Solid State Logic Origin 32 | 32-Channel Analog Console for Hybrid Production Environments

If you've always wanted an SSL Console in your professional studio but balked at the operational costs, the Solid State Logic ORIGIN is the desk for you. This 32-channel console provides the layout, vibe, glue, sonics, and flavor of a classic SSL desk—but that's not all: the ORIGIN has powerful, versatile, and cost-saving features designed to make professional hybrid mixing an absolute pleasure.

Need the most accurate, transparent sound for one project, but warmth and saturation for another? PureDrive preamps will give you both on a per-channel switchable basis. Concerned about your monthly electric bill? Don't be: the ORIGIN automatically detects when you're idle, going into a power-saving mode to run at 40W rather than 900W. Comprehensive routing, 4K EQs on each channel, and a 2-fader per channel setup are all on hand. With the ORIGIN in your studio, you can achieve high-quality hybrid mixes with the aplomb for which SSL is world renowned.

Master Section

All the Works at Your Fingertips
The Master Control section is the heart of ORIGIN, designed with all the easily accessible features and tools needed to ensure a fast and creative workflow. Taking sustainability, ergonomics, modern gain-staging, and communication requirements into consideration, ORIGIN offers a reassuringly familiar Master Control feature set, with some ahead-of-the-curve functionality.

Classic Bus Compressor
The SSL Bus Compressor is a fundamental feature of all SSL Master Control tiles, and it sees a number of enhancements in ORIGIN. You'll find extra compression ratios over previous versions, an insert/return path for the sidechain filter, and a built-in sidechain detector circuit as well. Whether you need punch or glue, this compressor will provide it.

Bus Trim Masters and Routing
A central track-bus routing matrix features 16 trims for the track buses, each with a range of ±10 dB, and each with routing-assign switches for each bus.

Auto Sleep
Startup costs are one thing, but operational costs are quite another. For all those who run a studio, this is a big deal: an Auto Sleep mode automatically recognizes prolonged periods of inactivity, and puts the console into stand-by, reducing power consumption, and making ORIGIN significantly more efficient than legacy SSL consoles.

Solo Master Section
Comprehensive Solo controls provide choice of Solo-In-Front with Mix balance, Solo-In-Place for Large, Small & Group faders, and PFL options. Solo Level, Solo Clear, and a Red Light Switch complete the available options.

Mix Bus Fader
The mix bus features a high-quality 100mm fader, with a fully balanced, switched insert for external bus processing.

Monitoring
The monitoring section offers independent trims for alternate monitors 1 and 2, as well as a variable DIM level, a Mono switch, left and right mutes, and an Invert Polarity switch for the left channel. You can select your monitor source from the main mix, three external stereo sources, or a front panel stereo 3.5mm jack input, with a Sum switch allowing selected sources to be listened to simultaneously.

Returns
Four stereo return inputs enable ORIGIN to route to mix and track buses with level-controlled feeds to stereo foldback outputs A and B.

New Innovations and Classic Designs

New Mix Bus and Amp Architecture
A new mix bus and mix amp architecture delivers an amazingly low noise floor and a wide range of headroom, along with SSL's latest summing bus technology, which retains the classic SSL sound, all while bringing the breadth and space to mixes that engineers and producers love from analog.

Built for Recording, Mixing, and Summing
The ORIGIN's inline structure provides the twin paths needed for recording to and summing from a workstation, doing so with simple path routing indication and fast push-switch access to alter the signal flow.

Furthermore, the balanced insert point on each fader path is perfect for mixing duties, such as inserting an SSL Sigma into the path, allowing you to automate levels controlled directly from the DAW.

PureDrive Mic Pres
Solid State Logic has completely redesigned their mic pres for the ORIGIN. The console offers a preamplifier design that allows you to switch between the clarity and purity of previous SSL mic pres, or a sound with more drive, character, and warmth.

SSL has called this circuitry PureDrive. It's a transistor mic preamp design based around modern FET components. Pure mode gives you an ultraclean, ultralow-noise, naturalistic response. Hit the switch, however, and drive mode is engaged. Now you're adding gain-dependent nonlinear harmonic saturation.

In short, whether you're looking for something clean or something characterful, ORIGIN has you covered.

E-Series 242 EQ
The E-Series 242 EQ was arguably the most popular EQ from the SL 4000 series console range, so SSL brought it back for the ORIGIN. On every channel, you'll find the iconic E-series four-band parametric EQ. These provide variable cut and boosts per band, as well as HF and LF bell/shelf switches, and a sweepable HPF on every channel. You'll feel that unmistakable 242 growl and deep low end on each of the 32 channels.

Customizable Center Section
While ORIGIN offers a familiar look to its Center section, the design makes it adaptable for many different production scenarios. The 19" rack-based modular center section allows the console to adapt to different control priorities, and also adds space for custom outboard processing.

For example, the addition of a central 500 Series rack provides a way to accommodate flexible analog processing from a number of manufacturers. Or, you can move the center section to allow for workstation controllers to be more centrally located: even the 3 RU center meter panel can be moved, so that your workstation monitor can move closer to you without obscuring the main meters.

Comprehensive Channel Strip

Overview
If the Center section is at the heart of the ORIGIN, then each of the channel strips is a vital vein, pumping to the heart of the system with all the vitality you've come to express from Solid State Logic. What follows is a detailed description of everything you can find in each of the 32 channels.

Large Fader / Small Fader Design
The ORIGIN offers both a small fader and a large fader on each channel for extensive routing and gainstaging possibilities. Each fader has a 0 dB switch for automatic unity placement—akin to putting the fader to the Unity position—as well as Insert Pre Switches, and direct, selectable paths to the mix bus.

A Large Fader (LF) / Small Fader (SF) path indicator and a Flip switch let you use the drive circuit for mixdown through large faders if need be. The Pre-Fader selection and LF/SF path indicator / Flip switch allow for versatile path/source selection as well.

Channel Inputs
The channel inputs typically feed the Small Fader path for recording, offering a versatile and switchable mic/line preamp that has 70 dB of gain on tap, as well as 48V phantom power and polarity inversion.

Drive
Use the Drive switch to change the ultraclean linear preamp to one with gentle warmth from harmonic distortion and transient compression artifacts.

Line-Level Monitor Input
Complete with a Gain trim, the line-level monitor input typically feeds the Large Fader, and is used with discrete DAW feeds for analog summing or record-signal monitoring. However, the Path Flip switch allows the monitor input to feed the small fader instead.

Channel Direct Output
This provides the cleanest record path to the recorder, freeing track buses for more creative uses. It also provides a simple way to record post-fader paths to your DAW in order to print stems for different versions of the mix.

2 Stereo Cue Feeds
Two Stereo Cue feeds (A and B), each with Level Controls and Pan Knobs, are on hand. Typically, these are sent pre large fader to provide fold back mixes that follow the control room large fader monitor mix. However, the SF switch sources the feed from the Small Fader, and a post fader feed option allows you to use these feeds as additional stereo FX sends.

Four Mono Aux Buses
Four mono aux buses with level controls provide a simple way to feed mixes to external effects or create mono parallel mixes for additional bus needs. You can also source the Aux from the Small Fader path, or create mono foldback sends by taking a Pre Fader feed.

Easy Yet Sophisticated Routing
A bus channel routing switch handles your routing. A blue LED indicates if channel routed to a bus. Follow path pan allows stereo odd/even bus panning.

Overload LEDs for Visual Indication
Overload LED illuminates when large or small fader paths are within 3 dB of either path's clipping point.