Plug-In Power: The Neve 1073 EQ
By Dave Crane

With the release of Version 4.3 of the UAD-1 drivers and software, one of the most anticipated UAD-1 plug-ins will also be released: The Neve 1073 EQ. This new plug-in is an exact digital recreation of the famous Neve EQ. Originally built in 1970, this particular Neve module is the most sought after of all vintage Neve modules. A used 1073 can fetch as much as $5000 on the market.

UA went to Neve with the idea that we could model their revered EQ's and compressors, and after witnessing our handy work with such classics as the 1176, Pultec, and Fairchild 670, Neve agreed. After careful listening tests comparing the plug-in to a vintage 1073 EQ here at UA, we sent it onto Neve. After careful listening tests there, Neve gave us a big thumbs up and we went ahead and completed the project.

To come up with this plug-in, we carefully examined 4 different Neve 1073 modules. We measured some in a console and some out of a console, and finally went with a module that was in a pristine 8078 console. The plug-in sounds spot-on and can bring any track to life, as you can see in the movies below.

One thing you'll notice about the UAD Neve 1073 is that there are no gain markings. Like our Pultec EQ plug-ins, the 1073 is a "crank 'em and smile" type of EQ, where it is hard to make the thing sound bad. And like the Pultecs, the UAD Neve 1073 upsamples incoming audio to 192k in order to get the resolution the numerics required to accurately emulate the filters. Due to this upsampling, a single UAD-1 can run only 5 mono or 3 stereo versions of the UAD Neve 1073. Because of this, we decided to design the UAD Neve 1073SE, a less DSP-intensive version that does no upsampling. The 1073SE gets 16 mono or 15 stereo instances on a single UAD-1 card. We think you'll agree that both sound simply stunning.

NEVE 1073 EQ