Very funky. I like it. Are all those drums from the Tanzmaus?
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Another one. Just a patch from the Prophet 12 this time, though its layers split and routed through four SiX channels for extra dimension. First sixteen bars are through the SiX, second sixteen bars are clean from the Prophet, no SSL involved at all.
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What’s the SSL doing here? Eq and / or compression?
Thanks! No, drums also from OT and on this one also from the Nord G2.
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EQ and compression on the top layer, just trimming on the second. All goes through the bus compressor. The layers are also on separate channels, widening the stereo field and balancing more against each other.
I’m sure this could be done to greater effect, but the tools are there to pimp up a patch this way. Not a whole lot of synths allow four outs from one patch. But the Prophet 12 does 
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In general, just line recording a synth through the SiX probably won’t be that useful if you can’t design the patch around the fact that you can split it up like this. For flavour in patch design, the Heat is superior here.
Cool. Listening on headphones, there’s a lot more weight with the SSL, was wandering if this is compression just beefing up the bottom end, or whether its more low boost with eq. The widening is subtle.
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Yeah, the Prophet’s pretty good as is when it comes to stereo, I agree. There’s the combination of eq, compression and bus that all add to the weight. On their own, they’re still powerful but how it all blends together is where the real difference is.
This test is also with a Prophet 12 patch, but this time I deliberately designed the patch for the purpose of applying the second layer throug the EQ and compression of the SSL SiX, since it’s in the lower end and as such, I wanted more presence from it.
First sixteen bars is from the SSL SiX recording, the second sixteen bars are the exact same patch with the exact same sequence, but the SSL SiX now turned off.
Enough with the A / B-testing. Here’s an actual track through the SSL SiX, just as is.
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Still satisfyied with the SiX ? I listened you A/B carefully. The B part is so flat and harsh after the A part 
I’m thinking of grab a SiX to process loop from my DT and sample back in. Is that possible ?
Yep, fully possible. The SiX isn’t so much a matter of me being satisfied with it, as that it’s become a natural part of my workflow now. It’s there, I do nothing without it.
My A / B tests really weren’t any good. Lots of user error there. I’m just starting to learn its character now and it can really open the mix up, and bring out nuances that just weren’t there before.
As for resampling, yes, fully possible. It monitors both stereo and mono out, and I would imagine that for this purpose, you’d benefit from the EQ and compression to gain the most out of your drums. It sounds fantastic in mono as well.
I should add, however, that for electronic music only, the SiX can be overkill if you don’t go all in. Me, I had no eq, no compression, no summing, no bus compression, no monitoring, so essentially, it does a lot of things for me through all the six inputs.
But if you’d get it only for the eq and compression, which I’ve noticed that some consider here and there, it’s overkill. It does those things extremely well, but they’re limited in what you can achieve and you got very little control of the SSL’s opinion on what EQ and compression should be.
Essentially, it’s the centerpiece of my work now but if it hadn’t been, I’d look elsewhere for options.
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Thanks for all theses informations.
Actually, I only use the DT and it’s enought for making beats. What I learned recently is processing the drum loop can transform a boring beat in a punchy beat interresting.
I use Vst plug to process drum but I’m looking for something more hardware.
Thanks I will think again and look for alternatives.
Yeah, for that purpose, as lovely as the SSL is, it’s too much. I mean, given unlimited funds, anything that brings out the sound in your head is worth it. But a stereo processor is probably more up your lane then, of which SSL happens to make a quite lovely one, as well way more expensive than the SiX, though.
It’s worth remembering that resampling into the Digitakt does transform the signal to mono, and while Elektron’s take on mono is quite lovely, you wanna watch your mix before you do that, or a lot of your mojo gets lost in the translation. However, I find that drum loops can work quite well in mono and really bring out a more compact and funky sound. Right now, I’m routing my sampled Tanzmaus loops through the SSL SiX left one, which has an EQ and a compressor, and it really brings out the punch and glues it together, mono style. Throw in a bass on the right one, and you got the two working together as your foundation for rhythm and bass. The remaining stereo pairs, I use to sum up ambience, leads and chords. The headrom you get in this thing opens up a tremendous amount of space to get the mix right.
yep look like overkill, but I sold many gears I don’t use anymore and I have a budget of aproximatly 1000€ to add a processor to my DT.
My plan was to set the DT in stereo in the 2 channels and panning in the DT differents tracks to apply different EQ and comp and then sum in mono to resample back.
I see SSL made an audio interface too, with a free drumstrip licence. Maybe it’s a better and cheaper option to get the SSL sound.
