for compressors that add "thickness"

the 2500 for taught thump and punch. Never tried it on 2bus

Phoenix for that vari-mu gush and throb and tube hair

the dangerous comp is closer to the MBP in that it is transparent and best used subtly.... but i prefer its grab.... and release.... and its less transparent has a hi-fi sort of suran wrap sheen to it.....

the mbp is weirdly clean - in a way that i find it non value adding.

i can imagine though it being really the right compressor for the right work flow

i do not mean to sh@t on it

its a masters tool. its very special and good ears will get it going. im sure it inspires... didnt work for where i was putting it.... if i had the budget id buy one again for instrument bus

I know, your right. However today, for clean compression software is very close to nail it.
Thats why i find it pointless to put 5.k€ for something that "doesnt sound" when you can do that in the box for 1:50 of the price and get there 90% of the way. Compression with a mojo and character ( like The vari mu or Api) thats a different story, software is not there yet imo.

i'd like to echo the sentiment of the previous few posters. i have been using several grooveboxes/synths without a daw and tried the MBP on the master bus for about a year and found it to be completely transparent and less 'interesting' than i was hoping it would be. it's very clean and assume, based on my experiences, that it's aimed more towards precision mastering duties for more 'traditional' workflows than i was attempting.

i ended up with an overstayer modular channel on the master bus with a 'secondary' chain running on the send/return of the saturation lane and it is exactly what i was looking for.

Personally I loved it on the mix bus, it really respected the low end of bass heavy music compared to some comps, glued well, and although its not characterful like some Vari/FET/Diode comps, to me it isn’t completely transparent either, its got a high quality ‘hefty’ sound. Found myself reaching for the silk too, and always liked what red option provided. Limiter is deceptively good too!

Literally only got rid of mine as i wanted digital recall, so the Bettermaker suited me more.

I'm strange in that I use it as a tracking comp for synth and voices (paired with a Silver Bullet) and similar to good convertors I find it "stacks" extremely well. The headroom is awesome. I can't imagine selling it.

I agree it has a sound, a beautiful translucent sheen enveloping the music. Other compressor may grab the music more and have stronger character, but they dont add that subtle heavenly sheen, i can hear it even more when i put bracasti after it. i still want an api, 33609 fairchild, chandler, 2 retros ect. But i wont sell the mbp to get them.... nothing else is going going to give me that beautiful translucent sound.

as someone who sold mine.... and dont miss it.... THIS reads true to... so if you are on the fence about buying one... or you are wondering why you love it when other like me dont.... trust what you hear. I LOVE the silk on it.... i just get it from my 5060.... if its right for you and you approach it with the workflow and the expectations and hit it right... and want certain things from it. its a 10000% grace machine.

Ok? Thats funny, i had the MBP and whatever i did i did not hear anything..
I do hear my vari mu, it has a kind of lush dark sheen..

Its hard to describe the sound other than some kind of nectar .....i can hear it without doing anything to mbp ....its not the compressor or silk or the sterero.... just some kind of nectar hear it everytime i turn it on.... im not sure if i can hear it after printing the mix ....i actually havent printed the stuff im working on yet other than mostly mp3 for further arrrangement work, but i hear the same nectar ....can almost smell it, every time i put any music through mpb.... its very distinct, ive never heard it before....but i like it...and like i said if i put the bracasti on after it , it liquafies the nectar a bit more making it more obvious...

No doubt this sonic nectar is more subtle character than very apparent tube compressors or api ect............but i really like it, its distinct and beautiful.....hard to describe... but its always there, of course rupert neve didnt make a 100 percent transparent compressor... even though he states that was his goal, he snuck some neve secret necter into the sound....along with the transparency

Next time i turn it on and hear that nectar i'll maybe render something through the bracasti in wave file and see if what i clearly hear while mixing , if i can still hear it at all on the wave files after printing.... its not my imagination though lol its a sound ive never heard before and its always there.....

maybe its useless if doesnt come out in the final print i dont know but its heavenly nectar to mix with... inspiring ...

that being said i would love all those other compressors for what is distinct about them to play with too, but none of them are going to have this distinct neve nectar sound, i couldnt part with it.

I’ve been taking note of and appreciating your posts for years augustin. What are you liking on your mix bus these days?

sooooo for $$$ the only hardware I use on my mix bus is the volume knob on my monitor controller

my $$$ work is all ads and needs full recall.... there i use waves L3, fab L2, Masterdesk, Bax EQ plug.... whatever is needed. But also in ads there is very little master bus being done.... but im pretty sure this is not what youa re after

for Music, which is no longer how I earn.... which is an important note for future readers perhaps.... not because of me but because of cost benefit workflow stuff. Music is usually aka 85% personal ... I am NOT a good example of a mixer who provides a service with this gear.... I am not in "the service" industry when it comes to using this gear.... where the customer / client is right.... when I do other peoples music.... It is usaully a favor and they are present and I bake a couple different passes they can walk away with.... but I will not recall any of these projects.

