Ever since the Newton was announced, people have been asking: what’s the difference between the Newton Channel and the Shelford Channel? They’re both channel strips, but one costs more – so is the Newton just a “budget Shelford”?

The answer is no – each has a unique vibe with different advantages, and the odds are good you’re going to gravitate towards one or the other.

To put it simply, you can think of the Shelford as the best of “vintage Rupert” and the Newton as the best of “modern Rupert”. Let’s go through and compare both units section by section.

THE SHELFORD PREAMPLIFIER

The Shelford Channel is deliberately vintage in most respects, and the preamp is no exception. The first thing in the circuit is a very special custom-designed mic input transformer, which also provides the first chunk of gain in the signal path. This is an old-school way of doing things. It doesn’t necessarily measure as perfectly from a test bench perspective, and it’s got a bit of sonic color to it – but it’s a sound that a lot of people really like.

THE NEWTON PREAMPLIFIER

The Newton’s mic input is inherently cleaner, flatter, and more transparent, giving you a more accurate signal at the front end which you can then process as desired. This specific topology was Rupert’s preferred input stage in his lifelong quest for sonic purity.

Of course, custom transformers are a massive part of what makes RND gear sound the way it does. But it’s mainly the output transformer – specifically the way it behaves when it gets driven hard by a class-A line amp – that creates the distinctive & impactful sound of a Rupert Neve design. The input transformers in Rupert’s vintage gear (and the Shelford Channel) definitely provide a bit of the overall color, but most of these rich harmonics come from driving into the transformer-balanced output stage – and the Newton and the Shelford both have that.

THE SHELFORD EQUALIZER

The Shelford Channel includes a vintage-style 3-band inductor EQ, which possesses a special sound unto itself. This is a modern take on some famous old-school designs: the low band was inspired by a 1064 (our favorite vintage low band) and the mid band by a 1073, coupled with a more modern, open high band. It’s a broad-stroke, colorful EQ that creates low frequency harmonic effects when you use it, adding a rich sheen to vocals, guitars, or any other source.

The Shelford EQ also adds switchable peak or shelf operation for high and low bands, as well as selectable high or low Q for the midrange, making it more appropriate for advanced users.

THE NEWTON EQUALIZER

By contrast, the Newton’s EQ is a simpler, more intuitive design, with high & low shelves and a sweepable midrange. It’s generally faster to dial in, more surgical in the midrange, and since it’s capacitive (not inductor-based) it colors the overall sound less than the Shelford’s inductors do.

It was also designed to sound great on virtually any setting. That means if someone bumps a knob and accidentally tracks a vocal with a +12dB boost at 8K, it’ll be bright…but still useable*.

*This actually happened to one of our customers, and (miraculously) they were still able to use the track.

THE SHELFORD COMPRESSOR

In keeping with tradition, the Shelford Channel’s diode bridge compressor is an intentionally old-school circuit inspired by the 2254 / 33609, with TONS of color and character. It’s gooey, it’s rich…it’s great at glueing things together, and it makes everything sound “expensive”.

It also offers tons of control. Switchable ratios, switchable timing, HPF to S/C functionality, and a full parallel path make the Shelford compressor the right choice for those who really want to dig deep and fine-tune things.

THE NEWTON COMPRESSOR

With literally half the knobs & switches, the Newton compressor is made for people who need to get a great, controlled sound fast and who don’t want other features distracting them. It uses a modern VCA circuit more similar to that in our Master Buss Processor, so it’s sonically much more transparent than the Shelford compressor. It excels on certain sources like pop & hip-hop vocals and guitars, and it’s extremely easy to get a great sound in mere seconds. To quote Sound On Sound’s Bob Thomas, “you can think of it as being much like a ‘one knob’ compressor, but with the added benefit of a variable release.”

THE OUTPUT STAGE

Remember when we said the sound of a Rupert Neve design is largely about the output stage? The Shelford Channel and Newton Channel use the same output stage as one another: each with custom Rupert Neve transformers, variable Red & Blue Silk harmonic saturation, and both MAIN and -6dB outputs. These features let you drive both units as hard as you want for vintage color and harmonic density, or back off the drive for greater precision and lower distortion.

Both also feature output and gain reduction metering: the Shelford with a vintage-style VU, and the Newton with two LED meters.

Both Shelford and Newton Channels have MAIN and -6dB transformer-coupled outputs.

IN CONCLUSION

So, which one is right for you? If you need a versatile, easy-to-use channel strip with a classy yet modern sound, the Newton is a great choice. If you want to dig deeper into more flexible settings and are specifically looking for a more classic, vintage vibe, the Shelford is the way to go. But we encourage you to try both and see which one fits you best.

And remember, a channel strip is much more than just a mic preamp – you can always use pairs of Newtons or pairs of Shelfords for stereo processing work as well. They both happily accept line inputs, their compressors are linkable for stereo operation, and they’re equally at home on a mix bus as they are on your front end.

If you want to learn more, feel free to give us a shout – and thanks for reading.

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