MASTER BUS CONVERTER
Dual Path A-D Converter & Limiter
OVERVIEW / MEDIA / FEATURES / REVIEWS / SPECS & RESOURCES
The ultimate tool for creating digital signals with the tone, transparency, and power expected from Rupert Neve Designs.
Whether you’re tracking, printing mixes, mastering, or feeding a large PA, the Master Bus Converter is a revelation in quality and functionality of A-D conversion technology. The analog drive circuitry allows the MBC’s converter to be fed by either a class-A transformerless path for maximum transparency, or by custom interstage audio transformers with variable Silk for a wide variety of tonal enhancements. Coupled with an astonishingly musical limiter, the MBC is always the best choice to capture your analog signals with breathtakingly three-dimensional accuracy.
“The new RND converter is the one you want. It has replaced several high end converters in my rig.”
A Long Time Coming
With over seven decades of analog circuit design experience, Mr. Rupert Neve had never considered a converter worthy of his hallmark until the release of the RMP-D8 Dante-connected microphone preamplifier in 2018.
While the RMP was primarily designed as a mic preamp, its adoption by engineers at the highest levels of recording, mastering, and touring as their preferred converter led to the development of the MBC, creating a new standard for PCM conversion quality.
Dual Path Analog Design
As the last link in the analog chain before digitization, converter drive circuitry is critical in determining the imprinted digital sound quality. 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.
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.
For a bolder, more powerful imprint, a custom-designed inter-stage transformer with Rupert’s acclaimed Silk circuitry can be inserted to recreate the classic tonality of his vintage designs.
Uniquely, unlike our 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 Red and Blue 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, and the Blue mode accentuates harmonics in the low-end. 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.
No matter what sonic character you’re seeking, the MBC can provide it at the push of a button.
Compound Active Release Analog Limiter
The challenge here was to design a limiter that could act as both a musical sculpting tool exceeding the quality of available plug-in limiters, while also being able to act as a transparent safety limiter for tracking or live performance & broadcast.
To further adapt the sound of the limiter, we’ve added a number of controls to fine-tune its response: The built-in sweepable side chain high-pass filter minimizes the limiter’s reaction to low frequencies to let your bass come through full-force, the class-A line amp stage adds up to 20dB of ultra-clean gain, and the MBC can even be used as a dual mono design (rather than stereo linked) for high-fidelity instrument tracking purposes.
Mastering-Grade Conversion
The MBC’s 24-bit/192kHz 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 – simply put, the MBC creates an uncanny digital representation of your analog signals.
To connect into your interface or digital console, the MBC is equipped with AES, S/PDIF and TOSLINK outputs 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 allows external sync to a separate master clock if desired. Finally, to seamlessly integrate the MBC into a multichannel conversion environment, four standard levels from -14dBFS to -20dBFS can be selected to accurately match your other converters. These Reference Level calibration standards are implemented with a superb degree of accuracy via high-precision resistors and relay-controlled stepped attenuation.
Ultra-Precise Metering
Lastly, 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 a superb degree of accuracy. The level meters can be further customized with a 1-second or 3-second peak hold option.
With legendary sound and a groundbreaking feature set, the MBC is a new digital standard from the master of analog – and the ultimate tool for capturing your tracks, mixes, and masters.
SELECTABLE ANALOG DRIVE PATHS
The very best of class-A transformer-less and custom transformer-coupled designs at the touch of a button.
TRANSFORMER PATH WITH SILK / TEXTURE
Add weight and punch with a dedicated custom inter-stage transformer before the converter. Silk / Texture allows you to dial in the harmonic content and drive saturation of this signal path.
CLASS-A TRANSFORMER-LESS PATH
Maximizes clarity and transparency of the input signal.
COMPOUND ACTIVE RELEASE LIMITER
Ultra-fast response, useful both for musical sculpting and transparent level control.
SIDE CHAIN HPF
Tighten the response of your limiting with a 12dB / Octave SC HPF sweepable from 20Hz to 250Hz.
24-BIT / 192kHz REFERENCE CONVERSION
Unparalleled analog capture with precision clocking using top-of-the-line chips.
MULTISTANDARD CONNECTIVITY
Connect to any of your digital devices with AES, S/PDIF and TOSLINK all simultaneously available.
PRECISION CLOCKING
Maximum accuracy with minimal jitter and phase noise, able to operate as a master clock or sync from another master.
REVIEWS
“The warmth of the transformer in the MBC is exactly what I was looking for…if you looked at my EQ notes prior to using the MBC and then after using this you’d see WAY less EQ.”
Greg Calbi
Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Tom Petty, R.E.M.
“The new RND converter is the one you want. It’s worth twice what they are charging for it. It has replaced several high end converters in my rig.”
Chris Athens
Drake, Beastie Boys, DJ Khaled
“The MBC has quickly become the first item in any FOH scenario. It’s essential to my workflow at FOH these days.”
Matthew Walsh, FOH Engineer
The War On Drugs
“To me, the MBC is just a perfectly-designed two-channel ADC. Not only does this box sound amazing, but the ergonomics are PERFECT. I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
Pete Lyman
Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell
“It would be hard to tell which vocals were recorded with tape, and which were just recorded through this. There’s just so much SOUND in here…it can be crystal clear, but if you want color, it’s got all the goodies. The first time I tracked vocals with the MBC it was like taking a blanket off the mic…it’s very quickly become my go-to converter for everything.”
