Sorry about the abrupt ending in the video. I have no clue about what went wrong.
I wouldn’t say SSL stole last years show, nor this show, but it’s clear that both the Matrix that was introduced last year, and the X-Desk introduced this year drew a lot of attention.
Like with the Audient Zen, I haven’t heard the X-Desk. It should sound similar to summing on the X-Rack, even if the X-Rack Master Bus module isn’t exactly replicated in the X-Desk. It should be noted however, that the X-Desk should by no means be considered purely as a summing unit. It’s clearly intended to integrate with your DAW, your X-Rack, and other hardware.
My complaints with it are, of course, purely esthetic. I don’t like the feel of the faders because they’re to loose. After talking this through with Jim at SSL I have to admit that they probably fill their purpose by staying up even if hit when the unit is rackmounted. I said I liked the resistance of the Matrix much better. Apparently the resistance in the Matrix is because of the automation which the X-Desk lacks. It had actually been discussed when they built the X-Rack if they should add some sort of rubber below the faders to increase the resistance!
The knobs aren’t favorites either. To me, they feel better on the X-Rack gear. I suppose this all boils down to SSL trying to build a product that’s actually cheap for being SSL without compromising sound quality. There were corners cut elsewhere as well. For instance, the color, as you might have noticed isn’t the beautiful silver, but rather a not so gorgeous looking grey. As it appears, the regular SSL color is a custom color that’s much more expensive. This of course doesn’t affect sonic quality, but shows how SSL went to great extent to cut the price. Similar, Jim told me about how they managed to make the boards inside X mm smaller to be able to fit more of them into one sheet. Again, shouldn’t affect the sound quality.
Besides all the ripping of the build quality from my part, I must say it looks much better rackmounted. In fact, the channels lineup nicely with the other X-Rack gear underneath. A smart move by SSL, that definitely gives you more of a ‘real console’ impression.
For some reason, as I think everyone at Messe noticed, the X-Desk looks a lot bigger in the rack.
Key features from SSL:
- SuperAnalogue™ – analogue purity at the highest level
- 8x dual input Mono Line channels : 16 channel mixdown
- 8x Insert Send/Returns on channels
- Stereo CUE and 2 Mono Auxiliary Sends
- Cascade with X-Rack and other X-Desks for bigger systems
- Talkback – for artist communication
- Dim & Cut buttons
- Independent Main and Alternate stereo monitor outputs
- SSL Stereo Mix Bus with External summing and Inserts
- 2x Stereo Returns with Level, Pan and Bus assignment
- iJack front panel input for portable playback devices
- High quality internal PSU
- D-Sub Channel I/O connection for studio integration
- 19″ Rack mount ears included
More about the X-Desk at SSL’s website.
