Ok I recently bought the 1073SPX and was immediately unimpressed that it comes with a laptop charger psu. Its loose on both sides, easily nudgable and I have radio interference going into it when I turn the level up (I have Radio 1 and Smooth Radio, at least I have a choice I guess).

I've tried running the power out of sockets further away in the house, it's in all the power supply. Tried all options. I cant connect the 1073SPX to a Furman power conditioner with RFI filtration because they only take IEC slots and this is a small 48v (looks like 9v) socket.

What are my options? It does sound good, but need the faults away. The front is great and nice to work with, and I really dont know what I would switch one too. I guess I'd want one with at the very least a IEC slot, but really I wouldn't want the battery in the unit, so an external chunky psu like the old days would be best. But I'd really just like this working. Even the Neve 1073dpx has this dinky slot. I'm going to try some RFI Ferrite rings before I consider what else I could do here...

Alt options I know of (must be 1U):

- Chandler TG2 w/ PSU
- Crane Song Flamingo
- BAE 1073 / 1028 w/ PSU
- Chandler TG Channel Mk2
- Manley 30th Limited Edition Mic Preamp

Any other suggestions appreciated. Styles I will be mostly working on are House/Minimal/Rap/Pop

I know alot of these are much more expensive but I cant believe Neve would release something that compromises its integrity and legacy.
Cutting costs like a cheap Chinese company would do. My IEC end for the "laptop charger" doesnt even fit all the way in to top it off.

Another day in the Studio Life.

I'm not surprised to hear that the ams lacks quality and cuts corners. I was saying that almost 10 years ago..

Anyway if you want a neve type of sound:

- BAE 1023 (300$ more expensive than the '73, is exactly the same preamp but has more frequencies in the mids and highs, Avedis did that when he was working with BAE).
I'd get the 1028 only if you really need the LPF.. Otherwise I'd stay with the 1023, same sound and less expensive.

- Aurora Audio GTQC, a neveish sound with a more open top end, a small simple eq section and DI, plus two compressors built in, one fet and one opto (could use one, the other or both combined).

- 19" 1RU 500 series rack 2 or 3 slot (I believe BAE does a 3slot horizontal one, and empirical labs do a 2slot one) and an Avedis MA5, an Avedis E27 or an E12G (or api 550a or Crane Song Insignia) and a IC brute might do a terrific channelstrip.. That you could also slowly build when funds allows.

These are your best bet to get a neve type of sound today imho, without buying a vintage module racked.

That said...

The Crane Song Flamingo is a great sounding preamp.. more on the clean-ish side..although you can tweak some parameters.
Another GREAT preamp is the Forssell SMP-2 (or smp-500), if a cleaner presentation is desired. Nice and keeps the sibilance away somehow..

Another fantastic option might be a 19" 1RU danner rack, made by Vintagetools.
You choose the preamp, eq and compressor from vintage telefunken, neumann, lawo etc.. Great sounding stuff! Quite inexpensive for the quality you get (which is the some of the best of the german recording era).

I'm sure the new Manley are also nice..never heard the new ones though..

It's not 1RU but the tree audio branch II is also a stellar tube channelstrip at a very reasonable price.

All of these are very high quality pieces, well (or in some cases extremely well) built. No issues.

I hope this helps,



Cheu

What size screen does it have

Wow. Not good. Did you contact AMS? Is that a common issue with these or was the unit defective?

I'm testing a new Neve 1073spx now.

The power supply now works correctly. But still have some RFI/EMI. A demo Furman arrives tomorrow to see if this solves it. If not, I'm switching my pre amp for sure, I'm out of options if the Furman doesnt work, I think.

Wow. That's unacceptable for gear at that price point. Have you tried to get any thoughts from AMS to see what they would say?

They didn't answer me on the RFI/EMI, I doubt they would to be honest. what can they say?

If it is common, they wouldn't admit it. Maybe my house has problems causing this, I will post my results when I have them. has this ever happened to anyone here reading this? Doesn't need to be RFI/EMI in a preamp, could be any pro audio gear they own.

On another note:
is there any transformers out there that are better than St.Ives/Carnhill? If so, I'd like to know which kit has better spec inside. recently heard a vintage 1073 and it blew me away.
These Marinair transformers can't really touch vintage Neve at all. Guess that's why they are 6k now++.

