Can you hear the noise? I have the SiX, and, with some (high-end dsd) converters I get this, but it turned out to be the high-frequency non-audible dithering. However, in that case, it was the same on all channels.
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Just checked. Normalized a clip and tested with spectrum. Looks like the bulk of it for me on the Bus B noise is around 10Hz.
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Maybe someone with better DSP knowledge could answer; could this be some filter issue with the converters?
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Actually, looking at how nothing on the spectrum analyzer is anywhere near -3.5 dB itās showing in the channel meter maybe that means itās outside the range of the spectrum analyzer?
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Thanks for this measurement, when I was sensitive to the ānoise shapingā of the converters, there was a sharp rise of noise above the audible frequencies ( 22khz), but, I then read your initial message again, and you mention that you set the faders at minimum, so any noise from the DACs or inputs sound not go through, and the input to the ADCs should effectively be ground and noiseless ā¦
Or maybe the noise could be on the 0 Hz side? I personally like DC-coupled converters, but a tiny DC offset could result in a large ādBā reading? Is there a way to put e.g a 10 hz high pass and a 20khz low pass and route the output to another channel the see what the meter says?
Just did a quick calculation, and, if it were a DC offset, at ~ -67dB, the offset would be ~10mV, which is in the right kind of range for this kind of electronics, and no issue at all.
Ot would also account for the different values across channels, as the dc offset is often random.
A way to test if it is DC is to try to cancel it, in case the outputs are also D.C. coupled, Ableton has, in CV tools, a way to send DC out. You could then try to send a tiny DC signal to the channel to cancel any offset. But be careful, as larger DC can be dangerous e.g. for speakers.
As someone who has a pre-order they need to pay for tomorrow, does anyone who have their units have any overall thoughts? Does the noise seem like a real issue? Iām a little put off by seeing these discussions on noise being the only first impressions anywhere on the internet right before I drop $3k on one.
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Unfortunately I havenāt heard back from SSL yet so Iām not sure how to respond.
I still need to put a low pass filter on it to see if the bulk of what weāre seeing is above 20k.
Also, I donāt know if all units are behaving this way or just the units from the limited people that have posted anything.
They initially got back to me really quickly, but then asked for more info and I havenāt heard back since, so the jury is still out for me. Iāll report back as soon as I hear anything though.
The analog side sounds awesome! The noise from the converter may not be audible, but it is definitely misleading at the very least.
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"Ableton round trip latency test with the buffer set to 64 samples and the latency was around 9.3ms. "
What sample frequency did you test at? 48khz? 96khz? Thanx for posting this info. T
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Yeah, SSL got back to initially after about a day and had me test something that didnāt work, but I havenāt heard back in a couple days now. Hopefully weāll hear back soon.
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That test was actually 44.1.
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Same here. I have now had 4 pieces of gear that I bought brand new over the past year that had issues. None of them cheap or inexpensive, and all of them from well known brands. Itās getting old to be honest.
Yea I decided to cancel my order at Sweetwater. They had it ready to ship for me today but I donāt really want to deal with returning it. It seems like a great deal but the QC seems a little concerning. Instead I got an insane deal on a Lynx Aurora (n) to upgrade from my Scarlett 18i20. Iāll miss the analog processing from the SSL but conversion doesnāt really get much better than thatš¤·š»āāļø
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Edited: Converter shootout examples might be a bit off topic for the Big Six thread.
Potato.
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Big Stick?
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So Iām kind of an idiot and normalizing that clip totally made me read what those meters were doing wrong.
I ended up putting a 10Hz high pass filter on the bad channelsā recordings (not normalized) and it seems to make the issue āgo awayā, so it seems to be something below 10Hz.
Just to be clear, have you been testing with gear hooked up to the inputs, as mentioned earlier in the thread?
Yeah, both with and without devices plugged in, with gains turned all the way down. Also, this appears on the Bus-B usb output going into Ableton that has no physical inputs other than routes from other channels.
However, this does seem to be a DC offset issue. The DC offset button in Ableton Utility also āresolvesā it, along with a high pass filter doing the same.
Still no word from SSL, but Iām sure itāll all get sorted.
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In the market to buy a Big Six and replace my ID44. As others have said, Iāve not been this excited about a bit of equipment for some time. Thank you to everyone with a unit posting and keeping us updated on issues and replies from SSL. Really appreciate that before I go and put a dent into my savings.
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Thanks for the testing, I was hoping that it would be DC coupled! Which is quite rare especially on the ADCs. It should very good at preserving the phase of the low frequencies. With all the levels at zero, I am still wondering why the DC on the main out should be any larger than on the individual outs though. Hope to get mine soon for some testing.
Iām in the same boat, consolidating my preamps, interface and mixer to one Big Six. The information in this thread is much appreciated!