Sound quality: Don’t expect a night-versus-day kind of difference here when comparing EV2 to the first-gen, it is more of an incremental improvement than a complete overhaul. Waves SSL channelstrips side by side (EV2 on the left). So there we have it, and I’d add that Black is a bit more “modern”, whilst Brown sounds a bit more “vintage”, but nevertheless, this is SSL - we’re not talking about “Neve” levels of color here. Black is narrower, which is usually what you want for scooping. It is cleaner and a tad more open than the Brown Knob.' In a nutshell: Brown is a wider EQ and is considered better suited for reshaping. Most of these upgrades are self-explanatory and I don’t think we need a rundown on what the SSL strips are, but for those who are a bit lost on the EQ options, a few quotes from the EV2 user manual helps to clarify the differences between these two EQs: introduced in the original SSL 4000 E Series Console, the “ Brown (Knob EQ) sound can be pronounced, even gritty” (.) “ Black Knob EQ was introduced in the mid- 1980s, along with the 4000 G Series consoles. Enter the Waves SSL EV2 Channel, a second take on modelling of the famous “4k” console featuring a redesigned (and resizable) interface, two EQ options on the same plug-in, merging what was previously done on two separate plug-ins for the E and G series consoles, switchable analogue harmonic distortion and width control of the stereo field (on stereo instances).

The graphics were very dated, the GUI was rather small for current displays and computing power has come a long way since then, same goes analog circuit emulation, allowing for more accurate recreation of the original sound character. At this point, many records have been done with these plug-ins, and given their popularity, it’s not far-fetched to say that, in cold numbers, more records have been done with them than with the desks they mimic.įast-forward to 2001, and the need for an overhaul was long overdue. It was one of the first plug-in emulations of what is perhaps the most revered channelstrip of all time from one of the most iconic analog mixing consoles ever made, and it was the very first that could run in our computers without the need for external DSP. It is rather amusing to think about the fact that the Waves SSL 4000 E Collection was introduced 15 years ago.

Waves ssl 4000 release date