Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Transformer

Rupert Neve MBT

The Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Transformer embodies over six decades of Mr. Rupert Neve's unwavering commitment to audio circuit design, where audio transformers have stood as the foundational cornerstone. Painstakingly crafted by Rupert Neve Designs, these bespoke transformers have become indispensable in virtually every RND product. 

Infused with these transformative transformers, the Master Bus Transformer (MBT) offers an extensive palette of sonic possibilities meticulously engineered to enrich, empower, expand, and wholly metamorphose source materials. As the ultimate tool for infusing musical colouration, the MBT finds itself equally at ease enhancing full mixes, groups, stems, or individual sources, seamlessly merging legendary tonal quality with an incredibly adaptable set of controls, allowing you to sculpt your sound to perfection.

Unleash Sonic Alchemy with the HPF & Shelf EQ

The Master Bus Transformer begins its journey with a sophisticated high pass filter featuring adjustable frequency selection, ranging from 100Hz down to 15Hz. It is an invaluable feature when optimising a complete mix for maximum loudness.

The unit then introduces a brand-new 2-band Shelf EQ section, characterised by three-octave ranges, gentle slopes, and minimal phase shifts. This elegant and musical EQ offers precise tonal enhancement, mainly when interfacing with other sections of the MBT.

Each EQ band provides +/- 9dB of gain control, with the LF EQ corner frequency adjustable from 30Hz to 240Hz and the HF EQ corner frequency variable from 3kHz to 24kHz. The LF band is adept at either taming or accentuating low-end frequencies, delivering the desired weight and power. Meanwhile, the HF band provides a wide range of corner frequencies, allowing users to adjust from the upper midrange to the high end, bestowing tracks with added shine and clarity.

The true magic of the MBT lies in the interaction between its different sections. Users can set the EQ first or explore it with other sections depending on their creative needs. What remains consistent is the MBT's invitation to experiment at every turn.

Breathe In New Life with the Color Comp 

The Color Comp boasts a cutting-edge optical compressor design highlighting the Opto cell's non-linear distortion and distinctive "colourful" attributes. This compressor's ratio can be adjusted from a subtle 2:1 for gentle compression to a more pronounced 5:1 for dramatic dynamics.

Furthermore, a variable high pass side chain filter allows users to exclude low frequencies from the compressor side chain circuit, ensuring the low-end remains intact. In contrast, the compressor focuses on other aspects of the signal. The sweepable range of this filter extends from 20Hz to 350Hz, offering exceptional tonal shaping control.

The Color Comp also incorporates a Blend control, facilitating parallel compression with the uncompressed source material, a valuable feature when fine-tuning harmonic content, dynamic range, and transient response.

The threshold is adjustable from 0dBu to +24dBu, with a gain reduction LED indicating when the signal surpasses the threshold. Notably, the Color Comp introduces audible non-linear harmonic content even with minimal gain reduction, inviting users to explore its tonal nuances, especially at extreme compressor settings.

The release time varies from 100ms to 1.5S, allowing users to achieve various effects, from pronounced "pumping" with higher ratios and faster releases to smoother compression with slower release times.

The Color Comp provides 20dB of Class-A makeup gain, facilitating the precise level matching between pre and post-compression signals and driving the interstage transformers in the Super Silk section for enhanced harmonic richness.

Find a New Dimension with Width 

The Width section is designed to expand the perceived stereo width while preserving low-end focus. Inspired by the Stereo Field Editor (SFE) "WIDTH" controls of the Master Buss Processor, the MBT's width control is exclusively additive, offering a more comprehensive range for more pronounced effects. Additionally, a variable HPF, adjustable from 50Hz to 800Hz, fine-tunes the width content, ensuring that low frequencies remain centred as mids and highs are expanded to create a spacious mix.

Control Harmonic Complexity with Super Silk 

The revered Silk circuit, cherished by Rupert Neve Designs users for nearly two decades, has received a remarkable upgrade with Super Silk. Offering independent controls for Red, Blue, Harmonics, and Zener Drive, Super Silk takes harmonic manipulation to unprecedented heights within the Master Bus Transformer.

Historically, Silk was applied only to output transformers, but with the MBT, an extra set of transformers has been added to provide enhanced control and flexibility. This design allows users to drive into Super Silk for dynamic saturation and transient clipping while maintaining proper gain staging using the Output Trim control.

Silk Red accentuates harmonics in the upper, mid and high frequencies, adding sparkle and sheen. Silk Blue enhances harmonics in the low and low-mid frequencies, adding depth and weight. The Harmonics control saturates the MBT's custom interstage transformers, increasing overall musical harmonic content. These settings interact with Silk Blue and Silk Red, encouraging experimentation and the discovery of unique tonal blends.

The switchable Zener Drive is a diode-based asymmetrical soft clip circuit that introduces primarily odd-order harmonic content as the signal approaches the MBT's headroom limit, resulting in a more aggressive tonal character.

Drive and Control Levels with I/O Amplifiers 

The MBT incorporates Class-A input and output amplifiers to maintain optimal gain staging, drive interstage transformers fully, and match pre and post-signals accurately. These amplifiers feed Rupert Neve Designs' custom output transformers, ensuring line balancing and isolation.

Embark on Your Sonic Journey with the Rupert Neve Designs MBT Master Bus Transformer 

Embark on a sonic journey with the Rupert Neve Designs MBT Master Bus Transformer, where decades of expertise and innovation converge to provide a comprehensive solution for shaping and enhancing audio with unparalleled precision and creativity.

• Crafted with Rupert Neve's hallmark Class-A, Transformer Coupled Signal Paths
• Infuse life into mono or stereo tracks, stems, and mixes using various innovative controls.
• Elevate your audio with the enhanced Super Silk circuit, imparting weight and power.
• Achieve dynamic depth with the opto-based Color Comp
• Effortlessly fine-tune tone with the smooth and musical LF & HF shelves
• Expand your sonic landscape with the redesigned Width section, preserving focus while adding dimension
• Precisely drive and level-match the interstage transformers using the I/O amplifiers

This item, like everything we supply, comes with the complete support of our expert team. Our excellent technicians have been specifying, building and supporting studios for over twenty years. If you have any problems with installation, setup or everyday use, they’re never more than a click away, and always happy to help.

You can contact them here.