Yahoo Finance SSL's UF8 adds physical controls to your virtual music studio
The eight-channel controller gives you direct access to your DAW.
At this point, it’s standard for almost all studio work to happen on a computer. But there’s no denying that having a physical mixer is more satisfying and intuitive than a mouse and keyboard, though. So a controller that can bridge that gap is always welcome. Solid State Logic’s UF8 gives you immediate access to eight tracks in your DAW (digital audio workstation) of choice — be that Ableton, Pro Tools or Logic complete with high-resolution faders for controlling you volume levels.
Beyond just volume, there are multi-purpose encoders for each channel for tweaking sends, pan and EQ settings. You can even use mouse scroll emulation to control any setting you have highlighted. Each channel also has a full color display to give you immediate feedback. It might not completely remove the need to look at your computer screen, but at least basic mixing tasks should be accessible without touching your PC.
The UF8 comes with template for using “all major DAWs” and the SSL 360 app allows you to customize multi-controller configurations, user keys, and even control multiple DAWs across in case you prefer to do your recording, mixing and mastering in different software suites. It also comes packages with SSL’s Vocalstrip 2 and Drumstrip plugins for polishing your mix.
Obviously we won’t know for sure how solid the build is until we get to try one for ourselves but, SSL is know for building high-quality studio equipment. And the $1,299 price tag suggests this isn’t a piece of entry-level home studio gear.
