AMS Neve 1081 8-Way Rack

Designed in 1972, the 1081 was originally conceived as a combined mic/line preamp and equaliser section for the Neve modular consoles. It quickly became one of the best-loved mic preamps of all time. In practice, over three decades of engineers have found the 1081 an indispensable tool for recording and mixing drums, bass and percussion.

The 1081 is entirely handcrafted in the UK by Neve Engineers. A lot of work goes into the construction of each unit, ensuring ultimate quality before leaving the factory and arriving in your studio.

The 1081 uses the same exclusive Marinair transformers as the 1073 in its microphone and line input stages, with the addition of a non-gapped balanced output transformer enabled by the A/B design.

As Neve consoles evolved, the circuit designs became more advanced. The 1081 was the first console module to utilise class A/B circuitry; class B circuitry provides greater efficiency for its transistors but can introduce crossover distortion. Neve Engineers employed a class A/B design to get around this, allowing the transistors to share the preamplification load while remaining in an always-on state, effectively removing crossover distortion.

The classic, gold plated, 3-bank Elma switch delivers accurate gain levels at 5dB steps throughout the gain range. This unique layout means there is no need for a mic/line switch; the pot itself selects the preamp and input. The 1081 uses one transistor-based preamplifier to provide all gain levels, a more efficient design than the 1073.

The 1081's efficient class A/B designed preamplifier provides a high gain output of up to 80dB with a detailed, fast & musical response to transients. This is ideal for capturing percussive instruments with perfect clarity.

The 1081 EQ section is an advancement on the earlier 1073 EQ. The ultimate sound quality remains using similar inductor-based technology, but the EQ palette was expanded to four bands following customer-led research. In addition, two mid bands with more comprehensive frequency selections & high Q settings provide greater control for the majority of program material, and the high and low shelving bands not only have broader frequency points but switchable bell curve settings.

The 1081 features separate capacitor/resistor high and low pass filters, each with five selectable frequency roll-off points at 18dB/Octave designed to separate unwanted signals outside the passband. When combined with the four-band EQ, this flexible tool allows you to shape new sounds and control any part of the audio spectrum.

The 180-degree phase flip feature is handy in multi-microphone setups with multiple preamps, ideal for top and bottom snare micing.

The 1081 module has two impedance settings accessed via the rear-mounted Hi/Lo switch. With settings of 1.2kOhm and 300Ohm, the impedance can be optimised for use with a wide range of modern or vintage microphones.

The 1081 comes in two orientations, vertical and horizontal. Vertical orientation modules can be installed into a console or an 8-module rack, horizontal modules can be installed into the 3U stereo pair rack.