Solid State Logic six compact mixer

The Lounge Other Gear
#422

Around 15 months with mine and still love it.

I have used an old 10 channel Yamaha mixer and an A&H Zed14 prior and the SiX is noticeably better sounding to me. More transparent and open sounding, better pres and eqs with better headroom. It has been some years but I used the Zed14 a lot and think it sounds fantastic. The eqs sound solid and it stays clean when pushed. It’s huge compared to the Six though, and the monitoring isn’t nearly as flexible.

I compared Ableton’s glue compressor with the same settings as the g-bus comp on Six and the SiX comp sounds much better to me. I haven’t messed with a ton of other software compressors, but I run all my mixes through the Six g-bus comp and the difference is noticeable to me.

I wanted a clean mixer I wouldn’t mind having my instruments pass through before going into my Babyface Pro interface, and the SiX is perfect for me. It’s clean as can be until you start pushing the comps and eqs, then imparts a hint of warmth. I don’t see myself needing another mixer ever again.

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#423

can anyone compare the Six g bus compressor with a plugin?

I do like my UAD ssl bus comp and also the Shadow Hills from Pugin Alliance (the newer red one). But I feel compressing with software on a masterbus sounds pumpy or less punchy with more then 1 db of gain reduction. But when I see demos of hardware compressores on youtube, 2 or 3 db gain reduction on a masterbus still sounds great and transparent. I also noticed it on the OTO Boum … 2, 3 db gain reduction? No worris.

So how good is the masterbus compressor on the Six? From the specs it looks great: 30ms attack, 100ms release, ratio 4:1, hipass 50hz.

Did anyone compared it to plugins?

#424

Fellow SiX:ers,

I was over at a mate’s the other day and he’s all Elektron. We made a little set together and he was like “Let’s record this into Overbridge.” And I was like, “Pfft. Your momma.”

But then his eight Digitakt channels and his four Digitone channels all ended up like separate stems just like that, and then he slammed them into his daw for mixing and mastering only, and it sounded pretty damn good and was pretty smooth, I have to admit.

Anyone here who’s totally into Elektron and Overbridge? If so, what do you use the SiX for? And would you consider using it for mastering and summing, even with the power of Overbridge at your hands?

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#425

If analog summing is a process you subscribe to, is there really any question? Because if you don’t see or hear the value in it, then surely the Overbridge route is a no-brainer.

Cheers!

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#426

I see value in both, so I’m curious to explore options.

The SiX has six inputs with some control, twelve if you count the ones that have no control. EQ and compression are limited though sends are fairly generous with the SiX, at least for my purposes. The output quality is outstanding and unmatched in any context I’ve been in, though I’ve not been in many. I don’t buy at all the argument that the SiX is transparent with no character. It has plenty of character.

Overbridge, however, gives me twelve stereo channels if I’m on a Digitakt and Digitone, plus anything else I sum through the Digis as well, recorded perfectly in sync, ready to drop into a digital environment for mixing and mastering. And the raw Elektron output is pretty good as is.

I’m curious to hear if anyone’s tried both options for that particular purpose, and if the unique offering of the SiX matters less once you actually get down to do the work.

I use my SiX for everything, but would love to hear from experienced folks how much the difference matters in a context described above.

#427

Though arguably, if the SiX had more inputs with the existing EQ and compressor, only multiplied over a few more channels, I wouldn’t even ask this question. I’ve even done stereo mixing only on the SiX just to get that vibe into the tracks.

So I guess there’s that, too.

#428

Mate, you’re all over the place lately… everything ok?

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#429

I really just find the six brings me ‘out of the box’ it’s very tactile. I use overbridge more for sound design (since my physical Analog Four device is in the rack)

I am using the bus ‘b’ function to have a secondary setup with the circuit tracks as the central device and route my elektrons into it’s inputs for ducking etc. the six is very flexible.

I also use the return channels as alternative inputs for other mono synths - able to switch at the press of a button

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#430

Yep, thanks for asking :slight_smile: I’m trying out a new thing (club versions of my latest EP:s, for upcoming gigs) and doing the exploring part of it to get it right. So far, I’ve not acquired new gear but tried a few kits along the way and learned to better use what I already have as a result.

