The strength of console emus

[DCrown]

Do the three most popular emus SSL, Neve, Api have certain strengths?

Imo opinion Api is killer on parallel drums, whereas it just doesn't work well on vocals for me.
What about SSL and Neve?
Maybe more emus could be taken into consideration like Focusrite, Harrison etc.
or maybe one console emu is very good for a specific music genre?
What do you think?

[jamcat]

You need to view them as either tracking or mixing consoles.

Neve and API are tracking consoles. SSL is a mixing console.

The recording session is when tracking occurs. You want to use a console that sounds really good, particularly the preamps. You want “musical” EQ for tracking, which is going to be a limited set of wide band, carefully selected frequencies which highlight and enhance particular aspects of different instruments, that you can click through like presets. Compression doesn’t matter too much here, but it’s nice to have a small handful that can be patched in, to tame some transients so you don’t distort on tape, and to capture a good, consistent performance.

Oh look… I just perfectly described vintage Neve, API, and Helios consoles.

Now at some other point down the road, you’re going to need to mix your album. You’ll probably be in a different studio for that. Almost certainly in a different room with a different console. And chances are it will be an SSL. Because for mixing, preamps don’t matter, but automated faders do. You want fully parametric EQ with adjustable Q, so you can cut and sculpt your audio tracks to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. You’re going to want compression on every channel so you have total control of the dynamics between channels. You’re going to want a mixbuss compressor to “glue” it all together into a coherent mix. In other words, you’re going to want an SSL.

[DCrown]

You need to view them as either tracking or mixing consoles.

Neve and API are tracking consoles. SSL is a mixing console.

The recording session is when tracking occurs. You want to use a console that sounds really good, particularly the preamps. You want “musical” EQ for tracking, which is going to be a limited set of wide band, carefully selected frequencies which highlight and enhance particular aspects of different instruments, that you can click through like presets. Compression doesn’t matter too much here, but it’s nice to have a small handful that can be patched in, to tame some transients so you don’t distort on tape, and to capture a good, consistent performance.

Oh look… I just perfectly described vintage Neve, API, and Helios consoles.

Now at some other point down the road, you’re going to need to mix your album. You’ll probably be in a different studio for that. Almost certainly in a different room with a different console. And chances are it will be an SSL. Because for mixing, preamps don’t matter, but automated faders do. You want fully parametric EQ with adjustable Q, so you can cut and sculpt your audio tracks to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. You’re going to want compression on every channel so you have total control of the dynamics between channels. You’re going to want a mixbuss compressor to “glue” it all together into a coherent mix. In other words, you’re going to want an SSL.

Thanks for your interesting post.
Demedio Api console in studio 3 at Sunset Sound Studios was a recording/tracking console, but I think it was also used for mixing, but I am not sure.
There's another one at Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis.
It would be great to have it as a plugin emu, it's said to have some magic.

[audiouser720]

I am generalising, but SSL used to be the most popular in studios. It is the most polite, but somehow makes everything sounding ‘better’ and it has that classic American pop sound to it which works for everything (despite SSL is from Oxford, UK).

Neve consoles have a very expensive and glamorous sound. It is the most unique and, I think, warmest sounding. I find Neve has signature highs. It works exceptionally great on electronic music.

API has the most ‘aggressive’ sound to it. Which most people find very appealing. I think many engineers choose it for rock music.

Bear in mind there are no such rules and I have no idea what I am talking about. This is just my perception. If you can’t decide, I would go with SSL. Unless you like the specific sound of the others, or in fact the workflow.

[ampetrosillo]

Am I alone in not liking the Neve sound? I think it sounds a bit "bloated", congested. I've tried both plugins and the original hardware. I don't get it.

[ramseysounds]

Neve and API are tracking consoles. SSL is a mixing console.

So theres no albums ever mixed on a Neve? Absolute BS
Rupert Neve would be turning in his grave.

[Burillo]

Rupert Neve would be turning in his grave.

in fixed steps

[DCrown]

Am I alone in not liking the Neve sound? I think it sounds a bit "bloated", congested. I've tried both plugins and the original hardware. I don't get it.

I don't like Neve a lot, as well

[ampetrosillo]

Neve and API are tracking consoles. SSL is a mixing console.

So theres no albums ever mixed on a Neve? Absolute BS
Rupert Neve would be turning in his grave.

Why are you like this? Nobody said you can't mix on a Neve. In fact, Neve also designed more complete, feature-rich consoles later on. But the "classic" Neve console (on which albums were certainly mixed, earlier on) lacks many convenient features (and some useful ones) that other consoles had. If you have a console that has all the bells and whistles, very "surgical" EQs, total recall, etc. and you have a classic Neve console, you can track on the latter and mix on the former, best of both worlds.

[ramseysounds]

Why am I like this? Because Jamcat infers you don't mix on a Neve console. Is it not obvious?

[jamcat]

Of course you can mix on a Neve or track on an SSL. And many great albums have been, on both accounts.

But, I’m speaking of a general consensus, particularly in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I’m also talking about the vintage style Neves that everyone models, not the Legends or 88RS, etc. It really does help to understand this, particularly when trying to wrap your head around the different console plugins.

Take RAK Studios, London, for example. It is famous for its two original API consoles. One is in a large tracking room big enough for an orchestra. The other is in a medium sized room that’s perfect for a rock band. And then there is a small room used just for mixing that housed an SSL. RAK is a bit different now, with another tracking room added with a Neve, and the mixing room has Pro Tools. But during its heyday it was two APIs for tracking and an SSL for mixing.

You found this kind of configuration repeated all over the world during the analog era. Tracking rooms are big and expensive so it was uncommon for people to mix in them. They always had consoles that had reputations for their “magic sound” and that invariably meant Neve, API, or Helios.

But those consoles were challenging to mix on because of their fixed steps, and you can hear it in ‘70s records. Once SSLs came on the scene in the early ‘80s, everyone flocked to them for mixing, because they were designed to be a mix engineer’s dream, with the world’s first automated faders, parametric EQ with proportional Q, and VCA compression on every channel. This is why ‘70s records sound so different from ‘80s records.

Some, most notably Peter Gabriel, preferred SSL for everything from the start. But most artists and engineers still preferred the “magic” sound of Neves, APIs, and Helios for tracking, particularly rock.

SSL came into its own as a tracking console in the mid to late ‘90s with the SL-9000 series, which were extremely clean and transparent, with extended lows and highs, thanks to their transformerless design. They quickly became the preferred recording console for both classical and hip-hop, and many studios overhauled their tracking rooms with them, while overhauling their mixing rooms with Pro Tools rigs.

[Uncle E]

Neve's are warm and syrupy, and get warmer when clipped. SSL's are clear and have more flexible EQ's, and the clipping is relatively transparent. API's are somewhere in between, in many ways the best of both worlds.

[jamcat]

API is even less flexible than Neves, with not only fixed frequency steps like Neve, but also fixed gain steps in 2dB increments.

Also, you’re describing the SL-9000 only, not the SL-4000, which many considered harsh for recording, and even harsher when clipped.

[Uncle E]

I was referring to the 4000, as well. Great sounding console. Mark "Spike" Stent's mixed many great albums on 4000's and the clipping was a big part of the sound. There's footage of him in the studio mixing one of them and the clip lights were like fireworks.

[jamcat]

Yes, but you’re talking about mixing. I’m talking about SSLs for tracking.