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Duende User Guide
Page 6 of 29
3. Introduction
Hi – and thank you for purchasing Duende – the SSL processing solution for your audio
workstation. As you’re sat here reading this, the chances are that you have a pretty good
understanding of who we are and our outstanding reputation in audio recording technology. How
did we get here? Well, there were no great plans to make SSL into a major manufacturer of mixing
consoles when it all started back in the seventies - the company began with nothing more than an
enthusiasm for music and the concept of recording. Along the way that spirit, coupled with a
passion for excellence in music recording tools, helped build a multi-million dollar international
business. The SSL HQ may be a little bigger now than it was in the seventies, but passion and
innovation still lies at its heart.
In 2005, we decided to embark on a technology project to figure out how we could take the
processing power of a console and squeeze it into a 1U rack, so we could serve up the SSL sound to
home and project studio owners who don’t have the budget (or the floor space!) required to install
a large-format console.
Drawing on our unique understanding of audio processing and years of DSP know-how, our team
of engineers set about creating the SSL processing solution for your DAW environment. We knew
we needed serious DSP horsepower to accommodate our powerful algorithms, and we knew it
had to come in a package that could integrate seamlessly with the most popular workstations
… and so Duende was born.
Based on the digital technology behind SSL’s C-Series consoles, Duende delivers the complete SSL
mix experience – powerful channel and dynamics processing and the legendary Bus Compressor.
Duende offers complete integration into the most popular workstation environments with one
simple FireWire cable connection. The different processing blocks appear as VST/AU/RTAS plug-
ins – and include an authentic SSL channel strip with filters, E and G series EQ and dynamics
processing, as well as the legendary SSL Bus Compressor.
Oh, you’re probably wondering about the name, right? It was a hot day, someone in the team had
bought in a CD of flamenco guitar music and one of the tunes, ‘Duende’, just kind of hung in the
air. Something inspired us to discover that in flamenco culture, Duende is a word for spirit, soul,
it’s the force that inspires the music. That just seemed to sit well as a description for the 1U silver
box before us. We hope you will enjoy mixing your music with Duende.
For product news and software updates please register at www.solid-state-logic.com/duende
And don’t forget to join the www.mixbuss.com community, the on-line resource for sharing
knowledge on better music production.