I have had the console for six months now. It has that punchy SSL sound to it. The one everyone wants from the 4000e. I have tried dong mixes in the DAW vs this and it is night and day, I have a bunch of outboard mic pres and I though I would still be using my APIs for the drums. But I love the SSL pres on this console. They just fit the sound so well. They sound punchy and warm. I just using them in natural sound vs the drive feature. I do not really like the drive on them. I do mainly hard rock. Real drums, bass, real amps and vocals etc. The pres do not sound bad on guitar and vocals but I normally find myself using some 1073s on guitar and vocals. I love the bus comp on this console. I have a bunch of outboard buss comps SSL and others but the majority of the time I use the origin one. The only thing I do not like about the buss comp is it is not patchable on the console. It comes after the main inserts. There is no way to move the order. Not the end of the world but that is one thing. I love the EQ on this console. I bought 12 channels of 500 series SSL dynamics to go along with the desk. I use those for drums and love them. I use other outboard comps for the room mics. But the SSL are great for drums cymbals etc. What about automation? I do not need it. It actually makes my life easier not having it. I get my mix where I want it. Then use the 32 channel direct outs and print back to the DAW. This prints all my EQ from the console and inserts (compression etc). I can do this with the 32 LF or all 64 channels (32 LF and 32 SF). Then I just print the outputs twice as there are only 32 direct outs. I can do one pass with the LF then flip the DOs to the SF. Then I just hit the 0db buttons on all the 32 or all the 64 channels and then I have the exact same mix coming through the SSL. The routing is also the same. I just turn off the eq and inserts and I am good to do. Now it is very easy to do a total recall. I just take a picture of the panning and routing and can recall the console in under 5 minutes. Try doing a total recall on a 9000j with SSL recall it will take you 2 hours to do.

Things I wish the SSL had:

Patchable buss comp
Bypass switches for the 8 stereo groups (the original 4000e did not have this either)
No labels on the back db25s. Used a label maker and attached some to mine
I wish you could send (64 channels) the SF and the LF to routing at the same time. You can only choose any combination of them but with a maximum of 32 in total at once. But the 4 stereo returns can be sent to the routing as well

Things I like about it:

Classic 4000e sound
Great summing
Buss comp
0 db switches
Great sounding mic pres for drums
Sleep feature
Does not use that much power at all
It has room for 2x 11 space 500 series racks on the middle of the console
Great SSL support when you need it
Build quality is amazing. Who care the PCBs are stuffed in China it is quality tested and assembled in the UK.

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With so many options out there it was a struggle to narrow down what I wanted in a console and what I NEEDED in a console. Solid State Logic made it an effortless decision with no sacrifice. With features like DIRECT OUT, who can say no to summing a mix and not having to commit to just L/R print. This option allows me to complete a final print and stems at the same time! Thank you SSL. Another option I always wanted in a console was UNITY GAIN. Unity Gain really helps keep everything balanced without having to run a tone generator to make sure stereo channel sends are balanced. Thank you SSL, thats a studio time hack! One other thing that helped narrow down my purchase was the fact SSL loaded the console with E-Series EQs on EVERY channel! For those that know about E-Series EQs, They are aware they are equipped with major punch. It's amazing how you can just bump a bit of HF and a dab of LF and feel the mix open up, Thank you again SSL. I could write on for hours about all the options available on the new Origin but what fun is that.. Just buy one and experience the luxury of a hybrid console built to cut process time with style and durability. I am proud to be an SSL Origin owner and plan to equip all my rooms with the Origin console. Big shoutout to my rep Mike Picotte

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