Solid State Logic SSL 2 Audio Interface Review (Legacy 4K Mode explained) 

Germans, gotta love them. Straight and to the point.

​@@Super-id7bq Another twist: Julian actually is cool by not trying to be cool, whereas trying to be cool would have made him uncool.

The German way my mate

Man SO TRUE! WOW. Subbed.

Well said! Great video review. Subscribed and liked!

I mean is all that even really necessary for a 275 dollar interface marketed for beginners?

@@gusdee4844 why else would you review it, if specs don't matter?

@@gusdee4844 ttt5yy4j

@@gusdee4844 ko 11

@@gusdee4844 noise is crucial for me using a low ouput mic (Rode Podmic 110 dollar) where you need to set the gain almost to maximum. I returned my Scarlett for this reason (an less gain)

EDClevel I was just thinking of using it in conversation quite often.

It's a lot to live up to, honestly.

That's practically two band names!

Reminds me of the naming of sections from La Monte Young's Well Tuned Piano. He has such gems as The Magic Harmonic Rainforest Chord!

i'd just settle for "bush".

@@jillianangell2570 is there any info about the preamp being maybe proprietary

My question, are they different in the different versions? I don't have the means to test but I have an old UR44 and my friend has a UR44-C to give me for cheap.

Yeah, that threw me for a minute - nothing to do with 'graphics'!

you are funny 👴

Clickbait

4K Audio, lol 😂😂😂

I first learned about the "11" setting in the manual as this, as I was waiting for my unit: "This large blue control directly affects the level sent out of OUTPUTS 1/L and 2/R to your monitors. Turn the knob to make the volume louder. Please note the MONITOR LEVEL goes to 11 because it's one louder.! :)

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you liked the video :)

R P how has it been working?

thanks for your take on it, been thinking about buying myself one too :)

Same for me.

Same here. Please keep up the good work

I subscribed just for that! The channel is great and very informative too.

Yes, these reviews are absolutely incredible.

hehehe.....

Me toooooo lmfaooo

Yeah you can slow down the audio much more at 240fps(if you for some reason wanted to do that 🤭😉

Pfft the human ear can't hear more than 30fps!

plugins? what do you mean? sorry, audio noob here.

Manx Missile! They are software emulations of hardware effects and processing units. They work inside ones DAW to add effects to audio tracks such as EQ or Reverb or Compression :)

@@Jamman610 Good question and I’m not entirely sure. These plugins are made for Mac OS not iOS so I suspect they won’t work, but I could be wrong? The interface itself will work just fine though!

Certainly could be a bigger bang for the buck. The 4K sound could be achieved via so many other options I don't consider that to be worthy of a higher price tag. The lower noise floor on the preamps is attractive, but when you heard the comparison of noise between several models, the M2 sounded nearly identical. I'm of the opinion that for most recordists it would provide a similar result given the same room and microphones. Both have okay and not stellar latency, but this is an entry point product. But the M2's DAC is either marketing hype or just offering a nicer monitoring experience. You'd either be in the same ballpark or head of the game for much less money. Frankley, this kind of product from SSL kind of bums me out. They could have done something that really challenged the Apollo Twin or BabyFace Pro for a quality desktop unit. Instead I'm thinking the cheap MOTU is the smart money for a simple setup.

@@alexbreyer6921 Motu doesn't provide any information about the ADC. The M2 has a better dynamic range than most budget interfaces so I would have thought they would spill the beans on the ADC.

@@kyron42 I think it is 110 like the SSL.

@@alexbreyer6921 mic input A weighted dynamic range is 115 dB which puts it halfway between budget interfaces and top level interfaces. motu.com/en-us/products/m-series/m2/specs/

I can highly recommend the M4.

yes ive mixed on the console from rockfield studios and theres a sound present for sure a good sound, im very suprised by this as i use a prism titan

monej good to hear. I’m due for an interface upgrade and I’ve been considering this one since I heard the news from Winter Naam.

