Originally Posted by dcjams ➡️

I've just replaced my Apollo Twin X MkII and Focusrite Scarlett OctoPre with an SSL18. It wasn't an essential upgrade, the UAD and Focusrite combo were great, but I'm happy so far.

My reasons were partly convenience, one box instead of two, but mostly because I found myself no longer using UAD's plugins. I did at first, and they're excellent, but I just seemed to gravitate towards alternatives over time. It suddenly seemed a bit pointless to be invested in a plaform whose USP was their own plugin ecosystem and not actually be using it.

Obvioulsy the SSL18 has far more I/O than the Twin. You'd need something like the OctoPre to expand it, though that only adds inputs, the SSL18 has in and out over ADAT. I connected it to my Push 3 last night, which has ADAT, and had instant 8 ins and 8 outs available to me! Pretty neat.

I can't really speak to A/B sound comparisons or the mic-pres as I mostly use line level sources and I wouldn't descrbe myself as an audiophile. It's all about convenience and features for me. All of these higher mid-tier interfaces sound fantastic. There's not much between them.

Oh, and I'm a brand slut. The box has got 'SSL' written on it. Hallooo! Insert laughing at self emoji. Insert wink emoji.