Solid State Logic PURE DRIVE OCTO 8-Channel Preamplifier
The SSL PURE DRIVE OCTO takes the highly regarded PureDrive microphone preamps from the SSL ORIGIN console and delivers them in an 8-channel 2 RU rackmount device, supercharged with cutting-edge conversion and flexible digital ADAT, AES, and USB connectivity—making it a perfect addition to many studios, live sound mixing consoles, or mobile recording rigs.
Eight XLR/TRS combo mic/line-level inputs and four front-panel Hi-Z inputs are provided. In addition, three DB25 connectors provide line-level inputs along with outputs/insert sends and insert returns for every channel. Controls are easily accessed on the front panel, with each mic pre featuring a stepped 11-position coarse Gain knob along with a stepped 31-position Trim control with +/-15 dB of gain in 1 dB increments. This makes it easy to overdrive the signal with the Gain control and then reduce it to a suitable level using Trim. A 3rd-order high-pass filter is fixed at 75 Hz and is accessed by clicking on the Trim pot.
The PURE DRIVE OCTO offers four mic preamp input impedance options, enabling engineers to match the mic pre's impedance closely to the microphone or even change the tonality of the input signal (on ribbon and dynamic mics)—giving further creative control when recording with the PureDrive preamps. Phantom power (48V) and phase reverse is individually selectable for each channel. The 6-segment meters provide instant visuals for gain levels, sample rate, and clocking status.
Key Features at a Glance
- 8 channel high-performance PureDrive mic preamps
- +48V phantom power, polarity invert, and 3rd order high-pass filter
- Stepped Gain control up to +65 dB
- 31-step Trim control, with precise 1 dB increments—overdrive the signal with the Gain control and then reduce to a suitable level using Trim
- 3 modes for each preamp—Clean, Classic Drive, and Asymmetric Drive
- Mic/Line input switching
- Mic via XLR
- Line via choice of TRS jack or dedicated D-sub connectivity
- 4 front-panel Hi-Z / DI instrument unbalanced inputs with automatic input detection
- 4 mic preamp input impedance options—explore new tonal possibilities from your dynamic and ribbon microphones
- Balanced analog outputs/insert sends for external processing
- +24 dBu professional line-level insert returns/ADC inputs
- Analog to digital connectivity via ADAT, AES, and USB
- Ability to switch ADAT and AES connections to source audio from DAW outputs (USB) instead of the A/D converter
- USB soundcard mode: OCTO—8 in / 24 out (at 44.1 / 48 kHz) ; 8 x analog / 8 AES + 16 ADAT outs
- Stepped pots and digitally controlled analog electronics for precision, stereo matching, and ease of recall
- Up to 32-bit / 192 kHz conversion, professional I/O levels (+24 dBu = 0 dBFS)
- Selectable Auto-Sleep mode
- Autoranging wordclock in and out
