Introduction & Key Features
Introducing SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor: a plug-in and workflow that allows UC1 to control third-party plug-ins... and best of all, it's free.
SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor brings a new level of power and flexibility to your hybrid SSL workflow, enabling effortless control of any third-party plug-in using the UC1 hardware. Combined with UC1 – which draws upon decades of console design experience to provide a knob-per-function control surface – the SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor plug-in now allows you to control an unlimited range of sonic flavours, giving you even more creative options when producing and mixing music inside the virtual SSL 360 console workflow.
Delivered through a streamlined user interface and designed with intuitive setup features, SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor lets you effortlessly start dropping third-party plug-ins into your session and control them with the advanced ‘console-style’ workflow that UC1 offers. Any third-party plug-ins mapped via 360 Link Bus Compressor become a Bus Compressor in the Plug-in Mixer (also controllable from UF8), alongside SSL Bus Compressor 2 allowing you to mix-and-match your favourite third-party plug-ins with SSL’s own heritage Bus Compressor emulations.
SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor comes with a selection of customisable factory maps for popular Bus Compressor plug-ins from the likes of Slate Digital®, Universal Audio®, Waves® and Plugin Alliance®. While UC1's Bus Compressor section is optimised for a typical SSL Bus Compressor layout, any plug-in can be easily mapped from scratch using the user-friendly mapping interface - super simple to use and offering a variety of mapping methods such as drag and drop or click and turn, allowing you to map your favourite plug-ins in no time at all.
SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor is available to download free of charge via the SSL Download Manager.
Note: the SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor plug-in is available in AAX Native/AU/VST3/VST formats, and therefore supports all major DAWs. It requires third-party ‘hosted’ plug-ins to be in VST3 format.
Key Features
- Control ANY third-party plug-in with the UC1 bus compressor controls and open up your hybrid SSL 360 workflow.
- Assign gain reduction metering from 3rd party plug-ins to show on the UC1 Bus Compressor meter. Note this is only possible for 3rd party plug-ins that present metering parameters to 360 Link via the 'ASSIGNABLE METERING DATA' section. A metering offset can be added, if calibration is needed.
- Mix like a pro; SSL’s tactile ‘muscle memory’ hardware controls meet ultimate plug-in flexibility.
- Choose from a selection of factory control maps or customise your mixing experience by creating your own from scratch.
- Optimise workflow efficiency by centralising control within the SSL 360 ecosystem.
- Workflow-ready maps included for selected Slate Digital®, Universal Audio®, Waves®, and Plugin Alliance® plug-ins.
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- Plugin Alliance bx_townhouse Buss Compressor
- Plugin Alliance Vertigo VSC-2
- Slate Digital VBC FG-Grey
- Slate Digital VBC FG-Red
- Waves SSL Comp
- Waves API 2500
- UAD API 2500
- UAD Empirical Labs Distressor
- UAD Neve 33609 C
- UAD SSL G Bus Comp
- UAD G Bus Compressor Legacy
The table below shows the differences in functionality between our natively integrated Bus Compressor 2 Plug-In and 3rd party Plug-Ins hosted within 360 Link Bus Compressor.
| Feature | Official SSL Bus Compressor 2 plug-in | SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor (any third-party VST3 plug-in) |
| Hands-on control from UC1 bus compressor controls | ✔ | ✔ |
| Parameter name and value displayed on UC1 screen | ✔ | ✔ |
| 360 Plug-in Mixer Integration + Control from UF8 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Load Presets from UC1 | ✔ | ✖ |
| Metering on UC1 bus compressor moving coil meter | ✔ | ✔* |
✔* Metering on UC1 bus compressor moving coil meter - 360 Link Bus Compressor provides the ability to assign 3rd party metering data to the moving coil bus compressor meter on UC1. This is dependent on the manufacturer making the metering data available.
360° Link Bus Compressor FAQs
How do I demo the SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor plug-in?
The SSL 360° Link Bus Compressor plug-in and SSL 360° are free. Simply download and install them via the SSL Download Manager.
Can I use more than one instance of SSL 360° Link Bus Compressor on a DAW track?
