Portico? anyone have one?

[Drumstruck]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has one of the Neve portico units?

Comments? experiences?

[Trent Griggs]

I have hired the dual Mic pre a couple of times. I like it. It's a clean pre with good gain. I've used it on vox, guitar and bass. They are quite expensive though and I would wager there are a bunch of choices you could get for hundreds of dollars less that will perform just as well.

[Djembe]

I have the 5043 compressor. It's a really useful compressor - choice of feed forward or feed back.
2 channels means you can chain one channel into the other and set one to limit and one to compress.
Also great on master bus.
Only complaint is you can only see one channel metering at a time.

[DarkSky]

I have quite a bit of experience with a number of the Portico units.

Was there a particular model you were interested in hearing about - or did you simply want to confirm that they're solidly high quality pieces (they are)?

[Drumstruck]

I have quite a bit of experience with a number of the Portico units.

Was there a particular model you were interested in hearing about - or did you simply want to confirm that they're solidly high quality pieces (they are)?

Hi Ray,

Thanks - I'm thinking of a few models as part of my long term studio strategy.... but initially I'd be after one or two channels of pre-, so a 5012 or 5032.... down the track a 5059 and PorticoII look good items.

Thanks also Djembe and Trent - I was hoping to hear someone say "you can get a blah-blah that sounds nearly as good for just $n"......

[DarkSky]

Hi Ian,

Unfortunately you're not likely to get advice along those lines (well, not accurate advice, at any rate) IMO. The Portico units are quite good value, and compare favourably to larger format and higher priced gear.

Worth holding out for if you have that option, I'd say.

[jasound]

Ive been using the tape simulator for a few years, it makes for good glue at the end of a mix chain.
You want to have your peaks sorted out though because it' works best when pushed to the edge saturation,
but once past that point its more of an effect that you probably wouldnt want at that stage of a mix.

I've used the dual mic pre with the silk button a few times and it's a great sounding pre with a very open top end.