SSL brand history

SSL - a forerunner of trends in audio technology

Company Solid State Logic was founded in 1969 by Colin Sanders. The company's first products were switching systems for pipe organs, for which Colin invented the descriptor „Solid State Logic.” Colin then set up Acorn Studios in the village of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, where he lived, and began developing his own consoles. In 1976, he built the first A-series console. Eventually 2 such consoles were built and sold. Always looking to improve the technology, Colin worked on a new design and so the SL 4000 B series was born. The first SL analog console was produced in 1976. Six B-series consoles were built and the beginnings of SSL's international business began.

The 1990s were another amazing decade of SSL technological innovation. SSL introduced „Ultimation,” the ability to automate faders and the concept of mix automation, to the music recording and studio market. The first smaller SSL products designed for the professional project studio were also introduced; the LogicFX G383 EQ and G384 Stereo Bus Compressor.

The main evolution was a new analog technology called SuperAnalogue ™, first implemented in the SL 9000 J Series console. SuperAnalogue ™ technology is a combination of elements; a DC-coupled signal path (no capacitor) resulting in a very wide frequency response with extremely low distortion.

The digital world developed the SSL ScreenSound protocol, an eight-track DAW, VisionTrack, a free-access video player, and Scenaria, the first fully integrated multi-track recorder, editor, digital mixer and video playback system, and the larger OmniMix multi-format film post production system. This technology was later expanded to create the A Series of digital consoles released in the 1990s.

Hybrid studio work and the development of digital consoles. 2000s

In 2003, the next generation of digital technology for broadcast and production was launched. C100 On-Air and C200 consoles in 2005. These were followed by the C300 post-production console, providing 512 channels and multiple simultaneous mixes and master buses, plus a 7.1 format for surround sound. In 2008, SSL unveiled the next-generation C100 HDS and the newer C10 HD On-Air consoles, providing true redundancy for the entire system.

This was also the decade in which a new generation of „hybrid studio” consoles was introduced. In 2004, a console was introduced AWS , and then in 2006 Duality, combining classic analog summing and processing technology with DAW control in a single user interface. Both AWS and Duality continue to evolve and are still the most popular consoles for the studio. DAW control continues to evolve and the latest versions of the consoles additionally offer full automation and preset recording recalled from the session in the DAW program.

The company also refreshed its offerings for the then-growing smaller design studio sector with the introduction of SuperAnalogue ™, Multi-Channel Bus Compressor and Stereo Bus Compressor. The concept of „hybrid studio” was then introduced to the design studio department which resulted in the Matrix console introduced in 2008. Matrix offers a 40-input summing system, advanced multi-layer DAW control and a unique integrated analog signal routing system from within a dedicated application. Subsequent products include the Nucleus DAW controller, introduced in 2010, which took control of DAW programs to the next stage.

SSL introduces another new patented technology dedicated to design studios. SSL Sigma, an analog combiner with digital control. This is the first device in a new line that automates the analog „Ctrl” layer. SSL Sigma brings new possibilities for smaller recording and project studios. It allows the use of SSL's legendary analog summing in a much more compact version and a digital user interface controlled from within the DAW program.

In 2015, the automation system received an upgrade to δelta-Control (δ-Ctrl), which was also introduced in the new versions of SSL AWS Delta analog consoles and SSL Duality Delta.
In 2013, SSL releases its first console designed specifically for the concert industry: SSL Live L500. The console SSL Live was built on an entirely new platform dubbed „Tempest,” which introduced a number of innovations to the sector.

Another important moment in the company's history was the launch in 2016 of a new platform dedicated to the broadcast and studio market: SSL System T. It's a completely redefined design that will offer solutions for TV, radio and digital recording studios for decades to come with the highest audio quality and AoIP technology (Dante, AES67 and SMTPE2110).

In 2017 Solid State Logic  joins the Audiotonix group and the company continues to innovate in the Broadcast, Studio and Live fields. New versions of software for consoles are being released, as well as new analog devices such as Fusion, mixers SiX , BiG SiX new analog console SSL ORIGIN.2020 audio interfaces SSL2 i SSL2+, which conquered the audio interface market worldwide within weeks of its release.

As the SSL brand and new products flourished, more and more devices began to appear. Alpha Link series transducers, XRack modules and other XLogic series devices increasingly appeared in private studios and smaller design studios.

The SSL brand in our country has been in high demand from the very beginning. It gained recognition as early as the 1970s, and especially in the 1980s when the first SSL equipment appeared in studios in our country. The first analog consoles appeared in radio and TV studios, followed by digital consoles in TV carts.

Today SSL is a brand known to anyone involved in the music industry. Smaller equipment and SSL consoles work in recording studios, radio, television, on broadcast and recording trucks, in universities, and perform live recordings and broadcasts every day.