Test and Measurement News

Console Manufacturer SSL Buys Its 11th Prism Sound dScope

Solid State Logic, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of high-end analogue and digital consoles, has taken delivery of its 11th Prism Sound dScope Series III audio test and measurement tool.

The unit will be used to test the recently introduced X-Rack Dynamics Package and XLogic E Signature Channel, the latest additions to the company’s trend setting XLogic Series of outboard audio processing equipment.

Steve Drummond, senior applications engineer at Solid State Logic, says: “We use Prism Sound’s dScope as our standard functional test set because it provides an easy and reliable way of checking both analogue and digital signals. It is also significantly more cost effective than other audio test and measurement tools on the market and this combination of functionality and price makes it hard to resist.”

Solid State Logic bought its first Prism Sound dScope units some years ago and put them to use in its engineering department. However, two years ago the company began developing a new analogue workstation, the AWS 900, which was eventually launched in 2004 to great critical acclaim. Since its launch over 130 AWS 900s have been sold worldwide and the desk was recently honoured by the Tec Awards in New York where it won the Large Format Console Technology category, despite the fact that it measures in at just 57 inches.

“When we started work on the AWS 900 we made a decision to go with the dScope as our main test set, so we ordered seven units,” Drummond says. “Demand for the AWS 900 has been incredible and as a result the dScope units are in constant use, which is why we have had to order another for the XLogic range.”

Launched in 2002, Prism Sound’s dScope is suitable for a wide range of digital and analogue audio applications and is used in many market sectors including broadcast, multimedia, CD, DVD, computer audio, transducer, digital telephony and communications. It is comprehensive and accurate for R&D, portable and intuitive for maintenance and field service, and fast, automatic and IT-friendly for the production line. 

As well as covering the traditional audio test functions, dScope incorporates the important new features needed to work with the latest audio technologies. These include digital interface test tools such as carrier waveform and eye-pattern display, jitter measurement and AES3/IEC60958 channel status generation and analysis as well as support for higher sampling rates.  dScope has a uniquely simple, state-of-the-art synchronous multi-tone capability, which can measure dozens of parameters simultaneously.