Solid State Logic SSL 2 - USB Audio Interface

Heard nothing but great things about this unit and SSL as a whole. Saldy I was sent a faulty unit and didnt notice until after the 30 days returns online window but still covered under warranty. I was told I needed to pay for shipping to get my unit repaired...making the cost of the unit sky rocket to a price it was not ever worth. Bad business practices when it comes to getting what you paid for. My unit came with channel one broken making am noise but is was so quite I didnt notice for months when I was trouble shooting another issues. Id stay away from SSL for their customer support alone. I've never heard any thing but great things about ssl but sadly that was not my case at all.After reading reviews a finish user had the same issues with his unit as ... MoreHeard nothing but great things about this unit and SSL as a whole. Saldy I was sent a faulty unit and didnt notice until after the 30 days returns online window but still covered under warranty. I was told I needed to pay for shipping to get my unit repaired...making the cost of the unit sky rocket to a price it was not ever worth. Bad business practices when it comes to getting what you paid for. My unit came with channel one broken making am noise but is was so quite I didnt notice for months when I was trouble shooting another issues. Id stay away from SSL for their customer support alone. I've never heard any thing but great things about ssl but sadly that was not my case at all.After reading reviews a finish user had the same issues with his unit as well must. Be a common problem.

Best Audio Interface for the money

I have used other audio interfaces in the past (m-audio among them) but always struggled with latency. This wasn't a problem when I was recording; however, it was a big problem for me when I was streaming or interacting live. The delays were too much to stay with the beat (playing bass/guitar) or even live in conversations (podcasts, interviews, etc.). With the SSL 2, I can have a dedicated channel for my guitar and my mic all while maintaining quality and keeping lag at a minimum. In addition, I have plugged in two speakers and have been able to play a small live session. An unintended benefit was an impromptu karaoke night over the holidays. Solid product.

Cheap knobs/feel killing the experience

I'd love to give this 5*. It works fine.. sounds fine.. works as it should as the I/O for my Mac.. does what it should.. But I can't get over the cheap plastic monitor volume knob that's ruining my experience with this.. it feels.. so... cheap.. like an afterthought.. or probably a major thought to save a few cents on manufacturing per unit.. I would have gladly payed an extra $10-20 just to have a solid feeling dial that I could crank up to 11.. This probably sounds crazy to some who read this.. but tactile feel of equipment is important. And the cheap thin crap plastic knobs on this make me wonder how much else they cheaped out on under the hood. Very disappointed in this.

Great Interface for a great price!

This interface came highly regarded from an audio engineer friend and was definitely a step up from my older Behringer UMC22. It has crisp and clean preamps and I like how easy it is to switch between monitor and USB out.I don't have an opinion about the 4K mode because I mainly record spoken word and I don't think it's an appropriate effect for what I'm after (it tends to boost the highs which in my case is mostly background noise).I'm a little disappointed that you can't separate the two inputs on my PC -- this means if I'm on a video-conference and only using one mic it's only using the left channel and I'm never sure if the video stream is down-mixing to mono and mixing in 50% silence from the unused channel.I also wish there was either an indicator lamp ... MoreThis interface came highly regarded from an audio engineer friend and was definitely a step up from my older Behringer UMC22. It has crisp and clean preamps and I like how easy it is to switch between monitor and USB out.I don't have an opinion about the 4K mode because I mainly record spoken word and I don't think it's an appropriate effect for what I'm after (it tends to boost the highs which in my case is mostly background noise).I'm a little disappointed that you can't separate the two inputs on my PC -- this means if I'm on a video-conference and only using one mic it's only using the left channel and I'm never sure if the video stream is down-mixing to mono and mixing in 50% silence from the unused channel.I also wish there was either an indicator lamp or the toggle switches for phantom power were a bit more obvious -- I can't tell without feeling for a subtle difference in height if my condenser mics are powered.I've also been quite pleased with using it as my sound card -- I unplugged and uninstalled drivers for my other devices and have been using this as a PC's sound output with no complaints.All said, I wish I'd known about this product years ago and I'm more than pleased with the value for money!

Higher quality sound for interface.

Years ago I had a large diaphragm condenser mic custom upgraded for my voice. I never could get it to sound as good as I needed. After plugging it in the SSL 2 it's fantastic. Click on the 4K boost and it's a sound that sets it apart from everything else. I use it mostly for commercial VoiceOver and video audio. Wish I had it years ago.

