This kind of post is making me reconsider the layout of my setup already. I juuuuuuust “finished” it, too! hahah. While I spend a couple more months with this setup, I’ll definitely keep tracking this thread. I can see the value of having a proper mixer in my setup. I have a pair of 500-series preamps that I built going into my MOTU M4, but I could see the SiX making those unnecessary and then some.
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I run DFAM, Lyra and micro freak into mine. When pulsar arrives that will go in also. They are great mixers and take up no space.
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And I have another form guitar with sends to loopers delay and reverb. I like just being able to record takes and be done, that’s Worth the investment for me.
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Yeah – I think anything that improves workflow and lets you get to the act of creating is worth investigating.
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Please excuse my ignorance, as I have very limited experience with mixers but I don’t really understand this mixer and its seeming lack of certain features, aux sends/returns etc.
Channels 1 & 2 each have an insert send and return, and there is also an insert send and return for the main mix. But to access any of them, you need a couple DB25 breakout connectors to hook up to the back of the mixer.
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The main feature is the sound. Yes, it certainly lacks function for the money. But again, the sound. You would get this for a specific purpose. I still hold the Allen heath mix wizard as the best all purpose workhorse-duties, no doubt.
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Thanks people.
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My use case is a bit specific, in so much that the Blackbox has six outs - three stereo, which can be freely assigned to a mono pair each. The SSL SiX can on its own become a unit for summing, compressing, mixing and limiting six channels from the Blackbox, which adds tremendous depth to the mix with just one very small and compact sampler being the entire source.
The routing also allows for resampling back into the Blackbox, through say a Polymoon or a Chase Bliss Mood, which makes it useful as a sound design tool while still working on the track structure. I do that a lot, so it takes care of that bit, too.
I’m left without a soundcard now, though. The Blackbox records in 24bit / 48khz and when asking the dealer if that was enough for what I want to do, he said to trust my ears. “They got you here”, he said. “Keep trusting them.”
Course he’d say that. He just sold me an SSL board 
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Stick to your rig, man. It’s how you find out what your next step is. Mixing and matching, trading and replacing, is a great way to learn and find out things and touch and feel what’s right for you. But at some point, that game can be overwhelming and you keep doing it just because that’s what you do. The hunt’s long gone but you keep chasing anyway, cause you’re too restless not too.
I don’t think anyone of us will ever be at a place where the rig’s done and final forever and ever. But there are points where you can go, “Okay, I can make something more coherent with this.” A few tracks, a youtube video or two, a small show just for your friends, an album or something else. Like, “Now, I’m pausing the rig experiment and shift up the music making experiment.”
Right, I just realised you weren’t asking for advise here, so I apologise if I come off as condesending or patronising. That is not my intent. I just like to talk about these things.
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Not at all! You hit on a great point – and something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately – heck, I even said it a few posts ago. It’s all about the productivity. If the workflow is conducive to creating, get to creating. I think I’ve got my setup in a good spot right now, so it’s timer to maximize the output for a while. Tonight, I jammed with just a Benjolin through some FX and came up with something that really blew my mind. I realized that I “have everything I need” already. I appreciate the advice (though I still want to hear what you have to say about the six)!
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Hello, I still do not fully understand how the Six “replaces” AH. I mean they are completely different boxes for different purposes. The Six is a super clean analogue mixer with compression and EQ, but without audio interface, whereas the AH is basically a distortion box with a single stereo input and a class-compliant audio interface. So I simply think it is somewhat misleading to claim that the one can replace the other in terms of their function in a setup.
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It’s not an objective truth. The SiX replaces the Heat for me, because I no longer need what the Heat does, but I need what the SiX can do. And I can’t afford both.
So I’m not stating as a fact that the one replaces the other. I’m saying that given what I feel that I need most right now, the SiX is more right for me and to fund it, I have to give something up. The Heat was it.
So it’s just my personal experience.
