Solid State Logic Nucleus with Pro Tools 10

Nucleus re-defines the professional project studio with a perfect blend of advanced DAW control, transparent SuperAnalogue™ monitoring, high class analogue mic pres, pro quality USB audio interface and bundled SSL Duende Native plug-ins. There is no other product available which offers the professional producer/engineer all these elements, with benchmark audio performance and elegant ergonomics. Not only is it unique but Nucleus is also outstanding value; these elements bought separately would cost more and deliver a less elegant solution.

Nucleus is a compact, portable desktop unit that creates a comfortable, efficient, hands on operating environment for DAW based Music and Film/TV Post production. It provides everything you need to record and monitor audio and to control your DAW quickly and efficiently without resorting to your mouse. Nucleus streamlines your workflow and helps you focus on your sound, not your screen.

Nucleus’ DAW Control is based on the concepts developed for the SSL Matrix. Up to 3 different DAWs can be connected simultaneously and you can switch between them with a single button push. Nucleus uses either HUI or MCU protocols ensuring compatibility with all leading DAW applications including Pro Tools, Logic and Cubase/Nuendo and can transmit MIDI CC data. Nucleus provides a complete set of dedicated and assignable hardware controls that is easily customised to suit individual user preferences, for all major DAW and plug-in parameters. Two banks of eight channels each provide; 100mm motorised Faders, fully user definable soft keys and V-Pots, dedicated Select/Solo/Cut buttons and 10 point channel level meters. The Nucleus centre section DAW controls provide; large heavy duty transport buttons, a high quality jog/shuttle wheel, bank/channel/ layer selection & navigation/global DAW parameter selection and additional USB keyboard emulation buttons. Bright LCD Digital Scribble Strips, DAW audio level meters, self illuminating buttons and LED status indicators ensure excellent visual feedback even in low light conditions. System configuration is via a remote “SSL Logictivity” browser, which allows differing control profile sets to be stored and recalled. It is here that the user defines exactly how the Nucleus behaves.

Nucleus offers a unique combination of audio capabilities. At its foundation is a SSL SuperAnalogue™ signal path providing benchmark audio quality monitor output to separate +4dBu & -10dBV connections. A high quality 2+2 Ch USB audio interface provides a record and playback path for your DAW. Two Combi XLR mic/line/instrument level inputs can feed the audio interface and the monitor outputs simultaneously. Digital I/O via S/PDIF feeds the AD/DA of the audio interface (pre insert) enabling both a ‘digital to DAW’ record path and a ‘mic/line/instrument to digital’ output path. The Digital input can use Ch 3&4 of the audio interface so can be recorded to separate channels in your DAW in parallel to the incoming analogue mic/line/instrument inputs. A wet/dry control enables balancing of analogue (and digital) input and DAW playback for zero latency record monitoring. The Nucleus mic pre’s are SSL SuperAnalogue™ Mic Pre’s, identical to those used on SSL Duality and AWS consoles and our X-Rack system… giving Nucleus a professional standard transparent mic record path. The mic inputs have 80Hz High Pass Filters, Phase Reverse and Phantom Power. A pair of insert send/return connections for incorporation of processing or effects default to the mic/line/instrument inputs but can be moved across to DAW playback for mixdown. An additional ‘external’ stereo analogue input provides a transparent SuperAnalogue™ monitor path for another audio interface, or any other analogue device. There is an accurate analogue output level meter. A stereo minijack connection makes monitoring from an iPod or any other portable audio device straightforward. Two headphone outputs complete the monitoring options.

Nucleus connects to your computer via high speed Ethernet for DAW control. It also features a USB connection and appears to your host computer as a standard keyboard enabling key command emulation. There are four USB ports on the back which operate as a USB hub. A standard jack footswitch connection is also included and there is also an SD card slot for Profile storage. Configuration and mapping of Key commands and DAW Commands is via a remote “SSL Logicitivity” browser, which allows differing control profile sets to be stored and recalled.

We could have stopped there but because we can, we chose to endow Nucleus with one final killer feature; it includes the Duende Native Essentials Bundle. This includes the new Duende Native versions of the SSL Channel EQ & Dynamics and Stereo Bus Compressor VST/AU/RTAS plug-ins. The EQ & Dynamics Channel is the classic SSL Console Channel Strip with 4 band parametric EQ, Compressor/Expander/Gate, High Pass and Low Pass filters. The Duende Native Bus Compressor is the sound of the classic SSL Stereo Bus Compressor from the 1980's G Series analogue console delivered in plug-in form.

Ultra-flexible recording, editing, and mixing environment
There's a reason Avid's Pro Tools is the go-to DAW for countless recording studios and editing suites around the world - it simply works. Pro Tools' ultra-streamlined 2-window user interface makes navigation easy, putting all of the controls and commands you regularly use right at your fingertips. And most advanced functions are only an additional click away. Forget about spending days or even weeks just getting to know the program. With Pro Tools, you can dive right in, quickly establishing the workflow that best meets your needs.

A studio's worth of powerful and creative plug-ins
Pro Tools comes loaded with a complete studio's worth of powerful music-creation and sound-processing plug-ins. Create and play music with top-quality virtual instruments, and tweak your tracks with a huge library of incredible effects and processors. Pro Tools also comes with Avid's ultra-flexible Channel Strip plug-in, a faithful recreation of the channel strip processors found in the legendary System 5 console. With all of this processing power, you're ready for serious production from day one.

Tons of tools for in-the-box music creation
As comprehensive as Pro Tools is for recording and editing audio, it's also the weapon of choice for music composers and electronic musicians. Not only does Pro Tools include a full lineup of great virtual instruments, it gives you the environment and tools you need to get the most out of them. If you're a traditional composer, you'll love how easy it is to import your scores or create new compositions in Pro Tools' Sibelius-based score editor. And if you're into modern MIDI production, Pro Tools' massive collection of MIDI tools will absolutely blow your mind!

Advanced EUCON Integration
Pro Tools 10 builds on the EUCON support first introduced in version 9, adding over 500 newly supported functions. Any command you can access from Pro Tools' pull-down menus (not just those with key commands) is now available to your EUCON-equipped control surface.

Awesome new features for post, music, and more
Many of the cool new features in Pro Tools 10 were developed to meet the needs of post-production professionals and provide tighter integration with Avid's Media Composer. However, these inspiring tools are useful no matter what you use Pro Tools for. Realtime fades make editing on the fly easy, and Pro Tools' new AudioSuite processing tools add the ability to process audio beyond the selected clip, so you can add crossfades after processing. Plus, you can now apply reverse delay or reverb with a single click. Finally, clip gain adds a whole new level of dynamic volume control to Pro Tools.