Solid State Logic (SSL) has announced the launch of Live, the company’s first console for live sound production, at this week’s Prolight + Sound 2013 show (Hall 5.1, Stand B.73).
“So many people have been asking us to make a console for live for so long and the time has come,” states Antony David, Managing Director at SSL. “It has been a couple of years in the making because we like to get things right at SSL and we are very confident that we have created a console engineers will fall in love with.
“It is very exciting to be entering a completely new area of the industry, with a new technology platform and a fresh approach to how a live console should sound and how to give engineers a control surface that helps them deliver exceptional performances. We are really looking forward to how the professional live sound community reacts.”
Live is a flexible, powerful digital audio console designed specifically to meet the demands of all aspects of live sound production. Based on SSL’s new Tempest processing platform, Live has plenty of power and it is deployed in a uniquely versatile way. It offers 976 inputs and outputs and 192 full processing audio “paths” at 96 kHz.
How those “paths” are configured is very flexible, with power allocated to channels, auxes, stem groups and masters configured to suit the needs of each show. All processing is built into the console surface, and it has a collection of I/O connectivity built into the frame. A full range of Stagebox I/O connects to the console via MADI with the potential for larger systems to make use of SSL’s own Blacklight technology that carries up to 256 channels of bi-directional audio and control via a single fibre connection.
The control surface combines multiple tablet style multi-gesture touch screens with hardware ergonomics, strong visual feedback and a collection of innovative new features. It allows engineers to work how they prefer, touch screen or classic hardware technology, or to combine them both.
Very high audio quality is a primary design feature, including studio grade SuperAnalogue mic preamps, 24-bit/96 kHz A/D D/A conversion, to 64-bit internal processing and 96 kHz operation throughout. Live also offers a collection of 30 new effects and audio analysis tools, which take SSL’s studio grade processing and re-craft it for live. They also have their own dedicated processing power.
Live is due to ship in September 2013. Depending upon configuration prices will range between:
GBP—£48,000 and £75,000
Euro—€57,500 and €90,000
USD—$84,000 and $130,000
