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Simon Tillbrook
Portico™ 5033
- December 2006
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These days, dedicating a whole box to analogue EQ is indeed unusual, so it had better be something special. SIMON TILLBROOK is flirting with filters...
Review
Friends and colleagues have always been both amused and bemused by my interest and fascination with good design. Something inherited from my father, there has been little in my professional life to really shout about, but you can always rely on one name to feed my interests, Rupert Neve.
I have had the opportunity to use and test units in the Neve designed Portico range and without exception have always been impressed by the shear uncompromising quality that they offer. The latest in this impressive range is the Portico 5033, a rare beast indeed, a single channel five-band equaliser.
O ve r v i e w
As with the rest of the Portico range, the 5033 is a half rack 1U and it can come in either a vertical or horizontal front panel layout. If the horizontal option is selected then you can use the horizontal joining kit to strap the 5033 to another unit in the Portico range to form a single 19-inch 1U rack mount. In vertical configuration you can take advantage of the vertical rack-mounting frame.
The build quality of the Portico range is evident from the moment you lift one from the box. The Portico 5033 feels heavy and reassuringly robust. Housed in a steel shell, magnetically shielded, and with a steel reinforced aluminium front panel, you feel that the 5033 will withstand hard use.
Much of the weight of the Portico 5033 is down to the transformers creating the line amplifier. The input transformer is 10k?, fully floating and balanced, providing high levels of isolation from the variety of electrical and environmental interference around us. The output transformer can provide a maximum of +25dBu output level, which should be more than adequate for any receiving equipment. As a single channel, unit connections are limited. A single balanced XLR input and similar output XLR occupy the rear of the 5033. The only other audio connections we find are the two paralleled buss balanced TRS sockets. These high impedance connections are familiar to other units in the Portico range as they are designed to connect multiple Portico units together and various configurations (in the form of block diagrams) utilising these buss connectors will be available through the Rupert Neve Designs website. Bear in mind also the grand plan –the recently introduced Rupert Neve Designs console is designed with these buss connectors in mind. The Portico 5033 has an external power supply and the socket and activation button for this completes the rear panel array.
The front of the Portico 5033 presents the functions in the same clear and concise way we have got used to from earlier Portico processors. An all bypass button turns the 5033 into a simple line driver through the custom input/ output transformers bypassing all equalisation. An input trim control gives ±12dB for level matching.
The five equalisation bands are all clearly defined with high- and low-frequency shelving filters collectively switchable in and out, and three, yes three, mid bands – each one individually switchable in and out of signal flow. As for signal flow, both shelving filters precede the three mid bands.
Each of the three mid bands can cut and boost by 12dB and has a constantly variable bandwidth control with the impressive range 0.7 to 5. In terms of frequency, each of the three mid bands is fully variable with a generous and useful overlap between them.
LMF runs from 50 through to 400Hz, MF from 330Hz to 2.5kHz and finally HMF 2kHz to 16kHz.
I had the opportunity to use the Portico 5033 with a wide variety of systems both analogue and digital. The portability of the 5033 helps in this regard a great deal, of course. As with other units in the Portico range, I find bypassing the unit functions, and simply employing it as a line amplifier, gives extremely pleasing results.
I n Us e
Without exception, everything that I passed through the Portico 5033 in this set-up benefited in some way. The 5033 introduces a distortion into the low mids that seems to be compatible with virtually every sound you choose. A smooth music depth that broadens the sonic qualities, and your smile.
Three fully parametric and generously overlapping mid equaliser sections lend themselves to tight subtractive problem solving solutions but, as with so many of Rupert Neve’s designs, the 5033 is capable of huge musical contributions to the overall sound. Even with fairly radical levels of boost to a signal you are spared the harsh artificial edge that is so often the side effect of other equalisers at the extremes of their range.
Co n c l u s i o n
I am sure that you have worked out by now that I consider the Portico 5033 to be quite an exceptional piece of audio equipment. The three mid bands give a great deal of problem solving and musical control, and the custom design transformers interjecting low mid distortion are simply superb. There is no system that would not benefit from the 5033, but DAW system users used to other Portico units will find the 5033 a musically powerful addition. Compact, simple and beautifully designed, the Portico 5033 is an equaliser you really must try. ?
I N F O R M A T I O N £ Rupert Neve Portico 5033 £1179 +VAT; $1795 + Tax. Rupert Neve (USA). T +1 512 847 3013. W www.rupertneve.com UK Distributor: Sonic Distribution. T +44 (0)1582 470 260. W www.sonic-distribution.com T H E R E V I E W E R Simon Tillbrook is the Principal Music Tutor at Islington Music Workshop, in London. The rest of his time is spent as a freelance engineer, mainly in the USA. R U P E R T N E V E P O R T I C O 5 0 3 3 F I V E - B A N D E Q