Solid State Logic (SSL) is a legend in the studio world. While many bands have recorded Grammy-winning records on SSL consoles, they haven't been able to take that sound on the road with them. Until now. In 2013, SSL announced their L500 Live console. A project four years in the making, the L500 brings many unique features to the market. Besides massive I/O options, the Live brings great flexibility and power to a user-friendly interface.
By The Numbers
Let me throw some numbers at you to give you an idea of what this desk can do. For starters, you can choose from a total of 976 inputs and 976 outputs for a total of 1,952 connections. Those connections come from the two Blacklight II ports (256 channels of I/O each), twelve MADI ports, a 32-channel effects loop, and up to 32 local analog and 16 local AES ins and outs.
You can't mix all those channels, but SSL provides 192 processing “paths.” Each path can be configured as an input channel (with multiple input assignments per channel), a stem group, an auxiliary bus or a master bus. Each path can be mono, stereo or LCR. A stereo channel takes two paths, while an LCR [left-center-right] uses three. One of my favorite features of the desk is that you can dynamically reconfigure the channel count on the fly without dropping audio.
Of those paths, 144 have “full processing,” meaning they have the full complement of EQ, dynamics, time, dual insert points, pan, mute and bus assignments. The other 48 are dry; they lack EQ, dynamics and time, but keep the dual insert points, pan, mute and bus assignability. There are also 36 VCAs available.
Also included is an effects rack with up to 96 instances of effects. Many of the well-known and loved SSL effects are included, and can be assigned just about anywhere on the console. A 32x36 matrix is also on board, and it can be split into four groups, each with its own 32 inputs—which means you effectively have a 128x36 matrix.
A gorgeous and incredibly bright 19-inch touch screen dominates the surface of the console. Standard are two 12-fader “tiles” with a third 12-channel tile being optional. Each tile has five scrollable layers, with each layer containing five vertical banks. For those good with math, that adds up to 25 possible fader layouts per tile, or up to 75 total if you have all three fader tiles installed. A Selected Channel tile gives you quick control over the currently selected channel. An additional seven-inch touch screen surrounded by more than two dozen dedicated buttons and knobs provides fast access to channel functions.
"I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with the sound of this console."
The heart of the console is the custom-designed Tempest FPGA engine. It runs the entire console at 96 kHz, 64-bit floating point all the time. When you do the math on that, it is pretty impressive. But how does one manage all that power? In a word, flexibly.
Many Ways to Do Everything
The first key point to understand is that the fader layout is completely customizable. Any fader can be anything. It's easy to mix and match inputs and outputs, sends and returns, effects and masters on any fader tile. And with the clever and easy to use color-coding and Eyeconix visual labeling system, finding the channel you want is fast and easy.
Once you bring a fader layer to the screen (by pressing its “Call” button), you can quickly touch to get to any editable section of any fader. The center screen is multi-touch, so you can quickly set EQs, dynamic thresholds, even set send levels all on the screen. But if you don't like touch screens, there is a dedicated row of encoders and buttons below the screen that map to the currently selection function. And if that's not enough control, the selected channel screen has a host of dedicated controls to make adjustments quickly.
Because the Live is a complex console with a lot going on, it does take time to get familiar with its operation. However, the system feels very accessible, and with a little bit of instruction, I was able to quickly find my way around and do what I needed to. The graphics are pretty and complex, which means they tend to be a tad sluggish at times. But with the selected channel section right there, I don't feel it's a deal-breaker.
Unique Operational Features
So far, most of what we've talked about isn't that unique—except for the 96 kHz, 64-bit operation, perhaps. But there are a few things that the SSL Live does that really are unique. The first is the simple drag and drop fader manager. Most digital consoles will let you re-arrange the faders. But SSL takes it to a new level of simplicity by letting you drag faders or entire tiles from one bank to another. Once you figure out the process—which takes about 20 seconds—it's fast and intuitive.
Another unique feature is the inclusion of an all-pass filter on each of the 144 full-processing paths. We typically find all pass filters in DSP's for speaker management. They are also useful in a live mixing environment whenever you have multiple mic's picking up the same source. An all-pass filter effectively allows you to tilt phase at a given frequency. That sounds odd, but what you're doing is correcting a time problem at a specific frequency. The all-pass filter takes a while to get your head around, but it's a powerful tool once you do.
While not inexpensive, the Live is priced competitively with other similarly powered large format consoles.
Each of the processing blocks on the full processing channels can be re-ordered. Many consoles let you swap EQ and dynamics order, but SSL lets you rearrange the entire channel strip. EQ can be post-fade, while both inserts can be pre. Dynamics can precede the filters or visa versa. However you want to arrange it, you can.
Stem Groups are another feature that takes a while to get your head around. A stem group can process groups of channels like a standard group can. But each channel feeds into it with variable level, much like an auxiliary. Stem groups can be sent to an aux, so they behave a bit like a matrix, and they can also feed other stem groups. Each feed point is selectable per input, per stem group. So a stem group is kind of like a group+aux on steroids. The most obvious use for a stem group is for effects, but there are many other potential processing options. Up to 48 fully processed and 12 dry stem groups can be configured.
Finally, a wonderfully British feature called Query is quite interesting. A Q button sits above each fader. When pressed, it shows the operator all the input and output routes for that channel, spilled horizontally across the fader tiles. In use, it makes it quick to figure out where a channel is coming from or where it's going. If you query the snare mic; you might see several stem groups appear as well as the auxes it's feeding for IEMs, plus the master busses for main output. Query an IEM will show every channel it's being fed as well as any further output routes. Query makes it simple and fast to track down troubles with routing, or just to make a quick adjustment to a send level.
How Does It Sound?
You would expect a console from SSL to sound good, and indeed it does. The mic preamps are high bandwidth, with high dynamic range and minimal phase shift. The A/D conversion is high quality and the internal processing is fantastic. In use, I found the EQ to be musical, and there are dozens of ways to tweak the EQ curves to your liking. In classic SSL style, the EQ has some color to it, and it's possible to emulate both the company's E- and G-series studio desks.
The on-board compressors are transparent and each one has a “Warmth” button which adds a bit of tube saturation effect to it if you like. The built-in effects made it easy to get the sound I was looking for fairly quickly.
I don't think anyone would be disappointed with the sound of this console. Whether or not it's right for your church will come down to whether you need the I/O and mixing capability it offers and you can afford the price tag. While not inexpensive, the Live is priced competitively with other similarly powered large format consoles. The software is rapidly updating with new features coming every few months. Overall, I'd say this is a great first Live console for SSL.