Brett Orrison
Jack White, Widespread Panic, Black Angels
“…it warmed up, de-muddified, made it crisper and cleaner, without having to dig in and cut out a bunch of EQ or do a ton of multiband compression…this just sort of helped get the sound already ‘there’ without doing anything. It was just, literally, putting this in got the sound that we were looking for.”
Ricky Watts, FOH Engineer
Thirty Seconds to Mars
“…the MBC does what it does extremely well, and it is a joy to use and listen to. If you want to add some analogue polish to a digital mix, the MBC could well be the finishing tool you’ve been looking for.”
Hugh Robjohns / Sound On Sound
“By bringing the company’s transformer-centric expertise to bear in the best possible way – and adding a limiter – they’ve created a high-quality, flexible converter that’s a pleasure to work with.”
“…between the precisely calibrated and detented (recallable) potentiometers and the use of dBFS levels, the MBC manages to speak digital while acting, and sounding, analogue.”
“From truly professional level clarity to classic Neve console-style sonic girth, the MBC delivers superior results across all audio production disciplines that will see it in daily use for those that can afford the investment.”
“I’ve been waiting for somebody to make a converter like this ever since I stopped mixing to 1/2” tape. Of course it was Rupert Neve Designs.”
Chris Bell
U2, The Eagles, Erykah Badu
“What I really like about the MBC is at the conversion stage I’ve got access to the limiter, the transformer with silk to really dial in my sound. It gives me the color I need, the sound I need, it’s easy to use and everything sounds good through it.”
Patrick Conway
Dave Matthews, Nick Lowe, Molly Tuttle
“…the conversion has a snap to it where the snares can pop out easily without getting spongy, and there is a sense of ‘presence’ to the mix passing through it…in addition to the sound, there are so many tonal options in one box…it’s a very nice addition to my vast collection of converters and hardware processors.”
Maor Appelbaum
Faith No More, Yes, Meatloaf
“…the brick wall limiting keeps my mixes in check and consistent, as well as proving a way to keep the number of AD/DA jumps to a minimum. I utilize the MBC as my master clock as well for my gear. Just engaging the clock and transformer instantly improves the sonic clarity.”
Kyle Gerhart, FOH Engineer
Scott Stapp, Fuel
SPECIFICATIONS & DOWNLOADS
XLR LINE INPUT TO AES3 DIGITAL OUTPUT
Limiter Bypassed
zSource = 40 Ohm Balanced
INPUT IMPEDANCE
9.9K Ohm
COMMON MODE REJECTION
@ 1 kHz 105 dB typical
LATENCY SPECIFICATION
(@ 1 kHz, Balanced Analog Input to AES3 Balanced Out)
44.1 kHz = 0.95 mS
48 kHz = 0.88 mS
88.2 kHz = 0.48 mS
96 kHz = 0.43 mS
176.4 kHz = 0.22 mS
192 kHz = 0.19 mS
TRANSFORMER-LESS PATH
FREQUENCY RESPONSE (20 Hz to 70 kHz)
+/- 0.025 dB typical
THD+N (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW)
@ 1 kHz @ -2 dBFS: 0.0009% typical
NOISE (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW)
10 Hz - 22 kHz BW.
-108 dBFS typical
TRANSFORMER PATH
FREQUENCY RESPONSE (20 Hz to 70 kHz)
+/- 0.1 dB typical
THD+N (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW)
@ 1 kHz @ -2 dBFS: 0.002% typical
NOISE (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW)
-114 dBFS typical
LIMITER SPECIFICATIONS
Transformer-less Path Selected, zSource = 40 Ohm Balanced
FREQUENCY RESPONSE (20 Hz to 70 kHz)
+/- 0.1 dB typical
NOISE (10 Hz - 22 kHz BW)
@ 0 dB Make-Up Gain: -107 dBFS typical
@ +20 dB Make-Up Gain: -97 dBFS typical
SHIPPING WEIGHT
10 lbs. (4.5 kg)
SHIPPING DIMENSIONS
24” (61 cm) x 13” (33 cm) x 4” (10.2 cm)
PRODUCT DIMENSIONS
19” (48.3 cm) x 9” (22.9 cm) x 1.65” (4.2 cm)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The MBC has analog inputs and digital audio outputs. To get the digital audio from the MBC into a DAW you will have to use the digital audio input on your interface.
We would recommend using AES as the first choice. For SPDIF, we recommend using the shortest possible cables (no more than 2 meters).
No, you would need to convert the ADAT signal to SPDIF. Some interfaces can switch between ADAT and SPDIF protocols on their optical outputs.
Many people use the calibration setting that best conforms to their existing converters. If you don’t need conformity, -20dB will give you the highest possible level through the transformer, which allows you to saturate it further.
The limiter on the MBC is similar to that in the MBP, but it has been refined slightly and has more available controls to fine-tune the response.
The following may also be of interest:
The Master Buss Processor
Shelford Diode Bridge Compressor