SSL's contemporary-classic recording console, ORIGIN, introduced the PureDrive microphone preamplifier. This innovative preamp retains the clarity and punch of previous SSL designs while offering the added versatility of switching its character to a warm, harmonically rich, and driven tone that varies with gain. The PureDrive microphone preamp has become an essential tool in many prestigious studios and recording facilities due to its flexibility and superb sonic signature. PURE DRIVE QUAD and OCTO continue the legacy into rack format, delivering four/eight microphone preamps with ORIGIN’s renowned PURE and DRIVE modes, but take it further, adding a new ‘Asymmetric’ Drive, comprehensive digital connectivity, and an onboard USB-C interface. PURE DRIVE QUAD and OCTO also offer four mic preamp input impedance options, enabling engineers to explore various tonal possibilities or match the Mic Pre's impedance closely to the microphone. Additionally, each mic pre includes independent +48V phantom power, polarity inversion, and a High Pass Filter, which is sweepable on QUAD.

One preamp, three different flavours
Both QUAD and OCTO feature three different DRIVE modes: Clean, Classic Drive and Asymmetric Drive. Clean mode delivers SSL's signature ultra-low noise floor, linear preamp. Classic Drive generates predominantly odd harmonics — the same drive sound found on the ORIGIN console. Finally, Asymmetric Drive makes the even harmonic content dominant, providing more pronounced thickness, colouration, and softening of transients.

Advanced connectivity
PURE DRIVE QUAD and OCTO’s versatile analogue and digital connectivity open a world of recording possibilities. Both units feature four front-mounted Hi-Z/DI Instrument inputs with automatic input detection, rear-mounted combo XLR inputs, D-sub connectors for line-level inputs, as well as insert send and insert return. All insert returns/ADC inputs operate up to full +24 dBu line-level, for interfacing with other professional equipment. Digitally, QUAD and OCTO feature an integrated USB-C soundcard providing conversion up to 32-Bit/192 kHz, AES/EBU outputs, and ADAT out with SMUX. The AES and ADAT outputs can be individually repurposed to be fed from the onboard USB soundcard as outputs from your DAW. Finally, there's an auto-ranging word clock input and output for robust digital clocking.