Line Input Section
Line input impedance is 10 kilohms balanced, and a special floating transformer provides good low-frequency performance. A variable gain control allows for an 18dB input range, from -6 dB to +12 dB —I was unable to overload the line input, however. An internal jumper allows the Line input to be reconfigured as a balanced summing amp input, which turns the CIB into a mixing bus processor for summing balanced outputs from other Pure Path units or any other fully balanced gear in your studio.

Filter Section
Next in the processing chain are the high- and lowpass filters. Both filters are switched in and out together with the In/Bypass switch and, like the rest of the sections, can be switched into either the Line path or the compressor sidechain path. Both the high- and lowpass filters are 18dB-per-octave designs with ranges of 2.5 to 25 kHz (low) and 22 to 300 Hz (high). I found these filters worked smoothly with no stridency or ring.

Equalizer
To the right is the 4-band equalizer. It is probably more proper to view this section as two, 2-band equalizers, because Rupert Neve considers the LF/HF as a single equalizer in series with a separate LMF/HMF EQ, a design that is familiar to Focusrite owners.

The manual erroneously depicts the HF section first in line, but the front panel confirms that the LF section is the first section of the equalizer. The LF section operates from 30 to 300 Hz, with 18 dB of boost or cut. The Peak button toggles between shelf and peak curves with a Q of 0.7. Shelving is at 12 dB per octave. The Glow button, as I determined by listening (and the manual shows graphically), broadens out the curve to end up sounding more like the bass tone control’s action on my father’s old Magnavox hi-fi. The LF section is switched between In/Bypass in tandem with the corresponding HF section. So, instead of the trio of buttons, LED’s indicate routing status of the LF and its companion HF section, which is located to the right of the LMF/HMF equalizer.

The LMF and HMF equalizer is a fully parametric design with overlapping frequency selection, adjustable Q factors of 0.7 to 2 and boost or cut of 18 dB for each section. Both sections have x5 buttons that multiply the indicated frequency settings by five. The LMF’s frequency range is 20 to 200 Hz, while the HMF’s frequency section covers 500 to 5k Hz.
Finally, the HF section’s frequency range is 2 to 20 kHz. As in the LF section, Peak toggles between bell-shaped and shelving curves, and Q is fixed at 0.7. The shelf is 12 dB per octave, and there is a Sheen button that also broadens out the curve and applies a high-end gloss reminiscent of old hi-fi tone controls.

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Reprinted with permission from Magazine, November, 2000
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