Launched 40 ago, the AMS RMX16 Digital Reverberation System is being relaunched in hardware format as part of AMS Neve’s rackmount 500 Series.

In keeping with its predecessor –the world’s first microprocessor-controlled, full-bandwidth digital reverberator – the new RMX16 500 Digital Reverb Module is designed to be musical rather than simply implementing mathematical algorithms. Great care has also been taken to replicate the complex sonic characteristics of the original unit’s analogue and converter circuitry, which played a big part in the overall sound.

The module claims all the musicality of its famous predecessor, but at a fraction of its price (US$1,295/£995). Additionally, the new unit incorporates the nine programs that came as standard with the original AMS RMX16, plus the nine rare aftermarket programs that were only available to users via a remote control with bar code reader input.

The new RMX16 500 comes in a three-slot wide format, and is simple to operate with 18 factory programs including Ambience, Nonlin and Reverse, simulating different reverberant environments, with the ability to control all parameters.

The RMX16 500’s new OLED display also continuously displays all data, including variables (pre-delay, decay time, high-frequency decay profile and low-frequency decay profile) on the front panel so that users can see ‘at a glance’ how the unit is currently programmed.

Key features:

• 18kHz bandwidth, allowing it to also be used as a high quality digital delay line.
• 90dB dynamic range and 0.03% distortion in delay mode.
• Adjustable input and output levels for optimum S/N performance.
• Low power consumption (cool running).
• Independent control of each program’s fundamental reverberant parameters.
• Nudge Buttons to increment or decrement data for all selectable reverberation functions.
• Alphanumeric program descriptions for storing or recalling memory.
• New rotary push encoder enabling all parameters and settings to be adjusted by ear.
• New wet/dry mix blend function.
• New save/recall feature with 100 user-defined memory slots.

When it was launched in 1982, the AMS RMX16 an perfect example of its era’s cutting-edge digital audio processing. Invented by former aerospace engineer Mark Crabtree (who founded AMS in 1976), the RMX16 fused his passion for audio and extensive expertise in digital electronics into a groundbreaking unit that was ahead of its time. From the outset, the AMS RMX16 was designed by ear, with each program tuned and re-tuned to provide as wide a ‘sweet-spot’ of settings as possible by means of ‘carpet graph’ parameter tables, interactively linked control by control. These design principles are key to its longevity and have been carried forward to the new RMX16 500 to ensure that it replicates the original’s outstanding performance.

‘We are very excited to be bringing back the much loved and instantly recognizable sound that made the original AMS RMX16 everyone’s favourite ‘go to’ reverb,’ says AMS Neve Distribution Manager, David Walton. ‘Its unique sound has characterized an enormous number of seminal recordings from the 1980s onwards. Indeed, the AMS RMX16 has remained such an essential piece of kit for any self-respecting world-class studio that vintage units still sell for a substantial proportion of their original cost.’

More: www.ams-neve.com