The row of I/O across the top of the board necessitates visible vertical cabling but also helps identify basic I/O and preamp status. Although people may have varied opinions about an SSL made in China, my general impression is of a well-built unit that’s ready to go to work anywhere, anytime. The SiX’s THD and signal-to-noise specs put it in the upper echelons of audio performance. The dark grey colour and wedge shape certainly won’t give owners or clients that ‘big studio’ feeling, but it’s a tidy and sensible form factor for the applications it’s set up to do. The master section is surprisingly rich in resources and, amongst other things, is an extremely capable monitor controller and signal routing system.Īt just under 27cm wide and 30cm deep, and weighing in at a hefty 3.5kg, the SiX is a petite but solid unit with a lot going on in a small space – although it’s easy to ‘read’ after working with it for a little while. The more you look the more you find, and these are pro-level features you wouldn’t expect to see on something this size. A quick scan around the board reveals some pleasant surprises such as PFL buttons on the main channels, an Alt monitoring chain, and a secondary ‘B’ bus with independent volume control. Larger square buttons take care of channel mutes, master dim and cut, while in the EQ and master sections the smaller buttons are pretty tightly packed. ![]() The six main input channels (two mono, two stereo) all have informative LED metering, and small LED meters help gauge the operation of the compressors on the input channels and on the master bus. ![]() Small pots for EQ, panning and input gain make accurate recalls problematic, but otherwise there was little to complain about with the general layout. A bit of knob twiddling, fader throwing and button pushing quickly confirmed a nice build quality with all controls feeling solid under the fingers and the full 100mm throw on the faders being a reassuringly ‘pro’ feature. For starters, it fitted perfectly on the flat space in front of the patchbay of my somewhat larger console. POCKET ROCKET SOCKETSįirst impressions are always telling, and I found myself immediately warming to the SiX despite its diminutive size and Sunday pub aesthetics. The SSL SiX ‘mini-mixer’ (I have to call it that because it’s too petite to refer to even as a ‘mixer’) is an interesting offering that has been brought to market below the magical US$2000 mark, and aims to give the masses a taste of big-time SSL magic. With the rise and rise of the DAW-based home studio and the drop in recording budgets across the industry, SSL have responded by establishing a second manufacturing base in China, allowing them to bring a new suite of budget-conscious designs to market. For the budget-conscious, the X-Desk and Sigma models offered stripped back feature sets with high-calibre back-end summing. With manufacturing based in sunny Oxfordshire, England, the price of entry was never cheap, but over the years the company has done its best to cater for well-heeled owner/operators with the streamlined yet powerful Matrix line. ![]() If you’re listening to current commercial Hip Hop, RnB, Rap or Pop, there’s a good chance you’re listening to the sound of an SSL console. The SSL sound was, and to a large degree still is, the sound of big-time hit records across the world. For most professional engineers the name ‘SSL’ (Solid State Logic) conjures up a heady blend of sonic excellence and commercial success, based on their legendary large-format consoles.
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