Obituary of Rupert Neve.

[G6Tanuki]

In today's Daily Telegraph:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituari...ard-recording/

Audio recording wouldn't have been the same without him.

[stevehertz]

An icon.

[paulsherwin]

There was also an obit in the Graun: https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...usic-recording

I did some work for him in the late 80's early 90's, lovely chap. He had prayers in the morning (which where optional) at his "works", perhaps the idea of a 10 minutes of contemplation or rest made the place a good one. I got my ESL57's (part of Mike Oldfield's rig) from him.

Very clever, very sound and a delight to be with. He knew his stuff down to the last decibel. The news has saddened me and the memories of him brought a smile too.

[Hartley118]

I worked with Rupert and knew him rather well. He was an honourable man with high ethical standards.

He had a great instinctive understanding of audio circuitry and of such subjects as the way that particular EQ shapes could increase the prominence of particular instruments within a mix.

My first encounter with Rupert was listening with interest to him lecture on the way that a transistor audio line amplifier could be designed to give extraordinarily low mid-frequency distortion by the use of a class A output and negative feedback. This was in the mid-1960s when transistor amplifiers were somewhat suspect

He also had a particular interest in the influence of recording studio systems wiring on the overall performance of a mixing desk and its input and output impedances

So what’s the technical secret behind the ‘Neve Sound’, so respected in professional recording studios and broadcasters? Well, within these friendly technical confines of the Forum, one or two topics come to mind. You won’t read of these in the obituaries.

Doing things properly - A carefully tailored gain structure, ensuring sufficient headroom in each stage.
Carefully designed audio transformers
High quality switches, pots, connectors etc. Rupert was passionate about reliability.
Careful listening tests of EQ, filters etc.
Ample output drive capability
Those single-ended output circuits gave very low mid-frequency distortion, but exhibited significant even-harmonic distortion at high frequencies. Subjectively, that appeared to add some ‘brightness’ which seemed to restore some of the HF losses incurred by analogue tape. So Neve desks developed a little magic in mixdown applications. Once we developed better lower distortion circuitry, that did give us something of a subjective brilliance problem. Balance engineers missed the sound of those single-ended outputs.

Rupert had a remarkable ability to inspire a small group of engineers to work all hours to achieve great things. However, he would have been the first to recognise that running a large company was not his forte. Sadly, like so many audio pioneers, he never achieved the riches he deserved.

He never retired, but continued designing audio circuits until the end.

RIP.

Martin

[stevehertz]

Very interesting and very informative Martin, thanks.

[knobtwiddler]

Thank you for sharing, Martin.

I am not sure how accurate this is, but I certainly got the impression that his last company, Rupert Neve Designs, was / is in many ways his most successful. It certainly appeared that he was in a position to do what he enjoyed best, i.e. dreaming up new ideas, while an efficient team looked after the areas that weren't so much his forte. If you look at what RND does, it's a highly traditional audio firm, making EQs, preamps, mixers etc. Unlike in previous ventures, I think RND had the benefit of entering a mature market, knowing the rules. RND was releasing a steady stream of innovative products, even when RN himself was into his 80s and even 90s! The company looks to be in a strong position, and will likely continue to be, even though the great man is no longer around.

[Dual Standard]

This was also covered over on Pitchfork last weekend and includes an embeded video of an interview he did for Sound on Sound complete with lots of studio gear of all vintages.
https://pitchfork.com/news/rupert-ne...or-dies-at-94/

Mike

[Craig Sawyers]

On the site of the original Neve facility in Melbourn near Royston is a new housing estate, with Rupert Neve Close.

I used to drive past Neve on my way to work at PA Technology in the mid 80's.

Craig

[McMurdo]

The radio 4 obituary programme 'Last Word' will have a section on Rupert Neve this afternoon (friday 12th)