bx_console SSL 4000E is a channel strip modeling the filters, compressor, gate, and EQ section from the venerable mixing console by Brainworx.
Plug-in developers Brainworx have released bxconsole E — a new 72-channel emulation of the SSL E Series console, complete with compressor/limiter, expander/gate, four-band parametric EQ, and wide-ranging high- and low-pass filters. The new plug-in pairs these features with the same flexible signal. Brainworx bxconsole G SSL 4000 emulation I’d been after a channel strip emulator of the renowned SSL 4000 console that has legendary status since its introduction in 1987. I’ve already started using this plugin on new tracks. Top mixing engineers share secret mixing tips and tricks on using the SSL E-Channel, G-Channel and G-Master Buss Compressor plugins. Free presets included.
The legendary sound of the Solid State Logic 4000 series consoles brought to you by Brainworx. With the power of TMT this officially licensed SSL plugin allows you to build a 72 channel analog console in your DAW. Harness the power of the most famous British console ever produced.
BrainworxStripped Bare
On my journey to obtaining mixes that don’t sound like the inside of a dumpster fire, I’ve messed with a lot of tools meant to make things “easier” for lack of a better word. Fancy equalizers with spectral visualization, compressors that show you exactly where the knee and slope of the compression activate, and a litany of other devices have graced my DAW and none have ever really stuck.
Enter the channel strip, I believe I was introduced to my first one with Audio Track by Waves back in 2013 or so. I didn’t quite grasp the appeal, but I liked how immediate everything was. If you’re new, or perhaps skeptical, a channel strip combines all the core functions of a mixing console in a handy dandy little plugin that you just insert on individual channels during your mix session.
Now, my mixes sound more like inside of a clean dumpster, and that’s largely thanks to trusting my ears and leaning heavily on tools like a channel strip, and this particular one is among my absolute favorites.
Solidly Stated? Where’s the logic in that?
The bx_console 4000 E by Brainworx is one of those remarkable tools that you don’t quite understand you need at the time, but by golly did I need this as soon as I heard it on a bass channel.
The 4k E, as I’ll refer to it because the whole name is a bit of a mouthful, is a channel strip running in VST2, VST3, and AAX for Windows and OSX. It’s officially endorsed by Solid State Logic, which has its perks if you operate on name recognition or you’re a brand snob I suppose.
When you initially launch it, you’re presented with a very cozy little arrangement, with a pair of filters on the upper most left, the legendary dynamic section directly below, an EQ to the right, and a gigantic fader to the extreme right. There’s also these funky little buttons for something called TMT and stereo mode, but we’ll get to those.
Where’s the glue? I thought there was supposed to be glue
The dynamic section is comprised of two sections, a compressor and a gate/expander. The compressor itself operates from 1:1 ratio up to extreme limiting at an infinity:1. The attack is fixed but you have the option of a fast attack in addition to the release. There’s also some other nifty little knobs like a wet/dry mix for parallel compression on say a particularly lifeless kick, a high pass filter for letting some of those extreme lows escape, and a secondary release setting for fine tuning the action of the compressor itself.
This comes in two flavors, an E and a G. Now you might be asking yourself, what on earth is the difference? The E is an earlier revision of the 4000 series console, and I find the compressor lends a darker tone overall. It’s a smooth and pleasant operator, but it isn’t what I’d call in your face. The G on the other hand is perhaps its more famous sibling, and has a nice snarly midrange and overall brings things slightly more forward, not unlike a more polite API 2500.
The gate/expander is also rather full featured. In gate mode it allows you to dial in hysteresis, the range of the gate, and the threshold. The expander operates largely the same but you miss out on the aforementioned hysteresis control.
The dynamics can also be set to operate on an external sidechain, which is highly useful.
All Frequencies Created Equal? Wouldn’t that sound muddy?
The equalizer section is rather magical, as it models two different E consoles. In its default state, it’s the black knob filters, mash the button and it becomes brown. If you’re not versed in vintage audio consoles this could be pretty confusing, but each option has different tonal characteristics.
You’ve two shelves, which can be set to peaks, and two filters with adjustable bandwidth. In black mode I found the EQ filters to be rather aggressive, with larger adjustments grabbing my frequency selections out and slapping me in the face. The brown mode is smoother, while those big jumps are still noticeable, it isn’t nearly as aggressive.
The EQ can be placed before or after the dynamics, I won’t start that fight on where it works better because people get passionate and I’m just here for the channel strip honestly.
TMT? Where’s Raphael and Donatello?
The master section has some unusual choices, and some rather obvious ones. The input gain does what it says, but the knobs next to it bear some more mention. V-Gain can be characterized as the noise of the console. There’s a low operating cycle that gets very very evident when you have this cranked up across a large project. If you don’t like a bit of that old analog grit, it’s easily bypassed.
THD is total harmonic distortion, and functions as the desk’s color or saturation. It defaults very demurely to a reasonable position, but I’m an unreasonable person so I just crank it to get things going.
These last two puzzled me however, the TMT and the stereo mode. The stereo mode in practice is modeling nonlinearities in the volume of the left and right channels of a console. In analog mode this effectively means the compressor might be doing 3dB of gain reduction on one side and 1.5dB of gain reduction on the other. This can be readily disabled for more uniformity by switching to digital mode.
TMT, or tolerance modeling technology as the good folks at Plugin Alliance call it, is modeling 72 different stereo channels on the SSL. This boils down to 36 stereo pairs in analog mode, or 72 in digital mode. If you’re familiar with Waves NLS, it’s the same sort of functionality, but just right there and ready for you. I have noticed on larger projects this makes a massive difference just hitting random across the entire project.
Automated Processes? Never heard of them
This is a fantastic little strip, and I have done entire projects with just this and a bus compressor to control everything at the 2bus level. It normally retails for $249 over at Plugin Alliance, but if you’re diligent you can easily grab it from anywhere from $29 to $49.
It does take a bit of manual reading to get the absolute most out of it, but I like reading manuals so this isn’t a huge issue to me. I would love to see an independent attack control on the dynamics, I understand this is supposed to be an accurate emulation but I get fussy about fixed attacks.
If you’re in the market for a great general-purpose channel strip well suited for any sort of material you can toss at it, this would be at the top of the heap.
Bx Ssl 4000 E Manual
- Sound Quality
- Ease of Use
- Interface
- Presets
- Value for Money
- Turtle Power
Summary
Bx Ssl
Would I recommend bx_console SSL 4K E to anyone? Absolutely, it’s a great bundle of useful processors that can be as colorful or as clean as you could desire. Being able to randomize certain parameters in pursuit of that ever magical mojo from yesteryear is just icing on the cake.
Bx Ssl 9000
User Review
3.25(4 votes)