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Congrats on the SSL! Looks like a stunning bit of kit. Even if your music takes a totally different direction, say for some strange reason you forsake synths and go acoustic only, whatever, the 6 will serve you well.
Often I wonder what’s more important: quality of the sound source, or treatment (effects, summing etc). There’s no clear answer, but I’m more with the latter: better to have an average synth going through quality fx, compression and AD conversion, than top end sound sources going through budget eq and conversion.
Listening again to your music on Soundcloud (some really nice work,), I’d say the SSL will make a big difference and reckon you’ll get more dimension and depth to your mixes - all the more since your music is on the minimalist side with subtle details. A quality overdrive / distortion for the OB6, or as fx send / rtrn could replace the AH for such - and then some.
I’d really like to hear just a drum machine going through the 6 with the preamps driven from subtle to hard. Your Tanzmaus for example 
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Thanks for listening, I really appreciate it yeah, you know, that’s exactly what sold me on it once I tried it in the store. Not only did it bring summing, mixing and compression, but it also opened up the music in ways I wasn’t expecting, leaving me to cut out certain parts since they weren’t needed anymore. Grinds, noises, lots of that stuff, the atmospherics quite sufficient on their own. Just summing up things between drums and bass on 1 and 2, the song itself on 3 and 4 and ambience on 5 and 6, created another depth to the field.
I even found another scenario today, where the Prophet 12 with its two separate outs creates an even wider stereo field (it’s pretty big on its own), as you can split up a Prophet patch into the mixer and work the parts separately, essentially making the SiX part of a patch’s design as you tweak it.
Funny you should mention the Tanzmaus, I’m driving a few of the Tanzmaus loops only now through the SiX to better understand how the compressors work. Let’s just say they work great
I’ll post something when I have it. Might take awhile, just messing around now to understand it better.
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Prophet 12, not OB6, ok I see the attraction of stereo distortion / overdrive for that.
Use the individual outs!
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Humm … that would be something, wouldn’t it? Build a loop in the Maus. Run it through the SSL through its outputs, as you say. Record it into the Blackbox. That’d be MASSIVE.
I shall have to try this, too.
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Okay, so here’s a little something. Posted this in the SSL SiX thread as well and will post it in the Blackbox thread, too. Sorry for the spamming, if you’re bothered by it.
So it’s an A / B thing, just to give an idea of what I’m doing with it now. Perhaps it’s useful for someone else, too. Not exactly sure what I’m doing yet, so I don’t know if this is relevant to you all, but here goes:
What you’re hearing here is a recording from the Blackbox, using its individual outs into the SSL SiX.
BlackBox One Left - a loop from the Tanzmaus, through EQ and compression on the SSL, pumped slightly on the SSL for overdrive.
BlackBox One Right - the bass and cymbal, through EQ and compression on the SSL.
Blackbox Two Left And Right - the actual lead you’re hearing, the bleeps and bloops.
As the track begins, the SSL SiX is active with EQ and compression, on channel 1 and 2, as well as some panning to add to the stereo field. Channel 3 and 4 has slight panning and some trim, but not much.
Everything goes through the SSL SiX Bus Compressor in the end, and the master’s on a fairly normal level, not pumping it into red.
At the end of the track, I turn the SSL SiX features off, one by one. Since the track’s adapted to run through the SSL SiX, I’m not sure the comparison makes any sense since it’s obviously a disaster once the SSL goes off. So not sure how relevant the comparison is, other than showing how much you can do with a track by just running it through the SSL.
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I’m sure you’ll find your TM suddenly becomes a lot larger!
Not wanting to hijack your post with shameless self-promotion, but talking about using TM’s individual outs, I posted three tracks yesterday each with 5 outs from the Tanzmaus (x3 mono x 1 stereo)+ perc from OT cue going into a boss mixer, medium driven preamps and into Klark Teknik comp. Taken from live set practice so some levels are a bit off from previous tracks before I manage to tame them!
Anyways, do post some snippets of Tanzmaus on all 6 channels!
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