Solid State Logic Mynx Review

Jun 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Eli Crews

           
 

CLASSIC CONSOLE PROCESSING IN A MODULAR DESKTOP SYSTEM

FIG. 2: The only connection on the Mynx’s barebones rear panel is the power jack. Audio I/O is on whatever modules are installed.

I used the EQ and Dynamics modules for tracking, but they impressed me most when paired up as a mixing channel strip. Among other uses, they helped me wrangle a questionably miked bass drum into a quite pleasing sound. The variability of the midrange Q controls allowed me to really target the frequencies I wanted to cut in the low mids and boost in the upper mids, especially when emulating the E-Series consoles. I also loved the ability to turn the high and low bands into bell shapes; I often prefer that to shelving when equalizing bass drum as it allows me to bring out a specific resonance or overtone more clearly.

Using the gate, it's clear why gating drums came into fashion about the time SSL consoles became ubiquitous — the gate actually sounds good on drums. I'm not much of a drum-gater in general, but I might become one if I had a rack of these pups. It's surprisingly easy to find the spot at which the gate is transparently doing its job — keeping the chocolate out of the peanut butter, so to speak. The compressor sounds excellent on drums, too. It excels at controlling the dynamics without producing any compression artifacts. If artifacts are what you want, though, you can easily push the Dynamics module into overdrive, as well. I'm usually not a big fan of auto-makeup gain — I like having a knob to make up my gain — but SSL does it pretty well, bringing the compressed signal close to the same level as the bypassed signal for easy A/B comparisons.

As much fun as I had with the other modules, the clear heavyweight champion is the Stereo Bus Compressor. I normally employ a Manley Variable Mu, which I still adore, on my stereo bus, but the SSL has its own sound — a bit punchier and tighter than the tube Variable Mu, especially in the low end. The Variable Mu sounds a bit pillowy by comparison. I've been favoring the SSL on my stereo bus about 3-to-1 during the past few weeks, but I'm aware it may be just a honeymoon period.

Decisions, Decisions

The only true problem I see with the Mynx is deciding which modules to outfit it with. Just about any studio owner would be thrilled to have two channels of the preamps, EQ, dynamics, or bus compressor, whereas the Channel and Master modules are better suited for the larger X-Rack. In any case, you're looking at around $2,500 to $3,000 for a fully loaded Mynx. That's not cheap, but it's certainly fair for the quality you'd be getting. If you do pick up the Mynx, it might be a stretch to start advertising yourself as an SSL studio, but you'd be two channels closer to such lofty claims.

Eli Crews employs both valve and solid-state logic at New, Improved Recording (newimprovedrecording.com) in Oakland, Calif.