Review: SSL Xlogic MYNX Chassis

Solid State Logic, or ‘SSL’ as it’s universally known, is one of those mythical names that everyone immediately associates with big-budget projects and high-quality sound. Famous for manufacturing high-end consoles that cost more than the above-average home, SSL has until relatively recently, been effectively beyond the reach of all but those lucky enough to frequent big studios. How things have changed.

In the last decade, large studios, once the staple of the professional audio industry, have struggled to remain economically viable, Meanwhile ‘budget’ and home studios have flourished like cane toads. Although initially slow to react to this changing marketplace, SSL now focuses a great deal of its energy on this market. Realising it could no longer afford to ignore home studio owners, SSL now produces quality outboard devices derived from various aspects of its legendary consoles squarely for this market. The once pie-in-the-sky aspirations of hobbyists to own the SSL brand can now be a reality.

There are a whole bunch of SSL products on the market today, both ‘original SSL’ and third-party approximations. Only recently SSL announced its new ‘more affordable’ Matrix console, to bring classic SSL features within the grasp of more customers looking to purchase consoles. However, it’s the X-Rack series of modules that are within the economic reach of most end-users. Designed to hold two of these in a classy looking desktop-style mini-rack, the new SSL XLogic Mynx Chassis is the latest, greatest and cheapest of these potential options.

SAUCY MYNX

The XLogic Mynx is a tidy looking external chassis that will have many engineers, home studio owners and recording musicians licking their chops. Inserting any of the eight X-Rack modules into the Mynx is as simple as using the supplied Allen key and unscrewing eight screws: four on the front and four on the back. It’s a little fiddly getting the modules in and sitting right, but if you can tighten a screw you’re officially qualified. Each X-Rack module has its own set of XLR input and output connectors on the back panel, so when you’re switching modules you’ll need to disconnect these first. There are none on the Mynx itself. The Mynx is a superbly crafted and sturdy little package, which sits securely on a workstation desk or atop your outboard racks. With modules installed, the whole package looks very appealing – the attractive coloured lights and the brushed silver metal finish are unmistakably SSL. But looks aren’t everything, so let’s put some of these modules through their paces.

‘G-SERIES’ STEREO BUS COMPRESSOR MODULE

The SSL Stereo Bus Compressor is arguably one of the most famous compressors in the world. Several companies have made their own versions of it, so it’s an impressive step for SSL to repackage and reinvent it in modular form. The G-Series Stereo Bus Compressor Module is a two-space module based around the bus compressor found in the recent XL 9000 K-Series consoles – which means only one of these compressors fills up a Mynx rack.

I received my SSL packages just after a bunch of drum tracking sessions (unfortunately), but just in time for an album’s worth of overdubs. The first thing I’ll say is that the compressor sounds ‘familiar’ – a sound we’ve all heard before. The first thing I patched into in was a Fender Jazz Bass going through a Sans Amp Bass Driver and Universal Audio M610 preamp. My initial impression was how ‘tight’ this compressor sounded. At a ratio of 4:1 and imparting about 4dB of gain reduction, you could really hear the compressor reacting. It actually felt like it was compressing more than the meters displayed. Lowering the threshold further let the compressor attack the sound more aggressively, but the sound just got tighter, and there were no undesirable artefacts. It was a smooth but extremely appealing sound.

Next up was an acoustic guitar. Recorded through the compressor via a Peluso 2247LE microphone and custom Neve preamp, my guitarist started by playing a heavily strummed ‘rock’ acoustic track. At 4:1, using the fastest attack and release settings available, the compressor sounded extremely good. It grabbed the transients well, and at higher ratios and lower thresholds, coloured the sound beautifully. It was very easy to find that delicate point just before over-compressing, and it was a pleasure to use on several acoustic instruments at a variety of playing volumes over the course of the project.

On lead vocals the results were similarly pleasing. Again, the compressor appeared to be imparting more gain reduction on the audio signal than the meters seemed to indicate, but the sound was so good, my only reaction was to push it even harder. The SSL gave me the confidence to compress vocals hard during tracking in a way I’d never experienced before. This is an unusual trait for any compressor, I’d contest. Simply put, it sounds fantastic. In the subsequent mixing of this project, I haven’t had to do much at all to the vocals, beyond some slight volume riding. It isn’t necessarily the most pristine or transparent compressor ever made – when hit really hard, it gets quite crunchy – but if you like your compressor to impart a character, this compressor has bucketloads of it.

Other experiments with the G-Series Bus Compressor Module included using it for what it was originally intended – bus compression – which sounded brilliant. I also ran stereo drum room mics out of ProTools back into the unit, driving the signal quite hard and reprinting it back into the ‘Tools rig, lining the newly compressed tracks up with the originals. It was simple to get the attack and release controls working sympathetically with the tempos of the drum tracks, and the results were fantastic – already good-sounding rooms came alive in an extremely exciting manner. (As an aside, I compared the results with similar settings dialled up on the Waves SSL Bus Compressor plug-in, and although the similarities were obvious, the Stereo Bus Compressor Module sounded slightly more ‘special’). I then spent some time running both a drum sub-mix and full two-track mix through it and the results were uniformly great. There was that unmistakable ‘glue’ that appears to happen when you hit the sweet spot that has always sounded magical on SSL bus compressors, and this unit has it.

At a recommended retail price of $3495 – just for the module – the SSL Stereo Bus Compressor Module is still a hefty investment. But a key judge of its ‘worth’ must surely be whether it’s effective in the workplace. To that end, I found it almost impossible to get a bad sound out of this thing, and found it useful in a wide variety of applications. It was versatile, subtle, aggressive, easy to use and delivered on everything I put through it. And I didn’t even get a chance to try out the sidechain facilities! I couldn’t recommend this X-Rack module highly enough, and if you do head down this path, you’ll never again need wonder whether you have a worthy compressor in your arsenal.