Today we review the BRAND NEW Rupert Neve Designs Newton Channel, a powerful modern channel strip born from a legendary sonic lineage. Its intuitive design provides classic sound on demand, with all the instantly-recognizable character, musical tone-shaping abilities, and proven reliability that define a Rupert Neve Designs product. Equally well-suited for a project studio, voiceover setup, large-scale commercial facility or live sound rig, the Newton gives more engineers, producers, and artists a chance to join the RND family than ever before.
The name originates with Rupert’s birthplace – Newton Abbot, England – and reflects the sonic journeys of his life: from Newton Abbot to Wimberley, vintage to modern, and everything in between. The Newton includes a fully Class-A mic preamp with a sweepable high-pass filter, a musical 3-band discrete EQ section with LF & HF shelves and a fully parametric mid band, a fast & flexible VCA compressor, and custom Rupert Neve Designs transformer-coupled outputs with RND’s beloved harmonic color stage: variable Silk Red & Blue.
The Newton’s input stage accepts both mic and line level signals, the compressor’s action can be linked with a second Newton, and 31-position detented controls are used throughout. This makes the Newton ideal not just for tracking, but also for stereo bus processing when paired with a second unit. The compressor can be placed pre or post EQ, and both the EQ and compressor can be fully bypassed via switches on the front panel.
Finally, like many other recent Rupert Neve Designs products, the Newton Channel also offers both Main and -6dB Outputs, the latter enabling engineers to fully drive the Newton in order to achieve more transformer harmonics without clipping the next device in the chain. Coupled with variable Silk Red and Blue modes to enhance musically relevant harmonic content across two different frequency ranges, the Newton offers a wide variety of sonic coloration possibilities ranging from clean & transparent to over-the-top
vintage tones.
The Newton Channel is made in the USA and begins shipping worldwide in June 2023, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price
of $1,999 USD.
