AMS Neve 1073 OPX: octal micr/line/instrument preamp
Posted on: Monday 4th of May 2020
To mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1073 microphone preamp, AMS Neve is bringing the story full circle with the launch of the 1073 OPX, a brand new Octal Microphone/Line/Instrument Preamplifier designed to meet the needs of the modern studio environment.
There is hardly a professional audio facility in the world that doesn’t have at least one of the iconic 1073 units (of whichever vintage) in its racks. What makes the 1073 so desirable is its unique tonal quality and its ability to deliver warmth, low-mid punch and subtle harmonic distortion, giving studios of all sizes a great front-end for their recordings.
With the launch of the 1073 OPX, AMS Neve has taken its 1970s classic and updated it for today’s workflow by packing eight legendary 1073 remote-controlled preamps with Marinair transformers into a 2U rack unit. Front and rear connectors give comprehensive connectivity to any Studio/Live/Broadcast environment, while modern remote-control software gives two-way control with Total Recall of all settings. Input sources benefit from the transformer-coupled input stage and can be connected directly to the front-mounted Mic/Line/DI input for recording in the studio control-room.
The analogue and digital monitor signal path of the 1073 OPX allows it to be used as a complete standalone I/O interface or as a live room remote preamp with a full, latency-free monitoring cue mix signal path. The optional digital I/O card comes with Neve’s industry-revered mastering-grade converters with up to 192kHz/24-Bit A/D conversion over USB connection. This ensures that the unit can be used as a Primary Audio Interface to any connected DAW-enabled computer, as well as Primary and Secondary Dante connectivity for Audio-over-IP applications.
“We’ve always kept an eye on the changing workflows and technology in the recording studio environment and, overwhelmingly, everyone wants the ultimate quality,” says AMS Neve’s Distribution Manager David Walton. “But ultimate quality and ease of integration can be difficult – and expensive! A rack here, a console there, sometimes it isn’t easy to just plug something in and record. So we considered how we could we get the ultimate quality connected into a studio environment of any size with incredible value. At that point, the concept of the 1073 OPX was born. 8-channels of legendary mic preamp with remote control of all settings, with analogue and digital connection into the modern studio. The 1073 OPX takes the legendary Neve sound to the next evolutionary level.”
The 1073 OPX is shipping now and carries a retail price £2,995 / $3,695. The price for the optional Digital I/O card is £795 / $995. As an introductory offer, AMS Neve is selling the 1073® OPX and Digital I/O card together at a special bundle price of £3,495 / $4,295.
