Neve 8816 - The Power of Analog Summing

Posted by The Audio Hunt

Hand-built, hand-wired analog sweetness in a box!

Neve 8816 - The Power of Analog Summing
Photo: Studiocare.com

The Neve 8816 is a 16-channel analog summing mixer, featuring a transformer topology based closely on the mix buss of the revered 80 Series consoles.

Designed with the modern producer in mind, the Neve 8816 works by taking its 16 inputs [usually] from the DAW, before adding them together in the analog domain to produce a stereo output. While there is much debate on the effects of analog summing over those of the digital domain, the Neve 8816 adds a sense of depth to a mix – a feature desired by many engineers.

For more details, see our How To Improve Mixes Using Better Summing article

 neve 8804

Neve 8804 external faders for 8816 Summing mixer

The unit also offers a number of features including expansion to 32-channels by connection two units together, flexible insert points which allow for parallel processing over the mix buss, a mid-side stereo-width control, the ability to recall a session via Neve’s proprietary software and an optional fader pack for those with a more tactile approach to mixing.

In use, the 8816 performs extremely well. It has enormous amounts of headroom which, coupled with its transformer topology, offer a silky quality to your music. It’s important to remember the key to summing is subtlety – the effect might some mild to the more novice engineer, however, for those of us who are used to working on large-scale consoles the Neve 8816 provides a great solution where an 80s series console isn’t readily available. 

 

Keywords

Neve Summing Gear
1515