Solid State Logic SSL 2 audio USB interface - anybody use one?

[KuruPrionz]

For a portable studio rig this looks good. The descriptions I've read of the Legacy 4k feature makes me want to hear it. 

A bit of harmonic distortion and high frequency boost could come in handy often. 

 

If anybody has experience with this I'd love to hear about it! I'll poke around too and post links. 

[Dave Bryce]

I have one of each of the two models - 2 and 2+.  I'm really happy with them - probably somewhat obvious by the fact that I have two.  Yes, the Legacy 4k feature is a fun thing to have.

 

What do you wanna know?

 

dB

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

5 minutes ago, David Bryce said:

I have one of each of the two models - 2 and 2+.  I'm really happy with them - probably somewhat obvious by the fact that I have two.  Yes, the Legacy 4k feature is a fun thing to have.

 

What do you wanna know?

 

dB

 

 

Thanks Sir Dave, much appreciated. If you like them enough to have 2 of them, that's a great recommendation. 

I can suss out all the hardware details, they look straightforward to me. The dial for mixing input with playback is a great feature, lots of interfaces have it. I like the Stereo/Mono switch too. 

I have a decent 5 channel headphone amp that is small so one headphone out is enough at this point. 

 

I've been taking a look at small audio interfaces and there's quite a range of differences. I know SSL is going to have quality preamps and the Legacy 4k looks like it could serve the purpose of a "character" mic pre while remaining small and easily moved. The SSL is also fully Apple Silicon ready, that and mic pres are my primary targets. Looks like a winner to me. 

 

Since I recently acquired a pair of Yamaha MSP5 monitors, the idea of small, mobile studio rig for collaborating has become feasible.

I have a Steinberg UR22 Mk II that I like pretty well but sometimes I want a little more "excitement" going in and I'm not certain at this point if Steinberg is going to update the firmware for full Apple Silicon. Presonus has full Apple Silcon support (not just Rosetta 2) for my Quantum TB 2 interface but that's mounted in an 8 space rack that weighs too much to be fun to move. 

 

So, larger and heavier studio at home, little studio I can move easily if I want to do so. I enjoy collaborating, online is cool but face to face is another sort of creativity. 

I'm not in a hurry but I'll probably pick up one of the SSL units in the foreseeable future. 

[KuruPrionz]

Today I got an offer from an Ebay seller for an open box SSL 2+ from a seller with 100% positive feedback. 

Total was around $230 delivered. 2 headphone outs is probably all 2 people would need, since this is a 2 channel interface that covers both of those bases and I shouldn't need to bring my headphone amp. Smaller, lighter and fewer cables on the move. 

 

I have an Akai MPK 25 keyboard that uses 5 pin DIN for MIDI as well as USB, I can hook that up and leave it. I might even run the RCA outs to my home stereo with reference speakers.

Once I've sussed it out, the Steinberg can go to a happy Windows user, it's still current for Windows 11, just not Apple Silicon. It's been a good box, somebody will love it. 

 

Edited to add - on checking yesterday eveniing, very little of the included software is Native Apple Silicon ready, none of the ProTools or AAX plugins are. None of the SSL plugins are either, all Rosetta 2. The interface itself is class compliant and ought to run beauty on my Mac Mini. I don't really care about software so much. 

[KuruPrionz]

The SSL 2+ arrived yesterday. I hooked it up, it was ready to go once plugged in, no drivers required. It showed up ready to go in Audio/MIDI Setup and it was available in my DAW.

I did a bit of goof off tracking and playback, it's fully functional. 

 

Over the weekend I plan on pushing it hard to see what the limits are. I'm glad to see that it behaves as it should and thrilled that it sounds "better" than the Steinberg did by a considerable margin. 

Things just sound "more real", the low frequencies have opened up and overall clarity and noise are improved noticeably. The 4K mode seemed a bit much but I've decided to try using 2 mics for a vocal track, 1 with 4K engaged and one without. That way I can mix in the amount of 4K simulation that sounds good to me since that will probably vary from recording to recording. 

 

Overall, right now I'm a happy camper. I'll come back after I've pushed things a bit. 

[KuruPrionz]

I've done some tracking. I'm creeping up on my limits, so far no glitches or signs of overloading at all. I guess I'm being conservative based on the previous non Native performance. I'll be notching things up. 

 

24 bit 96khz 288 samples 6ms latency. I recorded 3 stereo ttracks (two mic preamps simultaneously) for a total of 6 tracks plus a single MIDI drum track with MODO Drum (which tends to be a resource hog).

Everything worked well and sounded good. 

 

24 bit 48khz (my previous usual) 192 samples 4 ms - a couple of notches faster than I've previously been recording. I had reverb plugins on 2 tracks, recorded 4 total tracks with zero gear discrepencies. 

 

So far so good, I plan on going with half the sample/latency times and seeing what happens. If everything is still good I'll go half again until it starts getting wonky. Then halfway between what worked and what didn't. 

I'll be back.

 

So far, I LOVE the functionality of the SSL 2+, I've got three knobs close together that can run my studio monitors, a set of headphones, another set of headphones or a set of cheap computer speakers (reference).

I can also hook up a home stereo (which I happen to have at home) with 2 pairs of speakers I can switch on and off. The second headphone jack has a switch to the RCA outputs that allows this. 

Last but not least, up by the Monitor Mix control, which blends your input with the playback from your DAW for zero latency while tracking - there is a Stereo/Mono switch so you can check your mix both ways. 

 

All great stuff, so is having 48v phantom power switches for each mic pre AND the "soft" delay time so there are never any pops or clicks when switching phantom power on or off. Awesome stuff!!!

Did I meantion that the knob ffor the studio monitors is big, smooth and completely silent? SSL has a winner here. 

[KuruPrionz]

The SSL 2+ I bought on eBay was listed as "Open Box". To me, that means it was in a music store and they opened the box to demonstrate the item or display it. In other words, mint condition, as new and including all extras like licenses for software, etc. 

 

I contacted the seller, who agreed to remove the software from his iLok account. I contacted SSL and explained the situation, asking if I could be allowed to register the unit and download some of the software. I really only want the SSL Drumstrip and Vocalstrip plugins, I have a preferred DAW and don't reallly use other artist's loops and beats. 

 

This morning I got positive replies from SSL AFTER I'd gone to their site and was allowed to register my interface. I am also allowed to download all the software, I'll get the stuff I want later today. 

That is outstanding customer service so I wanted to share it, in my book SSL is a great company that treats their customers very well. 

[KuruPrionz]

While the SSL is performing beautifully, I'm reaching a point with my computer that the only thing I can think of to correct a strange problem I have with my DAW is to "nuke and pave". 

 

First step is to copy everything to one external drive, second step is to use another external to create a boot drive, then start up with that drive and jump through the hoops. 

I've been putting a beat track down first for tracking parts, I've used a MIDI beat in MODO Drum and I've also rendered that to audio and dropped it in sync with the MIDI track and deleted the MIDI track. Everything I record after that is delayed and out of time with the beat. I've got latency set to 256 samples or 5.3 ms. That's pretty fast and with the mix knob on the SSL set to play from the inputs and the USB simultaneously, it's essentially zero latency. Things should be lining up nicely. There is a notable delay with all audio when tracking but all the audio I add seems to be lined up nicely. If I move the drum track back then it all lines up. Weird and it started doing it before I got the SSL. I'm going to post this here and then start a new thread and see if anybody else has been through this.