by Rupert Neve pro audio equipment — a legacy that began with the renowned designer’s legendary large-format consoles of the 1970s. Ever since, custom audio transformers have been the cornerstone of Mr. Neve’s circuit design philosophy. Transformers have the power to enhance program material with an enticing array of delectable sonic flavors. And now there’s a piece of kit exclusively designed for just that purpose. The Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Transformer is a unique, innovative, all-analog 2-channel device that can completely transform your audio. It works wonders on in-the-box productions that can sound cold and sterile — broadening, sweetening, and punching up iron-poor tracks, stems, mixes, and masters. Unleash the Master Bus Transformer, and you’ll be astonished as you hear your recordings blossom into professional, radio-ready product that blasts right out of the speakers.
Earn $200 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $167/month with 24 month financing*
$200 Earn $200.00 back in Bonus Bucks† on this purchase when you use your Sweetwater Credit Card without financing. Select your offer in checkout. Terms
As low as $167/month
with 24 month financing*
See all payment options
Customer Reviews
Customer Added Media
This product doesn't have any review media yet!
Share Your Thoughts
Help other music gear aficionados by sharing your opinions of gear you've purchased.
Questions about the MBT?
Or call us at (800) 222-4700
Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it.
Highest Rated Reviews
Mix bus magic
I've toggled this thing in and out countless times during mixing and mastering just to feel its magic. Even at subtle settings, this tool brings new life to recordings of all kinds, especially those suffering from the effects of sterile digital recording and lower-quality recording equipment. My review of individual sections...
HPF: A clean, crisp sounding HPF. With a narrow range from 15-100 Hz, it's easy to carefully dial in the exact frequency that your track needs. Pairs well with the EQ.
EQ: Crisp and hi-fi sounding. I mostly use these for additive, though I never push it past 2-3dB on either shelf. For more sparkle, I lean more on the silk section.
Comp: Very subtle but juicy when used right. I never set this to 100% as it just does more to the sound than I'd like for most applications. However, at ~25% blend and modest settings, it'll add a bit of body and heft to a thin mix.
Width: Magic! Perhaps the biggest selling point of this unit, even with just two dials this section is powerful. I usually just have this around 25%, but that's all it needs to add great dimension and elevate the soundstage of any program. I just adore what it does to reverb and vocals in particular. It feels to me like it just finds the gaps in your stereo field and fills them in gently. The most incredible part is how well it collapses down to mono--I have no idea how they do it, but it becomes completely invisible, giving you confidence that you're not sacrificing coherence.
Super Silk: Fabulously effective. This is my first time interacting with the RND silk feature, and it seems to offer the best of that world. Separate controls for both blue and red allow you to get just the effect you're looking for. This section adds energy and is a bit of a magic eraser as well, smoothing over harshness in the mix and gluing components of your mix in adjacent frequencies.
Overall: As I waited for this to arrive, I thought to myself that this might be a bit gimmicky or over-designed. It took me about 5 minutes to fall in love with it once it was plugged in, however, and I don't intend to let it go! For those working in a hybrid mixing or mastering environment, this is a great cornerstone piece that you'll want to use on every project.
Serious Game Changer - this will take your mixes to a whole new level. Great Engineering/Design, Build Quality, and Sonic Output
So here's the story:
I sent a preliminary mix to a client "straight from the box" . . . i.e. from ProTools and "in the box". The client was happy with the mix.
A week later, my Neve Master Bus Transformer arrived. I ran the previous mix through the Rupert Neve Master Bus Transformer as a test. The test was very quick - I took the stereo two-track mix, and ran one pass to tweak the sound, and then a second pass to bounce it. Total time was less than 10 minutes.
I didn't tell the client the specifics of what I did . . . I just said, "Here's a new mix. Let me know what you think".
The comments I got back after I sent the MBT-processed version: "Wow - this sounds really great . . . it's really wide, has a lot of punch, and everything is really clear. Way better than the previous mix." He assumed I remixed everything from scratch!
The results spoke for themselves.
-------------------------------------------
So here's my thoughts on the unit:
This is a very high quality unit. The components are stellar from both a technical perspective, as well as from an aesthetic point. And the design is well thought-out: the unit is remarkably easy to use . . . there's no bells and whistles . . . just quality components configured at appropriate points to give aesthetically pleasing results.
At this point, I no longer send mixes to clients without running it through the Master Bus Transformer first.
-----------------------------
Here are my comments on the components within the MBT:
1) The Input High Pass Filter is very effective at knocking out a lot of muck from the mix. This allows more headroom and apparent loudness without making the mix feel empty.
2) The EQ is gentle, wide, and warm. Cranking the High Frequency gain brightens up the mix, but it's not harsh at all; the Low Frequency gain warms up the low end, but never gets muddy.
3) The Color Comp - This compressor is gentle, warm, and the blend feature allows parallel processing of the compressor. The blend knob allows you to add compression without squeezing out the dynamics. The compressor itself is very smooth - it gently tames the transients, and makes the mix come alive. It also adds richness to the mix.
4) The "Width" feature widens the mix quite nicely, and the High Pass filter allows you to keep the low frequencies mono so the punch doesn't get lost.
5) The Silk . . . this is a beautiful saturation layer that you can throw across the entire mix. This brings out a very nice richness to the sound. There's two areas, which are "red" and "blue"; the red mode is more of a mid-range saturation while blue is more of a low-end saturation. In addition, there's a Xener Drive that I've found to be useful for adding saturation to item such as a drum bus, bass, etc.
There's a lot of other devices out there that have these features, but lack the sonic characteristics plus ease of use that the MBT provides. The quality of components, the well-thought engineering, and most importantly, the sonic characteristics make the MBT a must-have purchase for any studio!
Amazing Unit!!
I own this as well as the MBP unit. Both are obviously great. The new MBT really fills out the mix well with great color and also helps fatten up individual tracts as it should... In this rack spot I previously had an SSL Fusion Mastering unit and can safely say it not anywhere in the same league as the Neve Units. Spend the extra money if you got it and you're debating between a Rupert Neve unit versus the SSL Fusion.. The MBP's compressor is much more subtle than the MBT, but it adds a lot more color I feel. It has the compressor qualities of an optical compressor with a lot of color added. But overall the compressor of the MBP is more versatile. Also the Blend-able Blue/Red color circuit is incredible and obviously superior to the MBP circuit . I prefer the eq on the new MBP unit versus the limited eq controls on the MBT. I would say the MBP has the edge on the stereo field enhancement though, but, the HPF feature on the MBT is obviously very nice to have.
Anyway's, I've mastered three tracks with it so far and couldn't be more happy. I can't wait to use it for some live applications as well, as I'm sure it will shine there too.
Pricey Mojo
I've had the MBT for about three weeks. I've mainly used it to remix some older tracks to add a little mojo to some boxy/brittle digital mixes. It does the trick for that.
For some material, it's phenomenal. I especially like it on instrument group busses because you can push the Width and Super Silk a bit further.
The EQ is nice but nothing special (it's very smooth). I don't use the Color Comp because I have a better compressor after the MBT in my chain. The attack time is fixed so it always gives you a some plucky punch. Sometimes you might not want that.
The Width and Super Silk are where the magic is. But it's easy to over cook the pudding with this thing. A little bit of saturation and spread can go a long way.
The MBT is making my mixes about 5-10% better. They're less boxy, muddy, and harsh: smoother with more dimension. I don't have buyer's remorse but I'm not sure the price point is right. It's basically a luxury item but one that sounds amazing.
The best!
The MBT in on the master bis of every project now!!
