The Solid State Logic PURE DRIVE QUAD is a 2U rackmount unit with four mic preamps, AD conversion, ADAT and AES outputs and a USB sound card. It puts the PureDrive preamp from SSL's ORIGIN console into a rack and adds a third drive mode. It suits recording engineers and producers in professional, project and home studios, location recording, and anyone who wants to send stems back through analogue circuitry.
-
Three preamp modes per channel: Clean for linear, low-noise gain; Classic Drive for the symmetrical, odd-harmonic drive of the ORIGIN console; and Asymmetric Drive for even harmonics, more thickness and softer transients.
-
Gain and Trim staging: 11-step Gain up to +65 dB plus a ±15 dB Trim in 1 dB steps, so you can push a channel into drive and then bring the level back down.
-
Four input impedance settings: 12 kΩ, 1.2 kΩ, 600 Ω and 400 Ω, for matching a mic or shaping the tone of ribbon and dynamic mics.
-
Per-channel tools: +48V phantom power, polarity invert and a switchable 18 dB/oct high-pass filter up to 300 Hz.
-
Conversion and digital I/O: up to 32-bit/192 kHz, two AES/EBU output pairs, ADAT out, ADAT Link In and BNC word clock.
-
USB sound card: four channels into a DAW at up to 32-bit/192 kHz, or 12 in and 12 out at 44.1/48 kHz.
Each channel accepts mic on XLR and line on the TRS centre of the combo socket or on the rear D-sub. Four front-panel Hi-Z inputs for instruments are detected automatically. Balanced XLR outputs double as insert sends. The insert returns feed the converters and accept up to +24 dBu, so you can patch a compressor or EQ in before conversion.
The audio path has no potentiometers, mechanical switches or relays. Detented controls and electronic switching drive digitally controlled analogue circuits. SSL says this keeps all channels closely matched and makes settings easier to recall.
The ADAT Link In lets you chain two QUADs for eight channels. The AES and ADAT outputs can also be switched to carry DAW playback over USB instead of the converter signal. When the unit is connected over USB, sample rate and clock are set from the computer. The front panel has 14-segment meters, a standby mode and an optional auto-sleep.