I'm thinking about picking one up from a fellow gearslut, but I'm a little reluctant. The only posts I see on here are of people selling them... no reviews on how it holds up to the original or copies alike.

Would any of you Gyraf SSL Cloners like to post your thoughts?

People talk about this do search at GS.
There are many good clones out there...

With all do respect Mr. Holmes, I've done a search hence why I'm posting up. If you can find atleast 5 good posts (good= somewhat detailed impressions on the unit) then I'll be most appreciative.

But in the meantime, does anyone have anything contribute?

Given that many of the settings are fixed, it should be readily possible to do a shootout with the Chameleon 7720, Rolls, Smart, FX G 384, etc. I am not interested enough in that particular sound to invest the time doing so, but I get some use out of the 7720.

Which is essentially the Gyraf circuit with a wall wart for around $600.

Yeah the line lump in the box sucks, so I use the CPS-1 to power it.

i have a clone that was built by a guy who owned an ssl 4000e. he used original vca's that he had for replacement for his desk , side chain filter, and a sifam vu from the original quad comp. does it sound like the x-logic ssl g-bus, no, it has way more mid presence and more audible compression. the x-logic was good, but extremely clean and not what i was used to from the console quad comps. there is a very cool mid boost and shine on my clone that i couldn't get from any eq or other compressor that i could think of without spending 3-4k. it's quite special sounding. very forward and aggressive, which suites most of the records that i work on. i think if you get a clone, see if you can get the builder to customize it to your liking. i have never heard a clone with "thats" and "burr browns". some say this setup colors the unit further from the original. i spent more than $600 for mine becuase of some customizing to my unit. but i wasn't looking for a cheap way into owning another ssl, i just wanted a bus comp with lots of color and vibe. and that i did get. this is in the from my cold dead hands catagory of gear that i own.

i wouldn't hesitate to purchase a clone of anything if i feel confident that the builder is competent, and i can return the unit if i think it blows. in fact i could care less if my gear is stamped by the big guys. i like the idea of the custom shop mentality, even if it's a knock-off. which most of this stuff is anyway.

I have one of these clones. make sure you get the mod called "Turbo". It makes the compression truer to the original in respect to stereo. I really like mine and didn't cost 4,000 like SSL's xrack one.

Animus, I'm actually looking at one that's already built (used). Do you or anyone else know of someone who builds these, and for how much?

I've been using mine for about a 1 1/2 years and it works really well, mine has the Side Chain.

I cannot say the difference with the Rolls, SSL, etc. But it does the job.

i am still in the process of building mine.

about the price, the parts and such end up costing a little over $300

+1
I transformer balanced the outputs of mine with API 2503 OTs.
Its a bit more meaty than the original electronically balanced output design.

I forgot the guys name, let me go back and look at my email. He's one of the key people at the groupdiy forums. He built a nice one though. Having someone build it for you will cost considerably more. THis guy usually doesn't sell these things but I caught em at the right time when he had some spare parts lying around.

the whole idea behind those Gyraf things is not to sell the stuff but to build it for yourself

I also sold an ssl clone some days ago, however those cones are EXCELLENT sounding pieces. They give yuo the SSL vibe and can be used anywhere where an original SSL would sound great. Never compared them side by side, but I know the SSL sound good enough to say they will get you there. I only slod mine cause I bought a VSC2 which is just too expensive... :-)
Rock on!
Pat

I think the bottom line is that everything SSL makes is overpriced.

Re the Turbo upgrade:

you can order full kits at the Prodigy Pro Forum and implent that in every old GSSL.
This procedure is very well documented and very easy.

It will bring you even closer to the original SSL sound.

I had the chance to compare my GSSL with the Chameleon Labs 7720. They were quite similar sounding. I have the original DBX 202c gold can VCAs in my GSSL, the 7720 uses some THAT corp. VCAs. Both units had filters that were similar. The 7720 had some features that I think would be cool, but my GSSL also had some things that the 7720 didn't (like the THRUST filter). The compression characteristics of both seemed very similar. My GSSL had a little more vibe in the high end (to my ears), probably either from the DBX VCAs or the way I have the distortion trimmer set for the VCAs.

I love my GSSL, it was great fun building it. If you want a GSSL, you should build one. Otherwise, buy the Chameleon 7720.

nice units; Gyraf Audio

SSL clone

Great building-diary

This is so cool!!

Way over priced! thumbsup

Imagine if SSL would sell their G buss compress for $1500 or less. Man, they would sell so many of them. I bet they rarely sell their compressor for $3800 a pop. I couldn't live knowing I paid $3800 for something that only cost $300 or less in parts. And you got home studio guys making clones for $900. SSL needs to come down man.

They are reasuringly expensive to keep out the rif-raff. (Like PTHD)

Today this results in trust fund babies and dot-bombers owning the stuff. Tchad Blake ends up using Toft ATB and ITB.

Probably more credible now to follow yours truly using PTLE and UAD/cheap plugs.

I built two with the "turbo" sidechain, and I made it switchable between the GSSL and the "turbo" mode. They get used a lot and I like what I'm hearing from them.

Cheers,
--
Don

I have a GSSL that I built with the adjustable sidechain filter. I also added transformers to the outputs of mine (Cinemag CMOQ-2L). I built mine using THAT 2180A VCA's, which are the ones with the least distortion and require no trimming. I chose to replace all the 5534 opamps with high speed modern equivalents. I think I have some LM6172's and LT1357's in there right now. I also used Wima film caps and Black Gate electrolytics for coupling caps. Mine sounds fairly transparent and "elegant". It's compression character is nearly invisible. It doesn't do the aggressive thing at all. But I didn't want it to. I actually have realized I like it more as a vocal tracking compressor than a 2-mix bus compressor.

The thing you have to keep in mind about the GSSL is it is not a product like an SM57, where if you go to Banjo Mart and pick one up it's going to sound like the four others you have. No two GSSL's (made by two different people) will ever be alike. Each owner uses different components, makes different modifications and tweaks, and puts their own personality into the unit. So it's almost impossible to say that if you've heard a GSSL you know what exactly what it sounds like. Someone may not like mine at all, but love the one that Karl J has.

By the way...mine cost about $600 to build. I know they can be built as cheaply as $300, but once you start throwing $50 transformers in there, $7 capacitors, and $8 machined aluminum knobs, things start adding up quickly.

When I heard the Chameleon Labs 7720 at NAMM it reminded me a lot of my GSSL. If it had existed before I built mine I probably would have just bought the CL unit and modded it to my liking.

Brad

That Chameleon Labs version just got a good review in Tape Op. I'll check it out at AES.

Hey Brad, did you have to change any of the surrounding circuitry with those opamps at all? Or did they drop straight in?

I've built 3 GSSLs, so it wouldn't hurt to experiment with one of them.

Maybe I can host a shootout at my room one of the nights.

Ok guys... I finally got mine in... Can someone please tell me why when I run signal through it with the output gain all the way down, and I understand NOT to infinity but just as low as it can go, why does it add about 3dB of gain to the signal? Even when bypassed.

I've compared running signal flat (not compression) through my 1968, the signal remains at the same level... but in the GSSL is jumps up!?!?!

Other than that the unit performs fine. But is this normal? Are components in the unit bumping up the gain stage?

HELP?!?!!!!