I was an early-adopter of the Neve Portico 5012.
My first one was STOLEN
, and I loved it so much I bought a second one (True story!).
Review:
Basically, I was one of the internet shoppers who using this forum and others, listened to side-by-side comparisons of Neve Portico 5012 and other Neve-imitators or heavy 'iron' colored pre's. To my ear the Neve was the most natural, dynamic, with the harmonics that I like. To my ears other preamps while, 'good' sounding went over the top, and I like the feature of the controllable on/off' for the 'Silk' button which is in-effect, the Vintage Neve sound. When turned off it is rather responsive Pre who gives a great acoustic guitar sound. This amplifier was my first Pre, and to be sure being younger at the time (and poorer) I spent many weeks researching, even venturing far to music shops that stocked it to listen first hand.
In the end, I reached the conclusion Mr. Neve had accomplished it again. I realized these 'over the top' colored sounding boxes were toys and the Neve was versatile and not a one trick pony, sad to say but I went into it wanting a one-trick pony, and in the end really appreciated the Silk functionality.
Sound Quality:
Both the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5012's I have owned sound great.
There seems to my ear to be tiny difference between them, as I have plenty of earlier (stolen Neve!) recordings with which to compare.
The meaty rich and complex 'dark' iron sound of the silk, is truly an impressive thing. It is the Neve sound! It is amazing how well this Pre responds to Equalization. Owning this Pre catapulted me into a whole new level, I even got praise from Steve Albini on another forum (one of my heros!). I will say the amp is surprising with Silk switch turned off, and you find variously it is amazing at brightening the fullness of analog synths such as Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 or ARP Avatar, it shines wonderfully at keeping the vintage/analog oomph in them. However it is most powerful with vocals. My opinions don't matter much, but when I record without Neve on vocals, I have been told by a host of others it didnt 'sound' as good as with my Neve (yes I have other Pre's to compare it to).
Ease Of Use:
6 knobs, what more can I say.
Mic Gain, Trim, HP Filter range, and duplicate 2nd channel.
Phase, 48V Phantom, HPF Engage (high pass filter), and the Bus engage.
Not too much to learn, fire up that Silk button with its high-power LED glowing blue, and you know what you paid for instantly.
One criticism here: wish the power switch was on the front!
Features:
Standard 48V phantom power. Not much to say.
HPF Filter - 20-250hz, can make a huge difference on rumble/hissy source.
Mic Gain - Has more than enough to distort your signal PLEASANTLY if you choose.
Having 2 available channels is awesome, and a big consideration for getting this. I'd die if I only had one.
Silk Button - This engages the an alternate signal path which changes the slew rate of the signal, and gives you low/low-mid sound we associate with Neve's famous sound associated sometimes with Sir George Martin.
This is what this Pre is all about. However disengaged you have a very fast-response little pre-amp, it took me awhile to notice how useful this can be on dynamic material, maybe I'm slow but once i discovered the applications of not having the 'Silk' button engaged I found what a little swiss army knife this 5012 can be.
Still with your vocals you are going to love the Silk switch, if you have learned to appreciate a Neve sounding 'color' to a pre, is.
Bang for the buck:
Not so much for me, my first one was stolen so I'm 2.5k into these so far.
But it has given me so much back.
So much it inspired me to buy its full-fledged Portico II Channel big brother, where you have compression & EQ built right in!
I should also add: My second Neve had a slight, very slightly different sound.
I wasnt disappointed with it, but wanted to make sure everything was ok.
I sent it back to the Neve factory, and man did they take care of me.
They checked her out for factory specs, verified it was perfectly operational
and sent it back to me, and were so kind in the process.
I hate to say, it was my own ignorance level that caused this, but they were so polite, sending email answers to my questions and giving me complete feedback as to what they found, I was utterly impressed!
They had it back to me in less than a week, and I felt so secure as to shell out big bucks on future neve purchases.
I was like, wow these people actually care, thats rare these days, so rare as to be a bit shocking!
So far this Pre is 7 years old, and sounds like new.
Conclusion: This sounds like a glowing review because it is. I would not have spent 6 thousand dollars of my own money (esp a few years ago when i was very poor) on Neve equipment, if I did not feel this way. I had reached the limits of what cheap consumer grade stuff can do. I could not live with the Macike mixer/RME Fireface stock pre's any longer. I am thoroughly glad Rupert Neve decided to make this company, and not only emulate, but enhance and add control to his older 'trademark' sound.
If you like that dark, classic 60s/70s Neve console sound I would highly suggest you take a good listen and consider a purchase.
Note: People have complained about the 'laptop' cable external power source (with the large transformer pack) I love it. Why? Even compared to the Neve Portico II (Which is high voltage rail) this little laptop cable with its cigarette pack sized transformer seems to isolate ALL noise. How I do not know, but the Neve Portico is even immune to my power-line polluting tube amps and the hum of power equipment being used. I would say its a plus, and if it ever fails you can buy these things cheap everywhere. So definitely a plus.
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