Solid State Logic SL 4000

[1][2] In 2004, the SL 4000 was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, an honor given to "products and innovations that have had an enduring impact on the development of audio technology.

[9] The console featured a "Listen Mic", or reverse talkback function intended to allow a musician in the studio to communicate with control room personnel via an overhead microphone.

To compensate for sound level differences of musicians that may or may not be near the microphone, SSL's "Listen Mic" circuit employed gating and extreme compression, so when Padgham activated the "Listen Mic" while Collins was talking and playing, it resulted in the gated reverb drum sound.

[12] Other notable albums recorded by Lillywhite on Townhouse's SL 4000 B included XTC's Drums and Wires and Simple Minds' Once Upon a Time.

[13] The combination of the ability to save and recall mixer settings, a dedicated dynamics section, and a dedicated compressor/gate/expander and parametric EQ on every channel, and SSL's flexible routing drove widespread adoption of the SL 4000 E Series consoles and its successors and variants in professional recording studios,[1][2] and in 1996 Billboard's Studio Action Chart reported that 83% of number one singles that year had been produced using an SSL board.

[16][17] SSL introduced the SL 4000 G Series at the AES New York Convention in 1987, which again offered a redesigned EQ, among other improvements.

Notable mixing engineers using SL 4000 Series consoles include Bob Clearmountain, Steve Lillywhite, Chris Lord-Alge, Tom Lord-Alge, Andy Wallace, Mark "Spike" Stent, Will Schillinge, Alan Moulder, and Trevor Horn.