hurricane wrote: ↑08 Jul 2019
…Jim from
Solid State Logic, said this on Gearslutz:
"Just so I've said it - the mixer in Reason is not an SSL. It has nothing to do with SSL, is not tested, approved, or licensed by SSL. Nobody from SSL has listened to it and said "yes, that sounds right" or been involved with the development of it.
If anything it is the equivalent of a covers band SSL.
Reason is a very powerful tools and IMHO a very good writing sketchpad. But it's not an SSL mixer."
TL/DR: Reason models the super-clean J series SSL console, not the more colorful (and popular) E or G series, and thus is a fairly accurate emulation of the console (and a very accurate emulation of the EQ/Filter/Dynamics). I found it next to impossible to get ANY color from the 9k (the 2nd J series) in particular.
The "long" version:
I totally agree (hard to dispute it was not tested and approved by SSL, that's a fact). But I would also point out it's important what Jim is NOT saying: that Reason's SSL EQ or Dynamics in any way misses the mark. The J series is VERY clean compared to the E and G, which have a sound that we spent a lot of time working around. It was, and is, considered first and foremost a "mixing" console. When tracking on an SSL E/G most engineers patched around the console where possible, and ran things "cold" where not possible (to avoid the "extra crispy" artifacts of overdriving the modules).
In contrast, the J series was as close to a "clean" digital console of most analog consoles of that era, using no capacitors in the audio path (they called it "Superanalogue"), and IMO Reason gives a very close SSL J Series "experience".
So to be clear, I still agree with everything you said. I would just clarify to be more specific and say that if you want the SSL E or G series experience, you should use an emulation of those specific models - you won't get it from using a J series emulation and thus you won't fully get it from Reason's big mixer.
As for channel strips, when using Reason you end up doing exactly what most folks did you used real SSLs - substituting channel strips and modules with "color" for those instruments that require it. It was, after all, the automation/total recall workflow that was the BIG initial draw to SSL - there was simply nothing else that was that well integrated with the rest of the studio, almost like working with a DAW today! The "sound" (of the E especially) was heavily criticized by many the "golden ears" engineers of the day, as was the cost and reliability (there was a LOT to break on that console). It was only after the G series EQ/channel was introduced (based on feedback from the E series) in the late 1980s that it was more widely embraced by the studio world, and this took almost 10 years to reach the "critical mass" that is assumed was preset from the introduction. Even then, folks would often use "E Series" EQ modules due to their different response curve characteristics (the rest of the G series console sounded better than the E due to different VCAs and mic
Obviously, having the choice to change the console from J to E/Q, plus a few additional options (Neve, Trident, and API being obvious choices) would be fantastic! But to get the most from those models, you would have to understand how they work and how to deal with their individual "quirks", so for many Reason users the subtleties may be lost…