SSL input knob with attitude .

Have any feature requests? No promise they'll get to Reason Studios, but you can still discuss them here.
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Djstarski
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25 Sep 2018

This may of been mentioned before but it would be nice if when you turn up the input gain on the SSL it adds a nice harmonic distortion and maybe a edgy button for the rock guys and girls . Extra volume with flavour .

Would anyone else agree ?

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Loque
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25 Sep 2018

No. If i want distortion, i put in a insert fx and use gain staging. Should also work as a send fx since they are PDC if they do not use fancy routings. And for distortion in general, i prefere parallel channels with EQing, filtering and gain staging. Thats one of the main reason i wish i could save a combination of a channel and its parallel channel as one instrument patch.
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madmacman
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25 Sep 2018

No! This is not a saturation knob! It's my main tool for level adjustments before mixing. And therefore it needs to be as neutral and clean as possible.

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guitfnky
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25 Sep 2018

doable without upsetting anyone if there was a toggle button. couldn't hurt. :)
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Timmy Crowne
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25 Sep 2018

+1

I’m all for more options. A Drive button next to the input gain knob would be welcome to me. Maybe even different colors of distortion (tube, tape, etc.) If a user just wants clean gain without distortion, leave Drive disengaged.

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Djstarski
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25 Sep 2018

I`m glad i have a couple of people that agree with me . The only reason i mentioned this is because the hardware counterpart works this way . When the input is at zero you get a clean signal . All the hardware had distortion , saturation as part of the sound which you could not get rid of . i`m just thinking old school that`s all .

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QVprod
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25 Sep 2018

Djstarski wrote:
25 Sep 2018
I`m glad i have a couple of people that agree with me . The only reason i mentioned this is because the hardware counterpart works this way . When the input is at zero you get a clean signal . All the hardware had distortion , saturation as part of the sound which you could not get rid of . i`m just thinking old school that`s all .
I have to slightly disagree here. At zero, you would get no sound at all on a real mixer (not a clean signal) unless the source was just ridiculously loud. As of now, the gain knobs default to 12 o'clock to which if saturation was included, it would automatically affect everything immediately. It's understandable why people wouldn't want that. I would agree that having saturation optional via a button like Timmy Crowne suggested could be useful though.

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Djstarski
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25 Sep 2018

QVprod wrote:
25 Sep 2018
Djstarski wrote:
25 Sep 2018
I`m glad i have a couple of people that agree with me . The only reason i mentioned this is because the hardware counterpart works this way . When the input is at zero you get a clean signal . All the hardware had distortion , saturation as part of the sound which you could not get rid of . i`m just thinking old school that`s all .
I have to slightly disagree here. At zero, you would get no sound at all on a real mixer (not a clean signal) unless the source was just ridiculously loud. As of now, the gain knobs default to 12 o'clock to which if saturation was included, it would automatically affect everything immediately. It's understandable why people wouldn't want that. I would agree that having saturation optional via a button like Timmy Crowne suggested could be useful though.
Ok , i was referring to the mixer in reason when i say zero . So far a button seems like the best option .

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Kalm
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25 Sep 2018

You're thinking more on the lines of an Input Drive knob basically. I mean on the SSL you technically could boost the gain until you hit distortion levels and trimmed it afterwards but it wasn't the best sounding.

However in my workflow I use the Saturation Knob to boost levels. Might as well have the option for an Input Drive.
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selig
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25 Sep 2018

My 2 cents:
The original J series console got rid of the capacitors in an effort to remove as much distortion components as humanly possible at that time. Even the E and G had pretty clean line inputs, but mixing on the J series was “squeaky clean” in comparison - but it’s not JUST line amps, which are designed to be as transparent as possible in all consoles (*read on for why).

There is one SSL distortion feature possibly worth modeling, which is the VHD feature. This would be a nice feature to model if you want to stay true to the SSL aspects of the console. But this isn’t at all the sound you would get when mixing on the SSL, since the tape returns don’t pass through the mic preamps.

*I’ll also point out the “SSL SOUND” comes from a sum of the parts: the mic preamps, the line amps, the EQ, the VCA (which is used for the dynamics too), the summing amp, the mix bus VCA (also used for the quad compressor, aka “bus compressor”), and all other components in the signal path from input to output.

That is to say, modeling just one quality of the console will not necessarily give you anything resembling the “SSL SOUND” any more than modeling my feet will allow you to create a statue of me. But you WILL end up with an awesome foot statue. ;)
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Djstarski
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25 Sep 2018

Maybe what i should of said is to have console characteristics built into the channels in reason . Neve , SSL and API etc . All at the touch of a button .

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selig
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25 Sep 2018

Djstarski wrote:Maybe what i should of said is to have console characteristics built into the channels in reason . Neve , SSL and API etc . All at the touch of a button .
That’s something that may need an overhaul of Reason to accomplish, which I’m all for and have even pitched to the Props when I was in Stockholm a few months ago. A “Reason Studio” approach with a new mixer/sequencer topology, while still keeping the original Reason around and in development. Of course the new mixer would allow swapping out different topologies (possibly at the channel level?) and provide a way for 3rd parties to develop new consoles for Reason.

In fact, I see Reason Studio as a wrapper for Reason in the same way Record/Reason was a wrapper for the original single rack Reason. Except for in the case of Reason Studio, you could share files with Reason users since Reason is essentially “inside” of Reason Studio with it’s SSL and everything intact. This would allow a parallel development path for Reason (which would be the “entry” to the Props world) and Reason Studio, similar to how iMove is the entry to FCP, GarageBand is the entry to Logic, and more specifically how DiVinci Resolve is the entry to DiVinci Resolve Studio (there are plenty of other similar approaches in the music and video/photo industries).

While I’m probably thinking too big, I can’t really see how else they can solve all the issues and limitations of the current paradigm without alienating Reason users, and I can’t see how they can keep going with Reason as is and also attract new “power” users. Trying to see a win/win path forward…


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Timmy Crowne
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25 Sep 2018

selig wrote:
25 Sep 2018
While I’m probably thinking too big, I can’t really see how else they can solve all the issues and limitations of the current paradigm without alienating Reason users, and I can’t see how they can keep going with Reason as is and also attract new “power” users.
Agreed. Reason’s design allows for a lot of customization in the rack, but it seems like most of its more glaring issues today exist in the fixed areas of the app like the mixer and sequencer. If those elements could be made more modular, a lot of the feature requests would be satisfied. The whole visual thing was a great learning tool at first, but over the years of using Reason I find myself needing to see racks and faceplates and cables less and less. I just want flexibility now.

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C//AZM
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27 Sep 2018

YES! I've dreamed of other consoles within reason, I've been put it on a couple of "wish list threads" .

Giles, I'm glad you talked to the Props guys about this because it could be a great coup.

Third party developers could have a field day. Good modeling of the Neve 33609 bus comp.in place of the SSL one, and entire channel strip.

Ditto for API, Harrison, Trident, Neotek, EMI, Flickenger, Focusrite...oh yes. These could be precise emulations and colored as the originals...within reason. But at least as faithful as UAD's or Slate's models. Sure, we would have to PAY for it. "after all...we're not communists". (Laughter as I pass the gold telephone)

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Djstarski
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28 Sep 2018

I do like the idea of not having to add a VST to do this job and just have the feature as part of the mixer just like the hardware .

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