Rupert Neve Designs 517 500 Series Microphone Preamp & Compressor

The Rupert Neve Designs 517 is a versatile 500 Series module that combines a microphone preamplifier, compressor, DI circuitry, and various sound-shaping features. Here’s a breakdown of its key features and specifications:

Mic Preamp:

• Gain: 0 to 66 dB in 6 dB steps.
• Phantom Power: +48V for condenser microphones.
• Polarity Inversion: Inverts the polarity of the signal.
• High Pass Filter: 80 Hz, 12 dB/Octave Bessel slope.
• Microphone Input Impedance: 10,000 Ohms.

DI Input:

• Gain: 0 to 30 dB, continuously variable.
• Instrument Input Impedance: 1.6 Meg Ohms (3.3 Meg Ohms balanced).
• Thru & Inst 1/4″ Phone Jacks: For instrument direct input and thru output.
• Blend Control: Allows blending of the DI and mic preamp signals.

Compressor:

• Opto-coupler compressor with a single threshold control.
• Compression Ratio: Fixed at 2:1.
• Attack & Release Times: Fixed, with a Fast Mode (Attack 40ms, Release 40ms) and Slow Mode (Attack 100ms, Release 350ms).
• LED indicators for signal presence, clipping, and compression status.

Sound Shaping Features:

• Silk Circuit: Enhances harmonic content, reminiscent of vintage class-A designs.
• Vari-Phase Control: Allows for phase alignment of two signals with the same source.

Frequency Response:

• Mic Pre, Main Output, no load: -0.1 dB @ 10 Hz, -1 dB @ 120 kHz.
• DI Input, Main Output, no load: -0.1 dB @ 10 Hz, -1 dB @ 120 kHz.

Noise:

• Measured at Main Output, unweighted, 22Hz 22kHz, Terminated 150 Ohms.
• With gain at unity: Better than -100 dBu.
• With gain at 66 dB: Better than -60.5 dBu.
• Equivalent Input Noise: Better than -125 dBu.

Maximum Output Level:

• Maximum output from 20 Hz to 40 kHz is +23 dBu.

Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise:

• @ 1 kHz, +20 dBu output: Main Output: Better than 0.001%.
• @ 20 Hz, +20 dBu output: Main Output: Better than 0.002%.
• Silk Engaged: Better than 0.2% Second harmonic.

Vari-Phase:

• Phase control at different frequencies.
• @ 100 Hz: 2.9 degrees to 57.4 degrees.
• @ 1 kHz: 33.5 degrees to 156 degrees.
• @ 10 kHz: 149 degrees to -175 degrees.

Phantom Power:

• +48 Volts DC +/1% (provided by 500 Series Rack).

Power Requirements:

• Supplied by 500 series rack with 110-125 mA @ +/16V.

Crosstalk:

• Measured channel to channel: Better than -90dB at 15kHz.

The Rupert Neve Designs 517 offers a comprehensive set of features for recording and sound shaping, making it a valuable addition to a 500 Series rack setup, especially for those seeking the renowned Rupert Neve sound quality and versatility.