Future Music
Jon Musgrave

Portico™ 5043


Choosing a stereo mix compressor can be tough. Finding one that will gel things, but with the right kind of colouration and that isn't a nightmare to set up, means pro users tend to choose from a few established units.On the face of it, the 5043 is a pretty straightforward almost unprepossessing unit (threshold, ratio, attack and release) with manual makeup gain. But hang on, whats this FB button on each channel? It turns out Mr. Neve's been re-addressing his previous compressor design, and opted to give you two options feedback and feed-forward. In essence this boils down to the point at which the VCA control voltage is sourced (pre or post-VCA). Typically, Rupert Neve's compressors follow the feedback (post-VCA) design, and in this mode the effect is more musical. However as you can imagine, feedforward is more responsive. In use its easy to ignore the science and flick backwards and forwards between each mode, but I feel its pretty easy to spot the difference. The traditional feedback mode is gentler all-round although capable of some pumping if you push it, but never really achieves a sense of super-fast release. So in a typical mix situation, it's hard to do too much damage. Feed-forward Id say is significantly different, more responsive and more the sort of thing you'd use to make your drum overheads pump. And, with both attack and release feeling considerably more responsive, its great to have both options under the same lid. Verdict In these days of software dominance it�s very easy to overlook just how additive analogue processing can be. Even if you spend a large amount of your precious time using software emulations, I�m sure there will be times when you need a quality mic pre or simply a bit of something extra. This is the point at which RND�s Portico units come into their own. Sure, you can find fancier-looking outboards out there, and it�s a pity that their compact nature precludes some tasty VU meters. But all things considered, Portico has been designed for those who value sound over image. These are fantastic units and given how expensive some top-end outboards can be, they�re also very competitively priced. So strike while the exchange rate is hot.

Back to Top