Thanks Sweetwater, Mitch has a very special and unique way of presenting pro gear ! Love all of his videos and can’t skip any part of them; they’re very “pro” and enjoyable at the same time :) Thanks again...
I'll point out a couple incorrect information. I'm sure these were honest mistakes due to rush of producing a video on a new big name product, but major retailer like Sweetwater should be more careful in my humble view. In 8:23, the device was already in mid-side mode designate by blue, and it became stereo when switched to white. I suspect the presenter is under the impression that one of the knobs controls width and the other controls mids. To be fair to him, that's how many mid-side processors operate but not this one. The width control alone sets the mid-side balance while the 'space' control applies a broad low shelf on the sides. If one turns it clockwise, one actually adds bass to the sides receiving a 'busy, side heavy' sound. You'll notice the presenter turn it up and get confused because it didn't react the way he anticipate and turn it back (he expected a mid forwarding effect). Another topic the presenter mentioned in 7:05 - 7:16 is that the transformer reacts to the cumulative effect of the previous gain stages - that's incorrect. again, to be fair to him that's how majority of transformer equipped devices are staged but not this one. The transformer is isolated with it's own gain staging circuit and doesn't get affected by previous processors in the chain. Lastly one interesting feature about the device wasn't discussed. The bypass is dual mode - The red mode seen in the video is standard where everything is bypassed while pressing and holding it enters the post input trim bypass mode shown by white colour. In other words, the input gain stage keeps working while everything else get bypassed. This is useful when the preceding device in the chain is either too loud or too quiet and the user has to do significant level correction with the fusion. If the user then bypasses the fusion for A/B comparison the level goes up or down suddenly which can be distracting. Allowing the input gain stage to keep working solves this issue.
I've had the Fusion for a few months and I had no idea about the Mid/Side feature on the insert mode and the different Bypass features till I read this comment. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
I have one and the crazy thing is you don’t think it’s doing much then you bypass and boom. U immediately think. Stick it back on! It’s great. Of course you have to level match but it’s a total winner.
Good job Mitch Gallagher, thanks for your expertise - it's a lovely box and you demonstrated the features well. I've opted for the Zulu Tape Box for my 2-mix as it's a less costly option and also sounds great :)
Ah…..a fellow Freemason…I mean Zuluhead….I love that thing for the price you can have 4 of them… what a magical box. Except it’s a black box…..this is more straight you know what you are doing…. I explored that Neve processor also….but Zulu anyway.
I purchased one of these from you guys from Mason and I absolutely love it. They say there's no such thing as a magic box but this comes pretty damn close.
Great product, I've used it and it makes a big difference. Sounds way better than any plug in. Its laughable to me when people can't tell the difference. All I can say is invest in better monitoring, room treatment and conversion. If you can't hear it, you can't mix it..
Alway love your reviews Mitch - just one thing though, you were incorrect with the "space" function on the M/S processor. It controls the bass content on the sides, so what you did was actually boost the low frequencies on the sides. But if you went the other way, it cuts the low frequency content on the sides, similar to a shuffle eq that's used to master vinyl to help with the tracking by removing low freq content from the stereo field.
Mitch is one of this guy´s when you met him on bar, You: I just lost my Girlfriend Mitch: Hiii, I´m Mitch Gallagher Welcome to the real World, so lets dive in on this Process, ... "The Bob Ross of Audio" I love him
@@AboveEmAllProduction obviously you can compress, eq and add saturation and width with plug-ins, don't even need no fancy stuff. It´s just not gonna sound as good as that ssl ...
