Review: SSL Nucleus
The most famous console manufacturer on earth has a new baby…
1 June 2011
Review: James Wilkinson
Solid State Logic’s analogue consoles have serious nous. Historically, these remarkable boards have contributed to the success of more hit records than any other, perhaps most notably the G-Series models from the 1980s. SSL consoles are revered amongst engineers and musicians worldwide for their total sound: the channel strips, dynamic processing and EQ, the stereo bus compression and Total Recall automation all coming together in one comprehensive package. Today SSL continues to quietly – stoically even – get the job done in Oxfordshire, England, but with a more mosaic perspective to technology.
The company is still making consoles, of course, but in more recent times it has also branched out into software, converters, networking – lots of stuff really – including taking a ‘chop-shop’ approach to their consoles. Rather than simply manufacturing enormous analogue and digital behemoths that most of us can’t afford, SSL now makes it possible to buy aspects of its famous sound, whether that be the bus compressor from a G-Series 4000, parametric EQ from a SuperAnalogue 9000 K-Series, or microphone preamps. The company’s newest console, the Nucleus, which I’ve been working with for a couple of months now, draws upon this modular approach to design, sharing the same controller section from the Matrix console, while the mic pres can be found in several other SSL products including the X-Rack range and AWS and Duality consoles.
PIPE ORGAN COMPUTER THEORY
Originally founded in 1969 to produce solid-state console control systems for pipe organs, somewhat incredibly SSL continued with this enterprise until 2002, when the division of the company was sold off. I’d like to think there are some parallels to be drawn here with SSL’s new Nucleus, which I’ll admit might seem like a very long bow to draw, but there seems a similar desire to unite the company’s understanding of the complexity of the 17th century pipe organ and computers today. Bear with me please.
For more than 200 years pipe organs were the most complex man-made devices on earth, and while I’ll leave it to you to decide which is better at making music, there’s a genuine need for an interface that’s practical and well designed to control these complex instruments, be it the analogue beast with 20,000 pipes, or the latest digital audio workstation complete with plug-ins, soft-synths and a virtual mixer.
SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES
As a simple overview, the Nucleus comprises a 16-channel controller, a ‘SuperAnalogue’ monitoring section, two high-end analogue mic preamps and a soundcard. Control functions travel via Ethernet and the soundcard and keyboard duties are ported via USB. The controller works by using either HUI (Human User Interface) or MCU (Mackie Control Unit) protocols, which means that it will operate your standard controls in ProTools, Logic, Cubase/Nuendo and many other audio software applications literally straight out of the box. There’s also a Continuous Controller profile, to allow MIDI devices to be directly manipulated too. Printed with some switches you’ll find the default HUI functions on white, with the MCU functions printed below them.
USB connects the Nucleus to your computer to convey keyboard commands and audio. Using the USB Soundcard application it’s necessary to determine the four possible inputs and outputs you’ll be using with the Playback Mixer’s matrix, with selection for either the two analogue and two digital buses available here. Digital S/PDIF is via an optical output, so if another device has coaxial phono sockets you’ll need a converter to adapt the connectors. S/PDIF input is routed to the external monitor section, with the mic pres feeding directly to the S/PDIF inputs. There’s also a four-socket USB hub for drives, dongles or anything else that uses USB, which is handy. Adjacent to this hub is a footswitch socket, which allows two footswitches to connect using a mono-to-stereo splitter.
REMOTE SOFTWARE
Nucleus’s controller operation is set up using SSL’s Nucleus Remote and ipMIDI software via Ethernet. The remote software is fundamental to having your computer and control surface talk to each other, and configuring it is similar to establishing network settings for the internet. The Nucleus’s ‘status’ is displayed as Online when connected. If you have a more complex network criteria the ability exists to connect three workstations on three separate computers (via a network Ethernet router and USB switcher).
After connection you’ll most likely spend a lot of time in the DAW tab, personalising soft keys, layers, profile setups and other features. This is where you can tailor how the controller functions, with any change you make saved to the console’s SD card. I used Nucleus with ProTools, Logic and Ableton Live, and of these three programs Logic was the simplest to use from the generic profile. While most switches come with an assigned function, this varies depending on the program in use. Sadly, while there are some ‘standards’, what works for one program may not work so well for another. As an example, without any customisation of the keys in Logic, selecting and assigning a plug-in is easily accessed using the Nucleus’s assigned switches and pots. To do the same in ProTools proved elusive (I couldn’t get it to work) and it was easier to grab the mouse and assign plug-ins within the program, then use the controller to select and manipulate the settings. No criticism of the controller, but indicative of the many shortcomings of industry controller standards as a whole.
