"Designed in 1969, the original Neve 2254 mono Limiter/Compressor unit quickly became a legend. Discreet, Class A design and transformer-coupled circuits ¬ used in the input, innovative bridge-driver design, side-chain and output stages ensured a totally unique sound. The original 2254 units are still sought after, decades after production stopped, and they remain one of the milestone pieces of studio equipment."

isn't it spelled discrete?

Kannepa,
have you tried it on the mix buss?

Isn't there a single user around?

What do you want to hear? At this stage in their lives, pretty much all the 2254 compressors will sound quite different.

Would I use one on the mix buss?

No. Probably never.

Vocals?

They're great on vocals, especially poorly recorded ones (you know the ones: clipped tracks done with 002 pres, etc). In this case, I prefer a 2254 which hasn't been recapped yet. This helps "thicken" the sound and can really take the nasty "digital" edge off and make the sound kind of thick and hairy in an analog way. The old caps also make the compressor track a lot slower (for a more "lazy" sound) and I find this flattering for vocals. Recapped ones lose this charm and the 33609 isn't even close, especially for the horrendous price. If you need to mix a lot of stuff and have demanding clients, its a good vocal comp to have.

In this way, its quite similar to an LA-2A

How about on drums?

It can be good, sometimes. The compressor works ok on some slower to mid-tempo snare tracks and the limiter can be great on room mics. Does its sound on drums justify its price? Maybe, but not really, imo.

Bass?

It can be cool. The non-recapped ones can do a tiddy job of fattening up a bass track in a similar way to vocals.

Is it worthwhile on guitars?

Not really, imo. An LA-3A or NY-2A is much stronger for guitars.

Anything else its good for?

Well, values seem to keep going up...

This thread is in reference to the reissue not the vintage units

Thank you very much for your informative and pleasent post (according to your response seems the unit sounds as it looks!).

My question was more towards the AMS Neve revision which -surprisingly- seems to have no feedback at all...

"Worthless joke"? That's an understatement. Go to the the thread about buying a 33609 vs an LA2A...

Why are Fletcher (real name Craig) and Vintage Puppet regarded as saints and sages around here? I hope I get kicked off GearMonkeys! I really do!

They act like they're giving you some sage advice and "mine's a true tool 'cause it got transfomers and blah blah.." THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY. End of story. Can I get kicked off now? Jules? Jules?

There are pimps (famous pimps) here that were very respected by me before and now I always skip their posts. They don't seem to even dissimulate anymore. However, this forum still rocks. We are living difficult times for the music industry and the economy. I hope that's the reason those people are so full of $ht now.

I agree.there are still some good discussions/threads lurking here..
you really have to sift through the serious bullshit now to find them though.
not just overzealous pimps but inflammatory trolls who have zero to contribute.
my days here are numbered

I will kill you to e-mails then, you decide...

Hi there,
I've been waiting for someone to give feedback on these units...
I guess people really don't care about the new Neve company...

I thought it was gonna be THE reissue of the decade!



Pupo

It has nothing to do with no love for the new Neve company.

It has everything to with the price of the thing. Its too expensive for a reissue. I can get a pair of originals for less than a pair of reissues. That to me makes it a no brainer for sticking with the originals. Vintage King banked off the hype from this forumn( & this thread) and thought they could get a little more for it. They banked wrong.

If they dropped the price on it i would be personally interested in checking it out, but at the current price i will gladly stick with my originals. Because there is no way i would buy a pair of reissues in the for see able future.

Hey Thrill...
Yeah, you r right. I just saw a pair of 2254's racked by Brent Averill for U$4500, just serviced. U can also get a pair of Chandler LTD2's for the price of one 2254-R. And I guess they are not going down in price.

Cheers,
Pupo

I decided fairly long time ago not to buy (and indirectly) support AMS-Neve.
In variety of today's high-end manufacturer they don't bring such extraordinary value to table to justify their very special price-list. Plain simple.
My appreciation for some of great recording tools named 'Neve' and priced accordingly goes to genuine Rupert Neve company.

While i share your point of view, it's interesting to notice that when the /33609/JD came out at a $4990 street price (then, a few years after, VK dropped the price to $4250), 33609 originals could be bought for $3500/$3750 on the used market, yet the /JD has remained one of Neve's best seller.
Same goes with the 1081 reissue, a lot of people bought them, even if the $4500 price tag for a raw module is high and often cost more than most of Vintage 1081's i've seen on the used market.
Me think it's just market timing....when the economy will get better, sales will fly accordingly. A lot of people hold off on expensive purchases and for those who didn't, i think they went vintage 'cause it maintains its value better.
One last point: The 2254 module is a sexy motherfvcker....the reissue is NOT(as much).

The only thing I don't understand is what does VK has to do with Neve's prices...

Very well put.

+1 , like this is all VK's fault the unit is priced so high.