citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message solid state logic ltd type private limited 05356783 1 industry mixing consoles studio hardware founded 1969 2 headquarters begbroke oxfordshire uk key people colin sanders founder products aws900 console 4000 series console 9000 series console xlogic rackmount series duende rackmount dsp number of employees 160 2 website www.solid state logic.com solid state logic ssl is a manufacturer of high end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in begbroke oxfordshire united kingdom . contents 1 company information 2 clients 3 pro audio market 3.1 sequencing 3.2 analogue to digital conversion and encoding 3.3 computers 3.4 modular equipment 4 ssl response 4.1 xlogic rackmount 4.2 analogue workstation system 4.3 duality console 4.4 duende dsp 4.5 mediawan 5 existing large console market 5.1 4000 series 5.2 5000 series 5.3 6000 series 5.4 9000 series 5.5 c series 6 competitors 7 alternative technologies 8 history 9 see also 10 references 11 external links company information edit founded in 1969 2 ssl has since expanded to its present 15 acre 61 000 m2 science park in oxfordshire england . 2 the company invents designs and manufactures technology for the manipulation of sound and the production and delivery of video . ssl employs over 160 people worldwide 2 and has regional offices in los angeles milan new york paris and tokyo with additional support provided by an international network of distributors . 2 one of the first ssl consoles in fact the first in the uk and only the second console sold was a 4000b installed at the townhouse studios on goldhawk road in london . possibly the earliest 4000e console was at rg jones in london closely followed by eden studios and sarm studios . eden had a 48 channel console with integral patch and automation using 8 floppy drives . sarm east had a 40 channel console with remote patchbay and automation with 8 floppy drives . both consoles had total recall enabling console settings and hence mixes to be recalled & remade with a high degree of accuracy . ssl analogue and digital audio consoles are used in both pre and post production for film audio video and broadcast sound . notably in may 2001 3 studio 3 at abbey road studios was refurbished with a 96 channel ssl 9000 j series console 4 the largest ssl console in europe . 3 ssl also produces rackmount audio hardware for use in recording studios . clients edit there are over 3 000 ssl systems in service around the world . 2 their equipment has been used by classical musicians and popular artists such as nine inch nails bryan adams peter gabriel whitney houston blur jean michel jarre and sting . 2 some of the company s broadcast clients include abc usa ; bbc uk ; cbc canada ; tva canada ; cbs usa ; fox usa ; nbc usa ; nhk japan ; nob netherlands ; tf1 france france 2 france ; direct 8 france ; ndr germany ; rbb germany ; rai italy ; swedish television ; 2 and studios 301 australia & germany . rede record brasil in 2005 ssl was purchased by musician peter gabriel and broadcast entrepreneur david engelke . citation needed the change of ownership has seen some changes in strategy for the company including new product releases to address the fast changing state of the pro audio marketplace . pro audio market edit the 1970s recording scene was dominated by large format consoles feeding multi track tape machines manufactured by companies such as studer . both the equipment and the environment they were used in were expensive to source and maintain making studio recording a high entry cost business . a series of developments have slowly eroded this position . sequencing edit perhaps the first major change was the advent of music sequencer technology . prior to its introduction all synchronisation was achieved by adding smpte time code to analogue tape . this acted as a reference point so that individual tracks could be easily synchronised . with the advent of midi hardware devices could be used to synchronise any midi device and eventually midi time code or mtc became an alternative method of synchronising studio activity . continuing development in this area has led to computer controlled sequencing . analogue to digital conversion and encoding edit the development of converter technology transforming analogue signals into digital signals has spawned a variety of supporting technical developments . dsp or digital signal processing technology has led both to the advent of digital mixing desks and dsp based computer recording platforms such as pro tools . as such this technology has created both a typically cheaper and lower maintenance alternative to the analogue mixing desk and a cheaper alternative to the multitrack analogue tape machine . computers edit the advent of early computer controlled sequencers such as cakewalk sequencer has led to the design of native digital audio workstation or daw platforms . native daw platforms such as performer and more recent digital performer by mark of the unicorn motu steinberg s cubase and nuendo apple s logic pro and cakewalk s sonar now have significant market share as well as professional studio users though the most broadly accepted system is currently avid s pro tools . they are particularly popular with home recording enthusiasts and artists making demos that might in the past have required expensive studio time . furthermore mixes can be achieved using a computer only otherwise known as in the box . modular equipment edit the high cost and hence small market for large format consoles led to pioneers such as automated processes inc api to experiment with modular equipment design . api s product offering of single items in the signal chain such as pre amps equalisers and compressors all based around a flexible central power supply proved popular with buyers who wanted very high quality but could not afford to buy a minimum of 24 channels at once . ssl response edit whilst maintaining a successful presence in the large format console market ssl have endeavoured to adapt their product offering to address these developments . xlogic rackmount edit in 2003 ssl entered the rackmount market with semi modular offering from its 9000k console including its first channel strip . by moving to surface mount technology ssl have been able to offer selected features of their large format consoles at prices more affordable to smaller studios and committed home recording enthusiasts . 