Nope - at least we weren't aware of ANYTHING that would do this around 1991, when we initially had to design the GSSL in order to have similar mix compressors in our calrec- and ssl rooms. We asked SSL, and they had no solution, it was them that recommended that we made our own "if you must"
/Jakob E.
Nah. Alan Smart was building his boxes possibly as early as 1984. Have a friend... well, had... he passed away a couple years ago but he had a Smart box with a signed serial number of 1988 or 1989.
Vast parts of our industry... especially "gear history" aren't well documented. Nobody cared back then....
But AFAIK best of my recollection of hearing it from "old guys" - Mr Smart was one of the OG installation & service guys at a then new SSL company. So when someone like Sting bought a console? He gets on a plane and handled all commissioning & field service.
So now he's got people like Sting & Hugh Padgham going hey, this new fangled 2 mix compressor is nifty! Can you build us one in a separate box, outside of the console? And those earliest compressors with built with real, spare SSL parts since he had a source at the factory.
Eventually SSL realized that while he was ordering parts, it was a lotta parts and they got suspicious & cut him off. Those earliest builds are super fucking rare. Maybe a couple dozen total. My pals box, which was the "stereo" with one set of controls was post-SSL era where he had to source / build on his own.
Who was first? What are all the various technical differences between the boxes? Dunno. Don't even care much I just make records & use what's in front of me.
But to get back to all the Warm / blah blah comparisons? I do sometimes wonder... for one thing, why if we look at an SSL G384 or Smart box? They're physically huge & very deep while some others in this "style" of compressor, like my RMS755 are about half the size.
Not that I wonder often but occasionally I've used some that like I said before, don't react the way I'm expecting and then yeah... I certainly do wonder whats happening under the hood... how its been calibrated, quality control or lack of etc.
Cause lets face it, at this point the circuit is well known. Not really a secret anymore so if everyone is building off the same recipe there shouldn't be that much variation? But again I'm not a guy who can talk with any sorta intelligence about magic diodes or anything... I just turn knobs & react accordingly.
