Console Operator's Guide; Overview; About This Section - Solid State Logic AWS 900+ Owner's Manual

Console Operator's Guide

Section 4 – Console Operator's Guide

Overview

The AWS 900+ is a powerful new combination of analogue console and workstation controller from Solid State
Logic. It draws on many years of design experience, and incorporates many features from SSL's world famous
music consoles.
The AWS 900+ uses SuperAnalogue™ technology from SSL's flagship music console, the XL 9000 K Series.
The AWS 900+ retains all of its sonic benefits and maintains a control surface that will be familiar to any
recording engineer who has previously used our 4000 or 9000 range of analogue audio consoles.
The rise of the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) has brought many benefits to the audio production environment,
including electronic editing, integrated digital effects processing and session storage and recall.
However, the same problems of integration that have always existed still exist within the studio environment
today. A studio requires either 5.1 or stereo monitoring in order to accurately monitor audio signals. The DAW will
have no faders or tactile controls with which to operate its myriad of functions, so a comprehensive control
surface is required. High quality microphone pre-amplifiers will be needed to capture real sounds with the highest
possible signal integrity for high bandwidth DAW recorders operating at 192kHz. Equalisation and dynamics are
required in the analogue domain by many users who still consider analogue the benchmark to which all digital
processing is compared. Meters are required to view both input/output signals and recorded signal levels for all
audio paths.
The AWS 900+ console has been carefully designed with all of these essential studio requirements in mind. It
addresses all the needs of the current DAW environment in an integrated, high quality and robust design with all
of the sonic benefits expected from a Solid State Logic SuperAnalogue™ console.
Years of design experience have been utilised to create the ultimate capture path for up to 24 simultaneous input
paths into the DAW, where recorded signals can be edited, processed and mixed via the AWS 900+ control
surface. The signal paths can then be either summed internally within the DAW or returned to the analogue
domain for processing through the 24 SSL EQ sections and associated assignable dynamics processors.
Combined with a comprehensive 5.1 monitoring section, audio can be auditioned with complete assurance that
the fully balanced signal path throughout the console is of the highest possible audio integrity.
A high resolution digitally controlled gain element in each channel allows the 24 motorised faders to be switched
to control any DAW that supports the HUI protocol while retaining the analogue signal path. The 24 faders and
the 24 associated Channel Rotary Encoders provide direct control of DAW faders, pans, sends, input and output
routing. The Master Control Panel and the in-board screen give paged control of all plug-in parameters.
In summary, the AWS 900+ is a Total Studio Solution for modern DAW based production environments.

About This Section

This section comprises two main parts. First there is an overview of how your DAW and the AWS 900+ can be
used together. Following this is a description of the function of each part of the console. The use of the DAW
controller section is covered in Section 5.
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AWS 900+ Owner's Manual