Great River MP-2NV Vs. Modern Neve Clones

Ha! 

Certainly no disrespect to Dan K., but I think it's hard to beat the bang for buck in Seventh Circle Audio units, especially the N72 (1272), given Geoff Turner's endorsement (won't link, but on the purple forum Geoff_T May 2007). They recently created a chassis / PSU to allow for single modules, so you aren't required to get into the 8 channel chassis. Likewise to Dan, Cory has been super helpful when I've had questions. Is it something in the water up in the great white North?

carymiller, Just want to mention that your review of the Great River EQ-2NV over at the purple site is one of the best user reviews I've ever come across. I've owned a Mercenary Edition MP-2NV for many years. I was able to pickup a EQ-2NV about a year ago. The MP-2NV patched with the EQ-2NV is outstanding.

Out of curiosity, does the Great River distort as easily as a 1073?  One of my biggest issues with my AMS Neve 1073 DPX is how easy it is to make it distort. Does the Great River do that as well, or is it better at dealing with the distortion when pushed? That can be a tricky thing for Emily’s and my big, dynamic voices. I love the sound of the Neve 1073, but the distortion drives me nuts. If I back it off a bit to avoid the distortion the signal just isn’t loud enough. 

Think of the GR as clean with a bit of modern Neve iron color. Calling it clone doesn’t serve it or the good clones any good. It’s like saying a modern Porsche 911 is basically a VW, well yeah it started with the basics but that blueprint was thrown out a long time ago.

Hey Plinker.

About 8 years ago I got a new audio software development deal through a hedge fund in Dubai.

I was running an indie record label, a publishing company, a small management group, and a recording studio out of Tempe AZ at the time and was super over-extended.

I also met my late Girlfriend/longtime partner around that timeframe.

I got a 5-year development deal and closed down the studio after selling off a lot of my analog gear to fund coding a prototype for the software.

It was a hard choice, but at the time...it seemed like the right way to go because I was making a decent wage. I went completely ITB, bought a Prism Titan, and upgraded to Pro Tools Ultimate for my personal songwriting.

In 2021, my Girlfriend, my mother, and one of my best friends all died in a three-to-four-month span (long, horrible story). It was just...a total nightmare scenario. I posted about it...but it's been a hard year for sure.

I sold our home, but since she wouldn't get married again, I didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to custody. So, they're now with her kid's biological father (which is complicated). I took the money from selling our house and started a trust fund for the kids. Then I took my savings and gave that money to my dad to remodel his home and moved back in with him. He's in turn letting me live rent free for however long I need.

I've been writing and recording a lot all year while remodeling dad's house. So, I'm turning a spare bedroom into a little studio. But I'm going to focus on my stuff. I've been playing with Mike Malinin (Ex Goo Goo Doll's drummer), and we've incorporated as a band as an LLC etc. We're working with Sidney Eugene (ex SONY Red Executive) and thinking about starting a new indie label to go after major distribution for our music.

I never stopped writing, and before the tragedies that struck my family occurred, I was already starting to record for the first time in years. But since I don't have anyone to financially support now, and there is some real interest in the music...I'm going to invest in some analog gear this year. I miss certain things sonically about a hybrid setup.

I have the great river and the chameleon 7603 and a vintage neve (giv n to me by my late father) and I feel the great river and 7693 are very similar in character as far as having a modern neve character. Much cleaner but still can be driven into distortion. They both don't distort as easily as the real vintage neve. Neither has the weight but sometimes you dont need it. Neither are thin either so don't presume that when I say neither has the weight of the real neve.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I figure, the best thing I can do is make music right now. Grief hits you in waves. There's no getting around that...but the music really does help. 

Related to the talk about the Great River eq, one may also want to consider the Iron Age V2 as it is so amazing.

Condolences, Cary. Grief is a really weird thing, and you seems to be in a good headspace. Make great music, and be well.

Were you gonna say something Rob?

Oh that explains it...thanks!

And I greatly appreciate it. Today my brother and I are upgrading the Pro Tools Ultimate rig to a 12core Ryzen 5900x chip with a new motherboard...so I'm hoping by the evening to have everything reinstalled. There's 10 or so songs that just need mixing and a ton of other demos around to get to.

2022 was an extremely hard year, but I'm making a promise to myself to make the best of 2023.