To be fair this is so close to the prism sound orpheus so close that by blind test you would think its it

Just upgraded to this SSL 2+ from my age old UR22mkII and I'm super happy with it. I would have gone for the MOTU M4 but they seem to be impossible to get at the moment, and I needed a solution. I'm VERY impressed with the sound quality of this interface. The 4K button really gives an audible boost of oumph to your vocal tracks. I found that using the 4K setting for some rock vocals made the track sound instantly good, crisp and gritty, and this cuta bunch of the post-processing out saving time. The headphone amp is ..just... powerful enough to drive the Sennheiser HD650 headphones I have, and these are 300 ohm impedance - this is pretty much the only thing I wished had been better on this interface. I love the two separate headphone outputs otherwise: so handy for having one set of cans for mixing/mastering, and another closed set for tracking/recording. One thing worth mentioning is that the included software is actually really nice: Hybrid Keys from Native sounds great and I found the Vocal Strip plugin is really useful and EASY to use for mixing vocals. So all in all, I'm super duper happy.. and not regretting I didn't wait for the MOTU come available. This interface has immediate taken my recording quality to a whole new level I didn't realize was possible from my living room.

Would you say SSL2 Preamps are better or more useful than the Focusrite Clarett?

Wow, you're right! "Ultra HD audio quality" That's marketing at its best :D

This device won't work without a HDMI 2.1 cable.

@@380stroker hehehehe

@@380stroker Glorious 60 fps sound :)

@@JulianKrause lol, I thought you were serious at first. :)

The 2nd def sounds brighter, more clear, awake, alive. the 1st one sounds good. the 2nd just has something more dynamic about it.

​@@matthewjohnbauer The 4k mode made the guitar's high strings almost sound like a harpsichord it's beautiful.

Your 2i4 is gen 1 or gen 2? Could you tell me the difference that both amps have on vocals? I have a 2i4 gen 2 was looking to upgrade to this, but not sure it it will be an update Edit; nvm you said SP 24 i read it wrong. 😅

I upgraded to a MOTU M4 a few years ago and It was worth every penny. Led screen I/O meters are super useful. Preamps are crystal clear, DAC is 32bit so the same used in interfaces like UAD or Apogee for a fraction of the cost. Been working for 3+ years with mine and still working flawlessly. @@urbnctrl

Still haven’t buy any of those, both seems great units. I am using a apogee JAM+ for the moment: good sound + iOS connectivity and portability are it strength plus I play guitar so I am not changing interface yet.

I'd like to know this too, with 30+ other people

I just swapped to an SSL2+ from my M2 due to driver incompatibility on my PC, loved the M2 so was quite sad to swap, but so far I'm finding the audio in/out of the SSL feels a little more full. Though the M2 had noticeably lower latency for recording, across the same sample rate, which has been the biggest setback so far. That being said, the M2 being slightly more affordable is an absolutely incredible interface, I couldn't recommend it enough, especially as it feels more portable too, but if you wanted to have a more complete sit-in studio, the SSL is a slight cut above just in terms of audio in and out quality.

@@bohdane Just to be clear, when you said ' Though the M2 had noticeably lower latency for recording, across the same sample rate, which has been the biggest setback so far.' did you mean higher latency because lower is a good thing.

@@joshmcdzz6925 yes that's correct, at 512 buffer size its something like 12-16ms on the SSL2 but was about 5-6ms on the Motu

Ssl sounds better

Sounds better in which regard?

What bundled software ?

@@Boleskinebeatz As far as I know it comes with some great SSL plugins.

It comes with Ableton live and over 12 native instruments extension packs

Don't mention that name...

If I had to choose I would go for the Motu M2. I will soon make a video about the dScope M1 which is the analyzer I currently use to make my measurement.

@@JulianKrause hi , why would you choose the m2 over the ssl ? Thanks

@@theblackcountrybandit1430 I like the nice level meter on the M2 and the headphone output is also higher quality.

@@JulianKrause ok thank you for the reply and a good review.. I own the Shure sm7b and my use is recording vocals , I know you said the SSL is better at driving that mic without a cloudlifter but would you say the preamp on the SSL sounds better than the M2. Thanks again Julian

@@theblackcountrybandit1430 You didn't ask me, but I watched Julian's video review of the M2. These units all have very basic, super clean preamps. Nothing stellar, but you'd need to spend much more for something with character or vibe. Both the SSL and M2 will get the job done very effectively. Certainly, considering price and features as laid out by Julian, the M2 is the smart buy. It depends on your needs, but if one or two tracks at a time is all you record, I can't see a reason to buy the SSL over the M2.

German, not cyborg; common mistake though.

Christian Rusch hi Christian

That's a bit unfair. Germans are doing better than most native English speakers as they're already speaking 2 languages. Speaking your second language will naturally result in some woodenness

Sounded better than Arnold

@@BenRunyan Hi Ben! :D

oh thanks bro for letting us know. lol