Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Transformer (RND MBT)

For more than six decades, audio transformers have been the foundation of Rupert Neve’s design philosophy for audio circuitry – and Rupert Neve Designs’ custom transformers are an integral part of virtually every RND product.

Equipped with these transformers, the MBT offers an incredible range of flavorful options that can sweeten, enhance, drive, broaden and completely transform the source material, making it the ultimate tool for musical coloration.

With 3 octave ranges, smooth slopes and minimal phase shifts, the all-new 2-band shelf EQ section has been designed with simplicity and elegance in mind. This smooth and musical EQ provides just the right amount of sound enhancement – especially when used in conjunction with the other sections of the Rupert Neve Design Master Bus Transformer.

With an all-new optical compressor design, the Color Comp brings out the non-linear distortion and “colorful” characteristics of the Opto-Cell, adding a new sense of life and depth to the source material.

The Color Comp features two selectable ratios, a tunable high-pass side-chain filter, variable threshold and release, 20dB Class-A makeup gain and a blend control for parallel processing.

The Width section was developed to increase the perceived stereo width without losing the focus on the low frequencies.

The Width section of the MBT is inspired by the Stereo Field Editor (SFE) “WIDTH” controls found in our award-winning Master Buss Processor, but has a few key differences:

The width control of the MBT is additive only, with a wider range for more extreme operation.
There is a variable high-pass filter (50 Hz to 800 Hz) that can be used to adjust the width component so that the low frequencies remain more centered in the mix, while the mids and highs are spread out to create more space.
In addition, there is a subtle tapering of the width component in the high frequency range to avoid overemphasizing the harder HF tones.

The Silk circuit was introduced nearly twenty years ago and has long been a favorite for Rupert Neve Designs users. Initially available as a simple on/off switch, then with selectable Red and Blue modes and the variable Texture control, Silk serves to enhance and control the even and odd harmonics in any source material.

Super Silk is the latest evolution of this popular technology: with independent controls for Red, Blue, Harmonics and Zener Drive and the ability to adjust gain into (and out of) the circuit, the Master Bus Transformer takes harmonic manipulation to a whole new level.