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 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.