Rupert Neve, whose 80-year career in audio has touched music enjoyed by nearly everyone in the world, died in Wimberly, Texas on Friday, February 12th at 94 due to non-COVID-19 pneumonia and heart failure.
Long before his groundbreaking innovations in the realm of mixing consoles, equalizers and compressors, Neve designed amplifiers and radio transistors at only 13 while his father, a British and Foreign Bible Society agent, was based in Argentina. At 17, Neve volunteered with the Royal Signals to provide communications support to the British Army during World War II. He also worked on public address systems that were used by then-Princess Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.
Neve designed his first transistor-based equalizer in 1964, and he was soon after enlisted by Philips Records to design his first transistor-based mixing console. Among his more notable products in the years that followed were the Neve 80 and 50 series mixing desks, and the Neve Computer Assisted Mixdown (NECAM) moving fader system – the first of its kind in the world.
Companies associated with Rupert Neve over the years include Neve, AMS Neve, Focusrite and AMEK. Along with his wife, Evelyn, he moved to Wimberly in 1994, and the two launched Rupert Neve Designs in 2005. In the 16 years since, the brand introduced the Portico series of preamplifiers and analogue audio processors as well as mixers like the Centerpiece, Shelford and Satellite Summing series.
“I’ve known and worked with Rupert for nearly 30 years,” said Rupert Neve Designs’ Co-Founder and General Manager Josh Thomas. “When Rupert, his wife Evelyn, and I sat at his kitchen table and founded Rupert Neve Designs 16 years ago, he had two goals. The first was to set a new standard in the quality of recorded sound, drawing upon his unparalleled depth of experience to create high-end solutions for the modern recording engineer, musician, and listener alike. The second was to pass on his philosophies, techniques, and methodologies to a new generation of designers to carry his life’s work and passion into the future.”
“It was always assumed that the company would outlive him on this earth, and for 16 years he poured his energies into creating a team that would become the caretakers of the theories, practices, and ideologies that truly constitute a Rupert Neve design,” he went on. “All of us at the company are exceedingly grateful for the years of careful instruction and mentoring with which he has blessed us, and we will continue to preserve his legacy in everything we do moving forward. The world certainly sounds better because he was here.”
Rupert Neve is survived by his wife as well as five children, Mary, David, John, Stephen, and Ann.
