Rupert Neve Designs - Portico 5017

A 1-channel preamp/compressor that's dripping with classic British vibe! You're certainly familiar with Rupert Neve. He is a name among names and has had a huge hand in shaping what we know as the modern recording studio. The Rupert Neve Designs Portico series — continued here with the Portico 5017 — makes Neve sound available to project and professional studio owners alike. The Portico 5017 gives you everything you want from a Rupert Neve box, but in an easily portable unit.

The Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5017 has a few unique tricks up its sleeve that propel it far beyond what desktop pres can normally conjure. The DI input and the mic pre can be used simultaneously — that's right, simultaneously. Plug your guitar in and get a high-quality DI. But you can also plug in a microphone to the 5017's mic input and record your voice — at the same time! And you know how phase problems can sometimes be introduced when you have both a DI'd signal and a miked signal from a cabinet? The Portico 5017 conquers this problem with its variphase control. This lets you adjust the phase relationship between the miked and DI signals for the perfect (or intentionally imperfect) sound.

In another stroke of genius, Rupert Neve Designs gave the Portico 5017 a blend control. This can be used to combine and compress direct and amplified signals, both live or in the studio. You can use the blend control in conjunction with the variphase control to have access to the best of both worlds: perfectly phase-aligned DI'd and miked signals for your tracks. Bassists, your new studio channel is right here. In addition, the Portico 5017 features compression (which can easily be added to the miked or DI'd signal) as well as vintage-style sound courtesy the "Silk" control. If you're hungering for vintage vibe in a reasonably priced desktop unit, it's right here: the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5017.