My SSL Doesn't Sound Like an SSL!

I love a good SSL channel strip; they're great for getting the job done, and in most cases just WORK. I recently got the "official" SSL channel strip plugin, and was kinda surprised by what I found.
0:00 - Intro
1:23 - Initial Comparison
3:33 - Different EQ Curves
6:56 - Let's Analyse Those Curves...
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[@joesalyers]

If you've had the opportunity to work on the 4000 series desks you quickly learn that the variations from channel to channel are probably the worst of any console ever made. Especially in the E and G series. Most consoles from that era, like MCI, Soundcraft, Neve, and so on are pretty much spot on the same from channel to channel but SSL would have these wild variations. Some of it was parts swapping and then the other was power supply issues and HEAT that plagued SSL for a decade. The biggest variations was always the filters. IC based consoles were great for features but bad for longevity as well as consistency. The orange EQ is so rare that I have only ever seen 3 of them and in 25 years of working in and around studios and 2 of them I own sitting in my rack. The orange 132 EQ was meant to be a "passive style EQ" and an answer to the Sony/MCI passive console EQ and it was marketed as a Pultec style EQ. Ironically Paul Frindle who designed the 292 Pink G EQ for SSL said the Orange Passive was a very rushed and really only sold well in Japan's very small market. Warren Huart had 4 of the orange EQs in his SSL console and didn't realize they were worth more than the entire console itself until after he sold it. The 132 Orange channels can sell for ridiculous prices on the open market. But its a passive solid state design with a make up gain that was actually noisy. The SSL is modeling the Black Can DBX VCA version "REV A" of the console which had no automation or computer recall and a very dark sound compared to the later revisions of the 4000 that SSL started making their own VCAs and moving automation for the console. They were vastly different from each other in workflow and sound and I think this is where the emulations really differ. There are a ton of VCA (No computer) 4000s out there, and there are even more 4000s with automation and computers. The parts for each are interchangeable but if you rack up a channelstrip from each one you will quickly find they are VERY DIFFERENT! My guess would be Brainworx modeled a 30/40 year old SSL console and the SSL 4K E is based off of the a channel in perfect working order (and how SSL wished it would have been). SSL's low end was terrible every channel actually rolled off at around 40ish hertz on North America's 60hz power and the more things you engaged on the channel the higher that roll off would be. So if you had the EQ and dynamics in the roll off would be around 45 to 50 hertz. It wasn't until the J/K 9000 series came along in the 90s that SSL really built a "good" desk with very little flaws. But the older desks have a sound that people like and still use today. I personally like the Brainworx versions as well its my preferred 4000 E channel.

[@MKD371]

The brown one is the rockiest and the oldest eq broad shaping, the black is quite edgy clear and focused, however not as much as the orange one, which is apparently modelled on the SL 9000 J series, which Brauer raves about and Brainworx also model.

[@davidbasscooper9540]

Great video Sam, you’re very knowledgeable

[@Hectagonist]

3:28 The default routing is actually different on those plugins. Bx_console 4k E is like the actual console: filters -> dynamics -> EQ. You have to depress the PRE DYN button in the EQ section in order to place the EQ before the dynamics

[@Hectagonist]

btw, easy way to confirm this is to feed it a 200 Hz tone, get about 6 dB of gain reduction, and then boost the low end. On the default bx_console you’ll see the output level increase but the L/C meter will not. Now hit the PRE DYN button and you’ll see the gain reduction increase on the L/C meter, showing the EQ is now before the dynamics section

[@digilifepro]

Great point made here. I came up on SSL 4Ks many moons ago and it just makes sense to me to compress before EQing. Compression is as much a tone shaping tool as it is a gain shaping tool which for me, forms the bed of the sound I want. Post-Filters too of course, so I can filter out low/high freq junk I don't need at all first (like everything under 200hz for cymbals let's say), then do my compression to get the feel I'm going for (breathing, squishing, pinched or pumping etc) then from there I don't have to worry that futzing with the EQ is going to mess up my compression feel. Once I get the gain shape I want, I usually don't fiddle with it too much from there, where as with EQ I'm always adjusting as new elements come into the mix and I need to create frequency space for other instruments. To me, it would be like chasing my tail having to readjust my compression with every notable EQ change. Same goes for my Stereo-LR Master Fader chain (an AUX Master really, bc Master Fader inserts are POST Fader and you don't want your compression disappearing during a fade out). My path is always LP/HP Filter --> Color Compressor --> Transparent Compressor --> EQ --> Sonnox Inflator or FatSO --> Limiter (Waves or Massey). [Ofc if the project is being Mastered elsewhere, I will include prints without (most of) my 2Mix plugs and let the client/mastering engineer choose which to work from. Cheers

[@antonionevone7320]

Nice video! I have all three, SSL, Slate and BX. But all the time I end up choosing the SSL one and thats about what im looking for in an SSL channel strip: i DO want it to break up if I push it. Thats exactly what I like about it. Gritty if you want, clean(er) if you stay in the green, and I use that flavor in the mix.

