Fiver Friday 551: Plugins, South African Imaging, Jay Z Doc, & More!

Football is back, fall is here, and my inbox won’t stop. Five things for you this Friday.

1. Plugin

Rupert Neve Designs just released its first plugins under its own name. Three of them: the Portico II Master Buss Processor, the 551 Inductor EQ and the 542 Tape Emulator. They built them with McDSP, so this is not some quick cash grab on a famous name. The 542 is the one I’d grab first. Tape saturation, a soft clipper for harsh sources, and that Silk Red and Blue color everybody loves on the hardware. Put it on a VO chain or a promo bus and you get warmth without mud. $129 for the 542, runs in Pro Tools, Logic and pretty much everything else.

Check it out: https://rupertneve.com/news/plugins

2. Inspiration

This one makes me proud. Brionne Olsen, Benztown’s imaging legend from South Africa, just got nominated for Best Commercial Voiceover Performance at the 2026 South African Voiceover Awards. He’s the station voice and imaging specialist at 5FM, and the Sunday Times profiled him last weekend. He calls imaging the “glue” that holds everything on the radio together. His test is simple. You wake up, the radio is on, and you know it’s 5FM before anybody says the name. That’s the job. He also makes the case for real human voices in the age of AI. Couldn’t say it better. Congrats, Brionne!

Read it here: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/business/2026-09-19-my-brilliant-career-the-stuff-that-makes-you-sit-up-and-listen/

3. Music

Lee Brice and Vince Gill, “Never Meet Your Heroes.” A song about the quiet hero. The guy who never made the news, but everybody around him knows what he did. Vince Gill’s voice on anything is a gift. Real country, real story.

4. Web/Social/Whatever

Rick Rubin sat down with Jay Z for eight episodes and HBO just put it out. “Jay Z in 8” is Rubin’s first time directing, and it’s basically the two of them in a room talking through how the records got made and what the lyrics actually mean. Two new episodes every Friday through October 9. If you make anything creative for a living, watch this. I’m hooked.

Take a look: https://variety.com/2026/music/news/jay-z-documentary-series-hbo-release-date-1236843347/

5. Imaging

Our team built a 9/11 audio tribute, four versions, A through D, all up on SoundCloud now. No hype, no big effects. Just respect, and the kind of restraint a day like that deserves. Take a listen.