| Content | API launched their 1608 console in 2008 and proceeded to deliver over 600 consoles and expanders to audio professionals across the planet. Now, the 1608-II ups the ante. With its updated feature set and Final Touch fader automation system, the 1608-II continues API's rich legacy of crafting the world's high-quality professional analog recording consoles. Packed with valuable features for today's engineers, producers, and musicians, the 1608-II provides the legendary reliability and incredible sound that has characterized API products for a half century.
API — The Legendary American Console Company
No American console company is more iconic than API. Launched in 1968 by Saul Walker, Automated Processes Inc. began building quality consoles for broadcast applications. Soon, the company's products found favor with recording studios, and a string of industry-leading innovations (including the 500 Series module, the first VCA, computerized console automation, and more) followed. API produced the 2520 amplifier, one of the most famous op-amps in the recording industry, and their consoles and products found homes in such iconic studio facilities as The Hit Factory, Record Plant, Ocean Way, Sunset Sound, and many others. In fact, there are over 700 vintage API consoles around the globe — many of which are still in use. And the company certainly isn't resting on its laurels; today's API products give you the same unbeatable combination of utility, innovation, and great sound. That's why at Sweetwater, the name API commands reverence.
Final Touch Automation System Features:
- Reliable, self-contained fader automation system requiring no external computer
- Individual Switch Control on each fader
- Global Control Panel in the console Center Section
- High-resolution 7.5" Touch Screen Control
- Files are easily saved to standard SD memory cards
- Automated Mute and Solo switches on each channel
- Unlimited Fader Groups with 2 dedicated Group master Faders
- Motorized Stereo Program Fader
- 4 Motorized Stereo Returns
- DAW Control with unity gain audio bypass
- Unlimited Mix Restore points
- Comprehensive Operations Manual
API 1608-II 16-channel Analog Recording Console with Automation Features:
- Includes API's state-of-the-art Final Touch fader automation system
- 16, 32, or 48 Input channel frame sizes
- Each channel equipped with Mic Pre and EQ
- Accepts API 500 Series EQs
- 8 Multitrack Buses
- 8 Aux Buses
- 1 Stereo Bus
- 4 Stereo Returns, 100mm faders (manual or automated)with Multitrack and Stereo Buss assign
- Full Center Section Control
- Surround 5.1 Center Section Monitoring
- Classic Analog Metering
- Global 0dB Fader Bypass
- Comprehensive Rear Panel IO Connectivity
| UF8 is SSL’s latest studio controller, designed for today’s DAW-based production workflows and ultrafast turn-around times. An expandable 8-channel advanced DAW controller, UF8 connects engineers, producers and artists directly to the creative process, offering absolute command of their workflow and significantly accelerating the speed of audio production and content creation.
UF8 is the culmination of SSL’s 40+ year legacy of mastering production workflows and studio ergonomics built into generations of classic SSL consoles. This depth of understanding of studio production, combined with decades of engineering excellence, delivers a premium finish tactile USB controller that distills SSL workflow and quality. | Add the undeniably vibrant sound of analog summing to your DAW with the SPL MixDream XP 16 x 2 analog summing mixer. Take one of your past projects and mix it through the MixDream XP and you'll hear more depth, enhanced stereo imaging, and noticeably punchier dynamic impact. The Class A design and 60-volt rails in the MixDream XP provide amazing headroom and ultra-low noise, rivaling the sound of full-featured analog consoles. Once you've got your submixes sounding just right, Sweetwater can highly recommend the SPL MixDream XP summing mixer to take your mix over the top.
SPL MixDream XP 16 x 2 Summing Mixer at a Glance:
- Deeper, wider mixes from analog summing
- Premium analog design for top-notch sound
- Expandable for higher channel counts
Deeper, wider mixes from analog summing
While the debate over analog vs. digital summing is not new, most engineers agree that summing your mix through high-quality analog gear sounds awesome. Compared to the exact same mix summed in your DAW, you'll notice that the SPL MixDream XP sums your mix with greater depth and enhanced stereo definition, with an undeniably vibrant quality.
Premium analog design for top-notch sound
SPL designed the MixDream XP summing mixer with 60-volt rails for an outstanding 125dB dynamic range, with a very low noise floor too.The discrete Class A topology was designed to give you essentially the same sound as a high-end mixing console, in a convenient rackmount form factor.
Expandable for higher channel counts
Need more than 16 channels of analog summing? It's easy to expand your summing capabilities with additional MixDream XPs. Just use the expansion inputs to daisy-chain your MixDream XPs, or even mix and match with SPL MixDream model 2384 summing mixers.
