Abbey Road selects Solid State Logic for Studio 52

Abbey Road Studios, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary, has installed a Solid State Logic Duality SE console in its new production/mix room Studio 52.

Over the past 80 years the studios have provided high-end production and recording facilities for such acts as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Oasis and Sting. The new production/mix room will be used as a state-of-the-art mixing and production facility for traditional client-attended sessions and will assist with the additional workload from the new Online Mixing Service.

“When we decided to open a new mixing and production facility, the engineers were adamant that they wanted an SSL Duality,” said Mirek Stiles, head of audio products for Abbey Road Studios. “It really is a fantastic console. The Duality lends a hand to projects with no compromise. The channel layout and center section are just the same as the legacy SSL consoles we know and love, with the added bonus of DAW control. I have come to the conclusion that Duality is THE most compact and versatile large format console for the modern studio.”

With Abbey Road Studios having a reputation as one of the most famous and innovative studio complexes in the world, it continues to pursue its pioneering tradition with its new online mixing service, which follows in the path of its online mastering service.

“Throughout its history, Abbey Road Studios has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology,” stated Stiles. “In this tradition, we are constantly evolving and expanding the services that we offer to clients all over the world. Over the last decade, Abbey Road Studios has introduced audio plug-ins and hardware reissues of legendary EMI recording equipment, sampled software instruments and our groundbreaking Online Mastering Service. Because of Duality’s ease of use and DAW control, we believe it will be a valuable tool to help our innovative new Online Mixing Service.”

Stiles believes that the Duality console will help deliver the professional sound that many aim for but often fail to achieve in their own project studios. “A lot of projects these days tend to be mixed ‘in the box,’ but at Abbey Road Studios, we strongly believe that breaking a multi-track DAW project out over an analogue desk like Duality really opens up the sound of a mix.”

“Our new venture is very exciting as it opens up tremendous possibilities for the creative community world-wide,” said Sam Okell, recording engineer for Abbey Road Studios. “When starting a mix on an analogue desk, I’m able to get a rough balance of how I want the track to sound very quickly. Being able to reach for a fader, EQ, compression, panning and aux sends on each track is infinitely quicker than doing so with a mouse or control surface, where you can normally only access processing on one channel at a time. I find this a much more natural and intuitive way of working and Duality delivers this capability while giving me control of all facets of our Pro Tools software from the console surface. Duality is a win/win for everyone.”