Hi guys,
I've been up on the market for the last 2 years for an SSL console. I've finally bought the one I wanted after a long long search and I've been deeply involved with the SSL Market in the process. From my personal experience what I can tell you is that since around the last year the SSL consoles, primarily 4000/6000 and 8000 are going crazy up.
The problem as I see it is that sellers know the value and the demand for theses consoles and their asking bid is getting up. On other-way around, brokers and techs that make a living off of refurbishing/reselling theses consoles are starting to have a hard time because they can't sell it much higher than they already did. So margins are getting squeezed. But also the market for these consoles is expanding and the offer is lower than the demand.
The demand as been going up because prices have reached a point where it pays of to buy these beautiful consoles than the recent ones. These have been going out of major studios into smaller/production studios/homestudios. Also the hype on mordern console design is getting cooler... it's not all advantages, the sound and functionality/flexibility is a big tradeoff as I see it.
That's why you've seen a huge flow of Asian consoles into the European/US market. It's much cheaper to get them from there than from the Occident, where selling values are getting higher.
The same is not happening with more recent consoles, such as the 9000's. I think this might have to do with the higher electricity requirements and also expensive and harder/complex maintenance. Who's on market for these consoles usually does his homework and knows all the burdens that come with it.
Regarding a Automation/Total Recall computer replacement, stay sharp to the SSLMixed Computer project. We'll soon show a working prototype that we've been working for the last couple of months. Actually I am very thrilled with this!
Cheers,
Artur
