With each member of the Production Expert team narrowing down the product that makes their working life better, Luke Goddard talks about 2022’s contribution to his mixing inventory: SSL’s UF8.

What Is It

My use of physical controls began with a Portastudio, and developed using various live consoles, as well as large format studio consoles in the days when the mixdown was a four-person lift! My introduction to the control surface began with Avid’s large format ICON boards and later the modular S4, through installing and using dual layer offerings from SSL as well. Despite their widely differing MO’s, all of these pieces have a single unifying factor: real tactile control.

Since its introduction in 2021, the SSL UF8 8 fader control surface had been on a very short shopping list of mine with Avid’s S1 jostling for top position. As a Pro Tools user with experience of HUI, for me the question was all about its implementation as serious competition to a EUCON enabled surface. Sporting a clever HUI implementation for Pro Tools including 10 bit fader resolution, programmable macros, (and yes lots of brightly coloured lights), the SSL UF8 is my product of 2022.

Why I like It

With the computer display playing a pivotal role in every industry, ours is no different except that our currency is not visual. For me, anything that puts the onus on what’s coming out of the speakers over what’s happening on the screen is a bonus in the studio. Of course, there is the visual feedback that screens excel at. Mixing to picture needs no explanation, and editing and metering in any audio discipline, for example, are kind of difficult without one. However, for me a control surface is the ultimate listening tool.

As one who grew up using physical faders, the arrival of the virtual fader-with-mouse combo always felt to me like an awkward compromise. Gone was the ability to listen and mix, and in was the need to look at the fader to scroll or drag. (If you can successfully use a virtual fader and mouse without looking then please let me know how in the comments… I’m all ears!) Forgoing any discussions about ITB versus OTB, or other sonic wormholes, up until recently I missed using real controls. The UF8 reinstates them in fine form, something which I’m loving right now.

The UF8 certainly lets me far better feel out the mix. This is especially true when starting with a flattened mix arriving all-faders-down. Transport control, faders, and buttons do the business for me and allow me to close my eyes and listen. Simple tasks become quicker. Latching DAW solo logic makes a lot more sense with two hands full of fingers. The UF8 has buttons to clear these as well as for cuts which adds to the ‘driving-like’ experience of mixing with it. In PT, all the familiar Select-With-Modifier tricks are also available. Automation with the UF8 (or any other surface) is fast and intuitive, ditching the danger of drawing in arbitrary moves that ‘look’ right. The programmable macros really set this unit apart for me. Being able to show and hide multiple windows, abort a take, or create, name, and OK a new playlist in one hit is great.

How It Helps My Work

Having seen others continue to use a dedicated audio plugin controller alongside their fader surface, I can now see why. Far from being clunky, I find using the two together as would be done with console and outboard is in fact highly intuitive. The mappings of audio plugins across any control surface can be a bit hit and miss. While some translate surprisingly well over HUI (including, ironically, the Console 1 channel), others can throw up all kinds of spurious labels that render them uncontrollable. Not a problem when you have Focus mode on the channel encoder, which mimics mousewheel behaviour. Twist and rejoice!

The UF8 improves my day with less mousing around, making for quicker, better decisions in the mix. And yes, it’s fun and looks great too.