By: Serial #: Operations Manual 1
Portico II Channel User Guide Thank you for your purchase of a Portico II Channel module. Everyone at Rupert Neve Designs hope you enjoy using this tool as much as we have enjoyed designing and building it. The name “Portico II” will be used for a series of new ultra-high end professional products that will share some traits. Please take note of the following list of safety concerns and power requirements before the use of this or any Portico II Series product.
The fuse is a protection device intended to prevent additional damage or hazard if the Portico II unit develops a problem. However sometimes a fuse may “pop” due to a mains surge and need to be replaced (it probably did protect the Portico II). The symptom of a blown fuse is simply that the unit does not power up. Disconnect the power cable, try replacing the fuse, re-insert the power cable, push the “Power” button.
De-esser EQ Master Master engage for the EQ section with pre or post compressor selection Line Input Transformer balanced line level input with +/- 6dB trim control LMF EQ Multi-variable de-esser tuned with the HMF frequency and Q controls (EQ adjustments may be made simultaneously with EQ level control) +/- 15dB gain from 70 to 1400Hz, with continuously variable Q from 0.7 to 5.
Compressor-Limiter Fully featured classic compressor-limiter with attack, release, threshold, ratio, link, compression mode, parallel blend, make-up gain, HPF side chain and master engage Blend A parallel matrix providing continuously variable control to mix compressed and uncompressed signals LED Metering Dual 16 point peak meters display compressor gain reduction and output levels Fast Compression Mode Changes the VCA detection from a forward feed design (faster, more accurate attack & release) to
The Rupert Neve Designs Portico II™ Channel The Rupert Neve Designs Portico II Channel is a full 19” rack width, 3.5” (2U) with standard rack mounting “ears”. As with the entire Portico II range, the construction incorporates a heavy and robust steel shell that provides total magnetic screening and exceptional mechanical stability. The front panel is machined from a solid .20 inch aluminum plate with a steel sub panel behind it. The name says a lot about the device but certainly not everything.
THE LINE INPUT The Line Input is a balanced female XLR jack (Pin 2 hot). As previously mentioned, the MICROPHONE XLR inputs can double as line inputs due to the unusual headroom they exhibit, but we also included dedicated line inputs with separate jacks and a position on the input gain to select them.
of a de-esser that pulls down the volume of the whole signal if it senses an “ess”. And it should be noted that the built-in Channel Strip De-Esser acts in a different way and only reduces the narrow area of frequencies that the High Mid EQ is set for. You would be correct if you thought that both of these types of de-essing can be used independently for a “difficult” track. A few notes about these jacks. They are unbalanced and ideally best suited to be used with unbalanced equipment.
impedance causes the high frequencies to roll off due to leakage inductance in the transformer in addition to the above amplifier distortion (This can be an advantage with some microphones!). For this reason we have provided a high value of input impedance that will load microphones to the smallest possible extent and makes the best possible use of that limited “Phantom” 48-volts supply.
sections of the recording. Experience shows that mic preamps and basic console routing paths should offer supreme fidelity otherwise the engineer has little control or choice of recorded “color” and little recourse to undo after the fact. Devices or circuits that can easily be bypassed are usually better choices when “color” is a consideration and this particularly is an area where one might consider comparing several such devices.
engineers follow the basic rule of keeping +48V off until all mics are plugged in and verify that faders and/or monitor volume controls are down before switching +48V on. Most dynamic mics, ribbon mics and tube condensor mics do not need +48V but some newer ones do or they will not work. Many condensor mics require +48V Phantom power or they will not function.
POST COMP Pushing this button changes the order of where the EQ and Compressor are in the circuit. Normally the EQ is followed by the Compressor so that the Compressor responds to significant tonal changes caused by the EQ. This is generally advisable but has a down-side when making large changes to the EQ, one will also probably need to adjust compression thresholds to maintain consistent amounts of gain reduction. So pushing the button puts the compressor first and the EQ follows after.
LMF/HMF IN Engages both the Low Mid and High mid sections and allows one to adjust the mids. HMF -15 / +15 (Boost /Cut knob) Adjusts the amount of High Mid Frequency audio. One can cut or boost by up to 15 dB at frequencies selected by the knob above it. “Flat” is indicated as “0” (straight up). Q (the right one) Adjusts the width of the HMF curve very similar to the way that LMF Q control does. HZ (HMF) Infinitely adjustable center frequency for the High Mid section. It spans between .
De-Esser Suggestions One can use the combination of the buiilt in de-esser plus an eq to shape the compressor response for additional control DE-ESSING USING AN EXTERNAL EQ WITH ONBOARD COMPRESSOR ANY EQ ADJUST HF BOOST LF CUT SIDE CHAIN LINK OUTPUT LINE IN MIC IN GND LIFT WARNING! If connecting the compressor side chain send / return to a patchbay, be sure to normal the connections together, because the compressor VCA will follow whichever signal is present (or absent!) on the sidechain return.
PEAK Selects a symmetrical bell-shaped EQ curve with an approximate “Q” of 2.5. With the button deselected, the EQ is a special Accelerated Slope shelf curve first introduced by the Portico 5032, that is particularly sweet. HZ Selects the center frequency of the bell in peak mode and the 3 dB down point in the shelf mode. The four rotary switch selectable frequencies are 4.7 kHz, 6.8 kHz, 12 kHz and 25 kHz.
COMP IN The compressor section is not bypassed with this button in. This may be the most useful control on the compressor because it is there for “confidence checks”. In particular, exercise it in both the quietest and the loudest sections of the song. Watch out for the compressor exaggerating noise and room sound in the quiet sections and chopping off transients and consonants in the loud sections, either of which suggest maybe too much compressor “action”.
compressor/limiters to introduce a nasty form of distortion called “modulation distortion” when they are set for a combination of fast attacks, fast releases and high ratios. FAST This changes the compressor from essentially responding to the RMS level of the audio to also responding to the PEAK level.
POWER We obviously saved the best for last. If this button is not pressed then the Portico II is maximally “green” and exhibits its absolute lowest noise floor. However, for any of the previously described features and fun controls to have any significance, the POWER button should be pressed. If nothing happens when the button is pressed and not one LED even winks at you, then you may also want to plug in the Power cord too.
Alternate path: Can be routed to the compressor side chain Equalizer LF SECTION Frequency: Shelf type: Peak /Bell Q: Maximum range Rotary switch selectable 35Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz, 220Hz “Rupert Neve Designs Accelerated Slope” Approximately 2.5 Cut 15 dB, Boost 15 dB LMF SECTION Frequency: Peak /Bell Q: Maximum range Continuously Variable from 70 Hz to 1400 Hz Continuously Variable from .
CHANNEL II CHANNEL II CHANNEL II II CHANNEL Portico II Recall Sheet
II CHANNEL II CHANNEL II CHANNEL II CHANNEL
PRODUCT WARRANTY Rupert Neve Designs warrants this product to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from date of purchase, and agrees to remedy any defect identified within such one year period by, at our option, repairing or replacing the product.
