Neve OptoFET Optical/FET Compressor

Highly Versatile Analog Compressor and Wave Shaper - The Rupert Neve Designs OptoFET Dual Stage Compressor

The Rupert Neve Designs OptoFET® is a highly versatile analog compressor and wave shaper that combines a newly designed FET compressor with an optimized Optical compressor in a single 1U rack unit. Choose Dual Stage mode to run FET and OPTO in series for complete dynamic control, or engage Dual Band mode to split your signal into lows and highs for independent compression and tone shaping.

• All-new FET compressor design and optimized OPTO compressor design in a single 1U unit
• Two primary modes: Dual Stage (serial) or Dual Band (low/high frequency processing)
• Dual Stage mode: Flip compressor order at the touch of a button
• Dual Band mode: Variable crossover control from 50 Hz to 500 Hz
• Independent, comprehensive controls for each compressor: Attack, Release, Threshold, Make-up Gain, and Blend
• Parallel processing made easy with independent Blend controls (0% dry to 100% wet)
• Side-chain high-pass filter on each compressor (125 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
• FET section: Ultra-fast attack down to 100 μs, selectable 4:1 or 8:1 ratio, plus GRIT wave-shaping mode
• OPTO section: Slower attack starting at 5 ms, selectable 2:1 or 5:1 ratio, plus BLOOM harmonic mode
• Global input/output trim (±12 dB) for total control over gain staging and harmonic character
• Hard-wire BYPASS ALL for instant A/B comparisons
• 31-position fully detented controls for repeatable settings (ideal for recall and matching units)
• Pair two units for extremely flexible dual-mono processing of stereo stems, groups, or full mixes

From transparent vocal smoothing to extreme envelope shaping with massive harmonic texture, OptoFET offers deep creative control without sacrificing speed or precision. The FET side brings ultra-fast dynamics and upper-harmonic edge via GRIT, while the OPTO side adds slower, musical leveling and warm low-order harmonics with BLOOM. In Dual Stage mode, you can drive one compressor into the next (and even flip the order) for polished, “finished” control. In Dual Band mode, OptoFET becomes a powerful split-band processor—use the variable crossover to decide exactly where the lows and highs divide, then assign FET or OPTO to either band (via FLIP) to carve punch, weight, and articulation in ways that feel more like sound design than conventional compression.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Model: OptoFET
• Type: Analog dual-compressor / wave shaper (single-channel), 1U rack
• Modes: Dual Stage (FET + OPTO in series), Dual Band (split low/high with crossover)
• Crossover Range (Dual Band): 50 Hz to 500 Hz
• Controls: 31-position detented potentiometers (attack, release, threshold, gain, blend, input, output, crossover)
• Side-Chain HPF (Each Compressor): 125 Hz, 12 dB/octave
• Input Trim: ±12 dB
• Output Trim: ±12 dB
• Input Impedance: 10 kΩ
• Output Impedance: 40 Ω
• Maximum Input Level @ 1 kHz: +24 dBu
• Maximum Output Level @ 1 kHz: +24 dBu
• Noise (22 Hz – 22 kHz BW, compressor bypassed): -96 dBu
• Frequency Response: 6 Hz to 70 kHz (±0.1 dB)

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