Buenas a todos quisiera haceros una pregunta, me lo recomendáis enérgicamente? O qué diferencia hay entre este, y el compresor bus más por favor rogaría una respuesta en español desgraciadamente no sé inglés gracias😊
I’ve got a fundamental question that I couldn’t find answer about yet : Can mastering gear (such as this SSL beast) be beneficial for pro voiceover applications? Or they’re made just for ‘musical’ materials? I’m recording voiceovers for trailers, commercials and product promos, and wondering whether this kind of gear can add something special to my work. Thanks in advance:)
"Mastering gear" can be a... potentially misleading term, I'd say, but that aside, I would generally posit that, yes, most equipment designed to improve *sound* quality will be pretty agnostic about what the sounds are. The effects will be (and probably should be?) even more subtle on voiceover than music, but I'd think, yeah, if you're able, definitely invest in a good channel strip (even a plugin) or something with EQ, compression, and a "character pre" or two.
Brian McLendon Fusion sounds better then silver bullet. Silver bullet is a little harsh on frequencies compared to fusion. N don’t listen to people who say fusion is for mixbus. Fusion sounds great on anything.
This is a great tool box not only for mixing but it could be used in a recording setup. I have a Louder Than Liftoff Silver Bullet and it does a very similar job. But in addition it can be used as a mic pre-amp with neve and Api transformers. It will make any mic sound better and for this reason if i had the choice again i would still pick that box, and it's cheaper.
Doubt it would be redundant to have both. imho should be really good but nearly £5000 for the two is too much for my home studio setup. For my £2300 outlay i got the Silver Bullet and the Stam Audio sa4000+ bus comp (ssl clone) and i couldn't be happier amazing sounding combo. If you can afford the Neve's grab them.
@@tyranic1 I already have the Rupert Neve Master Buss Compressor and I've been contemplating the SSL Fusion :) , I have the actual SSL compressor 500 series also.
@@germanikolaas So much great gear out there, i just wanted a couple of hardware pieces to give me the biggest mojo/impact to my in the box mixes. The two pieces i mentioned are used for makeup gain for my summing mixer and together i no longer feel the need to add anymore hardware, mic's included.
@@MuslimShortanov dont you have to insert the OUTPUTS of the interface to the INPUTS of the gear , and then the OTPUTS of the gear to the INPUTS of the interface !?
You would be fine using the Fusion in mono; however, you'd just have to make sure you are sending and receiving only a mono signal with the unit. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me anytime. Thanks for the interest! Chris Arnold, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1709, chris_arnold@sweetwater.com
@@-Novafilms- This unit is a completely different beast altogether from a mic preamp. A mic preamp is taking a weak signal and amplifying it to be able to work with other gear; whereas, this unit is taking an already complete and powerful signal and giving it that added polish used specifically for mastering. I'm sure you already know what it means, but for a more robust definition of microphone preamp, check out our glossary definition here: www.sweetwater.com/insync/microphone-preamp/ Chris Arnold, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1709, chris_arnold@sweetwater.com
Try the Fusion from your studio with your music - we can connect you to a robotically controlled SSL Fusion in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin @t
i dont really understand the hf compressor. what is the point of having that honestly. on such a high end unit id much rather have anything else... just imagine first bumping up the treble then enable the hf compressor just to kill treble - . - such a counter intuitive workflow. I M O
Hi AboveEmAllProduction - per SSL, the HF compressor is designed to reduce harshness and subtly roll back highs the same way as analog tape would - if a client sends you a harsh or overly bright mix, the HF compressor can smooth it out in a way that you can't always achieve with EQ. Thanks for watching!
@@sweetwater thanks for replying. i admit its a very nice feature to have when needed as you pointed out. and you dont HAVE to use it each time you use the unit. what struck me as off was probably just how it was laid out and seem to encourage a certain type of workflow that made the hf compressor seem counter intuitive. my mistake. and thanks for a great video.
Haha, stacking the Warm stuff in the video. Yeah never gonna work on the pro's. There is a reason why I buy certain things from you and others from Vintage King.
This is a really great gear... really imrpove and add warm to the sound without change the original character of the mix, it give it "life"
Thanks Sweetwater, Mitch has a very special and unique way of presenting pro gear ! Love all of his videos and can’t skip any part of them; they’re very “pro” and enjoyable at the same time :) Thanks again...
he's legit. everytime i go home to ft wayne i keep hoping i'd run into him at a komets game or something.
