Ah I see. By no means am I an expert in DI recording, but I've recorded my guitar direct with the SSL2 with decent results. At around the 9:15 mark on this video, this guy provides a demonstration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygeCS69MM7w

Cool, thanks, I'll check out.

why ?

Placed my order for 2+ today, upgrading from an Apogee One (not gonna stop at the issues of that here as it's becoming obsolete anyway). I mainly chose the SSL for the playback quality. Impressive test results in a test in this video (great channel by the way).




I will give an update once it arrives, but I did put together a few thought until then:
* All connections in the back - YES, PLEASE (what is Focusrite doing?)
* MIDI in-out - Thank you!
* 2 high-quality headphone outs - Are you kidding? That is incredibly rare with small interfaces in any price range. Really useful if you are tracking someone else. Allows a different playback mix for singers and engineers.
* Why RCA? Studio monitors use balanced inputs (sometimes with optional unbalanced inputs), the same goes for outboard gear. And even if I did have something that required an unbalanced connection, I definitely wouldn't need 4 connections or could use an adapter to convert to unbalanced. Seems a little weird decision or am I missing something?
* Knobs, big ones, on the top are also nice (unless it is a rack unit of course)
* The included plugins are very welcome, very good value. And the extended 6-month trial for the full collection is actually not lame at all considering that you are selling the full collection as a monthly subscription (that's 75$ value not to mention the permanently given plugins).
* From YouTube demos the preamps seem to sound really good. I'm not certain if the mojo button will see much light, but I consider that as a bonus to an already good deal. (Audient preamps sound great, too. I slightly prefer those - also based on demos)
* It looks good on a desk. That's a plus over Audient.
* Happy to see quality components inside
* We need to focus a little more on playback quality with interfaces. In the end, that affects our mixing decisions. I would be happy to hear how the SSL compares to your other audio interfaces in terms of playback quality (real use > comparing chipsets)

So here are my thoughts on ADAT. I know that this is a needed feature to many, but I think this is not the product targeted to you. It is clearly aimed towards ITB producers/mixing engineers/songwriters that track one thing at a time. Most of these people would never need more than 2 inputs and won't miss it.

Anyway, IMHO, the product line would make more sense if the following changes were made:
- SSL2
* Add midi to regular SSL2 interface (geared towards home producers who need it)
- SSL2+
* Change RCA outs on SSL2+ to TRS
* Add ADAT to SSL2+
* Make SSL2+ a little more expensive (added features would well be worth spending a little extra, geared towards more of the studio people)

I find that my new SSL 2+ makes everything sound 'brighter' (headphones and monitors). Is that possible? Anyone else? TIA.

Can you specify compared to what exactly? SSL2+ should sound identical to SSL2. If you are however comparing it to a different interface, that could just be a normal question of how interfaces differ.

Just picked up one of these for my home mixing setup. In the studio I'm used to working out of I was running an Apogee Quartet. First thing I noticed is that the SSL 2+ is definitely a bit quieter on the outputs in comparison. Also it seems to be a bit less open in the sound field in comparison, has anyone else noticed a narrow sound stage?

What up

Got the ssl2. Definately noticed distortion/almost like bitcrusher/amp sim on first setup. It was unbalanced cables. Playing rhodes vst. Not really as noticeable playing music.

100% gone with unbalanced cables. Sounds great! Simple, easy to use. Looks cool. Much obliged.

You mean balanced

Just got it today and have the exact opposite experience, switched from Apogee One.

Maybe because ONE is usb-bus powered, and analog outputs primarily for headphones.

Indeed, I could only get an unbalanced output from ONE. The headphone outputs on the SSL are also audible better. I quess a lot of it has to do with just the size differences of the units, you have better options with a bigger chassis. The Apogee is like 4x smaller.

Worth mentioning, that the SSL is also USB bus-powered. I haven't heard the quartet, so can't compare it to that.

Anyway, I'm impressed, to say the least.

I pulled the specs and the quartet definitely carries more gain

What is the lowest bufersize you can set with the SSL + ? Are their drivers as good and reliable as RME ? How do teh converter compare to the RME or Apollo ?

I’m still enjoying mine but I’ve stopped using the 4K boost on my own vocals because (like most on/off presence boosts) I already have enough natural energy in the boosted area that it adds a spiky/hard quality when switched on.

I bought one of these a week or so back and have been delighted with it. I've got to admit, I was partly seduced by the SSL name but it's cut my latency down to around 4.5ms from the 12ms I was getting with a Scarlett 2i4 first gen at the same settings so the upgrade was worth it purely for that (and leaving the damned Focusrite drivers behind).

The general output quality is noticably better when listening too. Cleaner separation and a wider soundstage to my ears.

The 4k switch really surprised me for guitar. I like to go into clean solid state amps and was immediately struck by how nice it sounds without any sims or effects at all. Comparable enough to my little Jazz Chorus-22 that I'm actually questioning whether I still need that. I'm going to live with it for a while and see how I feel but right now I could see myself downsizing to just the few pedals that maybe don't have good ITB equivalents (Rat etc.) which isn't something I'd anticipated at all.

The one concern I had before ordering was whether it could drive my K712 Pros which are 62 ohms. It seems OK but I haven't tested it extensively and I do tend to be pretty quiet with headphones so I guess that should help on the headroom front. I suppose I could always stick a little amp between them if need be.

I think you do 👍

loopback feature...anyone?

Can someone buy the interface for the plugins and resell it ?
or does it need to "see" the interface in order for the plugins to work?
If someone is looking to buy one and doesn't care for the plugs i might be interested

does it have a loopback feature?

I have no idea

May I ask what DAW you are using and what buffer size you have set to get to 4.5ms latency with the SSL2?

Of course, it's what Live's reporting at 64 samples. I should say it's the SSL2+ but I'm assuming the performance is the same as the SSL2 that way.

Thank you. That is actually pretty good at 64 samples and 48k.

if anyone who has the SSL2 / SSL2+ interface but can't make use of the four plugins included (Drumstrip, Vocalstrip, X-Comp & FlexVerb), pls approach me - you can get money by selling the licenses to me

lives reporting isnt very accurate, gotta use rtl utility for real numbers.

Yes, my iD22 broke after the same period too, I got some weird noises and interference...tried to fix it with replacing capacitor as some suggested but without luck. I will never buy anything from Audient again.

I switched to SSL2 and amazingly output is definitely step up sound-wise. There's more depth, wider sound stage and higher resolution (especially in high end), I would say.

I have a friend who had the same problem audient he wasn't his interface back twice to get fixed it took forever and they were no helpful at all :/

Quick question on latency from a total noob. The SSL2 looks awesome to me. I’ve been told to get an AI with direct monitoring. I’ve seen the SSL2 reported as ‘direct monitoring’ in some places and ‘low latency’ in others. If I’m going to record various guitar tracks, bass, vocals etc. will any latency here cause me an issue? Or am I misunderstanding the problem? Thanks in advance!

could anyone tell me the ssl 2+ largest buffer size for mixing at 44.1 please? was going to pick up a motu m4 but they are capped to 1024 and i have some very hungry plugins!