Neve 88RS
The first all-new large-format analogue music console from AMS Neve in twenty years - and the channel strip that escaped the console and became software.
Overview
The 88RS is two things wearing one badge. In the studio, it is the channel strip of AMS Neve's 88R console, the first all-new analogue music-production desk from the AMS Neve stable in twenty years, according to Studio Sound (October 2000, p.22), which gave readers an exclusive overview of the desk's capabilities and promise. In the box, the same name belongs to Universal Audio's UAD-2 channel-strip emulation, which period reviewers treated as one of the more convincing Neve recreations available. Both exist, both are sought after, and they should not be confused.
Studio Sound (October 2000, p.22) described the 88R as designed from the ground up for user requirements. The electronic design was new rather than carried over from an earlier desk, and performance was reported increased, with ±20dB of gain on the hands. So the 88RS wasn't a reissue or a parts-bin exercise. It was a new analogue design from a company whose older designs had already become the reference point.
The software side arrived through Universal Audio's UAD-2 platform. Mix (September 2015, p.74) reviewed the Neve 88R Channel Strip Collection alongside a Softube Marshall amp simulator. It noted that the new 88RS internally up-samples, running at four times the session rate. The earlier Neve emulation did not up-sample and could sound compromised at 44.1 or 48 kHz while sounding beautiful at 96 kHz.
EQ Magazine (April 2008, p.63) called the 88RS probably its favorite of the UA Neve emulations and recommended it for master fader or bus duty. It singled out the limiter and program-dependent compression release as the combination that lets the strip act as a kind of glue holding a mix together. Reviewers also noted that bypassing unused functions draws less DSP, leaving headroom for serious mixing.
The signal-flow detail users discuss most is the pre-dynamics option. Electronic Musician documented the P-Dyn button on the Neve 88RS emulation, which lets tone shaping happen before the compressor rather than after it. The traditional order is EQ first, then dynamics. The difference is subtle at moderate settings and becomes significant as the tone and dynamics choices get more extreme.
For hardware collectors, the 88RS channel strip comes with the console it came out of, and consoles of that scale are a different proposition from a rack unit. Installation, maintenance, and room are part of the ownership equation in a way that a plug-in licence simply isn't. The software side has a low barrier and a well-documented revision history. Buyers should confirm which 88RS they are being offered before comparing prices, because the two markets barely intersect.
The archive cannot confirm production years, original console pricing, channel counts, or detailed EQ and dynamics specifications for the hardware strip. This page will be updated when documentation surfaces rather than filled with plausible-sounding numbers.
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