System One Handoff: A Milestone Moment

A little over forty years ago, Audio Precision released what was to be a game-changing instrument into the test and measurement space. The revolutionary System One audio analyzer boasted a combination of price-to-performance and usability that made it an instant success. Lore has it that the AP booth at NAB in 1985 was swarmed by enthusiastic customers.  

A few months after NAB, the leading manufacturer of audio mixing consoles, Solid State Logic, received their System One at their facility in the sleepy outskirts of Oxford, England. This instrument was the start of a decades-long relationship between the engineers at Solid State Logic and Audio Precision audio analyzers.  

Initially used for testing the iconic 4000 series analogue consoles, the System One allowed SSL engineers to perform a comprehensive range of measurements within a single unit, while seamlessly switching audio between channels. Coupled with a computer interface, this enabled SSL to save and document all test data, proving every console met the strictest performance specifications, which was an essential requirement, especially for demanding clients, such as German broadcasters. 

As SSL’s product range expanded and demand for precision testing grew, the company invested in additional System One units and switcher boxes. This not only streamlined sub-assembly testing but also significantly reduced manual processes, accelerating production without compromising quality. During the same period, SSL pioneered new digital consoles, including Screen Sound, Scenaria, and OmniMix. Here, the addition of System One Dual Domain analyzers proved invaluable, allowing engineers to test complex ADC and DAC paths effortlessly. The ability to pass both analogue and digital signals through the same switcher boxes—with all measurements captured and archived—offered an unmatched advantage in product development. 

The evolution continued with the introduction of the AP System Two analyzer, whose higher-resolution measurements supported the creation of SSL’s legendary 9000 series ‘Super Analogue’ consoles. This groundbreaking technology would go on to influence future products, including the compact yet powerful AWS console and the flagship Duality, both of which remain industry benchmarks today. Remarkably, the ‘Super Analogue’ circuitry that defined these consoles continues to power new SSL products currently in development. 

Fast forward 40 years from the day that SSL received their first System One, and it turns out that this same instrument is still miraculously alive and well, performing nearly the same job that it was doing over four decades ago! Accompanying it in the SSL building are many other Audio Precision instruments: from other System Ones to System Twos and an APx555B, an ecosystem of audio analyzers peppers the stately building, with each analyzer finding little to no downtime between demand from both engineering labs and the neighboring production floor.  

SSL’s win marks a new beginning for their first analyzer. Last month, that unit made its way across the Atlantic and back to the headquarters of Audio Precision in Beaverton, OR, to adorn the AP museum as its crown jewel: the oldest continuously operating Audio Precision analyzer known to exist.  

In its place, Solid State Logic has received a one-of-a-kind APx555B, signed by the team at the AP factory and ready to serve the folks at Solid State Logic with the highest performance audio analysis capabilities in the market, period, for decades to come. The APx555B represents not just a technological upgrade but a new era of testing at SSL. “It’s a spectacular piece of kit,” says Design and Production Support Team Leader David Burridge. “[The APx555’s] unparalleled performance makes it truly best in class—we know we can trust it completely and can only wish we had one on every desk.” It played a pivotal role in the development of SSL’s latest innovation: Oracle, a fully analogue console with complete digital control. A concept long envisioned by SSL engineers, now finally realized. 

This journey across the Atlantic is only a small representation of the journey that we’ve been on with SSL for over forty years, and we’re excited to keep that journey going now with the latest of a slew of analyzers to serve the SSL team. We are honored to be associated with a customer with such a deep influence on what sound means to so many people, and we look forward to continuing the relationship we have with Solid State Logic far into the future.  

To see photos from the handoff event and explore the story of how Audio Precision has shaped decades of sound, visit our celebration gallery now.