Rupert Neve Designs Master Bus Converter

The Master Bus Converter is a revelation in quality and functionality of A-D conversion technology. The analogue 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 analogue signals with breathtakingly three-dimensional accuracy.

With over seven decades of analogue 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.

As the last link in the analogue 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.

Compound Active Release Analog Limiter acts 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, RND 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.

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.

Lastly, a pair of 22-segment meters provide extremely precise level metering of the input to the converter stage, utilising 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.