Solid State Logic autoSeries

autoEQ — a marriage of SSL’s excellent modelling EQ and Sonible’s smart assistance technology.

These new plug‑ins combine classic SSL sound with Sonible’s AI assistance.

SSL’s 4000‑ and 9000‑series analogue mixing consoles have a special place in recording history. Amongst the reasons for that are the channel EQ and dynamics processing, as well as that famous ‘glue’ bus compressor. Inevitably they’ve been popular targets for software emulations — not least by SSL themselves, who now offer a range of plug‑ins, including various software takes on those famous circuits. The latest version of their console‑inspired plug‑ins, though, comes with a twist: SSL have partnered with audio machine‑learning pioneers Sonible, to create the autoSeries plug‑ins.

Sonible were among the earliest developers to exploit machine‑learning in audio plug‑ins, and it’s now a decade since they released smart:EQ+, proximity:EQ+ and entropy:EQ+. Over the years, their tech has matured, and they’ve assembled an impressive range of EQ and dynamics options, as well as various ambience effects. What they all have in common is that they use ‘AI’ to audition your audio signal and then set an initial configuration for the plug‑in controls. But since the plug‑ins themselves are algorithmic (in other words, they work much like conventional plug‑ins), the user has full control over the results. For the less experienced engineer, or anyone simply needing to work quickly, and wanting a sensible EQ or compression starting point that’s better tailored to the source than a conventional preset, these ‘smart’ tools can make life considerably easier.

Now, SSL have embedded Sonible’s ‘smart assistant’ approach in three new plug‑ins inspired, like various others in their range, by their analogue consoles. Called autoEQ, autoDYN and autoBUS, they’re available individually or as a bundle, and they support all the major plug‑in types for Windows and macOS hosts.

autoDYN — the dynamics section also gets the ‘smart’ treatment.

Console‑ation

Three specific components of the console feature sets are covered, each represented by a familiar, graphically faithful representation: one is for the stereo bus compressor, of course, and we also get individual plug‑ins for the channel EQ and dynamics. This makes sense, since these processors are the natural targets for Sonible’s smart assistance, though some aspects of the channel strip aren’t covered — there’s no mic preamp emulation, for instance. Sound‑wise, we’re in familiar (which is to say good) territory, but since we’ve covered SSL’s plug‑ins in these pages before, I won’t dwell long on that side of things here. Suffice it to say that when I tested these side‑by‑side against SSL’s full channel strip and Bus Compressor 2 plug‑ins, manually configuring identical settings, I couldn’t detect any obvious sonic differences.

Each plug‑in features all the key controls of its original hardware counterpoint and, for that matter, SSL’s channel‑strip plug‑in. So if you ever prefer to set things up manually rather than use the assistant, you can and, likewise, you can tweak the results offered up by the assistant. Compared with SSL’s full channel‑strip plug‑in, there are a few differences in the finer details. For instance, while autoDYN does replicate the automatic make‑up gain of the channel‑strip plug‑in (as you lower the threshold, more make‑up gain is applied), there’s no option on autoDYN to disable that feature. Obviously, with the sections being in different plug‑ins you can’t switch the order of the channel EQ and compression either, but that’s easy enough to do using your DAW. A nice bonus is that for autoEQ, you get a BLK (Black) button, which toggles between the two main design iterations of the original SSL EQ filters. And, naturally, you get a decent collection of presets, along with facilities like A/B switching for easy auditioning of two different settings.

SSL’s popular bus compressor is now easier than ever to configure.

Listen & Learn

The controls in the upper half of each plug‑in’s display let you configure the smart ‘listen and learn’ process. You simply pick a playback spot for your track or mix (for the dynamics plug‑ins, it makes sense to pick the loudest section), initiate playback, and then press the large green Learn button, found on the right of the GUI. After a 10‑second audition, the plug‑in performs its analysis, and then configures the plug‑in with a suggested combination of settings. You can influence its decision by selecting a specific profile (based on typical instrument or bus targets), and you can also pick between three different styles of processing. For the two dynamics plug‑ins, the options are Soft, Medium and Strong, while for autoEQ, they’re Warm, Neutral and Bright.

Rather like with Sonible’s Pure plug‑in range, the analysis is based on the specific track or bus on which the plug‑in is inserted — it’s not influenced by what’s happening with other tracks in the same project. The intention, then, is clearly to suggest settings that can form a sensible starting point for processing that source. Perhaps a good way to think of the Learn process, in terms of your workflow, is as an initial step once you are ready to start the mixing process. But you can repeat the Learn process as many times as you wish, and you might well wish to do that from time to time for autoBUS in particular, since both the nature and level of the signal at the mix bus can naturally evolve over the course of a project. But, of course, you’re also free to intervene manually.

All three plug‑ins seem to suggest very sensible, pragmatic EQ or dynamics moves.

To my mind, all three plug‑ins seem to suggest very sensible, pragmatic EQ or dynamics moves, of the sort that are genuinely helpful when mixing. I never encountered anything that sounded too drastic or ‘weirdly creative’. Again, if you want that, after the initial suggestions, you can twist the controls as much as you like, and note that both autoDYN and autoBUS include Mix controls — if the suggested dynamics control is a bit too much, you can quickly and easily make it more subtle that way. And on autoEQ, the upper panel includes an Intensity control, which defaults to 100 percent. You can change this to exaggerate or subdue the applied EQ moves (the gain controls for all four main EQ bands adjust accordingly), so it’s super easy to dial in more or less of the suggested EQ changes to taste.

A Reset button simply resets each plug‑in to its default settings. An Auto button, when engaged, means that the AI‑guided settings will be automatically applied after the Learn process is complete. And if you make manual adjustments, you can return to the suggested settings by pressing the SET button, or can toggle between your manual settings and the suggested ones by holding the Audition button (headphone icon), which is very neat. Finally, I’ve mentioned a few times that you can adjust any of the controls manually, and I loved that when you do so, you get graphical feedback around that control to indicate how far you’ve moved it from the suggested starting point.

Get Smart?

In use, all three plug‑ins do exactly what you would expect: you get the essence of the SSL console EQ and dynamics in a plug‑in format. Is it quite as cool as sitting in front of a real 4000‑series console? I hardly need answer that! But, like the real hardware, the processing does feel very forgiving, and it is way more convenient for most of us, not to mention considerably less expensive!

I’ve long enjoyed Sonible’s clever plug‑ins, and I like how their assistance has been integrated so seamlessly into this SSL experience. Importantly, the AI side of things is not intrusive, it’s very easy to use, and it can be bypassed completely whenever you wish. So if you want the essence of the SSL experience, and like the idea of Sonible’s smart assistance, the autoSeries is well worth exploring — and SSL’s Download Manager provides a 14‑day free trail for these (and other) plug‑ins, allowing you to do just that.