Yes, of course! This is a great way of using UC1 to control different 3rd party plug-ins on the same DAW track.
Will I see the compression metering of my 3rd party plug-in hosted in Link Bus Compressor on UC1?
Yes, if the Plug-In will allow access to the Assignable Meter Data. This is currently only possible with some 3rd Party Plug-ins if the manufacturer has enabled access. If available, you can easily map the meter in the same way as any other controllable parameter. See this article for detailed steps on how to do this.
Can stock plug-ins in my DAW be controlled via 360° Link Bus Compressor?
Stock plug-ins in most DAWs are not available in VST3 format, and therefore cannot be hosted inside 360° Link Bus Compressor.
Can I host VST, AAX or AU plug-ins in 360° Link Bus Compressor?
360° Link Bus Compressor only supports hosting VST3. However, the 360° Link Bus Compressor plug-in itself is available in all AAX, AU, VST and VST3 formats – so you can use UC1 with 3rd party plug-ins in any DAW that we already support with UC1. Scroll down to the ‘How does my DAW work with UC1/360° Plug-in Mixer?’ table on the UC1 webpage.
Can I use a VST instrument with 360° Link Bus Compressor?
360° does not currently support MIDI input/output and therefore will be unable to function as a host for a virtual instrument.
Can I use multi-channel plug-ins with 360° Link Bus Compressor?
360° Link Bus Compressor only supports up to stereo input/output at this time and a stereo or mono sidechain. When hosting a plug-in, we pick the closest format that the hosted plug-in supports to fit the channel format of the container 360° Link instance.
Release Notes
For more comprehensive release notes and known issues about integration with the SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer and other hardware controllers, please refer to: SSL 360° Downloads and Release Notes
V1.0 (November 2024)
- Initial release.
Supported Platforms and Hosts
For compatibility information about plug-ins, visit the Plug-in Operating System and DAW Compatibility FAQ.
When we release an SSL plug-in, we test it on all Windows and macOS operating systems that aren't End-of-Life (EOL) at the time of release.
The versions listed below are the latest on which we have officially tested the product.
It is possible for our products to work on platforms outside of this list. However, if your host, host version or operating system is not listed here, we recommend you demo the product before purchase to confirm that it works correctly.
Apple Silicon Support
This plug-in is provided as a universal binary for macOS and features native support for Apple Silicon.
Operating Systems
Please refer to the Plug-in OS Compatibility FAQ.
Hosts
- Pro Tools
- Logic Pro
- Cubase / Nuendo
- Studio One
- REAPER
- FL Studio
- Ableton Live
- LUNA
- Bitwig
- Digital Performer
Installation, Download and Licensing
Demo/Trial
360 Link Bus Compressor is a free plug-in. To start using it, simply download and install it using the SSL Download Manager.
Installation and Download
We recommend using the SSL Download Manager application to easily manage all SSL plug-in installations from a single place, on both macOS and Windows. In addition to easily installing, uninstalling or reinstalling individual or every SSL plug-in at the click of a button, the SSL Download Manager also provides you with detailed release notes and lets you know when updates are available.
You can also download offline installers for a plug-in from here.
All SSL plug-ins are supplied in VST, VST3, AU (macOS only) and AAX (Pro Tools) formats.
The installers provided (macOS Intel .dmg and Windows .exe) copy the plug-in binaries to the common VST, VST3, AU and AAX directories. After this, the host DAW should recognise the plug-in automatically in most cases. Simply run the installer and you should be good to go. You can find more information about how to authorise your plug-ins below.
Licensing
Visit iLok, Licensing and Activation for guidance in activating your SSL plug-in.
Quick Start Guide & Scanning Your Plug-ins
The first time you load 360 Link Bus Compressor, you will need to scan for third-party plug-ins.
- Press the 'Configure Link' button.
- Press the 'PLUG-INS' tab, on the right-hand side.
- 360 Link Bus Compressor sets the typical VST3 paths for you but you can add your own using the '+' symbol next to 'VST3 FOLDERS'. This is useful if you have changed the location of your VST3 plug-in folder on your computer, or, if you have created a folder with only the VST3 plug-ins you wish to use inside Link (for streamlining your plug-in list).
