SSL’s 4K B channel strip plugin gives you the sound of the console used for recording Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight

SSL is going back to its roots with the release of the 4K B plugin, a channel strip that promises to give you the sound of its classic, super-rare SL 4000 B console.

Released in 1976, just six SL 4000 Bs were built and sold to studios, including Abbey Road. One of them also found its way to London’s Townhouse Studios; you can hear its sound on the likes of The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star, Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight and Peter Gabriel’s Intruder, to name just three of the tracks recorded through it.

The 4K B plugin is said to be SSL’s most authentic channel strip model yet, having been modelled down to component level based on the original console’s schematics. It promises a contrasting sonic flavour to Channel Strip 2, SSL’s 9000 series plugin.

The sound is shaped using EQ, channel dynamics based on the SSL Bus Compressor design (Compressor/Gate/Expander/De-Esser) and a switchable mic preamp with variable drive. You can throw in additional analogue character using the VCA fader.

“The 4K B represents a new milestone in what is possible using plugin technology, done the way that only SSL can do," reckons Enrique Perez, Chief Technology Officer of SSL. "We’ve not only used original hardware schematics to meticulously model the 4000 B console, but created analogue simulations and detailed hardware prototypes, making the 4K B plugin ultra-realistic; we’re particularly pleased with the Mic Drive and Dynamics section, they’re full of ‘early’ SSL character."

The 4K B plugin is available exclusively with the SSL Complete bundle or UC1 hardware. The company has also updated its 360° software ecosystem to version 1.4, adding a number of features in the process.

Find out more on the Solid State Logic website. A subscription to SSL Complete costs $15 a month and gives you every plugin that the company offers, and there’s also a 30-day free trial.