In this series of articles, running until Christmas, we asked the Experts team what audio product they would like to find under the tree. Luke’s first choice was a rather desirable console…

Although Christmas isn’t just about presents, it’s fun to imagine what could be under the tree on the big day. Engineers might have expensive tastes, but it still doesn’t hurt to dream… Here Luke talks about SSL’s Duality Fuse.

What Is Duality Fuse?

SSL’s Duality Fuse is an analogue mixing console with dual layer functionality to control the DAW as well. The Fuse moniker refers to its built-in Fusion analogue colouration processing, that for some will represent the ultimate combination of old and new.

Statements Of Intent

OK, so if there’s one piece of gear that almost everyone including clients loves (perhaps with the exception of exotic mics and instruments) it’s the big studio console. The miniaturisation of studios and gear has meant that these wondrous beasts have become an increasingly less common sight in the wild, which I think is a shame. Yes there’s the small fact of their being simply redundant in a lot of situations. Who’s going to splash that amount of cash when they could make their house bigger or put their kids through college instead? Still, I want one and here’s why…

Taking off my rose-tinted specs for a minute, there are so many reasons why having a console is a great idea. The first is actually less about audio itself, and more about demonstrating that you mean business. Although engineers know the truth about what can be achieved without a mixer, clients often don’t. A big shiny console is the ultimate physical statement of a studio’s intent that might not have your accountant running for the hills as quickly as you think… One thing still holds true: in an age where the experience is everything, clients want more for their money than just a WAV file.

What Serves A Mix?

Faders. While many will have their favourite toys or processors, most engineers would agree that the humble fader is the one control that really is non-negotiable. The virtual fader offers the ultimate in convenience on the end of the mouse, but at the other end of the scale, a scant few still rely on pumping electrons around a console. Straddling the two, the control surface provides the best of both, with grab-and-go speed with instant DAW recall. With layers for both its mixer and for the DAW itself, Duality Fuse does both.

Providing the answer to “If it’s that clean why not just stay in the box?”, the Fuse variant of Duality has a dedicated module handling saturation, tonal shaping, HF compressor with LMC mode, stereo image manipulation, transformer colouration and more. This is a re-orientated version of SSL’s hugely popular Fusion rackmount box.

Although many studios mix headphones in Pro Tools, some facilities (here in the UK at least) choose to do their cue mixing in front of the DAW. This grab-and-go functionality can be quicker than flips or telling a row of encoders what they need to be. Need to re-boot or change Session? Your artists will be none-the-wiser.

What I Actually Want

If you still can’t decide about analogue versus digital summing, watch this video. And get ready in the comments, because here comes an opinion…

The day when my summing is the biggest thing holding my mix back is the day I’ll be a happy man. Where it happens? I don’t mind; I’ve got the things that people will notice to be getting in with. If you have time time left over to spend on anything that needs scientific testing to appreciate, I want to know your secret!

In a previous life I installed and used SSL’s Matrix 1 in an educational studio. I always loved the dual layer best-of-both workflow (yes I admit virtually all mixes could only ever light up two channels), with the mixer being let down only by faders that looked and felt like they came from the set of a Sci-Fi B-movie. We on the blog love its AWS stablemate, but the Duality has to be SSL’s hybrid masterpiece.

Real analogue can bring ‘a certain something’ but who’s to say whether or not that’s happening in-between the buyer’s ears? Not me. I just want a Duality Fuse!