Hi guys,
First of all let me apologize due to the fact I hadn't made an update for a long time. I have to be honest and tell you this silence was intentional, in order to manage expectations of all of you. I wanted to make sure we reached a point in the project where I could give the most definitive and concrete information without misleading or giving details which could be later changed, adding more confusion to the mix. I assure you, despite the silence, the project has not been stopped, on the contrary, our team has been working intensively on the last months to bring you the best solution we can deliver.
At this stage I am ready to advance some of the project details and answer any questions you may have.
First of all let me do a quick sum up of the system features so far:
*Supported consoles: 4000, 6000 and 8000
*MAX channels supported: 128+1 (including center section)
*Center Section support: Yes
*Master Fader support: Yes
*6000 (A,B,C) and 8000 (A,B,C,D) BUS groups: Yes
*Patchable VCAs support: Yes
*VCA Faders / Automation: Yes
*Ultimation Faders / Automation: Yes
*Fader related control (LEDs, Group selection, CUT/Solo, Status button): Yes
*"VCA" Group support: Yes
*Total Recall: Yes
*Keyboard (small/large) support: Yes
*Transport switches support: Yes
*Hardware/soft bypass for VCA fader consoles: Yes
*Hardware/soft bypass for Ultimation fader consoles: Yes
Software details will be presented on a future post, but I can tell you that we are focusing in retaining the SSL winning workflow, but with a modern touch. This is why we decided to maintain the keyboard support, since this is an essential part of the SSL workflow.
The system will have up to 2 boxes with 2U rack size each. There's a main box and you can add a secondary to extend channel I/O capacity, through a back link, if you have a bigger console. The secondary box is similar to the main one, but will only add channel I/O capacity, while the main will also account for the other type of I/O, such as Total Recall, Keyboard, transport, etc.
The rack system is modular in a way you can connect individual modular cards to expand channel I/O capacity. Despite this, these are not typical module cards that you slot in front of the box for instance, but instead cards you need to assemble and connect inside of the box, by opening in first. This was done on purpose since reduces greatly the overall cost of the solution, and the advantage of doing it the other way around was very small versus the cost impact.
Each box supports up to 8 channel I/O cards, up to 64 channels per rack (which can be configured in several ways depending on your console configuration). If you have 2 boxes, you can go up to 128 channels I/O. Each channel I/O cards supports 8 channel Analog Inputs and 8 channel Outputs, with the exception to the Center Section card which has +1 more channel for the master fader, adding 1 extra channel to the total channel count (128+1). The Center Section is not any different than the other cards (it is exactly the same card) but with an extra chip fitted on a socket for the extra channel. This means any channel I/O card can be used has a Center Section card, if you fit the necessary extra chip to handle the master fader. These cards will also handle any other fader related stuff, such as LED control, CUT switch, status button, group, etc.
Each box has a motherboard, where all module cards are connected to. On the main box the motherboard has populated electronics for Total Recall, Keyboard, Transport and Ultimation Hardware Bypass (only for Ultimation systems), while the secondary box's motherboard doesn't have this electronic populated.
There are 2 versions of each card, one for VCA systems and other for Ultimation systems.
You can configure the available I/O in any way you like, just paying attention that the Center Section card will needs the extra chip fitted if you want main fader support. This configuration and the box capacity will depend greatly on your console configuration, I will give a few examples:
SSL 4032 (no patchable VCAs):
- 1 box fitted with 5 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 4 cards setup for channel strip bays, 32 channels.
SSL 4054 (no patchable VCAs):
- 1 box fitted with 8 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 7 cards setup for channel strip bays, 54 channels.
SSL 6048 (no patchable VCAs):
- 1 box system, fitted with 8 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 1 card is setup of A,B,C buses, only 3 channels are used, the other 5 are left unused.
- 6 cards setup for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
SSL 6048 (no patchable VCAs):
- 1 box system, fitted with 8 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 1 card is setup of A,B,C buses, only 3 channels are used, the other 5 are left unused.
- 6 cards setup for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
SSL 6048 (with patchable VCAs):
- 1 box system, fitted with 8 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 1 card is setup of A,B,C buses, 4 channels are used for patchable VCAs, 1 channel is left unused.
- 6 cards setup for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
SSL 8048 (with patchable VCAs):
- 1 box system, fitted with 8 I/O cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 1 card is setup of A,B,C,D buses, 4 channels are used for patchable VCAs.
- 6 cards setup for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
SSL 4064 (no patchable VCAs):
- 2 box system, main box fitted with 8 I/O cards, secondary fitted with 1 card
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 7 cards setup on main box for channel strip bays, 54 channels.
- 1 card setup on secondary box for channel strip bays, 8 channels.
SSL 6096 (with patchable VCAs):
- 2 box system, main box fitted with 8 I/O cards, secondary fitted with 6 cards
- 1 card is setup for Center Section (+1 channel I/O chip fitted)
- 1 card is setup of A,B,C buses, 4 channels are used for patchable VCAs, 1 channel left unused.
- 6 cards setup on main box for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
- 6 cards setup on secondary box for channel strip bays, 48 channels.
and so on...
All cards are being designed with a DIY mindset (all is through-hole technology) to allow power users to build the systems themselves. We will offer a more affordable commercial package that will enable users to purchase cards and components and build the system.
The system includes other components besides the I/O racks, which comprise the actual computer, and other interesting features I will discuss on a later post. I can advance that these components will all communicate among each other over standard IP / Ethernet networks, which allows for extra flexibility and features.
We are currently in the process of printing the first prototypes for Ultimation consoles. After this initial testing we are ready to print the VCA cards, which are also already designed.
From now on I will be making posts weekly, every monday night. With these I count to be able to give more frequently updates as the project progresses. I also count that we'll be ready to show you some videos very soon.
There is much to discuss, but I think it's too much for one update. These will be disclosed in future posts.
Please be free to ask any questions,
Cheers,
Artur