Yes, but you should be aware that the SSL sound is in itself not much of a thing - which is part of the point. It’s very clean and precise, so it’s there to bring out what’s great in yours, not add any color of its own. So it’s the Anti-Heat in that respect. The Heat, even when just in Clean Boost mode, is all over the mix with its color.
But a clean and perfect recording is of course a sound of its own, given that there’s much gear out there that applies color. If you don’t mind the mono vibe, there’s always the Sherman Filterbank which goes from subtle to outrageous wild. I had one of those for awhile, and in hindsight, I wish I would’ve kept it, sold the Heat and fired it up with an SSL SiX to boost. Again, given that funds were unlimited
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@circuitghost - I keep coming back to this thread, as it’s full of good, honest information. Can you expand on this comment a little? Is your meaning that the SiX is the hub for a minimal setup? Or is it more that, in order to take advantage of the SiX’s prowess you should already have X-compressor, Y-EQ, Z-filter, etc. etc.? I keep trying to convince myself that the SiX would really tie my setup together, and then I read your posts and say “Hmm, it’s probably overkill for me.” That being said, I don’t have a full-feature mixer, though I do have some sound processing (Analog Heat, 2x 500-series mic pres). I feel like the potential workflow benefits of the SiX could really free up time to just powering on and getting to work, which is definitely not a small thing. My current setup is almost that, but, with no mixer, it’s either plugging and routing things into the octatrack, or sampling them in and working inside the OT.
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Well, I mean, to each his own when it comes to what you need or not. But I’d say that for a small set-up where there’s a benefit to sum different instruments together, even if they’re just line input stuff like synths, samplers and their like, the SSL brings a lot to the table especially if you don’t have compressors and stuff before. Which I did not have. I was literally bare.
I use it to route the six (three stereo) outputs of my Blackbox into the SSL, usually allocating drums and bass on the first two channels since they have both EQ and compression and benefit most from it. Three-four is mostly leads, pads or similar and five-six is for ambience and other oddities. There’s not a whole lot going on there, expect for increased gain.
However, the SiX has an incredible amount of headroom, so you’re really widening the field and the dynamics by spreading your stuff out like this, so it’s not just summing but also a way to push your mix. It just grows when you allocate it over the channels. Then, all six of them go through the bus compressor, and that sucker really goes to eleven if you cram it up.
So I mean, just apply any instruments you got, spread out over six inputs, two of them with EQ and compression, and you got your use case there. If you got a bare desk, the SiX brings to you top grade EQ, compression and bus compression, with summing and gain to boost. It has multiple monitor outs and a separate master output for straight up recording, as well as aux sends and returns. Haven’t even tried those yet. I’d imagine my Polymoon might sound just fantastic on a mix through the SSL.
One should be very aware that all these tweaks, though, are very much what SSL thinks an EQ and compressor should be. It’s a classic, polished and clear sound. It’s not kind to your music if the source material struggles, nor does it instill any additional character to it. I have a few loops going from my Prophet 12 module now, and like most of Sequential’s synths, the envelopes can sometimes be so snappy, they cut through in the wrong way. That’s the kind of shit that gets even worse when you run it through something like the SiX. But for a good reason. It shouldn’t be there in the first place. I’ve run some of my older tracks through it as well and it becomes clear how overloaded they are with ambience, noise and fx. So it’s a truth sayer in that aspect, too.
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speaking of SiX and overkill, this cracked me up:
not to pick on Richard. he’s got a lot of nice gear. just found it funny a situation where a $200 mixer would do, he’s got a $1600 one 
Thanks a ton - as usual, that does really help. From all you describe, it does seem like the SiX is for me, just not yet. I should probably spend some time this year practicing and jamming while thinking about what may (or may not) be missing when it comes to workflow, processing, routing, etc. I’m not put off by your comments about the limitations of the onboard EQ’s and compressors. At this stage, I think SSL probably knows better, for lack of a better term.
That’s kinda where I am right now, but again, I think I should spend more time working with what I have to determine the best path forward. Plus, I’m about to disappear down a model:cycles sized hole for probably a month, so no time to worry about a mixer, nice as it is. 
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Haha that’s a good reason as any to not gun for new gear
I was on the Heat since its launch. In time, I came to use it primarily for its EQ and pseudo-compression features, with the filter acting as sort of a support for that. It’s not bad at those things. But the color was always there, and also, I really started to ache for proper summing.
As I looked into options, I ended up with the SiX. It did all of the things I wanted, in exactly the way I wanted. Investment required me to sell some stuff, Heat included, but it has become center to my rig.
But I guess you could say it took me two or three years to find that out.
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