What does everyone think of the new SSL Oracle analog mixer?

https://solidstatelogic.com/media/solid-state-logic-launch-oracle-a-future-analogue-console

I wish they had included the G channel dynamics and they omitted a separate short fader (though I assume the 100mm faders do double duty and can be switched to the monitor path), but it's pretty cool... like a euphonix c series or the Harrison series 10 and 12 where the analog mixer is in a rack and the console is a control surface. I'm assuming the software running it is far more advanced and that the PSU is a lot more efficient than the 80s and 90s attempts at a system like this. It would be cool if they would post a manual. The specs bullet list is pretty vague, nothing about routing :(

https://solidstatelogic.com/products/oracle

I'm assuming it'll be 100k for a base 16 channel model so it's out of my price range, but I think I want one anyway. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a bag of money on the subway or something. This is the first SSL I've drooled over since the 9000s.

UPDATE: 150k in USD for the 24 channel base model, woof! that's a lot of scratch for an SSL without the channel gates and compressors, something at this price point that offers total recall and automation really needs the dynamics. I get leaving them off of the origin since it doesn't have recall (and I don't even think you can get the origin with Ultimation, correct me if I'm wrong though), but on the oracle it would be so handy to have the option to just use the classic SSL gate and comp with instant recall of those settings and only use my outboard if I really wanted a special sound... recalling like 24 hardware compressors from recall sheets kinda defeats the purpose of this mixing system, which is perfect, instantaneous DAW style recall of analog circuits. If I still have to recall a pile of dynamics processors, then recalls will still be slow and imprecise... I guess they think we'll use plugins? Maybe for gating, but I like hardware compressors and the kind of people who would spend 150K+ on an oracle prefer analog compressors too. I'm pretty underwhelmed, great idea but as a mixer I could do without mic preamps on every channel before I sacrificed channel compressors with instant digital recall. MEH! I want those G series vca compressors on every channel before I'm willing to sell a kidney.

I'm confused, aren't the bus compressors like the 2nd most defining aspect of the SSL sound (after the EQ)? Why would they charge new-Porsche money and not include the dynamics processing they're so well known for?

EDIT: I know I'm just echoing your own talking points here, but I don't understand who they think this is for? If I shell out $150k for anything from SSL in 2025, I'd expect all the greatest hits of the SSL sound/mojo. It's not like they're building to a price point with something this pricey, who is going to bother with this thing if it can't give you every aspect of the SSL experience?

Anything not in bold is rambling. Not for the ungeeky.

I would say the bus compressor might be THE most defining part of the SSL sound (the eq us not THAT colorful, the E being more vibey than the G and the boards are pretty neutral unless pushed hard) and Oracle comes with a bus+ compressor on the outputs and E/G eq on every channel so the 2 most popular SSL features are there. What they omitted was channel dynamics; the gate and compressor on every channel. Origin omitted the dynamics too but its relatively cheap. Oracle is essentially an origin, same exact feature set, the $100k cost difference is all the remote control, automation and recall.

A lot of people, myself included, really liked having a vca compressor and gate on every channel. You didn't have to go to the patchbay unless you wanted something special. I guess it would hy ave made the base model $200k+ but with something like this I say "in for a penny, in for a pound." The recall would be such a game changer until I needed to compress an individual track. Then I would have to do a recall sheet. The trade off is that the control surface is about the size of my budget 32 channel console, so as long as you have a closet for the 2 to 3 racks you could put Oracle in a spare bedroom. Adding dynamics would make the form factor a bit larger and the racks would be taller I guess.

I can't help thinking they're testing the waters and next year they might release an "Oracle Plus" thats a remote controlled Duality (which us the only current SSL with channel dynamics) leaving early Oracle adopters in the wilderness. SSL never used to do business like that, up until the 9000j all the E and G/G+ components were fully interchangeable and they stood behind those desks for decades. I think the J and K channels can work in either 9000 series frame too, just not the center section. I don't know how you would upgrade it modify an Oracle like people used to load E parts into Gs or G+ computers into an E since the control surface only has knobs for what's in the rack. Even if the cards are interchangeable the surface won't reflect a change in channel card.

If I hit the jackpot I would be hesitant to buy this thing even though it hits so many points. I would be waiting for the other shoe to drop on a more comprehensive model. For my personal use case I could lose the mic preamps and trade them for compressor/gates. Or just compressors, I can live with ITB gating, its finicky but it opens instantly and then there's Silencer, total game changer for live drums if you have patience with it. I rarely use my hardware gates and de-esser anymore, usually for gimmicks like keying guitars from drum machines and retro vocals.

To be fair, 200k for the 48 channel Oracle is cheaper than a new 4048g+ in the 90s without adjusting for inflation (the web says 250k in 1995 is equivalent to about 525k today making the Oracle about 38% the cost of the flagship SSL of the 90s)... the Oracle has 2 extra stereo groups like a 9000 but a G+ has those channel gates and comps. Although Google ai seems to think a 48 channel J or K would gave been about 200k new but I've never seen one that small and I remember them costing studios half a million to a million bucks for the high channel counts. In modern dollars 150-200k may not be all that much to a successful studio or pop producer. There are facilities and freelancersthat still turn a tidy profit... I don'tknowhow, but they do, even without physical record sales. Maybe it's a shell game. I suspect a lot of independent pop and hiphop producers with some hits under their belt will install Oracles in their homes and turn 2 closets into the machine room and vocal booth, but I don'tknow how many people fit that description.

The lack of response to this thread shows how limited the market is for Oracle and I can't imagine SSL doesn't know that, but it does seem weird that it's an almost complete analog system with all the convenience of a daw that can fit in the rec room at a price that's a down payment on a mansion or commercial property. It doesn't seem aimed at big facilities that do the big legacy rock and country artists. Even 48 channels is too small. After some thought about Oracle, I'm kinda glad they developed this thing because fir me analog us not dead but ur needs to evolve to meet the moment.

https://youtu.be/dpVT4p_JEcU?si=0cn-_2hp6hMx06_m

I started to get a little hot and bothered when he got to the stereo busses and explained the width control and that the inserts couldbe put in mid/side