[@digilifepro]

I agree with this, as far as how real-world SSL channels sound when you push them (or better yet, a Neve 1073 or 1081 strip.) But when we say "crap out" here, we could be referring to different causes of the same sound and maybe not on same page. Are we talking about the saturation modeling of the SSL plugin that behaves similarly to the curve that SSL has as you get closer and closer to max overload? Or are we talking about the way the plugs handle actual digital clipping in a way meant to sound similar to analog clipping, less harsh etc Personally, I could never have a DAW plug-in set in a way where I'm seeing clip lights get triggered every bar or beat - I spent too many years avoiding digital clipping in the early days! I much prefer to observe 0 VU (yes, measured externally w analog meters) which keeps me far from digital clips but then add "crapping out" or tending to it with a saturation dial on the plug-in which models whatever device the plug-in is made after. Remember the HEAT knob in Pro Tools? Or maybe the Sound Toys Decapitator plug-in? That's my preferred way to achieve analog saturation or tending towards distortion in the digital domain because I can control it and I don't need to peak out all my meters to do so. That would drive me nuts! IMO, you can "play" analog devices like an instrument since they gradually and often unpredictably *tend* towards distortion, depending on the frequency range and actual RMS voltages. But with digital devices, there's no "play" unless it's built in on purpose like a saturation knob. Otherwise, it's just good, good, good, good, HARD CLIP NO GOOD. without an in between. Kinda rambling to myself here but this nuance is key I think. In conclusion, I like the SSL brand of SSL channel strip plug-in best, but I always avoid the overload red clip light. Does this mean I'm not actually getting saturation then? Cuz IRL, you can definitely hear it getting "Thwackier" before the overload light comes on. Ahh digital metering... What a clusterF of uselessness and confusion! The only rule I follow is to Observe 0 VU on the way in, and the way out. In fact, I set my recording levels by looking at the signal on a Studer A800 meter (especially for drums) and never need to see the digital meter. Cuz by then, you can't do anything anyway. Cheers

[@antonionevone7320]

@@digilifepro I agree with you, i never push the SSL plugin in the red light and prefer staying in the early orange (very often use clippers like Standard Clip or Kclip later in the chain). I checked the levels at which the SSL plugin creates a good combination of even and odd harmonics and I try to stay in that area. I don't reach much often for the PT Heat thing but sometimes I do, I guess I use a LOT of saturation (Decapitator, Saturn, BlackBox, TrueIron) and clipping during mixing, maybe because I mix mostly Punk, Hardcore and Metal stuff.

[@marksaxon]

I have all three as well and I prefer BX for all of my SSL strips (I own BX versions of 4K E, 4K G & 9K J). Granted I'm more of a 9000 J fan but I plan on cancelling my SSL/Slate sub at the end of the year. I thought the SSL strips sounded great but I want to get out of the subscription business and I'm happy with the BX strips. Great comparisons!

[@mrmorpheus9707]

if you never worked on an actual SSL console... how do you know which plugin is truest?

[@TheMixClub]

I like the Black on the SSL E. However I like the 4kb the best of all the SSL offerings. It just seams to have more junk in the trunk good or bad. Its just thick..

[@timhoffmann8262]

did you check the phase? sounds to me like a phase problem. so the ssl sounds very full bodied, the other ones sound out of phase and miss the low end..

[@SamLoose]

Out of phase with what? The snare is in solo…

[@RayFerretti]

For a fair comparison you need to match the curves and boost levels not the settings. For example +9 @ 100 Hz Slate is boosting 90Hz and Brainworx is boosting 75Hz plus 3.5 db more than Slate. The 5k boost for Brainworx is 5.5K and Slate is boosting at 3K.

The orange eq is meant to be a pultec-ish eq

[@SamLoose]

In what way? It’s extremely broad.

[@roberteismann1929]

I suppose you are aware that with the SSl and Slate, when you adjust for example a 2k bell, that's the frequency you get but with Brainworx that is not the case?

[@SamLoose]

Same with the Slate. 2kHz gives you 2kHz, but that’s about the only frequency that is accurate 👍 And that’s only on the HMF, the LMF band at 2kHz doesn’t give you a 2kHz bell.

[@mr_whyy]

Bro the orders are wrong, on the brainworx version it's dynamics -> EQ, not EQ->dynamics, but you can basically re-order things. It might actually sound very different because of this. As these plugins are authorized by SSL themselves, they must sound accurate. This also true for the Waves version. Slate Digital I don't know, IK multimedia's british channel, idk either...

[@mr_whyy]

Other very important aspect to take into account, the ssl version has compression auto-makeup. Which allows levels to remain the same before and after compression for those did not knew

[@1wibble230]

Yeah you need to learn to run way less hot signals into these types of plugins, it'll sound a lot better

[@shineliketko]

It's weird but I agree. SSL's channel strip doesn't do it for me. BX for me all day.

[@SamLoose]

BX rules all 👌

[@raal007]

Hmmm, the BX always sounded too 'pointy' for me. The BX J did sound good, but i also like the SSL Native 2 channel for clean. For E and B i like SSL. Also like the Waves CLA Mix Hub, but lately i've pretty much used the SSLs. Cheers.

[@monkmusic5994]

The far overpriced SSL orig. plugins have never convinced me. Only paying for the name.