Over the last few months I've been assessing peoples' opinions on their favourite mic pres. A couple of years ago I did a very extensive mic pre test, pitting 4 or 5 different Neve pres against API, SSL and a number of other *boutique* pres I'd gathered for the tests along the way. The hands down winner, utilising the gracious services of a panel of 3 unbiased listeners, was the SSL "E" pre (followed fairly closely by the API). I used the exact same cabling for the tests, from the mic to the pre and the pre to the recorder. No other variables were present.
These tests prompted me to write the opening to this thread. I honestly think that SSL pres, and desks in general, get a very bad, and completely undeserved, rap. I think this was originally based on the sound of their first desk, which had rather *spiky* EQ. As a result, and also most probably from it also being used by some people who weren't that familiar with its ergonomic layout, and who were subsequently thrashing around frantically trying to EQ things, the infamous SSL *harsh and spiky* legend was born. Of course, if you've ever used an SSL desk, you'll fully appreciate the massive power of the EQ, but also how fierce and unnerving it can be if the bandwidth is set to too narrow. Personally, this is one of the things I love about SSL EQ - the fact that you can get in there and virtually perform surgery on the sound. Of course, in the *wide* setting, the EQ is just that, very responsive, broad parametric EQ.
So..I honestly feel that SSL - the company - has got this massive hurdle to overcome - a hurdle that was unfairly placed upon them by unfamiliar users who were taken aback by the responsiveness of the EQ, and, with the settings perhaps unwittingly set to narrow bandwidth, users who were horrified at how brutal the EQ could be. Only someone who has used and abused (and subsequently enjoyed) this EQ will know exactly what I'm talking about here.
I work at SSL studios all the time - they are my desk of choice. I spend most of my waking hours in SSL rooms, and these days I'm finding myself confronted by yet another very odd phenomenon - studio staff seem to have started getting this idea that SSL pres and EQ are no good, and that it's better to use "outboard pres and EQ" instead.
My assessment of this is that this is a direct result of the convergence of two different worlds - the pro audio world, and the semi-pro, home studio world. Over the last 15 years, many home studios have sprung up, some with decent gear, others with horrible stuff in them, and the result has seen a real necessity for audio manufacturers to begn to develop and build affordable mic pres/eqs that owners of home studios can afford. An average SSL channel strip costs in the region of $5000 - $12000, so you can imagine that they are very well put together with sonic quality in mind, but of course are way out of the typical consumer's price range. Fast forward to today, where the voodoo that surrounds "outboard mic pres" is incredibly thick, and we can now witness this bizarre convergence where a full on pro studio owner HAS to go out and buy additional mic pres AS WELL AS having a full pro desk as well. It's all a matter of having to keep up with the Joneses, to have to at least show you'll compete in an arena that is potentially a number of levels below that of pro audio, in my opinion, and as the results of my extensive tests bear out, with the SSL pres winning blind tests hands down, I think that it's a potentially huge waste of money for studio owners as well. Yes of course it's nice to have choices, but 15 years ago you would choose a studio for the desk that it provided. If you wanted a Neve room, you'd book it - if you wanted an SSL room, you book that instead. Nowadays, there's this weird negative stigma aimed towards SSL desks that is so totally undeserved, and is probably perpetuated by people who heard "bad things" about the early EQ, or who had trouble negotiating the bandwidth controls. As a result, there's a plethora of, in my opinion, inferior products out there cannibalising and dissipating the good SSL reputation, largely based on the failed exploits of a few novices.
Whatever the eventual outcome of this remarkably odd situation, my feeling is that SSL make fantastic products and I will most certainly continue to use them without reservation.
Neil K.
These tests prompted me to write the opening to this thread. I honestly think that SSL pres, and desks in general, get a very bad, and completely undeserved, rap. I think this was originally based on the sound of their first desk, which had rather *spiky* EQ. As a result, and also most probably from it also being used by some people who weren't that familiar with its ergonomic layout, and who were subsequently thrashing around frantically trying to EQ things, the infamous SSL *harsh and spiky* legend was born. Of course, if you've ever used an SSL desk, you'll fully appreciate the massive power of the EQ, but also how fierce and unnerving it can be if the bandwidth is set to too narrow. Personally, this is one of the things I love about SSL EQ - the fact that you can get in there and virtually perform surgery on the sound. Of course, in the *wide* setting, the EQ is just that, very responsive, broad parametric EQ.
So..I honestly feel that SSL - the company - has got this massive hurdle to overcome - a hurdle that was unfairly placed upon them by unfamiliar users who were taken aback by the responsiveness of the EQ, and, with the settings perhaps unwittingly set to narrow bandwidth, users who were horrified at how brutal the EQ could be. Only someone who has used and abused (and subsequently enjoyed) this EQ will know exactly what I'm talking about here.
I work at SSL studios all the time - they are my desk of choice. I spend most of my waking hours in SSL rooms, and these days I'm finding myself confronted by yet another very odd phenomenon - studio staff seem to have started getting this idea that SSL pres and EQ are no good, and that it's better to use "outboard pres and EQ" instead.
My assessment of this is that this is a direct result of the convergence of two different worlds - the pro audio world, and the semi-pro, home studio world. Over the last 15 years, many home studios have sprung up, some with decent gear, others with horrible stuff in them, and the result has seen a real necessity for audio manufacturers to begn to develop and build affordable mic pres/eqs that owners of home studios can afford. An average SSL channel strip costs in the region of $5000 - $12000, so you can imagine that they are very well put together with sonic quality in mind, but of course are way out of the typical consumer's price range. Fast forward to today, where the voodoo that surrounds "outboard mic pres" is incredibly thick, and we can now witness this bizarre convergence where a full on pro studio owner HAS to go out and buy additional mic pres AS WELL AS having a full pro desk as well. It's all a matter of having to keep up with the Joneses, to have to at least show you'll compete in an arena that is potentially a number of levels below that of pro audio, in my opinion, and as the results of my extensive tests bear out, with the SSL pres winning blind tests hands down, I think that it's a potentially huge waste of money for studio owners as well. Yes of course it's nice to have choices, but 15 years ago you would choose a studio for the desk that it provided. If you wanted a Neve room, you'd book it - if you wanted an SSL room, you book that instead. Nowadays, there's this weird negative stigma aimed towards SSL desks that is so totally undeserved, and is probably perpetuated by people who heard "bad things" about the early EQ, or who had trouble negotiating the bandwidth controls. As a result, there's a plethora of, in my opinion, inferior products out there cannibalising and dissipating the good SSL reputation, largely based on the failed exploits of a few novices.
Whatever the eventual outcome of this remarkably odd situation, my feeling is that SSL make fantastic products and I will most certainly continue to use them without reservation.
Neil K.
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