Curious to know what is inside the Chandler TG Channel MK2 also.

Appreciate all this info, what is putting me off a lot of things is no XLR on the front (except for this 1073spx), I'm keen on a Chandler TG Channel MK 2 or a BAE 1028/1032 now if this 1073spx doesn't pan out. But I can definitely get over it as long as the damn Radio doesn't play in my preamp when im trying to record!

You have your best choices in my post, of course imho.

The vintage neve have an incredible sound indeed, I do think the Avedis and the BAE are somewhat the closest you could get (for sure regarding the quality). with the BAE you could get the 1023, if 3band with a lot of freq choice and an hpf is enough.

I rarely saw a preamp like that with the input on the front (i believe the rca/retro op6 has one..but it's a different animal altogether).

Btw this is very easy to solve..
1. The "elegant" way: put them on a second panel below the preamp with some short cable (ps: check the soldering / polarity!)..sort of a dedicated patch.
2. The "I-don't-have-RU-space-anymore" solution: stick two xlr cables (10m long) and let them arrive wherever is more practical to you.



Cheu

I haven't ever had this issue with any of my pro gear. I'd be curious if others have experienced it, and if so, how they dealt with it.

OK even the Furman PL-8C E does not block out the RFI/EMI in my 1073SPX.

A tech guy believes this means the unit is receiving it itself, as any interference from the mains SHOULD be blocked out by this fairly higher end Furman.

I'm now demo'ing a BAE 1073 I believe and a 500 series Chandler w/ API Lunchbox, to see if either will work with no RFI/EMI.

On top of this, got this SSL Fusion here, when it gets near my UFX+ there is a lot of mains hum/ noise, it needs to go above my UFX+.

Im wondering if there is a type of special sheeting or material that can be placed in between both in order for this to be okay?

Sound like you have electrical issues at your place.
I use a neve dxp (same psu) and a fusion in different studios and they are dead quiet.
Did you take the units to someone else's place to try them?

Are you running your power from one socket point.

My studio runs off a single 13amp socket but the distribution board with all the sockets on it is in a proper star earth configuration, I also keep my computer gear on a separate mains feed.

I have 30 plus plugs running and everything is totally silent.

I think there's a possibily there is an issue with your mains?

No from numerous sockets. I have 2 on each side, the furman is connected directly into 1of2 sockets on a side.

All will be revealed when the other demo mic pres arrive. If it is still bad in all of them, I guess I am getting a professional in to solve the issue somehow.

Tbh I'm not totally gobsmacked by the sound of a 1073spx anyway. It is definitely better than the UFX+ mic pre's but I know there is better out there for sure, that potentially will also fix this issue.

I'm using a BAE 1073D for vocals and it has heaps of vibe, plus the build quality is superb.

I demoed a AMS Neve 1073 and thought it was a tad boring, the BAE definately has the vintage Neve thing going on if that's what your looking for?

I hope you get your hum sorted out soon.

precisely. another thing to do would be to exhange it for an identical placement. it could be a bad unit or a bad rf environment.

Been using my new 1073SPX for a few days now and it sounds great - big and warm. Certainly no radio stations being picked up!

If you are in a less than ideal RFI environment the TG-2 may be good for you because the entire case is mu metal, which blocks that stuff.

Hello, I am a new member here and this is my first post, just wanted to say I bought a neve 1073 SPX and absolutely love it, the functionality is exceptional love the line input on back, makes it easy to send out line signals to be processed. Regarding your situation, super sorry to hear that, I live under power lines and cant use unbalanced amplifiers and such for I get crazy RSI. I never had an issue with RSI with the neve 1073 spx I think yours may be broken? I have it plugged into a furman dmc power conditioner. Hopefully it works by now its an old thread I just wanted to post for any people wanting to buy a spx but have doubts.

yeah funny that you should comment this because i bought the 1073 SPX and am pretty blown away with the sound so far. huge upgrade from my apollo x6 preamp which is already good

yep, I've owned my 1073SPX for a year now and it sounds gorgeous. I don't own any other Neve style preamps so can't say how it compares to an original 1073 or any of the clones etc etc. But I can say wholeheartedly if you're looking for a quality preamp that delivers beautiful warmth, richness and smoothness, look no further