Rupert Neve Designs Portico II MBC Master Buss Converter Dual-Path A-D Converter and Limiter

From the ground up, the MBC was designed for reference performance regardless of genre or desired sonic character, and the key to this lies in the quality and adaptability of the analog drive circuitry. For a bolder, more powerful imprint, a custom-designed interstage transformer with Rupert's acclaimed Silk circuitry can be inserted to recreate the classic tonality of his vintage designs.

Unlike Rupert Neve's audio transformers intended for line-level output, this new transformer is designed to achieve output transformer harmonic content characteristics at a level appropriate for input to the converter itself. With the addition of variable Silk, the engineer is able to precisely dial in the desired amount of harmonic content; the Red mode highlights harmonics in the mid and high frequencies, while the Blue mode accentuates harmonics in the lows.

From a subtle transformer tonality without Silk, to significantly more color than vintage modules with the Silk/Texture circuit fully pushed, the selectable transformer path fills your tracks with enhanced dimensionality and power. When maximum transparency and fidelity is desired, the transformerless path provides extraordinary detail and clarity.

While many transformerless circuits suffer from thin tonal balance and a lack of punch, the MBC's Class-A circuitry was painstakingly designed to deliver a beautiful sense of clarity, with vibrant detail at both high and low frequencies. As an additional tonal palette to capture your tracks, the transformerless path is an essential complement to the weighty, classic sound of the transformer path. No matter what sonic character you're seeking, the MBC can provide it at the push of a button.

Designed to act as a musical sculpting tool exceeding the quality of available plug-in limiters or as a transparent safety limiter for tracking or live performance and broadcast, the MBC's limiter features refined compound active release topology, which enhances both the accuracy and musicality of the limiter response. The resulting limiter achieves transparency and the capability of pushing the level of tracks or mixes without damage to the integrity of the source.

To further adapt the sound of the limiter, several controls are available for each channel. The built-in S/C HPF (sidechain high-pass filter), sweepable from 20 to 250 Hz, minimizes the limiter's reaction to low frequencies, which tend to be more sustained in nature than high frequencies. The threshold control sets the maximum levels for your digital signal, and the variable release time constant alters the response characteristic to better fit different source material.

The MBC's 24-bit / 192 kHz converters were developed after years of careful listening, and represent a further advancement of the design within the RMP-D8. The precision-controlled internal clock's minimal jitter and phase noise allow the converters to capture the complete performance of your music with a great degree of accuracy.

To connect into your interface or digital console, the MBC is equipped with three digital outputs—AES3 via XLR, S/PDIF via RCA coaxial, and S/PDIF via TOSLINK optical—capable of simultaneous output to multiple destinations. The word clock output allows the MBC to act as high-end master clock for your entire setup, and the word clock input enables external sync to a separate master clock if desired.

The MBC can be seamlessly integrated into a multichannel conversion environment, thanks to its four selectable standard levels from -14 to -20 dBFS. These reference level calibration standards are implemented with a superb degree of accuracy via high-precision resistors and relay-controlled stepped attenuation.

A pair of 22-segment meters provide extremely precise level metering of the input to the converter stage, utilizing a new design that represents the highest resolution LED metering in a Rupert Neve Designs product to date. For monitoring of the limiter's gain reduction, there are 8-segment gain reduction meters designed to display transient reductions with extreme accuracy. The level meters can be further customized with a 1-second or 3-second peak hold option.