Rupert Neve Designs - Limited Edition Dual Shelford Mic Preamp

Rupert Neve Designs is proud to announce the 5025 Dual Shelford Mic Pre, a limited edition 2-channel microphone preamplifier based on their best-selling Shelford Channel. Production will be limited to just 300 units, worldwide.

The Shelford Channel is the definitive evolution of the original technologies found in Ruperts classic modules like the 1073, 1064 and 2254, advanced and refined for the modern engineer, says the company. The Dual Shelford offers the sonic excellence of two Shelford mic preamps in a single rack space simply put, these are two channels of the finest microphone preamplification in the world.

Like Ruperts well-known designs from his time in Little Shelford, England, the Dual Shelford Mic Pre utilizes custom step-up transformers on the microphone inputs, which provide the first 15dB of gain. While the majority of the harmonic richness found in Ruperts designs is a product of the output transformer and surrounding class-A amplifiers, this custom step-up input transformer also imparts a unique musical enhancement of its own, says Rupert Neve Designs. According to the company, this is primarily a result of its reactive impedance characteristic and how that interacts with the connected microphone, resulting in subtle, non-linear harmonic enhancement of the lows and an unmistakable sweetness in the high frequencies.

The Dual Shelford Mic Pre also features 72dB of low-noise class-A gain, a sweepable high-pass filter, the companys well-known Silk Red and Blue circuit for two flavors of customizable harmonic saturation, and the dual output level transformers originally developed for the Shelford Channel. The -6dB output from these custom transformers allows the engineer to hit the sweet spot of the output stage more easily, adding rich harmonic character without clipping the next device in the chain.

Features;

Mic Gain
This 12-way precision rotary switch controls gain from 0 to 66 dB in 6 dB steps.

Trim
This rotary switch provides further continuous gain adjustment over a range of +/ 6 dB.

48V
This push button switch engages phantom power on the microphone input.

Polarity
This push button switch inverts the polarity of the signal path. It illuminates when engaged. (The symbol is often used to denote opposite polarity.)

HPF / HPF FREQ
The HPF switch engages a 12dB per octave high pass filter. The HPF FREQ potentiometer is variable from 20Hz to 250Hz, and can be used to filter out unwanted low frequencies, or in conjunction with the EQ to help shape source material. Note that engaging the HPF to S/C switch moves the HPF from the primary signal path to the compressor side-chain signal path.

Silk / Texture
Pushing the Silk button cycles the Silk modes from Red to Blue to OFF. Silk reduces the negative feedback on the output transformer, adding harmonic content as the texture is increased. Red Silk accentuates the musical harmonic saturation from the mid and high frequencies, while Blue Silk accentuates harmonics from the low and low-mid frequencies. By manipulating the Texture control, the amount of Silk can be changed from essentially absent, to roughly 4-5% THD (mostly second order) depending on how hard the output transformer is being driven.

VU Meters
The VU Meters are calibrated to display average (RMS) output levels.

Peak LED
Red indicates near clipping of the output stage.

Dual Tap Output
In addition to the MAIN full-headroom output, the -6dB output creates a rich harmonic character while reducing the risk of clipping the next device in the chain.

Gnd Lift
This switch separates the direct connection from audio signal ground to chassis earth.

Universal IEC Power Input
Works worldwide, accepting voltages from 100-240VAC.