SSL System T TCA Flypack delivers high-fidelity mixing in a compact flypack format for Calvin Harris' Ushuaïa Ibiza residency

Front-of-house engineer Wayne “Rabbit” Sargeant deployed a Solid State Logic System T TCA Flypack during Calvin Harris’ 2025 Ushuaïa Ibiza residency, relying on its small footprint and high headroom to handle twice-weekly shows in the challenging Ibizan heat.

Ibiza, Spain, 2^nd April, 2026 - Mixing electronic music in one of the world's most demanding live environments, long-standing SSL user Wayne Sargeant needed a system that could deliver SSL's signature sound quality in a format compact enough for Ushuaïa's FOH position. It also had to be robust enough to perform reliably through an entire summer season in extreme heat. He chose a Solid State Logic System T TCA Flypack for the task and, having excelled across the 2025 residency, will be using it again for the forthcoming 2026 season.

The system is amazing — compact, with a tiny footprint, yet it delivers the same sound quality I’d expect from any other live SSL console. It’s everything I need, without the bulk,” explains Sargeant.

For the 2025 season, he used a subset of the full Flypack setup as a test-bed while working towards a final configuration. Some elements, such as the screen and stage box, were integrated into a full Flypack-style build, but the FOH rack was kept in a standard flight case for the gigs and acted as the central control and distribution hub.

“That was mainly due to the need for extra cooling and airflow in the Spanish heat,” Sargeant explains. “The goal is to fully transition this into a proper Flypack in the near future, but for now, it’s a functional and evolving setup.”

“A lot of people have a love/hate relationship with their console, but from when I first picked up an SSL in 2015, it’s been a case of ‘Wow, that just sounds like what analogue consoles used to sound like, but it's got all this amazing control’,” he continues. “It just sounds phenomenal, and to this day nothing comes really close.”

All components, including Dante devices, control computers, and fader tiles, are pre-wired to enable fast, reliable deployment. The system can also be built directly into bespoke cases, making it well suited to touring and frequent load-in/load-out workflows.

As you would expect from SSL, it also delivers superb audio quality. The exceptional dynamic range of SSL’s mic preamps made it an ideal choice for Sargeant, allowing it to deliver precisely the clean, high-headroom performance that is critical when mixing electronic music.

“The entire system is pre-wired, so all I need to do is power it up, connect the control surface, screen, and output,” he continues. “This makes the workflow incredibly efficient — setup is quick, repeatable, and saves a huge amount of time. The consistency is key too: I can just plug in, load my show file, and go. It allows me to focus purely on checking that the system remains unchanged from week to week, which is a big help when running regular shows.”

The specific setup used by Sargeant couples the Tempest Control App with the Desktop Fader Tile Plus, a powerful, portable control surface with 16 faders providing access to 15 layers each with four banks — a total of 60 individual layouts. A fully redundant Dante network connects devices at both FOH and on stage, while the inclusion of SSL Net I/O SB16.12 units at both ends ensures AES3 connections both from the DJ mixer and to the PA. This preserves the full integrity of the digital signal from source to system output.

“I use stem groups to process all dynamics and outboard units, giving me precise control over individual elements of the mix. This setup allows for detailed tonal shaping and dynamic control without affecting the overall balance. In particular, I run dynamic EQ across Calvin’s vocal to maintain clarity throughout the show — his vocal performance has a wide dynamic range, which can shift depending on his energy on stage. The dynamic EQ keeps those variations balanced and intelligible in the mix.”

For outboard processing, SSL Fusion imparts analogue warmth and stereo enhancement, while the SSL THE BUS+, inserted across the master bus, manages overall dynamics and keeps lead vocals within the venue’s strict 98dB(A) peak limit.

Sargeant says the entire rig performed superbly over the 2025 season at Ushuaïa, and will be used again when the residency repeats this year. That will also see a further push to making the system more road-ready and shrinking the footprint for touring.

“Use of the System T TCA Flypack by high profile artists such as Calvin Harris in the sort of demanding conditions that you find in clubs like Ushuaïa Ibiza is an important validation for the concept of the console,” says SSL’s VP Console Sales Rob Davidson. “Engineers such as Wayne Sargeant push our technology to the limit time and time again and prove what we always thought; that there is a definite demand for SSL console technology and its signature audio quality in a compact, robust, portable footprint that can handle anything and everything that is thrown at it.”

SSL at NAB 2026
Solid State Logic looks forward to meeting its customers and partners at NAB 2026 and will be holding live demonstrations every day of the show. To learn more, register for NAB or to book an appointment with an SSL broadcast expert, please visit our NAB 2026 event page: https://solidstatelogic.com/events/nab-show-2026

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.