
Up until now, the only full-facility rackmounting option was the dual-channel 1073 DPX (reviewed in SOS March 2015), in which the original circuitry is loyally recreated but extended to incorporate additional features appropriate to today’s working practices and technologies. Then there are two dual preamp-only models (lacking EQ) called the 1073 DPA and 1073 DPD (the latter with an integral A-D converter), and a 500-series version split across two modules, with the preamp stage in one and the EQ section in a second (1073 LB and 1073 LBEQ, respectively). One is a faithful recreation of the original input module for use in vintage consoles or bespoke racks, and another (1073N) is an updated version which can be used in consoles or racks, but is really intended for use as a (horizontal) standalone module.

Until recently, AMS Neve offered six different incarnations of the 1073. It’s a discrete semi-modular transistor design with transformers on both the input and output, and a three-band EQ plus separate high-pass filter. The classic Neve 1073 input module was designed for a bespoke mixing console called the A88, built for Wessex Studios (which, sadly, is now long gone!) in Islington, London.

It’s amazing to think that a mixing console input module designed back in 1970 is still being repurposed 47 years on, but that’s what AMS Neve have just done with the 1073 SPX. The world’s most famous console preamp and EQ continues to evolve to meet the needs of the modern studio.
