SSL SL-9000J
SSL's last great analog super-console - a G-Series refined to the point where the company could honestly claim the analog desk's days weren't numbered.
Overview
When Solid State Logic unveiled the SL 9000J Series in early 1995, the company was in a bind. It had to convince the world it was committed to digital without abandoning the analog consoles that paid the bills. The answer was to launch three products at once: the SL 9000J analog console, the Axiom digital desk, and the DiskTrack hard-disk recording system that bridged both. Studio Sound (February 1995, p.32) noted the simultaneous launch was "ambitious in the extreme," and that the 9000J was, at first glance, easy to mistake for a spruce-up of the G-Series rather than a major update. Look closer and the differences pile up. There is a large recessed color monitor, a pen and tablet, a redesigned center section, an enlarged channel dynamics section, and new-style meters. Those are just the visible changes.
Underneath, SSL reworked the circuitry to improve bandwidth, noise, and distortion. Studio Sound's own review (February 1995, p.42) concluded the result was a technical spec it called "truly impressive and top-ranking." One studio owner quoted in Studio Sound (February 1996) was blunter. SSL had eliminated all the capacitors in the signal path, making the 9000J "one of the quietest consoles I've ever heard." That same engineer, working on a custom 80-input SL9000J with Ultimation and Total Recall at Record One, rated the new 9000's equalizers, particularly the G version of the 9000 EQ, above the E-series EQ he'd liked in his SL8000 G Plus. He called the mic preamps "quite good." That is high praise from someone who openly preferred discrete vintage boards.
The automation was rebuilt around an entirely new computer, one that could run the desk and also integrate and control SSL's growing family of digital products. Total Recall, previously a G-Series option, became standard on the 9000J. It now covered the center-section controls as well, a much-requested addition, and matched switches and rotary controls to a 0.25dB tolerance. The function-key system expanded to 66 user-definable macros. Unlike the G-Series, those macros were saved with the Project data rather than the keyboard information, so a complete project could be moved to another SL 9000J console intact.
Machine control was equally thorough. The desk offered direct serial control for up to four machines. For machines without serial ports it could interface to TimeLine Lynx modules or Audio Kinetics ES 1.11/12 modules. Full track arming, autolocate, jog, and varispeed all ran from the console, which output both linear and MIDI timecode, letting it act as a virtual master during random-access work. A Machines menu managed any SSL digital product over Ethernet, and a Network page showed every connected device at a glance.
The DiskTrack option is where the 9000J got interesting. It used an array of 6-16 hard disks, a main processor talking over Ethernet, and highway node-cards delivering high-speed serial audio to remote I/O units. Each link carried 48 analog channels or 95 digital channels, with digital I/O via AES-EBU and MADI. The system offered up to 95 tracks of concurrent record and replay with a maximum storage of 56 track-hours at 16-bit, and could run at 20-bit depending on preference. Recording was non-destructive. Over-recorded segments stacked up rather than erasing the original, so drop-in and drop-out points could be adjusted after the fact. A complete range of nonlinear editing functions came along, similar to those in SSL's Scenaria and Omnimix, plus background loading and restore to keep project turnarounds quick. All of it was controlled directly from the desk with no extra user interface, and a DiskTrack system could be shared between multiple SL 9000J or Axiom consoles.
The desk found its way into serious rooms quickly. Studio Sound (March 1998) reported that NRG Recording Services in the US installed a 72-input SL9000J in its newly built Studio C, with a custom "Gothic" look designed to complement the facility's Art Deco and Moroccan-themed rooms. Consoles like this were often specified as furniture as much as tools. Producer Frank Fillipetti and Right Track owner Simon Andrews were photographed with theirs in the same publication (July 1995).
SSL's own advertising in Mix (December 1999, p.3) billed the SL 9000 J Series around "SuperAnalogue performance" and a circuit design promising bandwidth beyond 100kHz with accurate low-frequency response. It positioned the desk as the console for studios that had already committed to the analog path. Whether that marketing line holds up is a matter for the measurement bench, but the independent review in Studio Sound (February 1995, p.42) was unreserved. The 9000J represented "a major achievement for SSL," combining analog sonics with full integration, proven automation, and what the magazine called the best of both worlds. Its closing line was "Who said the analogue super-console's days were numbered?" The 9000J was one of the last great large-format analog desks, and the market for them contracted sharply not long after.
For collectors and studios still running one, the considerations are practical rather than romantic. These are room-sized consoles requiring serious power, cooling, and a technician who knows the automation computer — and the DiskTrack drives in particular are decades-old spinning disks that will need attention. Parts and expertise exist, but they aren't cheap, and a 9000J is not a piece you buy on a whim. It's a commitment, and the people who own them tend to be the people who record on them.
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