Great. But i was somehow little hoping that they use the space where the logo is to also add A\B bus possible for FX returns. Sidechain on the returns is cool though.
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Iām planning on using channels for the returns (or at least for one of them), as I like the flexibility of routing effects returns to other effects sends or to the filter. Is that a solution for you? Or do you need all 8 stereo / 16 mono channels?
The separate returns can be used for any signal I guess, so it sure is nice to have sidechain ducking on them!
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Yes, if this mixer checks all the (other) boxes, i plan to sacrifice chanels for returns. It would somehow work. But i just was hoping for the option to route returns to busses, cause than i wouldnt need to sacrifice chanels, which i really could use then for other sources.
This mixer seems a very well thought out device, which fills a huge gap in the market (which the sucess of the jellymix shows). Even if its concept is for live using, also studio setups could work very well with it.
Routing returns to busses would be the cherry on the cake, a pity that it will be missing.
Iam looking forward to more infos at SB.
It has dedicated returns for the sends so you can probably use those.
I plan to use the busses as my sends to samplers (as i always did and do in my current setup).
Basicly, for my usecase, it needs to be possible that every incoming signal can be send to my samplers. Therefor FX returns too. Cause i plan to use FX sends for FX, but want to be able to record the FXed signal into my samplers.
Yes the returns are useable as extra chanels of course, but limited.
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For sampling I plan to use the direct out minijack on the front panel. You can just plug it to the channel you want to sample and leave the stereo jack cable plugged into the sampler. No need to loose an aux send that way.
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Yes, the direct outs are a great option, being it as additional sends or multitrack recording.
Very well thought out in my eyes.
What i was wondering:
what happen when you plug the rec out into the SC ext input? One might think you get a master comp out of it like this?
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Sidechain activates a vca env for ducking, it is not a compressor iirc. What happens when you use the main output as SC for ducking everything is a good question. Duckfest probably.
There is an individual compressor per channel, but not really a master compressor.
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Watching (and re-watching) Surcoās YouTube videos on the Xcelon SL, and hearing the overdrive, compressor, filter and sidechain makes me very interested in this ādynamic analog mix performerā. With my OTO bim and bam on the fx (and maybe selling my wonderful OTO Boum to finance part of the xcelon sl?) this could be a perfect performance mixer.
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Boredbrain just sent out the email that the product page is live. Direct preorders will start a week from now on Thursday the 14th. I wonder if European retailers (e.g. Schneiders) will also have a preorder at that time. Would prefer ordering from within Europe, German customs can be quite annoying.
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Me too. I have just asked SchneidersLaden in Berlin if this mixer will be available from them, Iāll let you know if they write back to me.
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So, I just checked out the Xcelon SL and had a nice chat with Adam. Preorders with European retailers should probably possible as well, at least they have all the information now. Apparently Thomann is very interested, so it should definitely be available there. With Schneiders, Adam suggested to let them know of oneās interest because they are a bit slower to get going with stuff like that.
Last minute changes were about the compressor, which now has its own VCA (was shared with volume beforehand). And the Mute buttons are now JFET and much better. And all the switches are now activated when they are to the right, so their behavior is consistent.
Itās a nice unit, but some of the smaller pots in the master section (like the settings for the sidechain) are a bit fiddly, so rather set-it-and-forget-it than playing around with it during a performance.
I probably forgot some stuff, so if you have specific questions let me know, maybe I talked with Adam about it.
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So, what does āSLā stand for?
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Supremely Lavish
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SLick.
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Iām going to get one of these for sure. From a performance perspective do you see any unique potential there for transitions? Typical examples I will do - tilt eq on kick for high passing, high passing or low passing entire mix. Quick throws to reverbs and delay pedals on sends. Iād imagine those are all fairly simple.
Curious how the sound chain sounds and the mixer sounds in general, since it will be a saturator for me.
Can you insert a master effect like a compressor?
Does each stereo send have its own return, or do we need to use one of the 8 inputs?
There are FX returns as seen in the middle. They also can be affected by the SC comp. Unfortunately they are not sendable to the A B Busses.
Interested in the first proper reviews of this mixer.
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As @zirkuskind said, there are dedicated FX returns that can be sidechained (that was actually one of those recent changes as I remember now), but donāt have any controls besides volume. But obviously you could sacrifice a normal channel instead if you need more control for a return.
Your transition examples sound easily achievable. The DJ-style filter can be used on one of the two busses or on the entire mix (by overriding its assignment to a bus with a separate switch).
In terms of sound, it seemed good to me, but itās hard to tell at a trade fair. You have two different options for driving/saturating the channels and they have loads of headroom (+ 25db). And the mixer is very low noise. A single channel -100 db, all of them together -94 db.
I donāt think there is a master insert, but I would (and likely will) then just route the master into a compressor/limiter and from there directly wherever (interface, FoH, ā¦).
I hope this rambly post is somewhat helpful.
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Yes it is. I was planning to do the same with the compressor but figured Iād ask. If this desk saturates well and sounds good I think it will be perfect for what Iām looking to do. At the moment Iām using my OT as a performance mixer but this would give me a lot more control and flexibility. Plus I would expect it to really glue a mix.
Studio / Live, but the other answers are better 
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