I was thinking of biting the patchbay bullet but am holding off for now. Thanks for the link. That looks good to me!
@Psyre are you saying you hand soldered neutriks to a db25 or is this an already made cable? I’d be happy to solder if its worth it quality-wise…
Whoops, bought them pre-made, can’t take any credit there. Also, they were 5ft, my bad.
Hopefully this link works:
Rapco Horizon DA88-5S 2 Pack, 8-Channel DB25 to 1/4-inch TRS Cable 5 Ft. https://reverb.com/item/21456285-rapco-horizon-da88-5s-2-pack-8-channel-db25-to-1-4-inch-trs-cable-5-ft?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=share
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Ahhh yeah Aok! @Psyre! I do make tube amps etc but dang I didn’t feel like soldering hehe. Those look good too. Thanks very much.
Sam
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My summing solution (for the ambitious stuff) right now is running separate channels into A&H SQ-5 and summing there. Might sound crazy but I think the summing sounds better than my DAW 
Its not as gluey as when I used a 12MTK for summing, but sound separation of the mix feels improved. Experience has been so positive that I’m not even considering analog summing box investments for now.
Also very much a workflow thing - just love using long faders as opposed to kbd/mouse. I bet it’d feel god to do fader rides with that SiX as well.
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I get mine from proaudiola
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Now there you go! Mogami 1/4 trs db25 is $115. Reasonable.
I know there’s all kinds of views on this but such short cable lengths (2 m) and being balanced, wouldn’t oxygen free copper cables such as those made by HOSA (for $40) be entirely adequate, not adding measurable noise or losing any high frequency audio?
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There would probably be a difference in longevity and reliability if you plug, unplug, coil, uncoil regularly. Any audible or even measurable difference in audio is unlikely in a semi permanent setup.
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there is no oxygen free copper AFAIK? I might be wrong but this is “snake oil” if I’ve understood things correctly…
the cable matters very little IME, but the connectors HOSA use, I’ve got bad experiences with them myself. Pretty sure mogami uses genuine Neutrik connectors (?)
Hmmmm something to consider @tsutek. I do believe the science is sound i.e. oxygen is introduced to copper during smelting process, from there are methods of removing this added oxygen. Companies provide this service and then sell this product as oxygen-free (99 ish% free).
I have no idea if that makes measurable differences in audio quality though. = the snake oil part 
When you say you had a “bad” experience with Hosa, is that measurable/audible audio degradation or build quality, reliability, etc as @Joe_b discussed?
Cool! Sam
bad experiences as in the connectors failing on me. So “reliability”
as for the oxygen free copper thing, this exactly was my understanding - you can only get it close to being without oxygen, but not sure if 100% oxygen-freeness can actually be obtained. It is also my understanding that this process doesn’t give a significant improvement… more important is the wire gauge being appropriate, cable capacitance being low and connector being properly made (including correct shielding etc), IIRC. Been a while since I read that cable chapter from “Handbook for Sound Engineers” (By Glenn Ballou - I always recommend this book for everyone interested in audio engineering!), should reread at some point 
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Sorry to interrupt but I’d just like to share how I use the Six. A Radial Engineering J33 is connected to the Mic Pres and phatom powered to form a quite sophisticated Phono-Preamp for sampling records. What else do I like?
- Sound
- All balanced I/O. Is there any other compact mixer with balanced master inserts at +4db?
- Bus comp glue
- Monitor section
- Small Size
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Thats a badass vinyl sampling setup! Also love how you got the 60 just “tucked in there”… hehe
Looks like your setup is of such a high caliber that I suspect your technics 1200 might be the weakest chain in the link - which is probably quite a rare situation when sampling vinyl 
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Hey SiXers, I’m new to all these routing options on a mixer. I see there are MAIN INSERT send/returns on the db25. Im guessing a common use would be a totally dry mix similar to the way many use channel 1 and 2 insert send/returns?
I’m wondering if these could be used to only route DAW playback into MAIN INSERT RETURN through the mixer in lieu of giving up any of the other ins?
I am imagining there are unforeseen by me limitations to this!
Sam
Yes, by pressing the insert switch the signal of the master insert return replaces the signal on the master bus (you would only have the DAW playback on the master bus of course).
The master insert return is also the input of the bus compressor. There’s always a signal on the master insert send, so this can be used to e.g. to record a dry mix pre-bus comp.
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That’s actually a great feature! I often find myself wishing I could record both dry and wet (going through sidechained SA4000 mk I) 2bus versions simultaneously. So with the SSL SiX, this is actually possible?! Or did I understand this wrong…?
BTW, does the SiX bus comp have sidechain?
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There is no sidechain input but I think I read somewhere that the sidechain signal is high pass filtered.
From the manual:
The bus compressor side chain also has a 1st order High Pass Filter at approx
50Hz, a feature of more modern SSL bus compressor designs to give smoother performance from mixes with prominant bass
content.
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You could, but there is a but…
Either you return the dry signal from the DAW to the console insert return then compress and record the Master out. You are adding an extra AD-DA to the compressed mix, but trial and error will tell you if it actually matters to your mix. Or, split the signal after the insert send with a patch-mult or y-cable, record one split to the DAW, and return the other to the insert return. A classical mastering engineer may mock you for doing so, but splitting a line level signal one time with proper cables should not be audible to any living creature.
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In my case, I was thinking that by recording both dry and compressed, I could do parallel master compression. And btw I’m not outputting my final mix from my DAW but from a digital mixer, which I use for summing instead of a DAW. Unless I’m doing casual stuff, but I rarely worry about using 2buss hw compression on my casual stuff anyways…
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Ok, i was referring to the option with the SSL 6, or any other analog desk for that matter. With the split you coul do parallel compression. If you use the return signal from a DAW or digital desk, you will need to account for latency. BTW, this will work just the same with your SA 4000.
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