I don’t produce music for club contexts normally (or at all) so this is new territory for me, and my tracks aren’t club friendly to begin with, so just to get them to work for the purpose, is a creative challenge as well. I’m thoroughly enjoying it though.

But yeah, I appreciate you asking :slight_smile:

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#431

FWIW I find overbridge to be not useful for digitone. 4 tracks playing at once normally results in voice stealing to some degree, so the output of each track has lots of pops and drop outs. I record each track through my Six or OB separately.

Generally you’re not getting the six for it’s ITB convenience :slight_smile:

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#432

Haha for sure :blush: yeah, I don’t think OB recording is for me, having done some more research today now.

Considering how many routing options the SiX have, I’m sure it’ll work for me. It has worked for me in every context, commercial or private, since I got it so if I’ve managed without digital multi-tracking so far, I’ll just stick to it.

But these explorations do serve to confirm you’re on to something, when you come out somewhat wiser but still return home.

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#433

Minor correction here: the tracks from the DT output to mono in Overbridge (except for the master and FX ofc). Can’t speak for the Digitone but I’d be those are stereo

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#434

Yeah, I’m hearing there’s variations of hassle to just get the recorded tracks panned and summed to an equal starting point from the box they came from.

I just won’t bother with that. I’m SiX all in.

#435

Haha, no worries, it’s been an entertaining read seeing you vacillate with complete conviction from SP16 to Blackbox to Analog Rytn to SP16 to Blackbox to Overbridge to SSL Six to… haha, you know what I mean.

I think we all appreciate your detailed comments, answers and use case examples on these though, but it is starting to feel a bit Ross and Rachel, in that if you did find your perfect bit of kit we’d be left with some kind of circuitghost Joey spin-off, and nobody wants that. Continue…

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#436

Which is why I’m keeping quiet on my latest rig now :blush: don’t wanna wear you down.

Though at heart, the Blackbox remains and is essential, as is the Prophet 12. It’s the newly added club part that’s sent me spinning.

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#437

Honestly, I’ve found it fascinating and instructive to hear you talk through each generation.

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#438

Me too!

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#439

Thank you @Dymaxion @brucegill :pray:

Honestly, I don’t think I’m being more explorative than most on this forum. But being a writer by profession, I like to frame things in words and journal stuff as I go along, which is helpful for insights and learning. So my character is more how I like to express things, less about what I’m expressing - in this context, at least :blush:

I’ve found that this kind of exposure really helps you grow as a person, as long as you’re ready to handle all the opinions that’ll bounce back as a result.

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#440

I’m sure there’s a best practice for this and that vets around here already know the answer, but I have to ask - how do you approach mixing in general and the SiX in particular, when you’re still writing your song?

I’m in the middle of something and the track’s not done but I know where it’s going now, and I’m finding that to get that exact sound I’m looking for, the SiX is essential. Not just for trimming something that already works, but to actually get it just where it should be.

However, mixing and tweaking EQ, compression and stuff like this while I’m still writing the song, I’ve found that it generally causes an imbalance in how I work on the tracks from the source - in this case, a 1010 Blackbox. So if I just want to monitor the track separately for inspiration or a listen through, it sounds pretty bad. Plug it into the SiX, it sounds perfect.

I usually don’t do it like this, I usually make sure the track sounds as good as can be from the source (say the Blackbox) and then I refine it in the SiX. But in this case, I find that it’s not working for me, because I know just where the kick should be, how I should apply the compression and what effect I’m after, so it makes no sense to even try to get close to that within the Blackbox (cause it can’t be done).

So how would you or do you approach this? You know the specific voice you’re after, can’t be reached without the eq, summing and compression applied from whatever output you’re running your music through. But you also know, if you write a track with the console such an active part of the process, whatever goes on in the source material is very unbalanced when played on its own.

Is there a best practice here, am I approaching this “wrong”, or is it just sometimes you do this, sometimes you do that?

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#441

Just do what works best for you. If it sounds good, do it. If it helps your process, do it. I don’t see any rules you are breaking here, although, I don’t like rules that much anyway. Whatever gets you to a final result you are happy with, that is the most important thing. And don’t forget, have some fun along the way.

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