New SSL Alpha Channel...

[Barilla]

Looks great - anyone know how much it's gonna cost?

http://www.solid-state-logic.com/mus..._achannel.html

[sslduende]

The MSRP is $1895

[jdjustice]

Originally Posted by sslduende

The MSRP is $1895

thanx Filip!!

[sventvkg]

What do the pre's sound like? Any Character at all?

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by sventvkg

Any Character at all?

It has the Variable Harmonic Drive circuit

[AnalogBob]

Notice the Variable Harmonic Drive goes to 11..... Nice touch.

[Schmacko]

OMG! I didn't even notice that. I hope the designers didn't pull any funny-business on the internals too though! <img src="http://www.gearslutz.com/board/images/smilies/nu/icon5.gif">

[Stanley Cole]

Originally Posted by Schmacko

OMG! I didn't even notice that. I hope the designers didn't pull any funny-business on the internals too though! <img src="http://www.gearslutz.com/board/images/smilies/nu/icon5.gif">

The new look is way off i think

[Rob King]

Originally Posted by Stanley Cole

The new look is way off i think

I agree, kind of has that Focusrite Platinum look. SSL Pre's have never really excited me..There are way better options in this price range IMHO. As ridiculous as this may sound, they would probably sell more at this price range if it actually looked like a classic SSL box...Just my marketing 2 cents..

[Tim Farrant]

mmmm, with all that spare panel space, you'd think there might be a bit more calibration around the knobs, or even better, bigger knobs!

Exactly what Lynn Fuston was talking about over at 3dB - no calibration on the output knob!

Tim.

[ResonantFilter]

I thought the same, but a friend of mie "in the know" tells me that the knobs and legending on production units are bigger than in the photoshop rendering on the website

[SnakeCained]

ahh it's just a mock up picture?

I saw a photo from AES and it looked a lot better "in the flesh" (hmmn good song title)

Personally I prefer bigger knobs

[84K]

You guys are funny... You want it to look more like a classic SSL and you don't like the knobs... The knobs are the only part that looks like an SSL

[ResonantFilter]

Yup Snake, I think our mutual acquaintance let me in on the secret :-)

[jindrich]

I'm of the opinion that this is a product SSL's marketing department hast told its production department to develop. This may be nothing but SSL milking his name.
I don't think any serious engineer would ever consider this thing, really. From its price point i'd say it's aimed instead at the prosumer market, who would so enter into the "I've got an SSL" thing.

for the same amount of money i'd rather get a great river mono pre and a speck eq, both great products not designed with price points in mind but performance, or some of the combinations the new 500 series modules allow. but that's just me.

[Ziggy!!]

$1900 classes as the prosumer demographic?


It looks like they took influence from sound for the aesthetics.

[SnakeCained]

Perhaps, as always, we should listen then decide?

The VHD thing sounds interesting and I'm curious about the A/D, which could be great hooked up to an Mbox or something.

Mr Filter, I was refering to the units control knobs not my outside of the studio interests thankyou. Also your friend seems to have gone back to the "pre amp" he has been using for years

[warhead]

Originally Posted by Ziggy!!

$1900 classes as the prosumer demographic?


It looks like they took influence from sound for the aesthetics.

It will actually street for $1599.

War

[kmshroom]

I like their consoles and compressors, but I've never liked the pres at all. This definitely looks like they're just trying to milk the name to the less informed.

[Duardo]

Interesting that everyone's making judgments based on what it looks like...I do agree, however, that it "looks" kinda cheap in comparison to the other stuff, but then again, it is...but how do we know that they're milking the SSL name until we actually hear it? Is it not conceivable that it can sound as good as the higher-end stuff? It looks like it's mainly features that have been cut...only one parametric midband, no low-pass filter and limited frequencies on the high-pass, no compressor or gate, limited routing options...don't see why it couldn't sound just as good as the "good" stuff.

Of course, if you don't like the SSL sound to begin with, that's a different story...

-Duardo

[Barilla]

It looks pretty good, but after some thought, I think I'm gonna save (a loooong time) for the E-Sig channel instead of this one...

Or... I may just go for something completely different... not sure yet...

[Ghost Logic]

Originally Posted by Duardo

Interesting that everyone's making judgments based on what it looks like...I do agree, however, that it "looks" kinda cheap in comparison to the other stuff, but then again, it is...but how do we know that they're milking the SSL name until we actually hear it? Is it not conceivable that it can sound as good as the higher-end stuff? It looks like it's mainly features that have been cut...only one parametric midband, no low-pass filter and limited frequencies on the high-pass, no compressor or gate, limited routing options...don't see why it couldn't sound just as good as the "good" stuff.

Of course, if you don't like the SSL sound to begin with, that's a different story...

-Duardo

Isn't SSL just trying to break into the middle end of the market with the alpha range--seems like a good move for them. They've stated the Alpha channel is not "superanalogue", and its priced accordingly.

[Ziggy!!]

Originally Posted by warhead

It will actually street for $1599.

War

Still... I think its ridiculously silly to pass premature judgement based on looks.

