Lifting the Veil:

The Science Behind the SSL Sound

When you hear an SSL, you hear the world with the veil lifted. This is no accident. In both the analogue and
digital domains, we accept no compromise. This is why you shouldn’t either...

Solid State Logic has been a leader in console and

audio tools for creative music production for 40 Stable, Low Noise Gain Control
years. Over that time the company has gained a Most manufacturers use VCA (Voltage Controlled
reputation for innovation, excellence, and service, Amplifiers) and ‘fixed-reference’ DACs for controlling
and our products are held up as benchmarks for attenuation or gain - either for convenience, or lower
professional audio technology. cost, or simplicity. SSL has pioneered the use of
M-DACs (Multiplying Digital-to-Analogue Converters)
Our philosophy is simple. We spare nothing in in SuperAnalogue technology, enabling ultra-low
designing and manufacturing the best precision noise and precise tracking, even with variable
music tools available anywhere. There is no single temperatures.
magic stage in any SSL product. Everything from the
pre-amps to the conversion, digital processing, FX
algorithms, and output stages plays its part. No Electrolytic Capacitors
The physical construction of an electrolytic
In the analogue world we have unrivalled experience, capacitor means that its performance is imprecise,
knowhow, and legacy. Our SuperAnalogue it is vulnerable to electro-magnetic interference,
technology is the practical, no compromise and even expensive ‘high-quality’ electrolytics do
application of all those things, either in complete not meet our standards. In addition, over time and
products, or the analogue stages of our digital with temperature variations, electrolytic capacitors
consoles and interfaces. degrade and become ‘leaky’ - resulting in significant
noise issues, altered characteristics, and a
In the digital world, SSL has over three decades of shortened product life.
development behind it for the music, live, and
broadcast sound industries, and now the Tempest SSL avoids using electrolytic capacitors for de-
Solid State Logic - Excellence in Music, Live, and Broadcast.
platform gives our designers a new freedom to coupling between analogue stages wherever
continually innovate and evolve superior algorithms possible. Instead we use advanced DC servo
and architectures with the same commitment to A lucky few people can identify frequencies beyond
distinction as we have in all aspects of our work. SuperAnalogueTM 20kHz. However, there is a secondary hearing
coupling techniques for low noise, high precision DC
offset control.
mechanism, directly related to ‘rise-time’ (the
SSL’s SuperAnalogue technology is not an accident, transient performance of components) and evidence
nor is it magic, mythology, or ‘smoke and mirrors’. It to show that even though the basic frequency
Live: Blink 182 is the sum of an applied design philosophy, constant spectrum of human hearing degrades over time,
Broadcast: Zen Broadcast
invention, and dedication to optimising every detail our sensitivity to rise-times does not. In addition,
“Other live consoles of our precision audio products. There are many Transient Intermodulation Distortion (TIM) is a “System T is by far
seem to mimic contributing aspects, including our bespoke circuits, real - if difficult to measure - issue that brings high- the best sounding
ground-breaking low-noise gain control, servo- broadcast console
what’s happening on coupled amplifier stages, and so on. Here are some of
frequency ‘waste’ to bear on the audible spectrum in
stage... The SSL gives poor or bandwidth-limited designs through feedback I have ever mixed
the main features: paths in amplifier circuits, for example. on... It’s a game
you what’s really
happening.” changer...”
Wide Band Audio For fast, accurate rise times, and low Transient
We design and test our analogue circuits for a Intermodulation Distortion, SSL implements Kevin Duff,
Jason Decter, FOH bandwidth way beyond 20kHz, which many other precision, high-frequency analogue technologies and
manufacturers consider to be ‘good enough’.
Sound Supervisor
tests everything to better than 80kHz.

solidstatelogic.com
 Lifting the Veil:
The Science Behind the SSL Sound
When you hear an SSL, you hear the world with the veil lifted. This is no accident. In both the analogue and
digital domains, we accept no compromise. This is why you shouldn’t either...

