Farther back in time than I’d like to admit (or can believe), I was the president of my college’s Audio Engineering Society chapter. During one lucky semester, we were able to make a trip to the AES Convention being held in Los Angeles. In the process, we were fortunate enough to tour a handful of well-known studios in the area. It was during this trip that I first became aware of the name Solid State Logic and the reputation of the company. I remember discussing and learning of the impressive and varied list of bands that had been mixed through SSL boards: Genesis, Bryan Adams, AC/DC, Metallica, and Nirvana. Learning of Andy Wallace’s [Tape Op #25] use of an SSL to mix Nirvana's Nevermind was a revelation. Despite that early introduction, I’ve never had the opportunity to work with a large-format SSL desk. My SSL experience has consisted of a period of mixing and analog summing through an SSL Sigma and years of various SSL channel strip plug-ins. When SSL announced the Revival 4000 Signature Analogue Channel Strip, I put it in the back of my mind to inquire about doing the Tape Op review. Months later, the opportunity came up, and much to my amazement, SSL sent over two units!
On paper, the Revival 4000 is essentially a single SSL 4000 E channel strip that’s been shoehorned into a 1U rack space with additional features: a Jensen transformer 4000 E Series mic pre, an impressive one-knob De-Ess derived from the earlier 4000 B Series console, a full E Series discrete Class A VCA dynamics section (compressor, gate, and expander) with a hard/soft knee option and logarithmic/linear release modes, along with a compact LED meter showing gain reduction and gate activity. Possibly the standout feature of the Revival 4000 is its versatile four-band EQ, featuring switchable “brown knob” or “black knob” flavors. This EQ is the same general design that’s been used on countless records, but here with two distinct personalities in one box. Brown knob mode gives a pair of fully parametric midrange bands built around SSL’s symmetrical curves, with high and low shelves that can flip into bells. In black knob, mode the EQ provides a 3 dB wider boost/cut range and a 6 dB steeper high-pass filter. Between the two are some flexible options that seem to run the gamut from tone shaping to problem-solving. Rounding out the front of the unit are LED meters that can be flipped between input and output signal monitoring, as well as the bulk of the unit's flexible routing facilities. This small-but-powerful section provides some next-level versatility, letting you place the high- and low-pass filters at the front of the signal path, run dynamics pre- or post-EQ, and use De-Ess pre- or post-EQ. You can even move the insert point locations. Check the manual for signal routing and sidechain processing options. The back of the unit has separate Mic and Line Inputs, balanced Inserts, a dynamics sidechain input, a sidechain link jack for stereo pairing two units, and a balanced XLR Output. There is enough connectivity and versatility for the Revival 4000 to be used anywhere in the recording chain.
I pulled up a previously tracked session with a somewhat minimal but full drum spread in Avid Pro Tools. The kit had been tracked using a pair of mics in a Glyn Johns [Tape Op #109] configuration for capturing the essence of the kit, a pair of mics on snare (top/bottom), a dynamic and a sub/speaker mic on kick, and a front parallel wall-mounted PZM for trashy room-mic chaos. Inside Pro Tools I treated each “pair” of mics as a single source. Each stem was sent to a passive summing mixer, with everything getting its turn through the SSLs, and then back into Pro Tools. Using the overheads as the foundation, I bussed them out as a stereo pair, hitting each Revival 4000 pre just a bit shy of too hard. This provided a favorable and familiar “politely pushed” SSL sound. The Jensen transformer input and E Series circuitry alone were already netting me noticeable gains, presenting a big and open sound that added tight low end and forward midrange. Proceeding with the EQs in brown mode, I set the low band to shelf around 60 to 70 Hz and added about 3 to 4 dB, adding some weight to the kick. From there, the two mid bands did most of the shaping, with the lower mid parked between 200 and 300 Hz, a middle-of-the-road Q, and a gentle 2 to 3 dB bump adding a thicker and more refined bit of body to the toms and some meat to the snare. Bumping up the upper mid band at roughly 3 to 4 kHz with a narrowish Q and pushing a few dB helped the snare attack poke through the guitars without making the cymbals or hats get spitty. To keep cymbals from taking over, I shelved the high band around 12 to 14 kHz and pulled them down a hair, smoothing out the top end without killing the sense of air. At this point, having only started to use the Revival 4000’s mic pre and EQ, I was already impressed. The EQ moves were subtle but made a big tonal difference, and the drum mix was beginning to get a “finished” sound. This felt very much in line with what I’ve liked about various SSL-derived plug-ins over the years, but it was providing three-dimensional depth and more pleasurable sonics. I can only assume these added benefits were coming from the subtle harmonic distortion derived by pushing healthy amounts of signal through real nickel-iron core transformers and from processing tones with actual analog filters.