SSLtech
Well-known member
I engineered a couple of albums for Leif (he was Producing) in the later 1980s. At the time I'd just built my own retrofit EQs for the SSL (the 'AAD' EQ, "Amazon Audio Developments").
The [x3]/[/3] EQ of which you speak was the "G-series" EQ. Designed by Andy Millar, IIRC. Not popular with many engineers at all. Not only did you LOSE all bell/shelf optoins on the high and low end, but the Q of the filter widened with progressively increasing boost, and ALSO with progressively increasing cut. -To me, that works correctly for boost, but utterly counter-intuitively in boost! (You cannot, for example notch out a drum 'ring' without sucking a LOT of midrange energy either side of it... the deeper you made the notch, the wider it got.)
It was launched by SSL because Focusrite had been capturing all the industry applause, and -as you mentioned, the earlier EQ sound had cast SSL some market share... In fact it was what allowed the -distinctly flawed- Neve V-series to help regain some ground. -Look at the frequency ranges on the Focusrite ISA110, and tell me if they remind you of anything... then look at the '[x3]/[/3]' switches and tell me if they rings any bells with you... :wink:
The 'black knob' 82E242 was my favourite also, but for one vitally important reason: it had bypass click switches on the high pass and low pass filters. With the earlier EQs, the filterts went in whenever you switched the EQ in. Rolloffs were IMMEDIATELY placed at about 20kHz and 25Hz, as soon as you switched it in. So much for the 'comfortable' sound of extended amplitude responses... and buggered up the phase response quite nicely also!
In fact this was the biggest difference between the two. There was a slight adjustment in ranges, etc. but I believe Wayne (Mediatechnology) has the notes on that still... Wayne likes the (earlier) '02s because they were simple and they worked. -Reliably. the 242 was nicer for the user, but there are a few (oddly for SSL at that period, non-biased) electolytic caps which usually have to be changed out every ten years or so... I think there are four or eight per card. Once it's fettled nicely I too prefer to USE the 242 (black knob) of all the variants. -However, for servicing, the 02 (original, brown knob) is a great joy. Since the SSL high-pass and low-pass filters are really nothing to make most people explode with delight, the venerable '02 can be 'turbocharged' and the sonic performace dramatically enhanced simply by pulling the chips out of the filter section, and jumpering input-to-output... Try it sometime if you can... you may like what you hear!!!
Anyway, After Leif used some of my own EQs, he told me that he'd been wondering if there was a market for third-party EQ cards. -Later on (1990) he released his own version (very different from mine) and neither of us got rich from the ventures, so that means that there probably wasn't very much of a market!!! :green:
I still see Leif occasionally... He's a fantastic bloke, with a wicked sense of humour... very Swedish in terms of "devilment"!
Keith
The [x3]/[/3] EQ of which you speak was the "G-series" EQ. Designed by Andy Millar, IIRC. Not popular with many engineers at all. Not only did you LOSE all bell/shelf optoins on the high and low end, but the Q of the filter widened with progressively increasing boost, and ALSO with progressively increasing cut. -To me, that works correctly for boost, but utterly counter-intuitively in boost! (You cannot, for example notch out a drum 'ring' without sucking a LOT of midrange energy either side of it... the deeper you made the notch, the wider it got.)
It was launched by SSL because Focusrite had been capturing all the industry applause, and -as you mentioned, the earlier EQ sound had cast SSL some market share... In fact it was what allowed the -distinctly flawed- Neve V-series to help regain some ground. -Look at the frequency ranges on the Focusrite ISA110, and tell me if they remind you of anything... then look at the '[x3]/[/3]' switches and tell me if they rings any bells with you... :wink:
The 'black knob' 82E242 was my favourite also, but for one vitally important reason: it had bypass click switches on the high pass and low pass filters. With the earlier EQs, the filterts went in whenever you switched the EQ in. Rolloffs were IMMEDIATELY placed at about 20kHz and 25Hz, as soon as you switched it in. So much for the 'comfortable' sound of extended amplitude responses... and buggered up the phase response quite nicely also!
In fact this was the biggest difference between the two. There was a slight adjustment in ranges, etc. but I believe Wayne (Mediatechnology) has the notes on that still... Wayne likes the (earlier) '02s because they were simple and they worked. -Reliably. the 242 was nicer for the user, but there are a few (oddly for SSL at that period, non-biased) electolytic caps which usually have to be changed out every ten years or so... I think there are four or eight per card. Once it's fettled nicely I too prefer to USE the 242 (black knob) of all the variants. -However, for servicing, the 02 (original, brown knob) is a great joy. Since the SSL high-pass and low-pass filters are really nothing to make most people explode with delight, the venerable '02 can be 'turbocharged' and the sonic performace dramatically enhanced simply by pulling the chips out of the filter section, and jumpering input-to-output... Try it sometime if you can... you may like what you hear!!!
Anyway, After Leif used some of my own EQs, he told me that he'd been wondering if there was a market for third-party EQ cards. -Later on (1990) he released his own version (very different from mine) and neither of us got rich from the ventures, so that means that there probably wasn't very much of a market!!! :green:
I still see Leif occasionally... He's a fantastic bloke, with a wicked sense of humour... very Swedish in terms of "devilment"!
Keith
