SSL AWS 948
Forty-eight inputs in a twenty-four-fader footprint. SSL's second-generation workstation console, and the one engineers keep asking about.
Overview
Solid State Logic's AWS 948 is the 48-input variant of the second-generation "Analogue Workstation System." The dual-path channel strip is the whole point. The first AWS topped out at 24 inputs across 24 faders. The 948 keeps the same 24-fader footprint but doubles the input count by giving every channel a single mic preamp and two line-level inputs, plus a new stereo EQ and stereo insert. You get 48 inputs' worth of tracking capacity without a bigger desk or more floor space than the original AWS needed.
Each channel can run in one of three modes - Stereo Mix, In-Line Mix, or In-Line Tracking. The board changes roles depending on whether you're cutting basics, mixing down, or working in stereo. The E/G switch is the detail that separates the 948 from a generic control surface. It picks between two genuine SSL EQ voicings per band, not a plug-in approximation of them.
The EQ itself, according to one high-profile user, is the sonically identical SuperAnalogue mono channel EQ from the XL9000K series. In an interview published in Electronic Musician (undated in the source material), a Stockholm-based engineer who mixed through an AWS 948 described the EQ as having more depth than digital. He said the mids stay aggressive and warm without turning harsh between 1.5k and 4k. He also singled out the console's stereo width function for pushing sources to the sides while keeping detail anchored in the middle. That's an owner's opinion, not a measurement.
The automation is A-FADA - Analogue Fader Accesses DAW Automation. The motorized analog faders follow continuous DAW automation data. That's the hybrid idea behind the whole AWS line: a real analog signal path, real moving faders, and a DAW that can drive them. The 948 also carries LCD digital scribble strips, a phase meter, and updated cosmetics over the first-generation AWS, per Mix's AES coverage. The console talks to a DAW via MIDI over Ethernet. The smaller 924 sibling in the same series is documented as using the Mackie Control protocol for plug-in control, with a TFT display for plug-in parameters and V-Pot rotary encoders. Those features probably belong to the AWS family as a whole, but the source material only spells them out for the 924.
The 948 is not a replacement for a large-format SSL. Forty-eight inputs and 24 faders is a project-and-mid-size-studio machine, and the people who bought it used it that way. One Stockholm mixer ran Pro Tools HDX through the 948 alongside a rack of tube EQs, tube compressors, and vintage reverbs. The DAW was the multitrack and the console was the front end. Another engineer, working on the Electronica albums, used an AWS 948 as the hub of a hybrid setup that moved between recording analog instruments and controlling Ableton Live, and praised its flexibility for that jump. A New York room that opened in March 2013, Volant Studios, was equipped with an AWS 948 alongside a Studer A80 and Pro Tools HD-X2. The Vintage King showroom's Critical Listening Room ran an API 1608 next to an SSL AWS 948 as its two reference consoles. That puts the 948 beside an API, not beneath a 9000.
The 948 also turns up in smaller, purpose-built rooms. One is a home-addition studio, not a commercial room, and it runs the same console as a Tribeca facility with 13-foot ceilings. The footprint stayed small while the input count grew, so the console fit rooms of both sizes.
On price, the record is thin. Pro Audio Review (November 2010) listed the AWS 948 as "POA" - price on application. SSL wasn't putting a number in front of readers at launch. Anyone chasing one today should expect the usual hybrid-console tradeoff. Motorized faders and a DAW-control layer mean more to go wrong than a passive analog desk, and service depends on SSL's continued support for the automation hardware. The source material doesn't document current street prices, common faults, or parts availability, so treat any number you see quoted as unverified until it's checked against a service history.
What the documentation does establish is the 948's place in the AWS line. It's the bigger-input sibling of the 924, sharing the 24-fader footprint, the SuperAnalogue circuitry, the dual-path channel design, and the A-FADA automation. For an engineer who wants SSL EQ and a real analog path, works mostly in a DAW, and can't dedicate a room to a large-format desk, the 948 has enough inputs to track a band. The E/G switching and the stereo width control are the details owners come back to. The 24-fader ceiling is the compromise they accept.
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