SSL Live 500 Plus

Multi Gesture Touch Screen

Touch screen technology is nothing new but our main display is the first true multi touch screen with tablet style control to be offered in a live sound console. It is also the brightest available and able to deliver pin sharp daylight viewable detail. Our beautifully considered and organised graphical user interface provides comprehensive control of the entire console environment. It makes setting up channels with routing, Mute Groups, VCA’s and Auxes intuitive and extremely quick. When it comes to assigning and editing EQ, Dynamics and Effects it has no rivals for clarity of information and ease of operation… and it’s a lot more fun.

Fader Tile

Fader Tiles provide hands on control over signal paths. They are freely configurable to control a variety of different signal paths including Channels and VCA’s with clear bright variable colour coding. Fader Tiles are independent so tile set ups can be swapped instantly around the console and offer potential for basic dual user operation. Each Tile features 12 fader strips. Each strip includes a touch sensitive 100mm motorised fader, solo/mute buttons, Query button (which shows what is routed to or from the fader), Select button (to assign the strip to screen functions, or Focus Channel controls), individual legend display and a set of quick controls. Alongside each channel fader are 14 segment level meter and separate gate and compression meters. To the right of the faders is a strip of Layer select buttons (with individual legend displays) and a collection of menu buttons to select various aspects of the Tile’s functionality, including Swap which allows any bank to be set as a ‘Home’ set of strips.. A ‘Screen’ key assigns the entire tile as the controls for the screen mixer view, so any Fader Tile can be used as the master.

Layers and Banking

SSL has been implementing layer and bank based channel layout and navigation for more than 20 years in our digital broadcast, music and post consoles. The Live system is elegant, flexible and delivers a highly customisable workspace that keeps even large scale projects organised and accessible. Each fader tile can display up to five scrollable layers. Each layer has up 5 vertical banks, with each bank having a dedicated call button (layers and banks are color coded and can have user text to identify them). Channels can be organised in any order anywhere within this structure.

Channel Control Tile

For those who prefer hands on hardware the Channel Control Tile provides an expanded set of hardware and touch screen controls for the selected Channel. It features an 7.5” high res touch screen surrounded by 15 rotary controls. Dedicated button panels below for EQ, Dynamics, Panning and insert effects instantly call groups of parameters to the tile controls. Above the screen, additional sets of controls call Input and Delay parameters to the controls and a rapid access button set calls channel configuration parameters including Auxes, Stem Groups, VCA’s and Mute Groups to enable channel configuration using hardware controls instead of the main touch screen.

Focus Fader

The Focus Fader concept is brought to live sound for the first time with SSL Live consoles. It is a dedicated fader strip located in the Master Tile, positioned in the perfect position to rest your right hand on. This fader strip follows the currently selected channel, or can be locked to one specific channel, allowing the operator to select channels with their left hand and adjust with their right with exceptional speed. The workflow of the Focus Fader is intimately linked with the Channel Control Tile which also follows the currently selected channel giving immediate access to a full set of hardware controls.

External Monitor

In the heat of a live show getting a clear picture of your entire audio environment is invaluable and this is what our Console Overiew menu offers. It provides a comprehensive view of all signal paths including: Channels, Auxes, Stem Groups, VCA’s, Masters and Solo busses with metering, clipping, solo/mute status and more. When you need to see the status of a signal path immediately you don’t want to interrupt the main console display or to navigate to the relevant layer, bank or mixer view. An optional sprung boom arm enables a standard screen to be mounted on either the left or right side of the console to be used to display the Console Overview menu or other menus, including the Automation.

Solo and Talkback

SSL Live consoles offer a very flexible Solo and Talkback system. Two individual Solo Buses, each with dedicated push/select level controls, feed three Solo Channels which might be used for example with a wedge, headphones and in ear feeds. A mini matrix of Solo Select and Output Select buttons allow routing of either or both solo buses to any or all solo outputs quickly and easily. There are two Talkback Channels and two Talkback Output paths which also have dedicated controls and routing buttons that follow the same logic. The default solo source for each Solo Channel can be sourced from anywhere within the Live system (including Matrix outputs) or from six external solo inputs. A new Broadcast Solo mode contains features typical in broadcast applications, including Solo Dim for each Solo Channel and an Auto Dim feature. Solo & Talkback do not consume resource from the overall console path count.

Colour Function

The visual cues the operator receives from a console are vital and Live uses colour beautifully. Within the fader strips a single large LED strip is used to identify and organise the type of signal path (VCA, Aux etc) or the instrument group (drums, vocals etc) assigned to the fader. The colours used are freely definable by the operator. Controls designed for parameter editing (Aux send levels, EQ & Effect parameters etc) in the fader strips and in the Channel Control Tile also use user definable colour coding. What is selected in the touch screens and the various sets of edit control hardware always follow each other.

Eyeconix

In a console with banks and paging, speed of channel identification can make the difference between embarrassment and excellence. SSL’s unique Eyeconix display enables bitmap images to be displayed with each channel greatly reducing the time taken to identify and access the desired controls.