Rupert Neve Designs - RNDI - DI Box inside photos

[dogma]

theres a schematic about that looks at the ‘silk ‘ and the other one, it’s a variable dc offset on the windings on the trafos

 

[svyet]

Just to say I’m pretty confident that the RND designed transformer used in the RNDI is much better and has much higher speced performance than the OEP mentioned transformer.

Bear in mind OEP transformers are budget audio transformers, although some people like them because they say they “color” the sound, which I understand. And the “color” might be to the lower specs and limitations.

But saying this OEP and thr RND transformer are not similar spec wise, being the RND higher quality

If the tests weren't done is SOME sort of blind fashion the outcomes are meaningless. EVERYONE will choose the Neve because we are humans with biases.

I agree that everyone has biases, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that "EVERYONE will choose the Neve" in unblind tests. I don’t think loyalty to other brands and “flavors” - or even a principled loyalty to DIY for that matter (“because omg BUILT not bought”), or tube-based circuitry (“because omg TUBES”) - should be underestimated, i.e. the very real biases either against Neve or biases not in its favor. In my search of a DI specifically for bass, the practical differences among most of the regular DI’s popular for bass weren’t enough justification for spending any more than I would on the Countryman, and I certainly wasn’t interested in the Neve by name as I didn’t really know who Neve was to be honest. I came into this thing pretty naive..which I would actually count as a luxury working in my favor. Anyway, I get what you are saying and I agree with the spirit of it. I just don’t think it’s entirely fair.

Blind tests though..yes. I love them.

If I had the time and money to spend (i.e. risk) comparing a bunch of different transformers for myself, I would love to do that. Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury. I would also like the luxury of hearing more Bo Hansen DI material - for all its praise - other than the two or three sets of samples I’ve heard. But it’s just not out there. Just a lot of pictures and descriptions - from humans with their own biases - like most gear talk. So, until I can do my own builds and A/B their sound and behavior (against each other and the RNDI) for myself or until someone else can do it, I can’t ultimately make an educated decision.

Instead, I’m happy to pay a not-unreasonable premium in the meantime for something proven that also ticks all the boxes of my new criteria. A generous payment plan and a warranty are icing on the cake.

As for a DIY component in all of this, I will at least have the satisfaction of soldering a new set of patch cables

 

[Ricardus]

I agree that everyone has biases, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that "EVERYONE will choose the Neve" in unblind tests.

Yes. Of course. The one or two people in the world who have never heard of Neve might not choose the Neve.

 

[svyet]

 

[SubSpec]

Yes. Of course. The one or two people in the world who have never heard of Neve might not choose the Neve.

Well, for bassists Noble is even more prestigious when talking DI. So, not so sure everyone is just going to say Neve must be best, there is a reason the Noble cost so much dang scratch, people are willing to pay it.

All the same, everyone will come with their bias one way or the other as you say and if not a blind test that will factor in.

 

[iomegaman]

Yeah, but whan you pass 70 years of age and your eyesight is blurry and dim and you can no longer hold your hands steady it is not quite so easy.

Cheers

Ian

Haha, yeah sometimes I need to magnify REGULAR thru hole and I'm only 64...might as well magnify SMD...in the land of the blind a magnifying glass is king.

 

[svyet]

A bit late, but as promised, here are pics of inside the RNDI-S for anyone curious.

While I had it apart, I also took the liberty of rearranging the shell and internal brackets so the front panel features the flat edges of the shell instead of the default slanted edges (personal taste).

Behaves very predictably as I had hoped. Everything I print through it opens up very nicely. With the MixPre's routing matrix, I also ran a mic into channel 3, channel 3 to L&R mix > L&R mix to Stereo Out > Stereo Out to the RNDI-S, then back into Channels 1-2 (making for a signal chain of mic > preamp > RNDI-S > preamp. Compared to the original signal, the experimental chain sounded better, as if the extra stages "fixed" something. Hard to place my finger on it, but it just sounded more natural through the longer chain. Don't know if anyone can elaborate on why the would be, other than the benefits of a longer analog chain serving to smooth things out a little. It had the same focus, just more natural in terms of what I was perceiving frequency-wise. I imagine splitting the mono signal into L&R and processed through separate transformers and preamps influences that in some way as well. FWIW, the mic was a TLM 193, which is flat and natural already. But the chain sort of sounded like some very subtle and natural EQ had been applied. Don't know if that's more of a testament to the mic or the preamps having a strange character that wasn't noticeable until the longer chain seemed to "fix" it. I suppose I could try to measure that if anyone is curious enough. The only downside is larger file sizes, but storage is cheap nowadays and I'm not busy enough with audio for that to be a problem right now.

I'm also curious to see how the extra stages will effect bass guitar (Bass > RNDI-S ch 1 > MixPre preamp ch 1 > RNDI-S ch 2 > Mixpre preamp ch 2) compared to DI > MixPre.

I have no other outboard, so it feels like a nice hack for taking full advantage of the MixPre and RNDI-S together at all times on projects that warrant it where every little bit counts.

 

[Khron]

I suppose I could try to measure that if anyone is curious enough.

Yes, numbers could help shed light on the effects. Much more so than pure speculation (imho).

 

[svyet]

I agree. It's low on my to-do list, but I'll see what I can do in the coming weeks/months when I can set aside enough time for it.

 

[jokeramik]

Becauase of that I´m using a charge amplifier for piezos. No tin can sound.
But you need high input impedance on a guitar/bass di for the case of using the passive onboard tone/level pots, which raise the moderatly high output Z of the magnetic pickups substantially.

The problem is here, that you change the phase with the first amplifier,
Best regards!