NEED TO KNOW
Connectivity: There are several analogue and digital input and output options on the rear panel, even footswitch and iJack inputs.
CHANNEL FEATURES
The channel strips on the Nucleus are fairly lean-looking affairs; indeed they scarcely look like strips at all when compared to SSL consoles of yore. The most striking feature on the board is the thin LCD display that runs horizontally across all 16 channels, separated into two halves by the central master section. The term used by SSL to describe this is the ‘Scribble Strip’ even though chinagraph noodlings aren’t encouraged. It displays two rows of information: the top line showing each channel’s name, while the lower row offers a description of the current function status of each channel’s V-pot. V-pots – while we’re on the subject – are the blue rotary controllers that run across the middle of the console (one per channel) just beneath the Scribble Strip that also double as V-Sel switches, meaning you can either press or turn them depending on the feature it’s assigned to. For instance, in an EQ plug-in the knob might control the inserting of a filter by depressing it, and the frequency at which it’s set, by rotation.
Selecting the plug-in spreads its parameters across the console, to be controlled by either the V-pots or, by selecting the Flip switch, via the faders. Plug-ins, automation and record features are all accessed via each channel’s Select switch, which sits directly below the Cut and Solo switches, all three of which are located above each of the 16 faders. A selected plug-in’s elements are laid out horizontally across the Scribble Strip (which looks reminiscent of the way multi-effect units display their parameters), and once you’ve become accustomed to the display and the corresponding controls, it’s a practical and expedient process. Each channel is rounded off with quality 100mm touch-sensitive faders.
MULTIPLE DAW CONTROL
The Nucleus has the snazzy ability to connect three DAWs at once, and flip between and control them with a single button press, using the DAW layer selectors. Flip the switch and instantly the software controller profiles change, so that when you switch between say Logic and Ableton Live, the profile appropriate to each is instantly and seamlessly applied.
The controls are very responsive, and I had no issues of latency in the transport controls, faders, pots or soft switches. Press the solo or cut buttons on a channel and it acts as is if in the analogue domain. Scroll through the channels and the faders move as you pass though their corresponding virtual strip. It’s all very direct, fast and satisfying to use. Having the ability to ‘ride the fader’ is important to a lot of artists and sometimes this is far quicker than explaining the idea to an engineer. Needless to say a console with flashing lights and moving faders also brings with it a certain amount of ‘bling’, and although this might sound trite, people do find such technology impressive and I say this with no irony – having one of these may just persuade your next client that you’ll do a professional job.
Digital consoles often suffer the same issues by way of miniaturisation that mobile phones and cameras do, and while most love the idea of compact technology, in practice our fingers are often too big, or eyes too challenged to easily operate the features at hand. Here the design is evidently no micro mixer, with faders, switches and transport controls all laid out with a generosity that might lead you to believe you were sitting down at your very own large format console. While the main output and channel meters (located above each of the 16 strips) are not so large, their inclusion is very useful for keeping levels in check as they’re positioned in front of you, and I found them easier to quickly reference than the computer’s channel strip metering.
By providing 16 channels instead of only eight, the Nucleus allows you to see far more of your session, and there’s less of the frustration that comes from scrolling up and down the channel strips to find the one you need. Channel scrolling is via the Bank (increments of 16) or Channel (increments of 1) switches; these allow you to choose which DAW channels are displayed by the controller.
THE MASTER SECTION
Centrally there’s a bank of Shift, Option, CNTL and ALT switches, which are all dedicated modifier soft switches. Above the jog wheel there’s also other additional master controls like Save and Undo, which along with the Navigation controls next to the jog-wheel all change their use depending on which DAW you’re using. These controls are also assignable using the Transport/Utility setup in the remote software.
If you activate the User 1 or 2 switches (centrally located right at the top of the master section just beneath the ‘Nucleus’ logo), Channels 9 – 16 become configurable soft switches that are assignable with the Nucleus Remote software. This is handy for any keystrokes you might use often for editing or mixing. By assigning your commands here it’s possible to navigate and execute repetitive tasks without having to use your mouse or keyboard. There’s a list of menu items within the software for common commands or you can have the program ‘learn’ your own if it’s not listed. The names and associated keys are all configurable, so there’s a lot of scope here for adapting the Nucleus to the task at hand and developing appropriate shortcuts.