- Press the 'Scan' button at the bottom of this page.
- Wait for scanning to complete. Note that this might take upwards of 5 minutes, depending on how many plug-ins you have. If you only want to scan selected plug-ins, you could consider moving them to a special folder and only scanning this folder.
- Once scanned, you will see a list of all available VST3 plug-ins.
- Double-click a plug-in to load it. Once loaded, the 360 Link Bus Compressor will display the currently controlled mapping, if available. SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor ships with several Factory control maps, which means you can simply load the plug-in and start controlling it from the UC1 and the 360 Plug-in Mixer. If no Factory or User control map is defined, then the Configuration panel will open so that you can start building a control map.
360 Link Bus Compressor with a third-party plug-in loaded, ready to use.
360 Link Bus Compressor with third-party plug-in loaded, ready to map to your UC1 and 360 Plug-in Mixer.
- Instances of 360 Link Bus Compressor will automatically appear in the 360 Plug-in Mixer Centre Section and be controllable from the UC1, in the same way as our official Bus Compressor 2 Plug-In.
Plug-in Library, Favourites & Default Plug-in
Note: 360-enabled plug-ins such as Channel Strip 2, 4K B, 4K E, Meter and Bus Compressor 2 etc. cannot be loaded in 360 Link Bus Compressor at this time. To use these plug-ins, insert them directly into your DAW session as previously.
The Plug-in Library page allows you to:
- Scan plug-ins
- Favourite plug-ins, for easy access from the main 360 Link Bus Compressor GUI
The Plug-in Library page is accessible by the following steps:
- Press the 'Configure Link' button.
- Press the 'PLUG-INS' tab, on the right-hand side.
Setting favourites and default plug-ins:
Click the star icon in the full Plug-Ins list next to a plug-in to mark it as a favourite. This is useful if you have a lot of plug-ins, but only a few that you regularly want to host in 360 Link Bus Compressor.
Favourited plug-ins will appear directly in the central plug-in selection dropdown in the main GUI.
When you map a new plug-in for the first time, or there is already a factory map that ships with that plug-in, then it will be automatically favourited. To remove it from your favourites, simply enter the Plug-in Library Manager and click the star icon to unfavourite it.
To choose a default 3rd party plug-in to load into 360 Link Bus Compressor, load the desired plug-in and then click 'Make current Plug-in Default' from the selection dropdown in the main GUI. This can only be done once a plug-in has been loaded. The next time you create a new instance of 360 Link Bus Compressor, it will load this plug-in by default.
Plug-in List
The Plug-ins List is arranged by manufacturer, then a drop-down arrow will follow to allow you to view all the plug-ins available. Within the list you have the following options:
-
Favourite (star icon)
Allows you to favourite and unfavourite plug-ins. -
Failed To Scan folder (bottom of the list)
The last tab will show any VST-3 Plug-ins that failed to scan. You can empty this list by clicking on the trashcan icon on the right side.
Displaying the hosted plug-in window
To toggle the hosted plug-in window, click the 'Plug-in' icon.
When creating or amending a Link map, it can be useful to see both the Link GUI and the hosted 3rd party GUI at the same time. Use the Hosted Plug-in window open/close button to open/close the 3rd party GUI.
360 Link Bus Compressor opens with the blank GUI by default unless a default Plug-In has been set.
If the Default has been set, then this will open upon instantiation and display the hosted GUI with the 360° Link Bus Compressor wrapper across the top.
You can then select a new Plug-in from the centre favourites menu, or select Configure Link to access the full plug-in list as in the previous image.
Factory Mappings
SSL 360° Link Bus Compressor comes with a range of Factory Mappings for some popular Bus Compressor Plug-ins that come preloaded and are ready to use without the need to map them to the UC1 Controller. You can see in the image below, that Factory Map is selected in the Control Map drop-down menu.
Creating or editing a control map
To map a third-party plug-in to the UC1, load the plug-in that you wish to map. If a control map doesn't already exist, 360 Link Bus Compressor will enter 'Configure' mode automatically. To open the configuration panel, click the 'Configure Link' icon to access this section from the main GUI section.
