New Music Gear Monday: SSL UF8 DAW Controller

It’s fair to say that any time SSL comes out with a new control surface, there will be a lot of interest. When it’s affordable almost everyone in the industry picks their head up a bit, and there’s good reason to with the new UF8 DAW controller. If you feel the need to push faders but never felt comfortable with any of the interfaces available, this might be the one for you.

The UF8 offers eight 100mm touch-sensitive faders coupled with 8 high-resolution color displays and 8 endless rotary encoders to form the backbone of the interface. Each fader has a Solo, Cut (Mute), and Select switch next to it, and there are also dedicated Automation and Send / Plugin sections as well as 5 banks of 8 user keys plus 3 quick keys to go along with a multi-purpose channel encoder, and mouse scroll emulation to allow you to control just about every function of the DAW.

The hardware portion of the unit is controlled by the company’s new SSL 360 control software which deals with multi-controller configurations, shortcut customization, DAW switching and other usability aspects. Even better, there are templates for all major DAWs, and switching between up to 3 connected DAWs so you can switch between sessions across different apps. If 8 faders isn’t enough for you, up to 4 units can be chained to produce a 32-channel SSL control surface.

The rear panel of UF8 features a USB ‘C’ type port for easy connection to the host computer (USB C to A cables are also included), two jack sockets offering standard foot-switch connections, and a socket for UF8’s auto ranging external PSU.

As of now Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, Pro, Ableton Live, and Studio One work natively with the unit, but it will work with any DAW that has HUI or MCU control integration. It will work on both Mac and PC DAWs.

The price for the UF8 is $1,299 retail, and comes with full licenses for SSL’s Vocalstrip 2 and Drumstrip plug-ins. You can find out more on the SSL’s dedicated page or check out the video below.

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