User Manual
Solid State
Logic XL 9000 K
Intro
VHD model included
Extended gate and compressor options
Background
In order to expand the sonic options of Console 1, Softube offers other console emulations to be purchased separately, in addition to the included SL 4000 E model. The first such additional console model is Solid State Logic XL 9000 K. This can be purchased in Softube’s web store (www.softube.com/buy) or at any authorized Softube dealer.
Solid State Logic XL 9000 K represents a completely different approach to analog circuits compared to the SL 4000 E channel that is included with Console 1. And since the XL 9000 K, thanks to the amazing Super Analogue technology, has virtually no distortion of its own, the Softube channel also includes a model of SSL’s famous VHD (Variable Harmonic Distortion) circuit.
While Solid State Logic’s SL 4000 E is widely considered a great pop and rock’n’roll console with its slightly gritty and forward sound, the circuit design of XL 9000 K offers an extreme bandwidth, minimal phase shift and super low distortion. This makes it one of the world’s most popular analog consoles for hip-hop and R’n’B, where the solid, deep low end and extended highs work great for getting that hyper modern, large and wide sound. For the same reasons, it is also loved for classical and acoustic audiophile recordings.
XL 9000 K is a very clean console. In order to still have the option of using distortion creatively, we added a model of Solid State Logic’s VHD (Variable Harmonic Distortion) circuit, which is part of the Duality series consoles and Alpha channel preamps. The Drive knob on Console 1 determines the amount of distortion, and the Character knob moves the added distortion from 2nd order (more tube-like) to 3rd order (more transistor-like), or any in-between blend—just like on its analog counterpart.
The control section of the XL 9000 K in Peter Gabriel’s studio Real World UK.
Extended gate and compressor options
Furthermore, the Shape section of the XL 9000 K for Console 1 features a fully controllable gate unit, where the Punch and Sustain knobs control Range and Hold levels. This makes it more individually adjustable compared to the SL 4000 E model, where a fast workflow was prioritized. The compressor comes in two flavors, one with the PEAK circuit (“Peak” button on on the original console) and the other with the RMS circuit, which allows for a softer knee and sometimes a more musical compression.
Select different compressor modes
You select between these two modes when you insert the compressor on a channel using LOAD COMPRESSOR (Shift + Track Selector 4) on the hardware. If the XL 9000 K strip is installed, you will see the two compressors: “SSL XL 9000 K-SERIES PEAK COMPRESSOR” and “SSL XL 9000 K-SERIES RMS COMPRESSOR”. Just select which one you’d like to use.
XL 9000 K compressor section.
XL 9000 K equalizer section.
When the first 9000 series console came out in in the mid-1990s, it represented a breakthrough in analog circuitry design. The sound path is entirely capacitorfree, in order to keep a perfect signal integrity and low distortion. The XL 9000 K was the last and most developed version of the 9000 series, released in 2002. It is this version that forms the backbone of Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, Wyclef Jean and Jerry Wonda’s Platinum Sound, and Michael Brauer’s room in Electric Lady Studios.
Solid State Logic XL 9000 K was introduced in 2002. Note that there’s a Lexicon 960 remote sitting on top of the console, and the SL 4000 E photo had a Lexicon 244 remote. Time changes... Photo from Pacifique Studios, USA.