Solid State Logic unveils the Odyssey, a new very large-format analogue console. The pitch: the sound and feel of a flagship SSL studio desk, paired with instant total recall of every setting — analogue dynamics included. The long-standing gap between pure analogue and digital convenience just closed.
Sooner or later a manufacturer had to fix the one real complaint levelled at big analogue consoles: the impossibility of recalling, note-for-note and in seconds, a mix you printed three weeks ago. With the Odyssey, Solid State Logic isn’t shipping yet another 4000 reissue — it’s a studio console designed from the ground up for total recall, without giving up an ounce of analogue processing. It joins the recent Oracle within the maker’s “Future Analogue” platform.
A flagship SSL desk, fully recallable
The heart of the Odyssey is called ActiveAnalogue. Behind the name sits a digital control system that steers a 100% analogue signal path and stores every parameter at 16,000-step resolution. In practice, everything recalls: preamp gain, EQ curves, dynamics thresholds, aux sends, fader positions. Reopen a session and the console reconfigures itself, setting for setting, and you mix again in the analogue domain. It’s a true in-line design, with separate record and monitor paths, built for tracking, overdubs and mixing.
PureDrive preamps, E/G EQ and analogue dynamics per channel
Every channel is built around the new PureDrive mic preamps, with a Drive control to dial in harmonic colour from clean to warm. The four-band EQ switches between E Series voicings (bold, assertive presence) and G Series (rounder, more musical curves), with variable Q and selectable shelf/bell shapes. Crucially, the dynamics are fully analogue and recallable, channel by channel.
- Compressor/limiter with signal-dependent attack, RMS/Peak sensing and built-in parallel compression;
- Gate/expander with Inf:1 and 2:1 modes, plus variable Range, threshold, hold and release;
- Independent sidechain filtering and EQ;
- THE BUS+ compressor, dynamic EQ and transient expander on the summing side.
Modular: from 24 to 96+8 channels
The Odyssey is configured to order. Each channel gets a dual motorised fader — a 100mm Large Fader for the mix path and a 60mm Small Fader for the monitor path — while the ActiveAnalogue processing lives in two to five actively cooled 13U 19-inch racks that stay below the NR25 noise floor. Put the surface somewhere quiet and the electronics elsewhere.
| Configuration | Channels | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (straight frame) | 24 / 32 / 48 | compact to mid-size |
| Extended systems | 64 / 72 / 96 | large facilities |
| ProStation | 15° or 25° curved | operator ergonomics |
| Custom | up to 96+8 | double-width centre section |
Bus provisioning is generous: four stereo mix buses, sixteen track buses, ten auxes, eight stereo “Flex” groups and three foldback buses. That’s an architecture that breathes big-console routing for anyone who has ever built a complex session.
Automation and DAW integration
SSL hasn’t forgotten today’s hybrid studio. The O-Motion system writes automation straight into Pro Tools playlists or Logic Pro lanes, while the O-Control suite (O-Setup, O-Session, O-Overview) handles configuration, sessions and metering. A FOCUS key flips each eight-channel bay between analogue processing and DAW control, and a Dolby Atmos renderer is built in for immersive work.
Price and positioning
The Odyssey sits at the very top of the range. Pricing starts around $295,000 for a 24-channel version, with larger configurations quoted on request. This is a machine for commercial rooms that live off mix revisions and client recalls — exactly where total recall earns its keep. A long way from an entry-level interface, and unapologetically so.
My take. I spent years running studios on desks that coloured beautifully but had to be recalled by hand, patch sheet in one hand. The real pain of analogue was never the sound — I’ve always championed the colour of an SSL 4000 G — it was reopening a session. The Odyssey goes straight at that. I remain convinced that fully in-the-box mixing is entirely viable; but when an analogue link brings something audible to the table, it earns its place, and a console that marries analogue grain with perfect recall removes the last practical argument against hardware. The catch is the price: at this level, the Odyssey speaks only to high-end facilities. For everyone else, the analogue-versus-digital debate stays about the sonic result, never dogma.
Official product page: Solid State Logic Odyssey.
