What is it you love about this [SSL 4000 G Plus] console so much?
Bottom line, this console has attitude. In 10 more years, these consoles will be like old Neves. They're classic. This one was installed in about 1985; it's modified as far as you can go, and it's in great shape. And it's got light meters, which I like. I'm all about the meters.
What do you mean?
I've got to see what's going on. I don't do this by ear only! I use the meters to balance things left and right, and to see what's going on with each fader so I can optimize the console.
They're set to show input?
No, the output of the fader — fader to mix — EQ'd and everything. It's all about maximizing the signal strength. You hit the tape machine a certain way, the tape machine is hitting the console a certain way, you're hitting the mix bus a certain way. You're at the sweet spot. All consoles have a pretty small sweet spot where it really sounds good.
That's something you don't hear mentioned much lately.
Well, everybody's thinking because they're digital, they don't have to worry about a sweet spot. Well, yeah, you do. Digital craps out so quick it's disgusting. In an all-digital console, the sweet spot is tiny — like a postage stamp. But there's a small window on any console where the headroom is right and where it really sounds the best. That's where I stay, in that window.
