Rupert Neve Designs MBT Master Bus Transformer with 2-Band Equalizer and Compressor

Transform your tone.
For over six decades, audio transformers have been the bedrock of Mr. Rupert Neve's audio circuit design philosophy - and Rupert Neve Designs' bespoke transformers are an integral part of virtually every RND product.

Packed with these transformers, the MBT provides an incredible array of flavorful options designed to sweeten, enhance, drive, widen, and utterly transform source material, making it the ultimate tool for musical coloration.

Create Tonal Magic with the Shelf EQ
With 3 octave ranges, gentle slopes and minimal phase shifts, the all-new 2-band Shelf EQ section was created with an emphasis on simplicity and elegance. This smooth & musical EQ is excellent at providing just the right amount of tonal enhancement - especially when it is interacting with the other sections of the MBT.

Each band has +/- 9dB of gain control, with the LF EQ corner frequency variable from 30Hz to 240Hz and the HF EQ corner frequency variable from 3kHz to 24kHz.

The LF band is excellent at either taming or accentuating low-end to give source material an exacting amount of weight and power.

The HF band provides a wide range of corner frequencies to choose from, allowing adjustments to be made from the upper midrange all the way up to the very top end, giving tracks extra shine and clarity.

One exciting aspect of using the MBT is discovering how the different sections can interact with each other. Sometimes the EQ can be dialed in first, other times it can be left alone until the other sections are dialed in. One thing is certain: the MBT encourages experimentation at every turn.

Breathe In New Life with the Color Comp
With an all-new optical compressor design, the Color Comp excels at accentuating the non-linear distortion and "colorful" characteristics of the Opto cell to bring source material a new sense of life and depth.

The Color Comp includes two selectable ratios, a sweepable high pass side-chain filter, variable threshold and release, 20dB of Class-A makeup gain, and a Blend control for parallel processing.

The compressor ratio can be set to a 2:1 ratio (LO) for subtle & smooth compression or 5:1 (HI) for much more dramatic behavior.

The variable high pass side-chain filter removes the low frequencies from the compressor side chain circuit, allowing low-end information to pass through the compressor untouched while the compressor focuses on the rest of the signal. With a sweepable range from 20Hz all the way up to 350Hz, this is a highly flexible tonal shaping control providing the ability to leave the low end intact while taming or squashing the rest of the source material as needed.

The Color Comp also contains a Blend control, making it easy to use the compression circuit in parallel with the uncompressed source material. This can be especially useful when wanting to dial back the harmonic content, dynamic range reduction, and transient squashing from more extreme compressor settings.

The threshold is variable from 0dBu to +24dBu, with a gain reduction LED illuminating when the signal passes the threshold. However, the Color Comp also introduces audible non-linear harmonic content even with just a touch of gain reduction - as such, we highly recommend listening to the Color Comp engaged even when no gain reduction is visible, in order to discern the amount of tonality that it introduces. The pleasing nature of this harmonic content will become even more apparent as the compressor settings become more extreme.

The release is variable from 100ms to 1.5S. By dialing in higher ratios and faster releases it is possible to get the color comp to actively "pump" with the attacks, whereas with slower release times it will operate in a much smoother manner.

Lastly, the Color Comp has 20dB of Class-A makeup gain. This is not only useful for level-matching the before and after compression signals, but also for driving the interstage transformers found in the Super Silk section for even greater harmonic enhancements.

Find New Dimension with Width
The Width section is designed to increase the perceived stereo spread without losing low-end focus.

While inspired by the Stereo Field Editor (SFE) "Width" controls found on our award-winning Master Buss Processor, the MBT's Width section has several key differences:

• The Width control on the MBT is additive only, with a greater range for more extreme operation
• There is a variable high-pass filter (50Hz to 800Hz) to adjust the Width content, so that low frequencies remain more centered in the mix as the mids and highs are spread out to create more space
• Additionally, there is subtle high frequency tapering of the Width content to avoid overemphasizing harsher HF tones

Super Silk
Introduced nearly twenty years ago, the Silk circuit has long been a favorite for Rupert Neve Designs users. First available as a simple on/off switch, then with selectable Red and Blue modes and the variable Texture control, Silk exists to enhance and control even and odd order harmonic content in any source material.

