Diy neve 1073 preamp eq
Vocals, snare, kick, bass, electric and acoustic guitars - everything worked really well through the 1073LB, which often beat out my other preamps in A/B tests.
So how does the 1073LB sound? In short, it sounded quite good on everything I ran through it in a couple of months of daily studio use. (The last one also handily doubles as a mute switch when nothing is plugged into said front.) There is also a small LED that glows green when signal is present and turns red when the unit is clipping. The faceplate of the 1073LB manages to fit a familiar 22-position ELMA 04 rotary switch for mic/line gain a trim pot that also doubles as a +48V push-switch an XLR/TRS Combo jack (which does not function as an instrument-level DI, as some might assume at first glance) and three latching buttons for polarity reversal, lower impedance on the mic input (300 ohm as opposed to 1200 ohm), and for activating the front input. The other drawback of the 500-series format is the small faceplate. One of the drawbacks is that the amount of current that is available to each module in a populated rack is generally lower than what can be delivered from a dedicated power supply (although there are different current ratings depending on which brand and model of rack you get), which can affect headroom and overall sound quality. The main benefit of the 500-series format is that power is supplied by the rack itself, so once you have a rack, modules tend to be lower in price than standalone units with their own power supplies and chassis. The 1073LB is the first Neve-branded anything that goes into a 500-series rack - the LB stands for Lunchbox - and as such, is the cheapest anything that can be acquired with the Neve name on it.
If you need a quick primer on what this preamp has meant to the recording industry, check out Allen Farmelo’s article in Tape Op #77 about Neve-style preamps. The sincerest flattery has been repeatedly bestowed upon the venerable classic since its inception over 40 years ago. Doubtless the most famous microphone preamplifier in history, the Neve 1073 has spawned countless imitations - from cheap knockoffs to component-precise replicas.