Our Neve 8068
"What makes these earlier ‘classic’ Neves so special? Firstly, the sound was fuller, better defined and more ‘audiophile’ than later desks. The construction was (by and large) discrete – individual transistors and components rather than ICs (integrated circuits). Discrete construction reduces current loss, thereby retaining more of the true signal (a simplification, I know). These ‘classic’ desks used relatively expensive transformers on inputs and outputs, and much of the sound associated with these consoles is as a result of these transformers, which were large, heavy and generally expensive. Later consoles economized in this area. The construction was fully modular, meaning desks could be made more easily to the client’s specification (and it is rare to find two Neves exactly the same, although certain ‘stock’ models were produced). This was an expensive way of making desks, as each section (eq, auxiliary, routing module, etc) is self contained rather than being accommodated in a single strip as in later desks. This meant that eq modules in particular were often stripped from desks and racked up separately, dramatically reducing the number of complete desks out there. Class A is the most hi-fi, offering an ‘airy’ full-bodied sound (think Fleetwood Mac and most of the classic UK recordings of the 1970s). These are fantastic for acoustic, jazz, classical, ambience and rock. One of the most sought after Class A Neve consoles is the 8068 (32/16). This desk also offers 16 simple monitors." Found in an archived article by funky-junk.com
“.We wanted to track thru a desk where the signal went in and came out sounding a bit larger than life. Neve 8058s and 8068s do exactly that. There’s something magical and euphoric about what they do to signals running through them. The 31102’s front end preamps tend to smear things just a bit, giving a subtle harmonic distortion richness that helps blend the individual tracks together nicely. You don’t need to "fight" the signal to blend tracks nor use too much EQ as a result.”