Designed for modern hybrid production studios, Origin provides the analog punch absent from purely digital recording and mixing setups while seamlessly integrating into your DAW workflow. Origin complements each stage of production, feeding life into your digitally captured tracks on the front end and providing you with the spaciousness and depth of analog summing during mixdown.
Origin features the familiar SSL in-line channel strip design for intuitive operation. Sporting SSL’s new PureDrive mic/line preamps, Origin delivers the transparent sound for which SSL’s legacy consoles are famous, but adds a drive switch to introduce complex harmonics that respond to changes in preamp gain. Additionally, each channel comes equipped with the acclaimed SSL E-Series parametric EQ, arguably one of the most detailed and flattering equalizers in pro audio history and one that is favored by scores of multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning artists, producers, and engineers.
Since its inception in the mid-1970s, the in-line channel configuration has dominated large format console design, due to the economy of having an input path and monitor path on a single channel. Though developed with analog tape recorders in mind, it is also an ideal configuration for modern hybrid setups.
Origin has the familiar in-line channel strip design found on many of its modern and legacy boards, which includes a direct out on each channel to your DAW, 48V phantom power, polarity invert, monitor input with gain trim for analog summing or record signal monitoring, two stereo cue sends, and four mono aux sends to feed external effects or create mono parallel mixes.
While Origin looks to the past for much of its inspiration, it boasts a unique and newly designed PureDrive preamp. Using modern FET components and a fully transistor-based design, the PureDrive preamp, in its default setting, offers ultra-clean, low-noise performance to retain the purity of a recorded source. However, if you want to push the board into saturation, the PureDrive preamp includes a selectable gain-responsive drive mode, which imparts instant mojo, such as added grit to a vocal or extra crack and aggression to a snare.
The Black Knob 242 E-Series EQ was SSL’s third console EQ design following the Brown Knob EQ and the Orange Knob 132 EQ. It improved on its predecessors in several ways: it was more powerful, with an additional 6dB of cut and boost; featured a steeper slope for the highpass filter; and had the capacity to switch the highpass and lowpass filters out of circuit when not being used. However, beyond the spec sheet improvements, the Black Knob EQ quickly gained notoriety for its open and transparent sound, and engineers were struck by how generously they could apply EQ without adding distortion to a signal, especially when cranking up the bass.
Origin is equipped with Black Knob 242 E-Series-style EQs on every channel, which can be flipped between the small and large fader paths. When recording into a DAW, the highpass filter is especially useful for eliminating unnecessary low frequencies that can chew up digital headroom. With variable cut and boost per band and switchable EQ curves between bell and shelving on the high-frequency and low-frequency bands, Origin has incredible tone-shaping power with an unmistakably analog sound.
Each of Origin’s 32 channels includes small fader control, with a 60mm high-quality audio fader and pan knob with center detent, and large fader control, with a 100mm high-quality fader, and independent pan, solo, and cut. Additionally, both small and large fader paths contain a discrete insert point, with the option to place the insert pre-fader.
Cognizant that many contemporary mix engineers prefer to automate within their DAW, SSL supplied Origin with 0dB switches on the large and small fader paths that subtract the faders from those paths. So, you have the ease of computerized automation along with Origin’s warm, analog character.
Typically, the channel input feeds the small fader, and the monitor input feeds the large fader; but, Origin gives you the option to flip the paths according to your workflow preference. And, during mixdown, the small fader path can be routed to the mix bus, doubling Origin’s 32 channels to 64 for handling larger mixes without having to comp tracks in your DAW, for a true large-format console mixing experience.
Comprehensive master control streamlines your workflow
Origin’s master control section is the heart of the console and offers quick, fingertip access to its vast functionality, including talkback and rear panel listen mic, ±10dB trim pots and routing assign switches for the console’s 16 buses, four stereo returns, monitor management, DIM and MONO controls, left and right mutes, and polarity switch. Sitting prominently in the master control center is SSL’s iconic bus compressor, celebrated for its ability to glue a mix together and make it “sound like a record.” The master control section is customizable, with a modular design and 6U of additional 19-inch rack space to load up with your favorite outboard gear, keyboard, monitor, or DAW controller
SSL is famed for designing well-organized and navigable monitor and communication sections, and Origin continues that tradition. The monitor section is exceptionally flexible, allowing for three sets of monitors — main monitors and two alternate sets with independent trim knobs. So, you can quickly cycle between your monitors, or hook up grot box speakers to check the integrity of your mixes on a less than ideal medium. You can select five different monitor sources (mix, 3.5mm jack in, and three external stereo inputs) and simultaneously monitor multiple sources for expended reference listening and creative applications.
Origin’s matrix of sources and outputs simplifies communications management and foldback to keep engineers, producers, and artists connected throughout the recording process. Customize foldback mixes on two stereo cues or utilize any of the four aux sends for mono parallel mixes. Origin has two options for talkback — a built-in microphone and an XLR input for an external microphone. Each has a dedicated compressor, which, alternatively, can be inserted into any audio channel for the hyper-compressed sound popularized on Phil Collins’ epic “In the Air Tonight” drum solo.
One of the ways Origin keeps its vast functionality within a relatively condensed footprint is by routing assignments to a compact, centralized bus matrix. The bus matrix includes ±10dB trim pots for each of Origin’s 16 buses, and its simple two-button operation makes bus assignment incredibly efficient. Select the bus and track you wish to assign to it, and a blue light indicates they are linked — that’s it! If your routing becomes overly complicated and you need to start from scratch, you can reset it with the push of a button.
Below the bus matrix are Origin’s four stereo returns, which have independent trim and level controls, foldback A and B sends, and a bus routing button and indicator light. Not only does this configuration provide an intuitive interface, but it also uses fewer components than other large-format consoles with the same level of routing, reducing future maintenance requirements.
The center-section compressor from SSL’s G-Series console has taken on legendary status for its uncanny ability to glue together a mix in a distinctly vital and musical way. Origin includes a faithful re-creation of the G-Series bus compressor. No mere emulation; it’s the real deal, true to the original specs, with added sidechain access and a highpass filter to keep the compressor from over-responding to low frequencies. Featuring classic Threshold, Attack, Ratio, and Makeup controls, the Origin’s bus compressor is effortless to use, and, even at higher ratios, retains the dynamic topography of your mix without sounding squashed and lifeless. One of the final links of Origin’s beautifully rendered analog signal chain, the bus compressor imparts the timeless vibe and personality that made SSL synonymous with world-class pro audio.