The jog wheel too is very handy for scrolling through the session’s time line, scrubbing or other assignable tasks – this is a good size and has a nice resistance to it. Having the Nucleus’s transport controls located centrally differs from other controllers, as most position the jog-wheel and buttons to the far right of the device. For a left-hander like yours truly this can prove frustrating to operate as the control surface is essentially pre-configured for right-handers. The transport controls are large and sturdy, reminiscent of analogue tape machine buttons, and they look and feel like they’re built to last.
It’s all very direct, fast and satisfying to use.
SUPER MONITORING
The monitoring section, once again given the SuperAnalogue moniker by SSL, is a simple and low-noise affair. It includes a wet and dry knob to balance playback with a live performance, offering zero-latency monitoring in ‘Mixdown’ mode. There are switches to sum left or right input to mono (as without these the mic inputs appear panned either hard left or right in the headphones), an iJack switch (which patches your portable music player to the speakers via the mini-jack rear-panel connector), and RCAs for a CD player or similar. All these switches are located centrally above the monitor level knob, just below the 10-segment stereo output level meters. Depressing the Mic switch here, switches the metering to display the two analogue mic inputs individually. Headphones also have a separate volume control, which attenuates the signal to two outputs on the rear panel.
There are various input monitoring options too, with either the iJack or balanced line-level sockets available by pressing the ‘EXT’ switch. This feature allows input from both sources to be monitored, and if you use the ‘∑’ switch it will sum the monitor sources together.
The two Super Analogue mic preamps are accessed via combi XLR inputs, and offer +75dB of gain, switches for phantom power, a –20dB pad, phase inversion and 80Hz high-pass filter. There are also inserts for routing your signal to an outboard device like a compressor or EQ. The pres sound clean and dynamic without being overtly sterile, offering a quality low noise amplifier that’s appropriate to a broad range of applications.
The rear panel direct outs allow you to use the Nucleus’s mic pres with another converter, and if there were a weak link in this package I’d say the converters are it. While I really like the console’s layout and quality components, the mic preamps suffer in translation from analogue to digital, and playback doesn’t quite have the dynamic and depth of soundstage you might expect from high-end dedicated converters. To put this in a real-world context, the A/D front end of the Nucleus in comparison to an MBox2 was night and day, with the SSL sounding clean and clearly more representative of the source. Take the monitoring then and compare it with a Crane Song HEDD (doing the D/A conversion) and the Nucleus was clearly outgunned. My point being, the mic pres and controller leave me fulfilled with their performance, whereas the converters have room for improvement.
Nucleus also ships with registration for two plug-ins from the Duende Native Essentials Bundle. There’s the Bus Compressor that gives you the sound of the SSL G-Series Stereo Bus Compressor and SSL Channel EQ & Dynamics for VST/AU/RTAS. In the Channel Strip you have an emulation of the G- or E-Series analogue consoles, complete with four-band parametric EQ, dynamic processing and variable high- and low-pass filters.
HARD-WEARING THIN
My current bugbear is that plug-ins are always being compared to their physical counterpart as a means of gauging how good they sound. For mine it’s an irrelevant argument given that apples are patently not being compared with apples, and in the world of emulations software should be compared with software. Most musicians or engineers will never own or use a G-Series console but a far greater number will be able to benefit from the sound an SSL G-Series channel strip could bring to their mix. To my ears the Duende emulations have more ‘iron’ and ‘grit’ to their sound than their Waves counterparts, the bus compressor works both transparently and brutally and the EQ adds bite without being brittle. All the Duende Native Plug-ins are available to download from SSL’s website for free as a fully functional 30-day demo, and demoing them from there is a far better way than relying on any adjectives in use here.
I’m loath to say it but the Poms do a good job of thinking things through, and for all the criticism I might direct at any particular feature, there seems a logical reason for SSL’s thinking with the Nucleus. A wishlist of desirable items could include: multiple outputs for mixing 5.1, a talkback mic, a trackball and locating the headphone connectors on the front panel, but I can also see all the reasons why the SSL designers have done things the way they have. This is a product designed (as SSL puts it) for the ‘Project Studio’, as an all-in-one soundcard and controller for making music or producing film/TV with a computer. In the Nucleus it’s very clear how manufacturers have to balance what to include and exclude in order to formulate a product – on this measure the Nucleus does very well. It can’t be everything to everyone, but what it does provide is straightforward, functional design, high build quality and flexibility of application that makes it a very attractive and appealing device to use.
RESPONSES