For my music I will print a couple different passes, mixing into the 2 bus pretty aggressively and maybe months later pick what will see the light of day... having no idea what i was doing in particular on the winning pass. I think the weirdness of the music allows for the big and irresponsible moves on the 2bus.... there arnt real drums and realistic ambiences to to preserve...

so all that to say..... and i think it matters because its not a client frinedly / professionally reasonable workflow thing... what I now use on my 2bus is in this order

DANGEROUS COMP
OVERSTAYER MAS
THERMIONIC SWIFT
DANGEROUS BAX

------------------

two things in relation to the MBP.....

1. i LOVE the stereo field stuff it does... and the centering of the low end.... love all that as a drastic eq move.... so I have a bus where I send all the stuff I want to processes in that way to.... I have a couple hardware options that get me some M/S fun. That way im not doing it to the master.... but to be fair its not as magic as the MBP. But i do use this bus pretty drastically.

2. When I used the MBP I was on journey to achieve a certain loudness before I went back in to print. So the "limiter" which is the same VCA as the comp - just acting with an additional faster envelope.... the limiter seemed important to my purposes... but now I no longer try and achieve a specific or hot loudness.... I let the master stage sort that. I use the 2 bus heavily in mix.... really heavily... works for me. But it isnt to get a loud master. Its the mix.

those are two reasons the MBP didnt keep its place for me.... if that makes sense

That's funny, I also work in advertising, and I don't use any hardware for work either.

For personal projects I actually have a similar chain to yours:

-Dangerous Compressor (I alternate this with a TC Phoenix)
-MAS
-Pair of Pultec EQM-1S3s
-RND MBT for silk and widening.


I knew there was a reason I always thought you had good taste in gear haha.

I've always wanted to try a Swift.

In a other thread a user said the MBP changes the low end. Is there something to it or is this likely user error?

Here’s what they said:

”Neve MBP - Really cool box, definitely miss the SFE section, but I just tried and tried and could never gel 100% with the compressor and limiter. They changed the low-end too much. Silk was cool but I always ended up preferring it off. This unit worked wonders on poor mixes, but better mixes I preferred the entire unit in bypass. Has a little bit of a finishing quality overall but wasn't worth having it around for mastering electronic. Even the SFE engaged at neutral settings really changes how the low-end hits for modern stuff”

Yeah I saw that as well and was baffled. I picked up an MBP about 6 months ago and have been using it daily for mastering. I've used boxes that can mess with low end/punch (e.g. A-Designs Nail, IGS Tubecore, Overstayer MAS), but a lot of that had to do with gain staging, tubes, and/or time settings. Haven't had any low end/punch issues with the MBP. In fact, it has a host of features that help prevent that problem (e.g. mix knobs for the comp and silk, SCF at 125Hz, low compression ratios, RMS/peak control options, long attack times, and no tubes). Plus, you can also use the depth EQ/gain in the SFE to make the low end even more punchy. Obviously the limiter can kill transients if you push it too hard, but overall its fairly transparent (I only use it for kissing the peaks). Perhaps his complaint had more to do with the neve transformers (which some just don't vibe with), or how it interacted with some of his other gear, converters, or monitors? I can't call it. We all hear things differently. All I know is that in my experience, the MBP does not mess with my low end and plays well with the other gear in my mastering chain (Massive Passive, MBP, IGS V8, solid state/mosfet Michelangelo, Pollock, Avalon 747, Burl B2 ADC, Metric Halo ULN8 DAC).

Note: I master mostly hip-hop, neo soul, and reggae, but I've been able to master EDM and soulful house as well without loosing any low end punch while going thru the outboard. However, there are still some situations where staying in ITB makes more sense. Hope that helps.

I have the same experience. Out of all the compressors i’ve tried this box really respects the source material. I’ve used it on jazz, progressive metal/djent, EDM, singer songwriter, etc. and it maintains musical integrity/doesn’t muddy up the low end like some other compressors.

A few clicks of width+depth, 1-2db of compression (one light flickering), a touch of red silk, just kissing the peaks with the soft clipper, and using the output gain (this has it’s own sound that’s akin to a very classy saturator/exciter or driving high quality solid state electronics) to drive into my Dangerous AD+ for a couple more db’s of “free” headroom causes my mixes to grow in size by 10%.

I much prefer to stack many analog units on my mix bus that add a few percent here and there in a totally unique way that can’t be replicated by other pieces or plugins vs. a couple units doing all the heavy lifting. The Neve is perfect for this incremental improvement role. It’s like when I mix a vocal ITB - I like stacking multiple compressors with each adding their own flavor and splitting the compression duties.

I’d suggest new users be patient with the MBP. When I first got it I wasn’t super impressed, but after spending a few weeks and now several years with it I wouldn’t want to be without it. That said, this is very much a luxury/cherry on top piece in my opinion. I wouldn’t suggest it as a first compressor, especially if one is looking for a dual purpose tracking+mix bus comp. It doesn’t do the snappy SSL thing, but actually works beautifully in a chain with a SSL-type bus comp first doing a bit less than usual and the MBP fully wet performing 1-2db of compression, or compressing a bit harder with a shorter attack time and the mix ~50%. Just having the compressor section engaged with the threshold set to not trigger compression and a 4-5db of output gain adds an expensive vibe.

I’m starting to ramble, but I just wish I would’ve seen a post with the aforementioned information when I purchased because I don’t think Neve has done a terribly great job at demonstrating how the unit operates and how it sounds best. Just my 2¢.