RND Portico Plug-Ins Review - Reviews

One of the biggest names in pro audio has joined forces with Yamaha and Steinberg. Hollin Jones assesses the results.

Price: £422.00
Manufacturer: Steinberg
Website: http://www.steinberg.net

Few individuals have had as great an influence on the world of professional audio as Rupert Neve, the hardware bearing his name powering countless recording studios around the world. And while collaborations between legendary engineers/producers and plug-in developers are not new – they tend to be more focused on hardware – it’s rare to come across one as high-profile as this.

Model re-creations
The aim of these plug-ins, which come in VST/AU formats for Mac and VST for Windows, is to faithfully re-create the well-known Neve Portico 5033 EQ and 5043 Compressor/Limiter Duo hardware products using Yamaha’s VCM (Virtual Circuitry Modeling) technology. Crucially, unlike many plug-ins ‘inspired by’ other products, these come with the seal of approval from Rupert himself.

VCM technology is found in many of Yamaha’s digital mixers; the company claims that it offers unique levels of precision and modelling depth and is perfect for re-creating the characteristics of analogue gear in the digital domain. The plug-ins can be downloaded or bought boxed; authorisation is via the USB e-Licenser key. You can download fully functional 30-day demos from Steinberg’s website.

The shape of sound
First up is the Portico 5033: a five-band parametric EQ. There are three full parametric bands (low-mid, mid and high-mid) with adjustable filter width, frequency selection and +/-12dB gain control for precisely shaping the sound’s character. You also get one low- and one high-shelf filter, which is how the hardware model operates. There’s visual feedback to show which bands are active and the usual modifier-key tricks apply when manually adjusting EQ with the mouse.

If you click on an EQ point and hold down the [Alt] key you can change the frequency but not the gain; doing so with the [Cmd] key changes the gain but not the frequency; holding down [Shift] and dragging changes the Q value. The 5033 has an option to bypass all bands, while a Trim knob allows for the adjustment of +/-12dB for the entire audio signal. As is often the case with specialised mixing plug-ins, presets are not supplied, since it’s presumed that anyone spending this amount of money on high-quality virtual effects will want to dial in bespoke settings each time.

Squash it down
The Portico 5043 is a high-end compressor. Again, it lacks any particular bells and whistles, focusing more on re-creating its hardware counterpart. In that respect it has five key parameters: Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release and Gain. This minimalist approach, says Steinberg, enables you to focus purely on the sound that needs to be processed. Certainly, you’re not going to be distracted by flashy extras – the attention here is all paid to the sound.

The 5043 has two working modes: feed forward and feed back compression. Feed back mode is more musical and sweeter-sounding, while feed forward offers greater accuracy. Again, there is visual feedback, though this is via the same kinds of LEDs you’ll find on the originals.

The RND Portico Plug-ins are perfect examples of doing only a few things but doing them very well. The EQ is precise and sweet-sounding yet accurate, and extremely sympathetic to material that you use it on. More than that, it’s easy to use. That might sound odd to someone who thinks that EQ is just EQ, but some implementations in plug-in form can swamp the user with modes, sub-sections and flashy graphics, when in reality it’s sometimes better just to get straight to the heart of sound-shaping.

The compressor is even easier to use: dial in your settings and fine-tune until you get the sound to where it needs to be. It sounds gorgeous, kind to the ears and crystal-clear, reining in the signal, smoothing it out and gluing tracks together beautifully. Whack the Ratio knob all the way up and it becomes a limiter, or use it for subtle balancing of tracks.

Plug and play
These are amazing plug-ins – and the price tag reflects this. The involvement of and endorsement by Rupert Neve is quite a coup, and the results are a pair of plug-ins that sound superb and will be of enormous use to any producer. For beginner or mid-level musicians they may be a luxury that simply can’t be justified. For more experienced producers, they will bring a sound to your tracks that will almost certainly help you to make smoother and better-sounding mixes. MTM

Verdict
WHY BUY
Gorgeous sounding plug-ins
Faithful reproductions
Easy on the ears

WALK ON BY
The price tag will put them out of reach for some

A pair of gorgeous-sounding plug-ins with an amazing feel. These will really help your mixes – if your budget can stretch to them.
★★★★★★★★★

Score: 9

This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 104
Filed under Home, Reviews, Software, Software Effects

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