SSL has long been a staple of the studio console world. Highly regarded for their sound quality and functionality, SSL has recently entered the live market by announcing the introduction of the Live L500 digital audio mixing console. The company says it will begin shipping this fall. We were able to spend a few minutes with an early version of the console at the Gurus event, held last month at Willow Creek, located near Chicago. Based on that brief demo, and the company's published information it looks like the SSL Live is clearly loaded for bear. The specs are most impressive. You can chose from 972 (yes 972, that is not a typo) possible input and output paths. Mixing takes place with 192 processing paths (144 with full processing, 48 dry) any of which can be configured as channel inputs, stem groups, auxes or masters; and a 32x36 matrix handles output routing.
Local I/O on the console consists of 14 mic/line inputs, two talkback inputs, 16 outputs, and four AES inputs and outputs. Optional are another 16 analog ins and outs, plus four more AES pairs. Standard equipment also includes two fully redundant MADI pairs on coax that can be split into four if redundancy isn't required, two redundant optical MADI pairs, and a dedicated optical MADI “FX Loop.” But wait, there's more! If you need more than that, you can also add another two pairs of MADI coax bringing the total MADI I/O to 12.
But there's still more! SSL's Blacklight optical connection (optional) will carry up to 256 channels of MADI at 96 kHz over a single fiber. The Blacklight connects the console to an SSL MADI Concentrator that breaks out to eight redundant pairs of MADI. Of course, the stage boxes and MADI concentrator also have additional MADI outputs for sharing with other SSL Live desks.
The internal architecture is said to be extremely flexible...apparently making it easy to put the compressor ahead of the EQ or even high- and low-pass filters, for example.
Internally, the new SSL-designed Tempest processing engine operates at 64 bits delivering 24-bit/96-kHz audio that the company says is flat from 20-20,000 Hz with a THD of 0.005%. The internal architecture is said to be extremely flexible allowing you to assign processing paths as needed for the event. You can arrange any of the standard channel processing blocks in any order you like. This would apparently make it easy to put the compressor ahead of the EQ or even high- and low-pass filters, for example.
That much I/O and processing power is certainly impressive, but it's worthless if you can get to it all quickly and easily. SSL chose to outfit the Live with 36 faders in three 12-fader “tiles.” Each tile has five scrollable layers with five vertical banks each. Thus, each tile could have 25 possible fader layouts. The faders are designed to be easily assignable via drag and drop and can be color-coded, and for even easier visual identification, SSL included their Eyeconix visual labeling system. Each of the touch-sensitive, motorized faders has it's own 14-segment input level meter, plus dedicated gate and compression meters.
The centerpiece of the console is a large 19-inch, multi-touch display, which SSL claims to be daylight viewable. In use, it acts much like a large iPad, making quick work of setting up the console, interacting with EQ, effects and other channel processing, and quickly seeing what you're working on.
If you prefer a more hardware-based approach, a focus fader located in the master tile follows the currently selected channel and gives you complete processing adjustment control via a 7.5-inch touch screen and over a dozen dedicated knobs and buttons. In fact, there are a lot of dedicated buttons on the surface; above each fader are solo, mute, select and query buttons. The last button in that list quickly shows what is routed to or from that fader. In addition to all those features, SSL included three solo paths and two dedicated talkback paths.
Of course you would expect to have access to the signature effects and dynamics capabilities SSL is famous for, and you won't be disappointed. EQ, dynamics and even a “noise and warmth” section help give you what the company calls the “distinctive SSL sound.” Also included is a full suite of reverb, delay, and modulation effects, plus an audio toolbox for signal generation, precise SPL metering and a built-in FFT analyzer with true fixed-point-per-octave analysis.
Even with all the hardware controls, the surface doesn't look cluttered, and the touch-screen software is beautifully designed. It's obvious from the start that the console is designed to be customized for each user and event, with no single way of working. Reconfiguring faders is as simple as dragging and dropping on the touch screen, and you can mix and match inputs, outputs and VCAs in any order you wish.
The SSL Live appears to be a console that will handle just about anything you throw at it, and do it with ease. We don't have final pricing, but we suspect it to be in the high five figures to mid six figures depending on options. Of course, we'll wait until we get our hands on one before we pass final judgment, though the initial impressions are quite positive.