- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
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New Music Gear Monday: SSL Origin Large Format Console
If you thought large frame recording consoles were dead, you’d be wrong. Just about every manufacturer that makes them are having no trouble selling what they have at the moment. And there’s even new ones being introduced, as evidenced by SSL’s new Origin console.
The Origin has 32 inline inputs, 8 stereo busses and a master stereo buss, 3 auxs, the traditional large and small fader on each channel, which all adds up to 88 channels on mixdown. It also has a number of other very cool new features.
The first is the new PureDrive mic preamps that have two modes. The Pure mode provides a clean transparent input signal, while the Drive mode provides a more colored signal similar to the older SSL preamps.
The EQ is the E Series 242, which is probably the most popular of all SSL versions, and there’s a 0dB switch on each channel to automatically set the channel to unity gain without resetting the faders when running a DAW mix through the desk for the analog summing.
One of the coolest features is the center section of the console, which is basically built around a 19″ rack space allowing the user to be able to customize it in different ways, even going as far as moving the console monitor section up or down on the desk. The center meter bridge is also movable to allow for a large DAW screen to be inserted if so desired.
And of course, the desk comes with the famous SSL buss compressor, Listen Mic, and master buss, monitor and aux control section found on its larger desks. There’s even a new Auto-Sleep mode that provides automatic detection of prolonged inactivity to put the console in stand-by, reducing power consumption and making Origin significantly more efficient than legacy SSL consoles.
It’s possible that the days the days of the super-large 64 input-plus desks are over, but 32 channels seems to be a sweet spot these days, and the SSL Origin hits that spot nicely. At just $49,999, the desk is a bargain as compared to what it used to cost for something similar from the company.
Here’s a video from Sweetwater at the NYC AES show that provides a nice overview, but you can also find out more here.