Super Silk is the latest advancement to this beloved technology: with independent Red, Blue, Harmonics and Zener Drive controls, plus the ability to adjust gain into (and out of) the circuit, harmonic manipulation is taken to a whole new level with the MBT.

• Red accentuates harmonics in the upper mid and high frequencies, adding sparkle and sheen
• Blue accentuates harmonics in the low & low mid frequencies, creating more depth and weight
• Harmonics increases the overall musical harmonic content, and interacts with both Silk Blue and Red
• Zener Drive introduces a diode-based soft-clip circuit for a more aggressive tonality as the MBT approaches clipping
• Silk In engages or bypasses the entire Super Silk section - and is now finally "Silk Purple", one of our most-requested features

Front Panel Features

Input Level
LED indication that illuminates Green when the input signal reaches -20dBu and illuminates Red to show when the input signal reaches +23dBu. This indication is post input trim control.

Input Trim
31-detent potentiometer that controls the input level within a range of +/- 12dB.

HPF Freq
31-detent potentiometer that controls the HPF frequency within a range of 15Hz to 100Hz.

HPF In
Push-button switch that illuminates Green when the 6dB/octave HPF is engaged.

LF
31-detent potentiometer that controls the Low Frequency Shelf gain within a range of +/- 9dB.

LF Freq
31-detent potentiometer that controls the Low Frequency Shelf corner frequency within a range of 30Hz to 240Hz.

HF
31-detent potentiometer that controls the High Frequency Shelf gain within a range of +/- 9dB.

HF Freq
31-detent potentiometer that controls the High Frequency Shelf corner frequency within a range of 3kHz to 24kHz.

EQ In
Push-button switch that illuminates Green when the equalizer section is engaged.

Threshold
31-detent potentiometer that controls the compressor threshold within a range of +24dBu to 0dBu.

S/C HPF
31-detent potentiometer that controls the corner frequency of the side-chain high-pass filter within a range of 20Hz to 350Hz.

Comp In
Push-button switch that illuminates Green when the compressor section is engaged.

Gain Reduction
LED that illuminates Green when gain reduction is occurring. The LED indicates compression for left and right channels.

Release
31-detent potentiometer that controls the Release time of the compressor within a range of 100ms to 1.5S.

Ratio
Opaque push-button switch that toggles between a LO (Out) 2:1 ratio and a HI (In) 5:1 compressor ratio curve.

Blend
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of dry (0%) vs. wet (100%) compressed signal in the audio path.

Gain
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of compressor make-up gain within a range of 0dB to +20dB.

Width In
Push-button switch that illuminates Green when the Width section is engaged.

Width HPF
31-detent potentiometer that controls the corner frequency of the width processing HPF within a range of 50Hz to 800Hz.

Width
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of Width stereo field processing within a range of Min to Max.

Silk In
Push-button switch that illuminates Purple when the Super Silk section is engaged.

Blue
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of low frequency Silk pre-emphasis.

Drive
LED that illuminates Red when the signal level reaches the optimal range for transformer harmonics. The LED indicates drive level for left and right channels.

Red
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of high frequency Silk pre-emphasis.

Harmonics
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of transformer harmonics added to the audio path.

Zener Drive
Push-button switch that illuminates Amber when the soft clip circuitry is engaged.

Bypass All
Push-button switch that illuminates Red when the master bypass is engaged. This master bypass is a true hard- wire bypass that ensures the MBT will pass audio in the event that power is lost.

Output Trim
31-detent potentiometer that controls the amount of output trim within a range of +/- 12dB.

Output Meters
Stereo 16-segment LED meters that indicate output level in dBu.

Power
LED that illuminates Green when Power is On.