The 5254 is two channels of iconic diode bridge compression, thoughtfully improved and refined for modern tracking, mixing, and mastering.
Since the early 1970s, Rupert Neve’s early diode bridge compressors have been revered for the punch & glue they bring to drums, instruments, and the mix buss – but these desirable characteristics were unfortunately accompanied by inflexible controls and fairly limited versatility. Rupert Neve Designs created the 5254 Dual Diode Bridge Compressor to capture the soul of these coveted compressors while providing modern updates including advanced timing control, significantly lower noise, fully stepped controls throughout, higher voltage power rails, and internal parallel processing capabilities.
Unlike our VCA compressors, which are built for exacting clarity, the harmonically rich tonality of the Dual Diode Bridge Compressor is built to produce a wide range of colors – and built to help you make a statement with your music. Based on the dynamics circuit originally developed for the acclaimed Shelford Channel, the 5254 is outfitted for dual mono or stereo use with Rupert Neve Designs’ custom transformers and class-A electronics, tailor made for a compact 1U 19” enclosure.
Fifty years after Mr. Rupert Neve created his first compressor designs, the Dual Diode Bridge Compressor reimagines the larger-than-life personality of these classic circuits with new levels of precision and control, enhanced creative power, and increased punch to your tracks, mixes, and masters.
The Diode Bridge
Where the VCA compressor found in the Portico II Channel and Master Buss Processor provides unmatched clarity, the weighty, harmonically rich tonality of diode bridge compression can be essential in pushing key sources like vocals, electric guitars, bass and drums to the forefront of a mix. By understanding the limitations of the vintage units’ topologies, painstaking effort was taken to reproduce the unique tone of these classics while improving the noise floor, expanding inflexible time constants, adding full wave sidechain detection for improved dynamic response, and widening the range of threshold and ratio controls. Delivering the powerful sound of these iconic designs with enhanced flexibility for the modern age, the Dual Diode Bridge Compressor is a dynamic tool equipped to make a bold statement on virtually any mix or track.
Timing is Everything
The unified TIMING control consists of six selectable settings, carefully chosen for different applications – a major departure from the slow, fixed attack of the vintage units. FAST and MF settings are designed to help clamp down on more transient signals like drums, plucked string instruments and fast vocals. MED and MS have slightly slower attacks and releases which allow more transients through, while having a slightly longer recovery. Lastly, SLOW and AUTO are both significantly slower and feature complex nonlinear release times, with smoother, less audible level control.
FAST mode increases the speed of both the attack and release for each setting, also effectively doubling the number of time constants from 6 to 12. The FAST mode also allows for a dramatic increase in speed as compared to the Dual Diode Bridge Compressor’s renowned ancestors, providing significantly more tonal & operational versatility.