[Lynn Fuston]

Originally Posted by Tim Farrant

mmmm, with all that spare panel space, you'd think there might be a bit more calibration around the knobs, or even better, bigger knobs!

Exactly what Lynn Fuston was talking about over at 3dB - no calibration on the output knob!

I'll bite. Take a look at this output control.



It's marked - and +. So the OUTPUT LEVEL control should optimally be set where? 12 o'clock? If CCW is lower and CW is hotter, then is it safe to assume that dead centre (since it's English) is the starting point?

Or maybe it's a passive attenuator and CW is full output and anything else is padded. Any guesses?

And does - mean the output is OFF or does the gain just go down by a few dB? 10? 20? 30? 40?

How much more does it cost for the paint to put accurate markings on the faceplate of a preamp? Or would it mess up the looks to use "OFF" and "0" instead of - and +?

For more of this rant, check out http://www.3daudioinc.com/3db/showth...highlight=rant

And let SSL and others know that completely ambiguous faceplate markings are not welcome anymore. Please! If for no one else's benefit, at least do it for their own. That way amateur users won't distort preamps because they're turning down the output by 20 dB before setting the input level. And they'll help all of us mix engineers because we won't get distorted vocal recordings from people who A) don't know better or B) can't hear the distortion until mix time.

[Lynn Fuston]

Originally Posted by Lynn Fuston

And let SSL and others know that completely ambiguous faceplate markings are not welcome anymore. Please!

I've taken my own advice and just sent an email to the head of SSL US Eastern Region suggesting just such a change. Fortunately, he is an acquaintance, not a stranger. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

[Lynn Fuston]

How's that for timing?

I just heard back and my letter is being forwarded to the appropriate person at SSL UK. FWIW, my friend at SSL US couldn't remember where the unity gain setting was either. Straight up. Maybe.

[Jbassist]

Originally Posted by SnakeCained

ahh it's just a mock up picture?

"in the flesh" (hmmn good song title)

Pain Of Salvation beat you too it!

[jindrich]

as Lynn very cleverly has pointed out, this thing has VERY poor markings. That alone speaks quite clearly to me: the module has PROSUMER written all over the faceplate.

Not that all serious pieces of gear come with proper markings, but that's not by any means in the SSL tradition.


Someway i feel sad seeing respected brands like Neve, Focusrite..etc, and now SSL it seems, releasing this kind of not-so-stellar, build to a price products, that simply try to bite into the market just relaying on their status and brand recognition. Specially when some other small manufacturer with shallower marketing pockets, might be releasing MUCH better similar products for similar or even lower prices.


disclaimer: all that is based on strict speculation, as i have not heard the alpha channel. But it smells so to me.

[Jim@SSL]

Many thanks for all of your comments. I received an email from Lynn, and after answering to him thought it might be worth putting some of this infromation into the public domain.

Perhaps one thing that has not been brought to mass attention is that there are actually 2 metering sections on the Alpha Channel. The “PAD” switch in the mic pre section is actually also a meter. It has a 3 colour LED (green, yellow, red) to indicate when (and if) the mic pre is clipping. Obviously, the Harmonic Drive circuit is supposed to add some harmonic distortion to the source when desired and this can boost the gain on the mic pre by up to 6db. However, this is still indicated in the clip LED on the pad switch so can be accounted for.

The meter on the right hand side of the unit is pre AD converter but post insert, EQ, and output trim. 0dB on the output meter corresponds to the clipping point (headroom) of the Alpha Channel, and the limiter circuit is set to 6dB below this point. The idea here is to ensure that the signal is not so hot as to cause the analogue circuits of the Alpha Channel to clip, or to clip the AD converter. With up to 16dB of gain that can be added with the EQ then there may, at times, need to be a trim before sending this signal to the AD. The EQ section is taken from the stereo channel of the G Series, and is an existing SSL design.

Thought it was worth mentioning – the Mic Pre, EQ, and Limiter are all existing SSL designs and have not been designed or built “to price”. The Alpha Channel is also manufactured in the UK.

Why have we designed the Alpha Channel this way? We see potential customers for the Alpha Channel as primarily project studios, serious home studios, and musicians. Of course I'm sure that some long-term SSL afficionados will get one too! With information from our product marketing department, we decided that some of these customers may not be as au fait with dBFS, absolute values, and more traditional gain structure theory. As such, we have tried to present the information about clipping in a user friendly “traffic light” way – green is OK, yellow hits the borderline, and red is danger (clipping). We understand that experienced users may wish for absolute values, but we do cater for this in our SuperAnalogue range of products which more expensive and have different circuit designs (no capacitors, etc etc).

So, like Lynn, SSL are keen to ensure that less experienced users get their signals recorded with as little overloads and distortion as possible. In the Alpha Channel we have tried to do this in a “non-science” way, rather than a "cut-down-lesser-quality-built-in-a-different-factory-way".

I hope this goes some way to clearing up some very well thought through issues - thanks Lynn for bringing this to our attention

[Lynn Fuston]

Thanks for that explanation, Jim. I appreciate it and understand the markings now.