These two innovative consoles opened up a whole new world of opportunities for recording engineers. Both were perfectly suited for the ‘big stadium’ pop and rock music of the era, and mixes created on them translated exceptionally well on radio and television. In fact, one could easily make the case that the E Series and later the G Series (which added a number of enhancements, including cleaner circuitry and a moving fader option) defined the entire sound of the 80s. While some considered its EQ (four-band and fully parametric) to be somewhat harsh – at least in comparison with the Neves and Tridents found in the studios of the 60s and 70s – others loved its brightness and clarity, which, along with the characteristic punchiness of the dynamics section, made for a distinctive sound. Its onboard computer and ‘Total Recall’ system, which enabled the user to take a snapshot of the desk and recall it at a later date, was another big selling point.īut perhaps most importantly, the E Series had its own unique sonic character. It was the first console to offer a compressor/gate on every channel as well as a master buss compressor – features that undoubtedly led to the much wider, and more aggressive, use of dynamic processing in mixing, a trend that continues today. The E Series provided a radical departure from anything that had gone before.

What made the SL4000 E Series and G Series so special? In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these two powerhouses, and at the Waves SSL E-Channel and G-Channel plugins that allow you to access the sound of these much-loved consoles from within your DAW. The big breakthrough came with the introduction of the E Series in 1979, the desk which, along with its later iterations (including the extremely popular G Series, first released in 1987), not only transformed but dominated the recording industry for decades.

A couple of years later it was followed by the slightly more advanced B Series it, too, was met with the sound of one hand clapping, though this time six were sold.

It was hardly a rousing success – only two were ordered and built. In 1975, a small English company called Solid State Logic (SSL for short) released their first analog mixing console, the SL4000 A Series. What makes the SSL E and G channels different? Why – and when – choose one over the other? Take a detailed comparative look at these two legendary channel strip processors that helped shape generations of music.

Waves ssl e channel vs g channel