Middle of the road...

This unit has been getting a lot of hype. But hype is no substitute for experience. I've used this - in a studio recording situation - and almost every other brand of audio interface you can name. This is somewhere in the middle of the pack, to my ears. It is clean sounding, and for playback it's very good, with a powerful preamp to speakers and headphone output. But for recording input, the converters do not have the detailed sound of something like a Focusrite Clarett, which has the best sound I've heard. The "4K" button does help, but it basically just brings the sound to what other units achieve without any extra processing. There are other options for this price that sound better.

SSL quality at an amazing price

I was sceptical about the price point but knew that if it was coming out of the SSL factory it at least needed to be tried out! All in all an amazing product that is easy to use straight out of the box and looks and sounds amazing! The 4K switch adds a subtle bit of presence and bite to the signal that is reminiscent of the 4000 series they are so well known for. The plugins that come with it are handy also though I’m not sure how often I’ll be using them! Either way, free plugins are never a bad thing! Highly recommend!

The SSL2+ delivers...sound wise...However...

The SSL2+ delivers beautifully.The setup is easy and it’s way better than any other USB interface for that price on the market.However, before you buy the SSL interface, you will have to bare in mind, that the software included can only be used on one device at a time and if you want to use it on another device or even upgrade to another computer or laptop, you will have to hassle around with the iLok licence manager or put the activation codes on a dongle, which can be very tricky and annoying, as the CS department of Solid State Logic is not always very helpful. Yes, their plugins are good, but they use a lot of CPU. So if you intend to use the Drumstrip and the vocalstrip in a DAW session, make sure, that you have at least 16GB of RAM. Any less than that and it ... MoreThe SSL2+ delivers beautifully.The setup is easy and it’s way better than any other USB interface for that price on the market.However, before you buy the SSL interface, you will have to bare in mind, that the software included can only be used on one device at a time and if you want to use it on another device or even upgrade to another computer or laptop, you will have to hassle around with the iLok licence manager or put the activation codes on a dongle, which can be very tricky and annoying, as the CS department of Solid State Logic is not always very helpful. Yes, their plugins are good, but they use a lot of CPU. So if you intend to use the Drumstrip and the vocalstrip in a DAW session, make sure, that you have at least 16GB of RAM. Any less than that and it is very likely, that your session will crash halfway through a song. Yes, Waves emulates these plugins as well, but their activation procedures are far more worse. Also, if you buy this interface, chances are, that you will end up buying their borrowed plugins like the channelstrip and their compressor, which cost another £300,-, when the 6 months trial Period is over. So it will cost you £560,- in the end. Which is a lot of money, considering the poor customer support, unless you know what you’re doing...and already have a USB 3 to C converter with an iLok dongle. Apart from that, the only reason for you to buy this interface, is for the quality of the preamp, which is far superior, than any other Presonus ,Focusrite, IK multimedia, or Steinberg device. The next step up from this interface would be the Arrow or the Apollo Twin from UA.

big improvement, wish I got the version with MIDI

I had a funky JBL M-Patch 2 that never really sounded very good. One channel was always a bit lower than the other, but it served my needs at the time. The JBL unit started to generate background noise and one channel would occasionally cut out, so I decided to replace it.This unit has much cleaner sound, some adjustment options for input levels and the panel layout and I/O is a huge improvement for my desktop space. Latency seems minimal, if at all. Some people complain about the build quality, but mine seems very solid and doesn't give me reason to worry about it's durability.My only reservation is that I wish I purchased the version with MIDI. Otherwise, I'm quite happy with this purchase.Highly recommended.

works right out of the box!

Plugged it into the powered USB 3 input on my dell 2025D and was up and running in moments. Prior, I had to constantly try to figure out why I wasn't hearing tracks play back or hear backing tracks or unbearable latency- none of that with this interface. The headphone amp is kind of weak and the springy buttons for phantom power and line/HIz seem a bit flimsy and it's difficult to see if they are depressed or not - which seems odd considering how well built this interface is generally. So it has it's weak points - but the ease of use is unparalleled. I've only had it for a day so I can't speak on sound quality and durability or the downloadable software; but for Mac M2 users, works perfectly right out of the box,