Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic (SSL) is a British company based in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, England that designs and markets audio mixing consoles, signal processors, and other audio technologies for the post-production, video production, broadcast, sound reinforcement and music recording industries. SSL employs over 160 people worldwide and has regional offices in Los Angeles, Milan, New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, with additional support provided by an international network of distributors. Solid State Logic is part of the Audiotonix Group.
For the compilation album by The KLF, see Solid State Logik.Company type
Private limited
05356783[1]
Mixing consoles
Studio hardware
1969[2]
Begbroke, Oxfordshire, England
Colin Sanders (founder)
AWS900+ console
4000 series console
9000 series console
Xlogic rackmount series
Duende rackmount DSP
160[2]
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Solid State Logic was founded by Colin Sanders in 1969 as the first manufacturer of solid-state control systems for pipe organs. Sanders coined the company's name to explain the then-modern technology of transistor and FET switching to organ builders.
Sanders also owned and operated Acorn Studios, a recording studio in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire. When he sought a mixing console for recording, with routing flexibility and settings recall unavailable on consoles at that time, Sanders applied his experience to design and build his own, building two mixing consoles with computer control which featured one-button switching between recording, tracking and mixdown modes. The two prototype mixing consoles, given the model designation of SL 4000 A, became the start of a series of large-format mixers that would define and establish SSL as a mixing console manufacturer.
Ownership changes[edit]
Solid State Logic sold its organ division in 2002; it is now known as Solid State Organ Systems.[13] The proprietary aptX-codec was sold in a management buyout,[14][15] with APT Licensing Ltd. incorporated on 1 March 2005 in Belfast.[16]
In 2005, musician Peter Gabriel and broadcast entrepreneur David Engelke became majority shareholders of the company.
In 2017, Solid State Logic was acquired by the Audiotonix Group,[17] while Gabriel became a major investor in the group following this transaction.[18]
Awards[edit]
The company received The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) in 1981, and The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Technology) in 1993 and 2020.[19][20]
The company received a Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2004 for "contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field."[21][22]
Two of SSL's products were inducted into the TEC Awards TECnology Hall of Fame, which "honors and recognizes audio products and innovations that have made a significant contribution to the advancement of audio technology": the SL 4000 series of mixing consoles was inducted in 2004,[23] and the AWS studio console was inducted in 2018.[24]