SSL SL 5000 M Series (1985–)

A broadcast console that got drafted into film work - and ended up at Skywalker Ranch.

Overview

The SL 5000 M Series started as Solid State Logic's answer to stereo television. Broadcast audio requirements were getting more complex, and clients who already trusted SSL's large-format desks wanted the same quality in a format built for on-air reliability and ease of operation. The M Series architecture was totally modular, built for stereo broadcast, and data-compatible with the rest of the SSL range. It shipped with electronic switching and Instant Reset, and could be ordered with Total Recall.

SSL probably didn't see the film angle coming. In late 1985 and early 1986, the staff at Lucasfilm's Sprocket Systems division went shopping for a film-dubbing desk. Custom consoles were prohibitively expensive, and several manufacturers didn't want to modify their existing boards. So the Sprocket Systems team asked SSL about adapting the modular SL 5000 M broadcast console for film re-recording. SSL didn't normally take on custom work, but it saw the opportunity - what Lucasfilm needed was exactly what SSL needed to build for itself. The result was the SL 5000 M Series Film Post-Production System. The first four consoles off the line went to Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch complex in Marin County, California: one Foley console and three re-recording boards.

The architecture is where the M Series earns its keep. Each channel is built from a mainframe of four different depths, each holding a fader and anywhere from three to six "cassettes" - the plug-in modules that define what a channel actually does. The minimum configuration is an input/output cassette, a pan cassette, and a fader. Up to three additional cassettes can be ordered per channel, most commonly equalizer, auxiliary sends, dynamics, and channel input meter. The configuration can be swapped around. At Todd-AO in Los Angeles, for instance, the equalizer sat immediately above the fader. That flexibility suited facilities that each wanted something slightly different.

Two custom modules had to be developed for film work, both for panning - normally a single knob on a record or stereo TV console. Every fader channel has a pan cassette as one of its mandatory cassettes. It can be either the two-channel model (SL507) inherited from the broadcast version, or a film-specific alternative. The monitoring section is where the film console diverges most from its siblings, the SL 4000 and SL 6000 recording and post-production consoles. Recording dialogue, music, and sound-effects stems across as many as 32 tracks - versus the eight in most stereo TV mixes - demands off-tape/input switching by each mixer, plus monitor and recording insert points for the stereo film encoding formats. The matrix inside the film console's monitor section is 112x56x8. The first two numbers handle off-tape/input switching, and the last conforms to the maximum number of speaker channels in a theatrical mix format. Presets cover common recorder/monitor configurations, which cuts down on errors when setting up something complex.

Automation on the M Series runs through SSL's Total Recall and Studio Computer systems, though the data are not interchangeable with 4000 or 6000 Series consoles. The headline feature is Instant Reset, which can reset the position of almost all switches in less than a film frame. Reset time depends not on the width of the console - the number of channels - but on its depth, meaning the number of cassettes. A 5300 Series desk (fader plus three cassettes) resets in 21ms, and each additional cassette level adds roughly 7ms. For stereo film dubbing, that speed makes it practical to jump between pre-mix, final mix, and print mastering modes. The system controls equalization and aux send in/out, output bus assignment, and monitoring mode. Total Recall and the Studio Computer handle rotary knob positions and matching dynamic fader and joystick panner movement. Instant Reset communicates over MIDI and has a MIDI In, so changing preset numbers on an external device can change the console setup. At the time of writing, it couldn't be referenced to time code addresses, though a studio could buy a SMPTE-to-MIDI reader to bridge that gap.

SSL developed a new series of hybrid chips for the M Series, replacing the earlier op-amp-plus-components approach to sub-assembly. The hybrids substantially reduced the size, weight, complexity, and power consumption of the system's building blocks. A single SSL hybrid chip provides a fully balanced and earth-free output capable of driving a 600 Ohm load at +28 dBm. It occupies roughly 40mm by 15mm by 5mm, about one-tenth the area of the previous discrete approach.

The M Series found its way into some serious rooms. Lucasfilm's final tally was five consoles: two large desks in final mix rooms, a smaller 36-input board in the west premix room, an SL 5000 Foley console, and a fifth console that went to the San Rafael facility. The large mix consoles have 64 mono faders plus six 4-track returns, which bring 4-channel effects devices or premixes into the board without using up prime fader space. Each dub room also has 24 "mix-in-context" inputs that normally route premixes directly into the monitor chain so further premixing can be done against them. The Lucasfilm boards were delivered without monitoring facilities. The Sprocket Systems staff designed their own custom monitoring system, dubbed the "CP-250" in deference to the amount of Dolby Laboratories recording and monitoring equipment normally housed in a dubbing stage's hot-rodded CP-200 theater processor.

The desk also went to Todd-AO, where a 72-channel, 3-position SL 5000 M console was installed, and to Universal City Studios, which installed an SL 55128 M with 80 inputs accommodating three operators in its Alfred Hitchcock Theatre renovation, fitted with Instant Reset. In the UK, Goldcrest Facilities installed 48-channel and 64-channel SL 5000 M consoles as part of a studio modernization at Elstree and Roger Cherrill's. Bill Rowe, Director of Post-Production at Elstree, noted that the facility could specify options that exactly answered the studio's requirements, and that the user-specification aspect was central to the selection. TVS in Southampton, one of Britain's leading broadcast television companies, also adopted the M Series for post-production. Staff singled out the G Series automation for allowing one operator to control a great deal from a single position.

DB-Magazine (January 1985, p.45) covered the M Series in its New Products section, noting the hybrid chip development and the substantial reduction in size, weight, complexity, and power consumption that came with it. Studio-Sound (December 1985, p.61) ran SSL's own positioning for the desk, framing it as a response to the complexity of stereo television and emphasizing on-air reliability and operational ease alongside Instant Reset and Total Recall. Studio-Sound (May 1990, p.70) reported on Universal's Hitchcock Theatre installation, describing the SL 55128 M as highly customized with 80 inputs and Instant Reset. Studio-Sound (October 1990, p.32) covered Goldcrest's installation of 48- and 64-channel SL 5000 M consoles, quoting Bill Rowe on the importance of SSL's user-specification capability. The desk's reputation in the period press was built on exactly this: not a fixed product, but a platform that facilities could shape to their own workflow.

For anyone encountering an SL 5000 M today, the practical reality is that these were built to order, in small numbers, for professional facilities. The configuration varies enormously from desk to desk — channel count, cassette loadout, automation options, and monitoring all differ. That makes valuation and restoration a matter of documentation as much as condition. The Instant Reset and Total Recall systems depend on the Studio Computer, and the data compatibility question matters: M Series automation data are not interchangeable with 4000 or 6000 Series consoles, so a buyer hoping to slot an M Series desk into an existing SSL workflow should verify what automation hardware comes with it. The hybrid chips that made the M Series possible are also the parts most likely to need attention, and they're not the kind of thing you find at a local electronics shop.