About five years ago, just before the pandemic, Solid State Logic developed two new interfaces: the SSL 2 and SSL 2+. Now fast forward a few years later, at AES 2024, SSL just released an upgraded version of both interfaces: the SSL 2 and SSL 2+ MKII.
The basic design parameters on the new interfaces are pretty much the same, namely a two-by-two interface and a two-by-four interface with MIDI on board. This includes individual buttons for toggling phantom power, switching between instrument and line level, a button for high-pass filter, individual gain knobs, and LED level meters. For each input channel, you also get a 4K button, which was already present on the original version, and emulates the sound of SSL’s legendary 4000 series consoles. Both interfaces feature a large center knob to control the overall monitor volume.
Both the SSL 2 MKII and SSL 2+ MKII interfaces have a USB-C connection and are designed to be powered directly from your computer. On both interfaces are a set of balanced TRS outputs, which in most cases, will be used to connect to your monitors, but on the SSL 2+ MKII, you will get a second set of monitor outputs. Note that the second pair is routed straight through from your DAW without any volume controls on the interface, and this could also be used for things such as re-amping or connecting an external headphone amp.
On the second generation of the SSL 2 and 2+, you also get improved dynamic range and which now comes in at about 117 dB, which is a 6 dB increase over the previous generation. That should really be more than enough dynamic range for most situations and should guarantee low noise recordings. Additionally, with the 2+ MK II, you will find a MIDI-in and MIDI-output, which you do not have on the non-+ version. In general, the overall build quality physical connections on both the SSL 2 MKII and SSL 2+ MKII have also been improved.
Since the original SSL 2 was released, a number of customers that were using the original version of the interfaces were asking for some specific features to be included in the next version of the interface.
At the top of the list of requested features, guitarists were asking for a much better input for their instruments, namely a proper Hi-Z level input. While the previous interface had a Hi-Z switch to the line level input, it was not nearly as loud as it needed to be, so the noise factor was a problem when customers were tracking guitars in terms of overall floor noise.
As a result, on the upgraded SSL 2 MKII and 2+, SSL separated the Hi-Z from the preamp, so that it is now a separate analog input, which is what guitarists were looking for. By contrast, you got roughly about 18 dB difference between the previous interface and the new SSL 2 MKII, which is a substantial difference over the original version. Not only that, on the SSL 2 MKII and 2+ MKII, SSL improved the microphone preamps, allowing for a difference of about 10 dB in headroom, as well as improved signal noise ratio from the previous version of the interface.
On the original SSL 2 and 2+, some customers were requesting the headphones could be placed on the front of the interface. As a result, on the SSL 2 and 2+ MKII, the headphone outputs are now on the front of the interface. In the new series, a further difference between the 2 and 2+ is that the 2+ actually gives you two separate mixes. This allows, for example, if you are doing a vocal overdub, you can go to output 3 and 4 and provide a vocal mix for the artist. When the artist is done with their vocal overdub and they want to hear the full mix, all you have to do is just switch back to the main mix right from a switch on the front of the interface. This makes it quick and handy to be able to do vocal overdubs and keep your workflow moving.
Another key improvement of the SSL 2 and 2+ over the previous version, is that the previous SSL 2+ had a minus 10 dB output unbalanced RCA, which may be good for some situations. For example, if you want to connect and unbalanced input line input source, such as a turntable, but if you are trying to match four balanced outputs or gain stage four outputs, it could be problematic. On SSL 2 and 2+ MK II, SSL redesigned the interface to now have four balanced outputs, which you can use to connect a second set of monitors, or if you were reamping your guitar tracks.
Summing it up, both the SSL 2 MKII and SSL 2+ MKII are a great choice for content creators and professionals looking for a high quality portable interface for tracking or capturing ideas on the go. While they are essentially priced at budget interfaces both the SSL 2 MKII and SSL 2+ MKII share Solid State Logic’s professional-level audio interfaces.
Both SSL 2 MKII and SSL 2+ MKII come bundled with SSL’s Production Pack, creating a complete hardware and software SSL studio setup, featuring a selection of must-have virtual instruments, plug-ins, samples and DAWs, including a three-month subscription to Complete Access Bundle, Harrison Mixbus 10 DAW, and much more.
The SSL 2 MK II is available now for $229. The SSL 2+ MK II is available now for $299.
Find out more at solidstatelogic.com.