SPL MixDream XP 16 x 2 Summing Mixer Features:
- 16-in, 2-out analog summing mixer
- Amazing dynamic range and ultra low noise, thanks to discrete Class A design and 60-volt rails
- Multiple units can be linked for surround operation
- Allows you to achieve an analog vibe that's difficult to create with plug-ins
- Ideal for mixing and mastering applications
| Working inside the box? Sweetwater would like to recommend a summing mixer that will seriously up your game: the Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Shelford Edition. If you record and mix entirely within your DAW, you’re hampered by the inability to leverage the sonic advantages of high-quality analog outboard gear. Enter the 5059 Satellite. The 5059 gives you 16 channels — each with individual level and pan, plus insert and bus-2 send buttons. You get two stereo buses with RND’s proprietary Silk Texture controls, giving you effortless integration with outboard equipment, total control for two separate stem mixes, and the facility to dial in harmonic enhancement in two distinct flavors.
It’s a Neve
In serious audio circles, Rupert Neve needs no introduction. Large-format Neve consoles from the 1970s are considered by many to be the pinnacle of analog mixer design. Boasting the same design heritage and sonic perfectionism that went into the boards used to record countless hit records, the 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer graces your tracks with legendary Rupert Neve warmth, punch, and presence. With 16 channels of Rupert Neve designed Class A alchemy and flexible tonal and routing options, the Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer will take your DAW-based studio’s sound to a whole new level.
Dial in the Silk
The Rupert Neve Designs’ 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer’s continuously variable Texture controls with Silk and Silk+ modes let you fine-tune the harmonic ratio and tonality of each of 5059’s stereo buses. The Silk mode adds sparkle to your tracks by introducing alluringly airy transformer saturation in the high frequencies. Silk+ mode accentuates saturation in the low frequencies, adding density and thickness to the source — particularly desirable when you’ve got a dry, lackluster mix. Distinctly different sounding from equalization, Texture saturates the output transformers, adding sweet, musical even-order harmonics to your source material for authoritative, radio-ready mixes that blast right out of the speakers.
Flexibility: it’s a beautiful thing
The dual stereo outputs of the Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer are perfect for creating stem mixes, which you can enhance using the 5059’s Silk/Texture controls, then process through bus compressors or other devices via the inserts, finally feeding into the inputs of another mixer or your interface. You can send any input to stereo bus 1 or 2, and create two very different-sounding mixes from the same 16 channels. These are just some examples of the amazing flexibility you’ll enjoy when integrating the 5059 into your recording rig. Smartly attired in classic Shelford livery, the Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer is housed in a rugged, fan-cooled 2U steel chassis for dependable, no-compromise professional performance year after year, in the studio or on the road.
The legend continues
Rupert Neve’s 80-series consoles had a huge, punchy, and authoritative sound that defined the sound of ’70s rock. From London to New York to Los Angeles and beyond, top studios were installing Neve boards as fast as they could. By 1977, with the introduction of the NECAM automation system, 80-series boards were the main component of the success formula for any recording studio with world-class aspirations. Mr. Neve’s current company, Rupert Neve Designs, continues to advance the state of the art with cutting-edge products that sound incredible and intelligently address the challenges of the digital age. With your Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Shelford Edition from Sweetwater, the legend continues.
Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite Summing Mixer Shelford Edition Features:
- Classic Neve: Class A, all transformer-balanced, and awesome-sounding
- Zero crossover distortion and unmatched purity
- Custom transformers provide galvanic isolation and serve up "larger than life" sound
- Sets a standard for rackmountable summing mixers
- 16 inputs/channels (with level controls, pans, and inserts); 2 stereo buses
- Send any input to stereo bus 1 or 2, each with variable Silk/Silk+ Texture
- Dual Stereo Outputs let you split the input channels into 2 stems for further processing and mixing
- Stereo buss 1 and 2 each has its own XLR outs
- DB-25 line input, insert send/return connectors
- Rugged 2U fan-cooled chassis, clad in classic Shelford livery
| The Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ is a 2U, 16-channel analog summing mixer with both XLR and D-sub inputs. It raises the bar on its legendary 2-BUS predecessor with even lower crosstalk, distortion, and noise-floor performance, along with stunningly precise soundstaging and center focus. Dangerous spent over two years developing three onboard audio processors that, with a simple push of a button and twist of a knob, add tone and color to your stems or across your entire mix directly from the 2-BUS+. The 2-BUS+ is smartly designed, extremely useful, and sounds incredible.
A trio of custom audio processors
In sync with Dangerous Music's doctrine of tonal coloration as a per-project artistic choice, the 2-BUS+ features three separate custom audio processors that selectively add tone and color to your mixes. In parallel processing mode, you can deploy Harmonics, a tuned harmonic distortion generator, and Paralimit, a FET limiter on steroids. At Sweetwater, we've applied both of these across stereo mixes and on pairs of stems. X-Former kicks in a pair of custom transformers with core-saturation control on your stereo mix outs. You can have all three tone processors active concurrently, and you can flip the order of signal flow through distortion and limiting.