Low Noise Design Studio: Nicky Romero Audio Switching DIGITAL

Analogue design is a juggling act that must always Audio switching is extremely common in analogue
balance the power / noise / heat triangle. That is, audio circuits - for everything from switching
“With the AWS, no There is no fundamental, direct link between
if you want low power and low heat, you get high processing stages in and out to routing, soloing,
quality is lost; and the quality of a digital audio algorithm and the
noise. If you want low noise, you cannot have low muting, and so on. SSL uses both relays and an
when you play the mix underlying technology choice - whether that system
power. While advances in component and power active JFET design with optimised dual-device
live, no other song is floating point or not, whether it is based on DSP,
supplies inevitably bring greater efficiencies (a topology for exceptional distortion-free switching
FPGA, or CPU, and so on. Any fit-for-purpose root
legacy 48-channel SSL 9k console drew nearly 4.5kW will stand out more performance.
platform, with enough processing power and careful
while a modern 48-channel Duality console draws than the one that’s implementation, can be ‘good enough’.
about 1.5kW), specifically designing for low power mixed on an SSL...” Transformerless Design
consumption will always result in compromise. Transformers are an effective component for low However, there are many facets of digital technology
Nicky Romero, audio levels and for bringing character to particular choices that enable excellence - that give designers
SSL designs precision, low noise music circuits. Producer, DJ processes, but at line level they introduce low the freedom to develop systems and algorithms free
frequency distortion and high frequency roll-off from the traditional constraints that can prevent
Discrete Design - unless they are physically large enough, which other platforms from reaching their full potential.
Many modern analogue audio products are the SSL does not do ‘datasheet design’ and continues to makes them heavy, costly, and space-hungry.
result of the ‘cookbook’ approach - where off-the- optimise and improve upon datasheet specifications SSL uses its own output driver configuration
and ‘serving suggestions’ - we have even licensed Solid State Logic designs without compromise, so we
shelf blocks are strung together to fulfil a practical that emulates the floating characteristics of created a platform where channel count is no longer
brief, but lack the additional details that take them our advances back to semiconductor manufacturers. a transformer-coupled output but without the
We have built up over 40 years of experience and an issue, where latencies are measured in single
from functional to fantastic. To do that, you have to distortion. samples, and where the power, speed, and flexibility
understand how to augment commercially available expertise in improving the canon of analogue music
electronics to continually exceed and progress our of the foundation allows us to devise algorithms and
components with discrete elements, do original Our philosophy is simple. We spare nothing in dynamic architectures free from the limits that other
research, and sometimes even design your own own high standards. designing and manufacturing the best precision manufacturers have to combat every day. The SSL
components. music tools available anywhere. There is no single Tempest audio engine with Optimal Core Processing
magic stage in any SSL product. Everything from (OCP), together with our Solid Clock technology, give
The VHD Pre the pre-amps, through the line level electronics, us that freedom.
The VHD (Variable Harmonic Drive) mic pre is now a common fixture in many conversion, digital processing, FX algorithms, and
Solid State Logic products, offering the user an all-analogue variable mic pre output stages plays its part.
characteristic from the clean SuperAnalogue path through a blended range of Audio Insight
2nd and 3rd-order harmonics. At lower gain settings, VHD adds gentle valve-
style warmth or a touch of transistor edge. As the gain is increased, so does the Multiplexed displays and
distortion, until at high gain settings it delivers fierce, trashy transistoresque Live: Depeche Mode LEDs in SSL digital products
grunge. are refreshed at a rate that
“You want something is a multiple of- and locked
The VHD circuit is actually derived from an early SSL experimental mic-pre to the current operational
project that was shelved at the time because the distortion was too high!
that will work every
sample rate. If the console is
Unusually though it produced 2nd harmonic distortion rather than the 3rd
day, sound good, and running at 96kHz, the refresh
harmonic distortion normally associated with solid state technology. This is travel on the truck... rate is 384kHz - over 3000
why it was re-visited later on when SSL engineers were looking for a musical So SSL is the only times the refresh rate of an
way to add distortion back into our SuperAnalogue designs. The core circuit was choice.” average domestic TV. Any undesirable aliasing imposed on
patented, and we added the mix pot to balance 2nd and 3rd order harmonics for the audio as a result of the display electronics is always
even more flexibility. Antony King, FOH. reduced to DC... That is, it disappears!

solidstatelogic.com
 Lifting the Veil:
The Science Behind the SSL Sound
When you hear an SSL, you hear the world with the veil lifted. This is no accident. In both the analogue and
digital domains, we accept no compromise. This is why you shouldn’t either...

