Photo Journalism Project by James Ho

Basic Signal Flow on the NEVE 5088

By James Ho

Honolulu Community College is the home of the MELE program. MELE boast that it is the “world’s premier audio engineering school” says Instructor John Vierra, head audio engineer and director of the MELE program. And within the MELE studios there is a magnificent console called the Rupert NEVE 5088 placed in the perfect spot in one of the rooms. The NEVE is one of the greatest sonic quality consoles there is. But how does it work? Here is a basic signal flow on the NEVE.

Before anything really starts on the NEVE we need a sound source. The sound source is anything that makes sound. After we get the sound source we need to capture it with a microphone. A microphone converts the acoustical energy into electrical energy. Electrical energy is what we are working with on the NEVE.

From the the microphone we connect it with an XLR connector. An XLR connector is just a cord with a balanced signal which helps to prevent noise entering our system. Then from the XLR cable, we connect it to a mic line. A mic line connects the signal from the mic (a shorter name for microphone) passing through the XLR connector into a patch bay.

The patchbay allows you to use equipment and effects that is not originally attached to the console. From the patchbay, the signal is sent to the channel of the mic line on the channel path.

The channel path is on the left side of the master section on the NEVE. There so many buttons and knobs that look identical and all do the same functions throughout the console. But we are only working on one channel strip. The channel path is the “science” side of the console. Its goal is to get from the sound source which the microphone is picking up to the multitrack. The multitrack is a recorder.

The signal of the microphone is too low for the console to work with. So, a preamp is needed to boost the signal to a workable level. On the channel path we turn up the knob labeled mic pre. Signal will be visible at the LED lights of the preamp and also at the VU (volume unit) meters at the top of the console. Then from there you turn up the channel fader up to zero. The zero mark means unity gain, which means whatever goes in comes out the same. With the fader we are able to boost or cut the signal coming through. After this you hit the mute button to unmute the channel strip (since it was already on mute). Muting allows no signal to pass through.

From there we are we arm the multitrack. All you do is just press the button with the same number as the channel strip you are using. After doing this you will see levels of the signal on the multitrack. Channel path complete.

Now we start on the monitor path. The monitor section is located on the right of the master section. It is the “art side” of the console as Vierra would say; the “art” referring to what we want to hear. The monitor path’s goal is to get signal from the multitrack to the two track. From the patchbay we need to connect the signal from the multitrack and send it to a monitor channel strip since it is not normalled. A normalled connection is hardwired connections that allows signal to go to a certain destination automatically.

All signal is currently held in the monitor section. Now we want to get all the signal to the master section. The master section mainly controls the overall level of all signals routed to it. To send the signal to the master section, you need to hit the stereo button on the monitor section.

Now the signal is at the master section. Next we turn up the master fader just as you did with the other faders on the other paths and unmute. Immediately after you unmute you will see the master VU meters swaying back and forth to show that there is signal present.

Now the signal is at the master section. Next we turn up the master fader just as you did with the other faders on the other paths and unmute. Immediately after you unmute you will see the master VU meters swaying back and forth to show that there is signal present.

Until now we do not hear anything. On the NEVE you need to select a speaker for the signal to come out of. In our case we need to hit the ST button to engage the speakers of what we will hear in the control room. After this, there is a big, red, knob that controls the loudness of the speakers. We call this the master pot. The master pot does not affect any signal. It’s a volume potentiometer. A potentiometer is resistor that lets you vary the amount of resistance. Turn up the master pot and you will hear the sound source through the speakers. After this you have completed basic signal flow on the NEVE 5088! And surprisingly this is easier done than said!

This is just a really basic signal flow on the NEVE 5088 ,the console that we have in the MELE studios. The NEVE is capable of much more effects and advanced signal flow. There is a great amount of technical fundamentals that go into understanding how the NEVE works.