Rupert Neve 551 EQ (500 series)

Interested in this EQ as well. How do you like yours? Do you still use it?

I see. That's a shame. I own a pair of RND 542s and I really like them so I thought I might try their EQ. May need to look into getting a harrison EQ instead then

Think this is fair, but just to weigh in.

I have used the Shelford preamp.

It is totally noiseless with tons of gain, which is good for ribbons and often colored transformer condensers where you don't want midrange clouded, or transients or highs softened further beyond when the mic is already flattering the source.

Has separate line and mic inputs, inserts with mic output and eq input.

The blue silk transformer feedback control besides thickening lows, works well for softening highs, even just running overheads or hihat through, which I see the 551 doesn't have. The red is good on snare, guitars, and buses.

I wouldn't want to use the highs or mids on the eq without the silk options available, which do make a very noticeable difference, especially when cranked all the way. They are almost like 2 tilt controls.


The mids are good for cutting resonances and transparently controlling midrange. They don't have the inductor tingle of the 1073 or same ability to totally saturate output transformer on a snare.


I would say on the whole it sounds nothing like a 1073/84. The 1084 16khz is a thing of beauty. The 16khz shelf on the Shelford is good for cutting transparently, or the bell 1-2db boosts with the blue silk on, the 8khz for cutting guitars, and you don't hear the eq phase immediately when engaged as you do any 1073/84 clone.
The eq is more like a GML or something with some color. The low end has a bell selector which I rather liked, when I wanted to keep a kick tight and not wide or phasey or add some lows to a guitar without adding mud. A BAE 1073 did not work well in those situations.