Arch Audio Hits Record on First Future Analogue Tracking Session in the USA with Solid State Logic ORACLE Console

“You don't have to worry about any of your analogue settings — everything just pops right back up. The Instant Recall really is a big deal; it significantly enhances how the artist, engineer, and studio interact with the console.”

May 12, 2026

Chattanooga, Tennessee, May 12, 2026 — Studio owner, engineer and producer Mark Hutchinson recently installed a Solid State Logic Oracle 48-channel “Future Analogue” in-line mixing console at his Arch Audio Recording Studio in Chattanooga and almost immediately put it to work. With the two-day project — a tracking date with country soul artist Tyson Leamon and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Willie Kitchens, former lead singer of The Impressions, plus a full band — Arch Audio became the first studio in the United States to host a commercial tracking session with SSL’s revolutionary new ‘Future Analogue’ music production platform. Ted White and Greg Glaser of GC Pro/Custom House handled the sale of the SSL Oracle to Arch Audio.

Hutchinson, a 35-plus-year industry veteran who opened Arch Audio in 2017, was immediately impressed with ORACLE's instant recall capabilities, offering total digital control over its fully analogue circuitry, as well as its unmistakable SSL sonic quality. The inaugural session at Arch Audio went perfectly, and despite the revolutionary technology underneath the hood of ORACLE, Hutchinson was able to focus on the music: "I was just getting the tones that I liked.”

*L-R: Mark Hutchinson, Owner, Engineer and Producer at Arch Audio, and Kessler Cuffman of Dynamo Studios*

Putting SSL's ActiveAnalogue™ into practice
“We did two full songs; there were big differences between them, but the instant recall just kept us in the zone”, reports Hutchinson, who was able to seamlessly reconfigure the console from one song to the other during the sessions, which Arch Audio hosted in late March. “You don't have to worry about any of your analogue settings — everything just pops right back up. I didn't even have to think about it. The recall really is a big deal; it significantly enhances how the artists, engineer, and studio interact with the console.”

From the 16 bus routing switches and integrated THE BUS+, to the 4-band E/G series parametric EQ and 10 aux sends, everything is instantly recalled across the entire console. SSL’s innovative new ActiveAnalogue™ technology, which enables instant switching between setups, such as mixing, tracking or overdubbing, allows the engineer to quickly reconfigure the room between sessions or respond to the creative needs of an artist by resetting the Oracle console in less time than it takes to load a new Pro Tools session.

ORACLE: control from the future
Another feature of the Oracle that he appreciates, he continues, is being able to bring the channels that he needs to work on to the motorised faders in front of him without ever leaving the sweet spot between the monitors. Each of the two 8-channel bays can be switched to control a different bank of inputs, and they don’t have to be contiguous. “Having that flexibility, I could have the drums on channels one through eight, for instance, and on the second fader bank have, say, channels 25 to 32. There are two completely separate sets of banks of faders. DAW control could even be assigned to one of them, if I want ITB control on one side, and full analogue control on the other; that's very powerful,” Hutchinson says.

As for keeping track of what sources are coming through which channels, the labels entered by the engineer show up both at the fader and on the high-resolution meter bridge screens, which can display plasma-style bargraph or classic analogue-style VU meters — or any number of other features, such as EQ, processing, routing, or other expanded surface controls. “You never have to wonder; you know what fader you're touching, because it's named right there in two places. It keeps you from making mistakes.” Routing and Channel names may either be entered during console setup or beforehand, using the O-Control App, an offline tool for session preparation and console configuration. “I prefer the plasma-style meters more so than the VU meters,” he adds. “They're just more vibrant, and they show you the levels at both the small fader and the large fader simultaneously.”

Seamless hybrid workflow and DAW integration
Like other SSL music production consoles, Oracle supports today’s hybrid workflows through its ability to operate as a conventional in-line analogue mixing desk or as a DAW controller, independently on each 8-channel bay. “Switching back and forth between the DAW and the console is very easy,” Hutchinson says. “It's literally the touch of one button and you're pushing the Pro Tools faders. Hit it again, and now you're controlling the console.”

Hutchinson jumped in at the deep end for his first project on the Oracle by hosting a tracking date with a full band and vocalists, but the sessions could not have gone more smoothly, he reports. “We committed to a lot on the way in, Oracle’s routing, processing, and inserts, sending from the small fader or large fader path and back again, was just seamless. The console is very easy to understand and very easy to operate.

PureDrive - The sound of PureGold
As for the sonic performance, he could not be happier with the results that he achieved on the tracking sessions. “I've got a C7 grand piano and I can tell you for a fact, that's the best that piano has ever sounded. But everything — the guitars, the vocals, everything — really turned out pristine, which is a good word, and just right for that console. The PureDrive preamps on the console are just golden.” Each of Oracle channel’s 242 Black Knob EQ section can be toggled to select the curves and Q characteristics of the SSL E series or G series consoles. “The EQ sounds absolutely amazing, but I was just getting the tones that I liked and not paying that much attention to the technical aspect of it – this is really when you know you’re in front of a well-designed console with fifty years of dev behind it,” after this first, high-pressure session, he says.

With this inaugural session behind him, Hutchinson is looking forward to fully exploring some of the mixing features of the Oracle, including the integrated Dynamic EQ processing, THE BUS+ stereo compressor and SSL’s automation. There is a lot packed into a relatively compact surface, he says. “A 48-channel console, especially one with up to 112 inputs at mixdown, is normally 10 or 12 feet long. So, to be able to have the insight to put all the analogue components in a remote rack and make the footprint of the console smaller is just brilliant.”

About Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast, live and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.