The desk comes in a one-size-fits-all chassis - and there are no options to expand it: it is what it is. The Matrix is styled very differently from any other SSL console, yet it is still instantly recognisable as an SSL board, thanks to the distinctive buttons and knobs used across the control surface. And whereas a Duality console will set you back something in excess of £100k and an AWS900 just under half that, the Matrix can be all yours for just £12.5k (plus the VAT) - which makes it something of a bargain first SSL console! Overview But it more than makes up for that with very clever insert routing matrices that help to make it the perfect solution for a lot of project studios. Not surprisingly, the new baby of the group is also the smallest and has no signal processing facilities beyond gain trim, routing and panning. All three desks share common operating paradigms and philosophies when it comes to integration with the DAW, but give you very different analogue audio facilities related to their size, cost and intended application.
Of course, the big console manufacturers have had a tough time in this changing market, but SSL, in particular, have embraced the idea of combining the best of analogue console functions and ergonomics with computer control integration - and they've applied it across their entire analogue console range, from the big studio Duality desk, through the AWS900 project studio console, and down to the latest member of the family: the Matrix. The result, then, is often a messy combination of computer, audio interface, hardware controller(s), monitoring controller, external mic preamps and outboard - and a mess of cabling! Not exactly the ergonomic elegance of a proper console, and arguably less flexible and more time consuming and frustrating to use too. Every project studio will need a few microphone preamps and monitoring controls at the very least, and most of us still want to use a few favoured outboard processors sometimes.
But even with the latest incarnations, such as Euphonix's Artist series of hardware controllers, a bunch of moving faders and some buttons and knobs still doesn't really provide all the answers. The almost universal trend towards using computers and hardware controllers has made business tough for the big console manufacturers - but the clever ones are fighting back with some innovative thinking, to create products that offer the best of all worlds.Īs an 'older' sound engineer, the ergonomic elegance of mixing on large analogue consoles is something that I miss enormously when working with computer DAWs, and I've been fascinated by the painfully slow evolution of hardware controllers as they reintroduce some of those ergonomic advantages that we all used to take for granted.
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