Outstanding flexibility
Dangerous Music knows that each engineer — and session — is unique, so they designed the 2-BUS+ for outstanding professional flexibility. They spec'd it with an XLR stereo insert before the outputs for adding a separate compressor or processing chain that you can bypass at the touch of a button for a quick reference comparison. Channels 1/2 and 9/10 can be set to mono to rout; for instance, vocals/bass and kick/snare each to its own mono input. They also gave the 2-BUS+ an output control stepped in 0.5dB increments from -4dB to +6dB, and included XLR connections for both the main and monitor outputs.
Gang 'em for high channel count
Need a full-on analog "console" summing experience? Gang together multiple 2-BUS+ units via the stereo expansion inputs XLR to create a customized channel count. For the ultimate in tonal flexibility and control, the custom audio processors on each unit apply across the ganged group output. With three units, for instance, you'll have 48 channels of analog summing, with the first two units employing Harmonics (distortion), and Paralimit (limiter) across two separate stereo stems, and the third unit applying X-Former transformer saturation on the master stereo outputs.
What the pros are saying about the 2-BUS+:
- "The Paralimit and X-Former appear to be magic knobs. Special mention goes to the Paralimit because it does that lovely thing of bringing up the general ambience without slamming the track, something I particularly love on drums. Plugged it into my system along with my old 2-BUS and Dangerous MONITOR ST, and wow ... it's fantastic! Bags of air and space around the mix." — Chris Blackwell (drummer/composer)
- "Since the 2-BUS has so much headroom, it's really easy for me to decide that I want the entire vocal submix to be brighter or warmer, or more or less compressed." — Michael James (producer/mix engineer)
- "The Dangerous Music 2-BUS is one of the reasons my studio delivers a killer sound that grants the edge on the competition." — Alberto Rizzo Schettino (engineer)
- "Between SSL, in-the-box, and 2-BUS ... in blind tests ... it was a unanimous decision that the Dangerous mixes beat out everything. The 2-BUS mixes ... were simply cleaner and warmer than the SSL or in-the-box mixing ... I just don't miss my console." — Gina Fant-Saez (mix engineer)
- "With the 2-BUS LT, elements have their own place. You end up with a quicker, bigger mix and retain a more natural, less processed sound." — Phil Greiss (producer/engineer)
- "The Dangerous Music equipment is the centerpiece of my mixing rig. Everything I do goes through a Dangerous MONITOR, 2-BUS, MASTER, and BAX EQ. Everything." — Fab Dupont (mix engineer)
- "I don't understand how the 2-BUS has been in the studio for so long, but hasn't gotten to live shows — the sound is unbelievable." — Horace Ward (FOH engineer)
- "The harmonic and transformer flavors are great options to have and the parallel limiter is a genius idea." — Chris Tabron (producer/mix engineer)
Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ Analog Summing Mixer Features:
- Stunning 16-channel analog summing mixer injects your mixes with exceptional headroom and dimensionality
- 3 analog options (Harmonics, Paralimit, and X-Former) for adding tonal coloration to your mix
- XLR and D-sub input connectivity and flexible routing allow for a customized workflow
- Integrate your outboard gear easily with the switchable stereo analog insert
- Output control is stepped in 0.5dB increments for perfect recallability
- High-quality components ensure audiophile-grade sound
| The Ultimate Desktop Mixer Legendary SSL studio tools redefined and streamlined
To the casual observer SiX looks like any other compact desktop mixer. Look a little closer and like all SSL consoles, SiX reveals a carefully considered feature set that is driven by an obsessive desire for total flexibility, to encompass every creative eventuality. It may be small but SiX is a classic SSL design. It carries the DNA of 40 years of true expertise in creative studio workflow. Listen to SiX and you will experience the impeccable sonic performance that is the hallmark of every SSL console. It is powerful and intuitive. Inspired and rewarding.
SiX is a condensed professional console for use in the studio, in post-production, on stage, and for podcasting. SiX offers big console sound and an impressive set of utility features in a format that is small enough to stick in a bag a go wherever you need it. SiX is stunning value; it offers two recording channels with SuperAnalogueTM mic pres, two band EQ, an essential one knob version of the classic SSL Channel Compressor, a new two-band Channel EQ, inserts and 100mm faders. There is a two-knob version of the legendary G-Series Bus Compressor on the main mix bus and the unique Listen Mic Compressor on the Talkback. In mixdown mode it is a very capable twelve channel summing system that offers analogue detail, depth and width to your mixes.