2005 saw the release of further rack mount units such as the e series channel strip and the x rack . the xlogic g series compressor unit is a 1u rack mounting stereo compressor . it utilises the classic ssl g series center compressor design elements within a super analogue design topology . analogue workstation system edit in late 2004 ssl launched aws 900 an integrated analogue console and daw controller . 5 bearing in mind the considerable 50 000 entry level price tag for this smallest of ssl desks the unit has proved popular citation needed . ssl now lists over 300 studios using the aws900 ; they received a tec award in 2005 for this new design . 6 2006 saw the release of its successor aws 900 . duality console edit in late 2006 ssl launched the duality a large format console that is similar to an xl9000k with the control surface features of the aws 900 . duende dsp edit further releases in 2006 include the duende dsp platform designed to emulate ssl console grade audio quality for home recording enthusiasts . based on the digital technology behind ssl s c series consoles duende is designed to integrate into digital audio workstation environments using a firewire cable connection though a pci e card is also available . the digital processing channels appear as audio plug ins . the system supports steinberg vst apple audio units and digidesign rtas support via fxpansion wrapper . using the system daw users can emulate ssl channel strip features including filters ssl e and g series eq and dynamics processing . the system also allows access to the ssl stereo bus compressor a very popular facility of large format ssl consoles . on 25 april 2007 ssl announced the release of another plug in for the duende called drumstrip which contained a noise gate a transient shaper high frequency and low frequency enhancers and the listening mic compressor . mediawan edit also in 2006 the company also announced its expansion into broadcast video content management and delivery with their mediawan system . existing large console market edit ssl large format consoles remain popular . both the 9000 series consoles and the older 4000 series consoles are discontinued but there is still a huge second hand market and a number of third party companies that are offering spare parts for these consoles . 4000 series edit sl4000g sl4064g in terms of classic consoles the ssl 4000 g series including the g continues to be popular among mixing engineers in rock and pop genres . notable mixing engineers using the 4000 series are bob clearmountain chris lord alge tom lord alge andy wallace mark spike stent will schillinger and alan moulder . in 2005 platinum selling bristol band massive attack based their new studio facility around a 4056 g special edition console . 7 ssl claim that the 4000 has been the mixer behind more platinum selling albums than all other consoles combined . ssl s first 4000e serial 001 is currently in service at sonic ranch recording studios in tornillo tx . 5000 series edit 5000m was one of solid state logic s most esoteric and expensive mixing consoles . primarily used in the film and broadcast industries . disney mediaset sae and skywalker sound among others employed them in their facilities though the console was plagued with design faults and a poor automation system . ssl made only 120 desks often customised to customer requirements but then was deemed too expensive to support and develop . one senior ssl executive was quoted as saying the desk was an absolute nightmare from start to finish and almost crippled the company . citation needed 6000 series edit 6000 series has six mix buses . three stereo . a b and c. the 6000 has an additional stereo program bus compared to the 4000 . e series equalizers low and high shelving equalizers which can be switched to bell curves . these are normally black equalizers . low frequency equalizer controls have color caps . similar to the 4000 series of classic consoles the ssl 6000 e series 8 was very popular among mixing engineers in rock pop & hip hop genres . notable mixing engineers and producers using the 6000 series were james jimbo barton keith olsen and artists ranging from whitesnake and kiss to fleetwood mac and tupac shakur . citation needed 9000 series edit console ssl9000 sl9064j sl9064j the 9000 j and k series have been widely acclaimed for use in r & b classical and pop genres . wyclef jean formerly of the fugees has equipped his platinum sound studio with two control rooms one with a j series and the other boasting a k series console . 9 c series edit c100 on air broadcast console . c200 production console . c300 post production consoles . c10 on air console . competitors edit historically ssl has produced high end large format professional recording studio consoles . as such their main competitors have been amek no longer manufactured though the company was taken over by harman international industries under the soundcraft badge . ams neve audient api calrec euphonix harrison raindirk studer however these companies have also been adapting at the same time with some abandoning