When vintage drive was on the volume level was much higher, that makes it hard to truly judge its affect
WAS THINKING THE SAME THING. Maybe I'll remake this video with gain compensation for those parts :).
Garen Hudson can we do mastering with SSL fusion? Is the hardware purpose only to add analog color?
Look at the meter when he switches it in and out. The peak of the snare is the same volume but it brings everything else up with it.
@@ElMoShApPiNeSs
Q1 222±?
Great review and great piece of gear! That song of yours is also groovy and very well produced and mixed before hitting the SSL Fusion!
I'll point out a couple incorrect information. I'm sure these were honest mistakes due to rush of producing a video on a new big name product, but major retailer like Sweetwater should be more careful in my humble view. In 8:23, the device was already in mid-side mode designate by blue, and it became stereo when switched to white.
I suspect the presenter is under the impression that one of the knobs controls width and the other controls mids. To be fair to him, that's how many mid-side processors operate but not this one. The width control alone sets the mid-side balance while the 'space' control applies a broad low shelf on the sides. If one turns it clockwise, one actually adds bass to the sides receiving a 'busy, side heavy' sound. You'll notice the presenter turn it up and get confused because it didn't react the way he anticipate and turn it back (he expected a mid forwarding effect).
Another topic the presenter mentioned in 7:05 - 7:16 is that the transformer reacts to the cumulative effect of the previous gain stages - that's incorrect. again, to be fair to him that's how majority of transformer equipped devices are staged but not this one. The transformer is isolated with it's own gain staging circuit and doesn't get affected by previous processors in the chain.
Lastly one interesting feature about the device wasn't discussed. The bypass is dual mode - The red mode seen in the video is standard where everything is bypassed while pressing and holding it enters the post input trim bypass mode shown by white colour. In other words, the input gain stage keeps working while everything else get bypassed. This is useful when the preceding device in the chain is either too loud or too quiet and the user has to do significant level correction with the fusion. If the user then bypasses the fusion for A/B comparison the level goes up or down suddenly which can be distracting. Allowing the input gain stage to keep working solves this issue.
Aloha Wahoo which one?
Thanks! I’ll check it out. You into Acoustica Audio stuff?
I've had the Fusion for a few months and I had no idea about the Mid/Side feature on the insert mode and the different Bypass features till I read this comment. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
You really had to to write that when we don’t care
@@JosueR018 potential buyers might find the info helpful
Thank you for the walkthrough and sharing all the info.🙂
I have one and the crazy thing is you don’t think it’s doing much then you bypass and boom. U immediately think. Stick it back on! It’s great. Of course you have to level match but it’s a total winner.
This is a must have right away!!! wow, well done SSL. Great demo Mitch.
Good job Mitch Gallagher, thanks for your expertise - it's a lovely box and you demonstrated the features well.
I've opted for the Zulu Tape Box for my 2-mix as it's a less costly option and also sounds great :)
Ah…..a fellow Freemason…I mean Zuluhead….I love that thing for the price you can have 4 of them… what a magical box. Except it’s a black box…..this is more straight you know what you are doing…. I explored that Neve processor also….but Zulu anyway.
Nice one, I’ve since upgraded to the Fusion with the Stam audio SSL bus comp on the insert, sounds fantastic :)
I purchased one of these from you guys from Mason and I absolutely love it. They say there's no such thing as a magic box but this comes pretty damn close.
Does it come with plugins
@@markyd386 No it is an analog hardware unit. They do sell plugins separately. Not sure who sells them but the hardware unit is FANTASTIC.
great review! Thanks!
Thanks Mitch you truly sold this product!
@@aaronrobinson5256 give Mitch a dam award 🥇 he’s selling it!! Rare to have a guy like Mitch!!
Great product, I've used it and it makes a big difference. Sounds way better than any plug in. Its laughable to me when people can't tell the difference. All I can say is invest in better monitoring, room treatment and conversion. If you can't hear it, you can't mix it..