The SuperAnalogue™ Sound of SSL
SiX is an SSL SuperAnalogue™ design – it gives you the sonic signature of a large format SSL console on your desktop or in your backpack. Its signal path is fully balanced from front to back on everything except the headphone output. It delivers pristine, detailed audio with wide dynamic range, ultra-low noise, ultra-low distortion and superb imaging. If you want to know more about the technical reasons why SSL mixers sound so good read our document.
Two Recording Channels
SiX has two mono channels with SSL SuperAnalogue™ Mic’ Pre’s; these are transparent, fast and have a much wider available gain range than you would typically get on a compact desktop mixer – 66dB of gain compared to the more typical mid-40s or 50dB found in desktop mixers. They have phantom power, 75Hz high pass filter and an independent line-level input which can be switched to instrument level input with high impedance.
Moving down the channel strip we have a brand-new one knob compressor circuit. This design is based on and has the same sound as the classic SSL feed-forward Channel Compressor circuit. It has a program-dependent attack time, a fixed release time and fixed ratio. Simply adjust the threshold, watch the traffic lights flash to see how much compression is happening and rely on the circuit to automatically adjust gain to match input levels. This is a cool-sounding circuit that makes it simple to dial in a consistent level and get signals sitting right in the sweet spot.
Both mono channels have a new two-band SSL EQ that may be independently switched between shelf and bell curves, with different centre frequencies for each type. This approach draws upon the SSL design legacy of specifying response curves and centre frequencies for channel EQ that are immediately intuitively pleasing in their response; these curves and frequencies were selected by our team as the most “musically useful” for a wide range of sources.
SiX has 100mm faders. We spent some time working on alternate fader tapers and settled on a law that gave us the most control over the most useable gain range, making on-stage level control far easier than it would be with a rotary or a 60mm fader as found on other compact mixers.
Each channel has a fully balanced insert point for integrating other signal processors which is after the EQ and Compressor circuits, and like all SSLs the insert send is always active – meaning you can use this as a “dry” record send to your DAW if required.
At the bottom of the mono channels we have an ALTernate input switch which can source 2 extra mono channels from a connector on the rear of the console which can be used at mixdown.
Line Level Heaven
SiX has two stereo input channels with -10/+20 dB trim for line sources such as synthesisers, drum machines, output from soundcards etc. These have their own balance controls and 100mm faders. If only the Left input of a stereo channel is connected (and the right left free) the channel will automatically switch to mono, panned centre.
While SiX might be small it can handle a lot of inputs at mix-down! Using the two mono input and the two stereo input channels gives SiX its name, but we also have two stereo EXTernal inputs (with volume controls in the master section) which can be sent to the mix bus. Include the ALT inputs and we have up to 12 channels that can be summed into the main mix bus.
Master Bus Magic
SiX has a G Series Bus Compressor on the main mix bus. This uses the same circuit design as the legendary SSL Bus Compressor from our larger consoles but with a fixed ratio, attack, and release settings and a more modern quad-VCA chip. The simplified controls make it very easy to get that SSL glue and snap on whatever you push through your master bus. SiX also has a set of inserts on the main mix bus that can be used to bring external processing tools (like SSL Fusion) to your mixdown.
Routing Pro
SiX has a collection of professional routing & monitoring features taken directly from our large format console heritage. It has two Stereo Cue buses (with level and pan controls) for individual artist foldback mixes. The Master Section has main and alternate monitor outputs with a proper monitor source matrix, as well as mono check, dim and cut. The fader channels all have proper PFL and a Mute button that routes the muted signal to a ‘Bus B’. Bus B can be used as a convenient DAW record send but it can also be routed to the monitor matrix. This means that the muted signal can be monitored without it feeding the main mix bus and then switched in to the main mix with the Mute button – perfect for live webcasting because a remote feed can be monitored ‘offline’ and punched in to the broadcast feed. There is a talkback mic’ input with phantom power and SSL’s unique, crunchy Listen Mic Compressor, which of course also serves as a unique processing tool that delivers that classic 1980’s slammed drums sound.
Key Features:
A fully professional condensed console for use in the studio, in post-production, on stage, and for podcasting.
Benchmark SuperAnalogue™ audio performance
Ultra low noise : ultra-low distortion : pristine sound
Stunning Record Path
Two SSL console grade SuperAnalogue mic pre’s
Classic SSL Channel Processing
Essential versions of SSL Channel EQ and Dynamics
The unique Listen Mic Compressor
Nothing slams drums quite like it!
Professional Routing & Monitoring
The hidden versatility of truly professional features
12 Input Summing at Mixdown
12 line level inputs with channel and Master Bus inserts
Legendary Master Bus Compressor
An essential version of the incredible SSL legacy
Completely balanced signal path
Everything except the headphone jack is fully balanced |
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