Rupert Neve Designs 5052 Shelford Mic Pre / Inductor EQ (vertical only)

Mic Pre / Inductor EQ

The Shelford 5052 echoes the simple and definitive 1073 feature set with a vertically-oriented mic pre, high pass filter, and 3-band inductor EQ, while also incorporating modern capabilities like the variable Silk / Texture control from the Portico II Series and simultaneous pre / post “tape” operation. Utilizing class-A, discrete, +/- 24V topologies with custom-wound transformers and inductors, Rupert Neve designed the 5052 as a vintage-style channel strip that captures the soul of his classic designs, without the previous compromises.

MIC GAIN

A 12-way precision rotary switch controls gain from 0 to 66 dB in 6 dB steps.

SILK / TEXTURE

Pushing the Silk button cycles the silk modes from red silk to blue silk to off. Silk reduces the negative feedback on the output transformer, adding harmonic content as the texture is increased. Red Silk accentuates the saturation in the mid and high frequencies, similar to that of the red silk mode on the Portico II Channel. Blue Silk accentuates low frequencies. By manipulating the Texture control, the amount of Silk can be changed from essentially absent, to roughly 4-5% THD (mostly second order) depending on how hard the output transformer is being driven.

INDUCTOR EQ

The first inductor based EQ designed by Rupert Neve since the mid 70’s, the 5051 EQ is very reminiscent of Mr. Neve’s classic EQ, while
providing a thoroughly modern performance.

HPF

12 dB/octave High Pass variable from 20-250Hz

LOW EQ

+/- 15dB Shelf or peak, selectable at 35 Hz, 60 Hz, 100 Hz or 220 Hz.

MID EQ

+/- 15dB with 6 center frequencies; 200 Hz, 350 Hz, 700 Hz, 1.5 kHz, 3 kHz and 6 kHz, with High Peak switch to narrow the bandwidth or increase the Q of the filter.

HIGH SHELF

+/- 15dB Shelf or peak selectable at 8 kHz to 16 kHz.

TRIM

Continuously variable +/-6 dB level trim control.

+48V

Engages phantom power on the microphone input

POLARITY

Push button inverts the polarity of the signal path, and illuminates when engaged. The symbol “Ø” is often used to denote opposite polarity.

HIGH PASS FILTER

The high pass filter is continuously variable from 20-250Hz and engaged by the HPF switch, which illuminates when engaged. It is a valuable aid in any signal chain, but particularly so in a microphone preamplifier. Signals below the selected frequency are attenuated at a rate of 12db / octave, getting rid of proximity effect, building rumble, air handling, motor hum, etc.

LEVEL METER

An Eight-segment LED bar-graph meter displays output level (pre-Silk). The color range proceeds from green for lower level signals, yellow for intermediate signals, and red for high levels. When the 5052 is clipped, the highest red LED will hold longer depending on how far above the clip threshold the signal was.