Alway love your reviews Mitch - just one thing though, you were incorrect with the "space" function on the M/S processor. It controls the bass content on the sides, so what you did was actually boost the low frequencies on the sides. But if you went the other way, it cuts the low frequency content on the sides, similar to a shuffle eq that's used to master vinyl to help with the tracking by removing low freq content from the stereo field.
many thanks .... hello from thailand
This sounds awesome..
I need this in my life
Don’t we all
Just order this and a fatso. Going to insert the fatso and use in mid side mode. My FOH mix is going to be even better.
God damn this thing is sick
Great video
Song sounds great Mitch
i dont know alot about analog gear manufacturers but ssl seem like the only ones who color code their knobs
Maag does too, I own the EQ4M.
Mitch is one of this guy´s when you met him on bar,
You: I just lost my Girlfriend
Mitch: Hiii, I´m Mitch Gallagher Welcome to the real World, so lets dive in on this Process, ...
"The Bob Ross of Audio" I love him
totally 😅❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I feel so lucky to know what I know....big saver.
What...do you know? Care to elaborate?
What does that mean ? Warm Audio ? Or warm sounds ?
This unit is insanely awesome!
not really its a money-grab . you can do each and everything this unit does with a little creative use of your daws stock plugs ^^
AboveEmAllProduction LMAO= NOT.
Are you sure about that????
@@AboveEmAllProduction obviously you can compress, eq and add saturation and width with plug-ins, don't even need no fancy stuff. It´s just not gonna sound as good as that ssl ...
@@benediktmeyer4328 have you tested it side by side with your plugins? I doubt it
BTW, nice song. Is it on digital distribution?
Now, the SSL or the Rupert Neve???
Very nice song. Is that available on Amazon Prime Music? I would like to add it to my jazz playlist.
Buenas a todos quisiera haceros una pregunta, me lo recomendáis enérgicamente? O qué diferencia hay entre este, y el compresor bus más por favor rogaría una respuesta en español desgraciadamente no sé inglés gracias😊
Great song,
I’ve got a fundamental question that I couldn’t find answer about yet : Can mastering gear (such as this SSL beast) be beneficial for pro voiceover applications? Or they’re made just for ‘musical’ materials? I’m recording voiceovers for trailers, commercials and product promos, and wondering whether this kind of gear can add something special to my work. Thanks in advance:)
"Mastering gear" can be a... potentially misleading term, I'd say, but that aside, I would generally posit that, yes, most equipment designed to improve *sound* quality will be pretty agnostic about what the sounds are. The effects will be (and probably should be?) even more subtle on voiceover than music, but I'd think, yeah, if you're able, definitely invest in a good channel strip (even a plugin) or something with EQ, compression, and a "character pre" or two.
yobhsiFehT Thanks so much my friend, appreciating your points and advice :)
aaaaahhhh Mitch !!!
ssl saturation bax eq de-essing and m/s in one box. analog ozone. this combined with a great converter / ssl sigma / buss comp is all you need.
Are you talking about Sigma + Fusión are the perfect combination?
I like it, I am either getting this box or a silver bullet for sure.
Brian McLendon Fusion sounds better then silver bullet. Silver bullet is a little harsh on frequencies compared to fusion. N don’t listen to people who say fusion is for mixbus. Fusion sounds great on anything.
You must be having werewolves where you live ….
This is a great tool box not only for mixing but it could be used in a recording setup. I have a Louder Than Liftoff Silver Bullet and it does a very similar job. But in addition it can be used as a mic pre-amp with neve and Api transformers. It will make any mic sound better and for this reason if i had the choice again i would still pick that box, and it's cheaper.
What about using Fusion for mix bus and Neve Portico for master bus, Would it be redundant to own both ?
Doubt it would be redundant to have both. imho should be really good but nearly £5000 for the two is too much for my home studio setup. For my £2300 outlay i got the Silver Bullet and the Stam Audio sa4000+ bus comp (ssl clone) and i couldn't be happier amazing sounding combo. If you can afford the Neve's grab them.