SolidClockTM Ultra-low Latency Processing

Jitter is variation in a clock signal that can cause Latency in digital audio is an inevitable consequence Broadcast: Canal+ Studio: University of York
distortion and noise in a digital audio system of processing large amounts of data. On many
through a form of frequency modulation. It is systems, such as DAW-based plug-in platforms, “The sound quality “Listening to that kind
a very specific kind of noise, often confused in and DSP and FPGA farms, it is often a variable and of the whole of quality, you know
measurements with harmonic distortion and results significant issue. system is regularly you’ve heard what
in a degree of ‘unease’ in a listener. complimented by is possible... I think
In the SSL Tempest Engine, almost all processing our operators, and that’s important,
To address this, SSL developed SolidClock, an ultra- blocks have a latency of a single sample. That is they love the SSL because you can
low jitter clocking technology that guarantees clock true however big the block is, and whatever the continue to strive
deviation of just a few pico-seconds and an sample rate of the system is. For example, every FX
user interface and
accuracy of better than one part per million - algorithm in the FX rack (except linear phase processing - its high for that in your own
exceeding all current standards by a wide margin. processes and algorithms that, by definition, capacity and sonic work.”
introduce delay) has one sample latency; every performance is amazing.”
Live: Imagine Dragons movable processing block in a processed path has Ben Eyes, Studio Manager / Sound
one sample of latency. If those blocks were not Jean Marc Delage, Technical Executive Engineer, Trevor Jones Studio.
“It was great to movable and we treated a channel as a single block
be able to bring - that too could have one sample latency. One
sample latency at 96kHz equates to 0.01ms of Compare that to the range of latencies at various
up channels that delay. sample rates in typical computer / plug-in-based EXCEPTIONAL SSL
sounded good right environments. Single plug-in latencies of 300
out of the box” samples (about 3mS at 96kHz, or 300 SSL processing Solid State Logic treats every aspect of its
blocks!) are not unusual, and can be much higher. technology research and product design with equal
Scott Eisenberg, FOH Two Hearts A single DAW-based native EQ plug-in that uses over importance. We are constantly finding new ways to
SSL’s latest digital consoles 5000 samples at 96kHz carries 50mS of delay! improve both the sound, and the experience.
for live sound and broadcast
actually have two hearts – Dynamic Bit Depth We understand that professional music and audio
Tempest – A CPU Audio Engine both analogue and digital.
The Live consoles – L200,
Inside the Tempest Audio Engine bit depth is production tools have to be creative, precise,
The Tempest Engine is an SSL CPU-based design allocated depending on the needs of the process. and efficient in order to make the grade. We
L300, and L500 – and There are virtually no limits to digital headroom or also understand how to make that happen, with
that uses two multicore processors - one dedicated
our new broadcast audio precision anywhere in the system and processes are meticulous research and sophisticated design
to control and display; the other running a Real
production environment given the resources they need, as they need it. workflows.
Time Operating System (RTOS) with our patented
– System T – both have
Optimal Core processing (OCP). OCP’s main task is to
guarantee deterministic, real-time performance even
Tempest cores, though they
built, from the ground up, for
Runtime Variable Architectures That is why SSL is such a respected force in music
with heavy memory exchange loads. This enables For the users, the ability to design their own console studios, broadcast facilities, and live venues
their own applications. Both worldwide - and will continue to be so.
us to execute multiple complex, high resolution architecture for any given project is a boon to any
also have SuperAnalogue
algorithms at very low latency without relying on production, and a direct result of our multi-core OCP
I/O, available either locally
additional FPGA bus-summing or any extensive
external routing hardware. Multiple processing cores (in the case of the Live
technology. New inputs, outputs, channels, busses,
and routings can be created without interrupting
More Information
products) and through SSL’s For more information on our studio,
are seen as a single processor, which eliminates the audio, and the processed path processing blocks
Network I/O stageboxes – all broadcast, and live products, both digital and
‘farm’ latencies seen in multiprocessor systems. can be moved around in a simple drag-and-drop
of which use SuperAnalogue SuperAnalogue, visit the SSL website here.
Others often have to sacrifice latency for algorithm interface without re-setting the console or muting
or mic-pres and output stages.
quality. There are no such limits for SSL. other channels.

solidstatelogic.com