Neve's classic 88RS console weighs around two tons and certainly doesn't fit into most project studios, including the one owned by internationally acclaimed drummer Ash Soan. But when Ash wanted to capture the sound of this iconic desk on his recordings, he found a simple solution in the shape of two Neve 88RLB mono mic preamps.
Ash, who has toured and recorded with some of the biggest names in the music industry, has installed the 88RLB units into a rack that already included four Neve 1073LB mic preamps, which he bought over 10 years ago.
My studio is mainly used for drum recording and I have a selection of UA interfaces, with Neve preamps for the main kit, he explains. I use 1073's for my kick, snare and hats but I wanted the 88RLB for my overheads. They fit perfectly together and work great, and I'm very happy with the results I'm achieving.
Currently a member of Trevor Horn's band The Producers (along with Steve Lipson and Lol Cr me), Ash's impressive 30-plus year career has resulted in 58 Top Ten albums, 29 No. 1 albums and 10 No.1 singles for artists such as Cher, Seal, Robbie Williams, Billy Idol, Adele, Enrique Iglesias, Dionne Warwick, Rumer, James Morrison, Cee Lo, Celine Dion and Ronan Keating.
A music graduate from Salford University and a former student at Tech Music School, Ash Soan got his first big break as a drummer in 1994 when he joined the band Del Amitri. He toured and recorded with Del Amitri until 1997, then subsequently played with Faithless and Squeeze. He also played at the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony with Mike Oldfield and was the house drummer on the television show The Voice for seven years. His film work is also extensive and incudes playing on the Terminator Genisys and Mission Impossible Fall Out soundtracks for composer Lorne Balfe and on the Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Lion King 2019 soundtracks for Hans Zimmer.
As someone who operates at the top of the recording profession, Ash has worked in many of the world's best recording studios and has often enjoyed the sound of high quality analogue Neve consoles such as the 88RS. It is this exposure to the best that inspired him to invest in Neve 88RLS units for his own studio.
I was at British Grove recently with Hans Zimmer and Stephen Lipson and I loved the Neve 88R console there, he explains. Installing 88RLB units is a very cost effective, convenient and accessible way of getting that sound into a small studio like mine.
Based in Norfolk, Ash's studio was originally set up as a practise space and somewhere to store his equipment, but while working on The Voice he began hosting sessions for clients such as Alicia Keys and Dua Lipa, so he decided it was time to focus more attention on the room.
I've since used the studio to record for Seal, Cher, James Morrison, Rod Stewart, Dua Lipa, Alicia Keys, Julian Lennon, Hans Zimmer, Sam Smith and Ed Sheehan, he says. It tends to be primarily pop and film sessions and I mainly use Pro Tools.
Ash's new Neve's 88RLB units are in the 500 Series format and use exactly the same technology as the preamps in an 88R console. However, they also come with useful extra features such as a sweepable high pass filter, intelligent phantom power control, a DI input and a REGenerate function that makes is easy to add analogue warmth to individual sources, or even entire mixes.
I just love the colour from the preamps on my drums, he says. I've had that sound many times in the past when I've recorded in large studios, but owning my own preamps is the perfect way to add that sound to the recordings I am making now.
-ends-
About AMS Neve
AMS Neve engineers have pioneered the greatest proportion of the ground-breaking techniques in the professional audio industry. Just a few examples of world firsts are moving fader automation, hard disk editing, digital console technology, digital audio for film, microprocessor-controlled effects units and standards such as MADI.
The most discerning artists, producers and facility owners regard AMS Neve products as No. 1 for desirability on their equipment list and have done so for the past fifty years.
Recognised by all the premier bodies in the various fields of music, TV and film, the products and their designers have been honoured by two Scientific and Engineering Academy Awards, an Emmy and a Grammy amongst many others.
All AMS Neve products are designed and built in-house at the company's Headquarters in Burnley, England. For more information please visit: http://www.ams-neve.com
North America Stories
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/01/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Hosts the National Opera Association's 2026 C...
30/01/2026
Student Spotlight: Sriram Narayanan The classical pianist shares his experience growing up with a language disability and finding his voice through music.
Ja...
29/01/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., January 29, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports fu...
29/01/2026
Bluey' Wins Second Consecutive Top Streaming Title of the Year with 45 Billi...
29/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Presents East Coast Premiere of Peter and Leonardo...
29/01/2026
Mercedes-Benz is marking 140 years of automotive innovation with a new S-Class b...
29/01/2026
Back to All News
Love is Blind: Sweden Returns for a Third Season - Premiering ...
29/01/2026
Back to All News
Unmask Bridgerton' Season 4 With Our Complete Coverage Guide
Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek and Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in Season ...
29/01/2026
Back to All News
Extraordinary Crime Mysteries, Mythical Worlds and High-Stakes...
29/01/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
29/01/2026
Get ready to game - the native GeForce NOW app for Linux PCs is now available in beta, letting Linux desktops tap directly into GeForce RTX performance from the...
28/01/2026
Top L-R: The Liars, Jazz Infernal, Living with a Visionary
Second Row L-R: Paper Trail, The Baddest Speechwriter of All, Crisis Actor
Third Row: The Boys and ...
28/01/2026
Airlines, cruise and tour operators double down on ad spend as Australians' prioritise travel
Sydney January 28, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows a...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Marshall Electronics launches the CV420-27X, its next-generation ultra-high-definition (UHD) IP camera, at ISE 2026 (Stand 4N900). Engineered for modern IP-base...
28/01/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Television Mobiles Ltd. (TVM), one of Europe's leading independent outside broadcast providers, has carried out a major refu...
28/01/2026
AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities
FOR-A is bringing remarkable new technologies to FOMEX, the Future of Media Exhibition (ex...
28/01/2026
Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company Media Tailor have once again joined forces to deliver a state...
28/01/2026
Pebble has appointed Paul Nagle-Smith as vice president for customer fulfilment, strengthening its senior leadership focus on customer delivery and operational ...
28/01/2026
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset has announced that leading Mexican broadcaster, TV Azteca is using Veset Nimbus on AWS as a disaster recovery (DR) playo...
28/01/2026
Ensuring it can keep pace with a rapidly evolving live sports market, Balkan broadcast facility provider MVP Most Valuable Production has upgraded its flags...
28/01/2026
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud solutions provider that powers and protects life online, and Yospace, the leader in dynamic ad insertion tec...
28/01/2026
The renowned Reykjavik City Theatre (RCT) recently underwent a major intercom system upgrade using Clear-Com solutions. This milestone project utilizes Clear-C...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix's Kohrra Season 2 Unveils A Thrilling Whodunnit Tr...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
What Next? Netflix Presents the Latest German-Speaking Series,...
28/01/2026
Quantum technologies are rapidly emerging as foundational capabilities for economic competitiveness, national security and scientific leadership in the 21st cen...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
The Wait Is Over: Teaser Trailer Drops for Jo Nesbo's Dete...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Fictional Miniseries Inspired by the Marta del Castillo Case
Entertainment
28 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to ...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Santiago Mitres New Film Starring Ver nica L...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Teaser Trailer for Berlin and the Lady wit...
27/01/2026
L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
Neve's classic 88RS console weighs around two tons and certainly doesn't fit into most project studios, including the one owned by internationally acclaimed drummer Ash Soan. But when Ash wanted to capture the sound of this iconic desk on his recordings, he found a simple solution in the shape of two Neve 88RLB mono mic preamps.