Control map
This displays the current control map that 360 Link Bus Compressor and the 360 Plug-in Mixer will use for the currently hosted third-party plug-in.
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Factory control map
A 'Factory' control map is an official SSL mapping of a third-party plug-in. These are provided for popular bus compressor emulations and other compressor plug-ins, so that you can get up-and-running with as quickly as possible. -
User control map
A 'User' control map means that you've created your own custom mapping for a third-party plug-in.
You cannot edit Factory control maps directly, but if you start editing them, we will automatically create a new 'User' control map for you. This means that you can always swap back to our official 'Factory' map whenever you like.
How to assign parameters
When in 'configure' mode, assignable controls are displayed as outlines.
SSL 360 Link Bus Compressor uses bi-directional mapping. This means that you can map parameters using drag-and-drop, or click-and-turn, or by using the hardware.
Drag-and-drop
You can drag-and-drop third-party parameters to a control to assign it.
Click-and-turn
You can also assign parameters by clicking the control first, or by moving the control on your UC1 control surface (1). This will make the control 'listen' for an assignment. Next, simply click a parameter in the 'assignable parameters' list, or click/move the control in the hosted plug-in GUI (2).
You can also click/move a control in the hosted plug-in GUI first, or in the 'assignable parameters' list, and then click the 360 control or move the UC1 control to make the assignment.
Setting control legends and clearing parameter links
Once assigned, you can double-click the control label to set the control's legend.
By default, when you assign a parameter to a control, it will inherit the parameter's name. We can rename this by clicking on the text, where this will highlight blue and allow the name to by retyped in.
Alternatively, we can right-click on the parameter and a floating window will appear with the option to Clear This Link, Clear All Parameter Links or Edit Name.
Assignable Meter Data
360 Link Bus Compressor provides the ability to assign 3rd party metering data to the moving coil bus compressor meter on UC1. This is dependent on the manufacturer making the metering data available.
How to assign
1. Click the 'Configure Link' button in 360 Link Bus Compressor
2. On the 'MAPPING' tab, check if there are any assignable metering parameters under the 'ASSIGNABLE METER DATA' section. In the example below, you can see that the 'Combined Plug-in Gain Reduction' parameter is available to be assigned. Note - If this area is blank, the 3rd party plug-in does not support sending metering data.
3. Assign the metering parameter in the same way you would assign a control parameter. e.g. Click and drag the parameter (e.g. Combined Plug-in Gain Reduction text) from the list down to the bus compressor metering. Alternatively, click on the empty bus compressor meter section in the Link plug-in (it turns light blue, as shown below) and then click on the 'Combined Plug-in Gain Reduction' text to assign the parameter.
4. (Optional) Some 3rd party metering data may require an offset to ensure the amount of gain reduction being shown matches between UC1 and the 3rd party plug-in. Click the settings cog near the assigned meter and adjust the Offset value if necessary.
SSL Plug-in Engine
The 'SSL Plug-in Engine' has several features that are available across our entire plug-in range.
Undo/Redo
SSL plug-ins come with a built-in undo/redo stack, in case your DAW doesn't handle this.
- Undo (left arrow) undoes the current action in the history stack.
- Redo (right arrow) re-does the next action in the history stack.
The undo and redo buttons are disabled when in mapping/configuration mode.
Preset Management
360 Link Bus Compressor does not feature any built-in preset management system. To utilise presets, please use the preset management system provided by the hosted third-party plug-in.
Version Number
Click the version number to display more information about the plug-in.
When logging a bug to our support team, always include the full version number e.g. v1.0.13.
Scale/Zoom
The scale/zoom menu allows you to resize your plug-in from 50% up to 200%.
Note that if resizing would cause the plug-in to go offscreen, then this option will be disabled. This is designed to prevent DAW resizing bugs that exist in some DAWs.
You can also right-click anywhere on the background of the plug-in to change the scale.
Built-in Help
This plug-in features built-in contextual help. To turn this feature on, click the '?' in the bottom right-hand corner. Mouse over elements of the GUI to see some information about the feature.