@@tyranic1 I already have the Rupert Neve Master Buss Compressor and I've been contemplating the SSL Fusion :) , I have the actual SSL compressor 500 series also.
@@germanikolaas So much great gear out there, i just wanted a couple of hardware pieces to give me the biggest mojo/impact to my in the box mixes. The two pieces i mentioned are used for makeup gain for my summing mixer and together i no longer feel the need to add anymore hardware, mic's included.
tyranic1 Fusion sounds better then silver bullet. Silver bullet is a little harsh on frequencies.
How are you routing the device to your DAW? and how do you print your master for the best result ?
Just take 2 outs of the unit and go back to 2 in’s of your audio interface, then record.
@@MuslimShortanov dont you have to insert the OUTPUTS of the interface to the INPUTS of the gear , and then the OTPUTS of the gear to the INPUTS of the interface !?
@@DJURBANBG yes. You should do like that. Interface must have enough outputs and inputs.
Great video!! Is it me or does he get 20% more serious at the end of every sentence?
I constantly imagined him speaking like Sean Connery
😂😂😂
I don't need it but I want it...
The high frequency compressor is not fast enough to do a tape like effect on transients
Are those the $150 JBL monitors? A probably $4k SSL processor heard thru a $300 set of monitors. I wish he level matched when demonstrating the drive
JBL sounds very thrully, so nothing shocked me)
Really hard to hear the difference when the music is constantly changing by different instruments.
watch the video again and listen to what he sais
use some headphones also
High IQ review.
is possible to use Fusion on a mono signal like a single voice?
You would be fine using the Fusion in mono; however, you'd just have to make sure you are sending and receiving only a mono signal with the unit. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me anytime. Thanks for the interest!
Chris Arnold, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1709, chris_arnold@sweetwater.com
@@sweetwater thank you. And is possible to use it like a microphone preamp?
@@-Novafilms- This unit is a completely different beast altogether from a mic preamp. A mic preamp is taking a weak signal and amplifying it to be able to work with other gear; whereas, this unit is taking an already complete and powerful signal and giving it that added polish used specifically for mastering. I'm sure you already know what it means, but for a more robust definition of microphone preamp, check out our glossary definition here:
www.sweetwater.com/insync/microphone-preamp/
Chris Arnold, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1709, chris_arnold@sweetwater.com
handsome chap
Try the Fusion from your studio with your music - we can connect you to a robotically controlled SSL Fusion in the cloud via our Analog Matrix plugin @t
First I heard violent eq...
I'm not impressed. Level matching is required to truly determined the box's effectiveness.
Uh.. Behringer, can you go on and clone this? kthanxbye
Monk Volcano - and for $300 please? lol
😂😂😂💯
You get what you pay for.
very nice but too expensive still!
This video is all over the place.....
i dont really understand the hf compressor. what is the point of having that honestly. on such a high end unit id much rather have anything else... just imagine first bumping up the treble then enable the hf compressor just to kill treble - . - such a counter intuitive workflow. I M O
Hi AboveEmAllProduction - per SSL, the HF compressor is designed to reduce harshness and subtly roll back highs the same way as analog tape would - if a client sends you a harsh or overly bright mix, the HF compressor can smooth it out in a way that you can't always achieve with EQ. Thanks for watching!
@@sweetwater thanks for replying. i admit its a very nice feature to have when needed as you pointed out. and you dont HAVE to use it each time you use the unit. what struck me as off was probably just how it was laid out and seem to encourage a certain type of workflow that made the hf compressor seem counter intuitive. my mistake. and thanks for a great video.
I hear no difference :) very small effect of the module.
Haha, stacking the Warm stuff in the video. Yeah never gonna work on the pro's. There is a reason why I buy certain things from you and others from Vintage King.
It may be that my ears are bad but I do not really hear any difference. This is also a fancy device that is not worth anything.
Totally useless
Filippo Soracca How useless?? Did you give it a try ??
Absolutely agree. Just a marketing machine. Dangerous music summing mixer is much better unit.
thats what poor people always say ..