Solid State Logic SiX Review

Solid State Logic is, of course, synonymous with large format studio desks of the ‘80s and ‘90s. It was estimated that during those two decades, more hit records were recorded through SSL consoles than all other studio desks combined – however, with the last 20 years seeing a sharp move from large console-based studios to ‘in the box’ workflows, how relevant is a small analogue board from SSL in today’s modern digital and hybrid studio?

The SiX is one of a very cool batch of recently released analogue SSL products aimed at the home and hybrid studio market, along with Fusion and the remarkably good value for money SSL2 and 2+ desktop interfaces. Like the rest of the pack, SiX is a very aesthetically pleasing bit of kit and arrives in packaging which is more reminiscent of an Apple product in its presentation.

The first thing that strikes me is how heavy this desk is; its substantial weight suggests a serious steel frame, even though the cheeks are clearly plastic. The next thing I notice is the 100mm faders – again, not something you’d expect on a small desk. The one thing you won’t find on this desk, however, is a USB or thunderbolt port because there’s no computer interface on this board - so let’s address that for a moment.

I believe the thinking here is correct: if you’re looking to expand your setup with more serious tools like this SSL console then you already have the interface of your choice. In my case, it’s the UAD Apollo x8p, and I’m not likely to want to lose the the large channel count, onboard DSP, and fabulous plugins. I would, however, consider the addition of a couple of SSL Super- Analogue mic preamps together with access to SSL’s exceptionally good G-Bus compressor, albeit a simplified version.

All for not much more than the G-Bus comp would cost you in a 500 Series module! And talking of 500 Series modules, should you happen to have a rack with a couple of AP I550, Trident 80B, or even the amazing SSL 611EQ modules, you can make full use of the balanced inserts available via the rear panel D-Sub connectors on the SiX and engage: the insert button is right next to the 8 LED level meter on each of the Super-Analogue mic channels.

Suddenly those cats at SSL seem far more cool than crazy, right? Another thing which caught my eye - and is uncommon on a small desk - is individual phantom power buttons underneath each of the mic XLRs. It’s always niggled me that on many small desks, if you turn on phantom power for one mic channel, it’s on all of them, whether you need it or not. So far I’m impressed with this little board; it oozes build quality and thoughtful design, and I haven’t even turned it on yet.

I had to spend a little time making up some new cables even though both my monitors have balanced XLR ins, but because of the need to swap stuff over quickly I’d been using the XLR on one and phono on the other - all dependent on whether I’m using my old ‘cheesegrater’ USB interface, or Mac Book Pro Thunderbolt interface.

I was looking forward to playing back both older projects from my Mac Book via my trusty Focusrite unit and some of the same stuff I’d transferred over to my Mac Book and the Apollo interface: now I’d be able to make direct comparisons of the same projects using different plugins, and quickly switch between them on the same set of speakers without having to swap out any connectors.

Using Van Damme balanced studio grade cabling together with the SiX I suddenly felt like my little studio was taking a seriously professional turn. Having plugged everything in, I turned the SiX on. By way of a simple listening test I have a bunch of high definition audio tracks available for the very purpose of testing stuff out and making comparisons.

The interesting thing was that while inserting the SiX in the signal path between the Apollo and my monitors made no perceivable difference; the output from the Focusrite via the SiX to either set of speakers (I have ADAMs and Genelecs) actually sounded noticeable better. It just goes to show how important everything in your signal path is - including cabling.

What was also very noticeable was how utterly silent the SiX is, and how much headroom there is in this mixer. With lesser boards I would be way up towards clipping with my high definition files. Even returning on the stereo inputs with the trim driving the channel hard into the red (a catastrophe on most desks) actually sounded more like smooth saturation, and by no means unpleasant on the SiX.

The big question is what do you get for your investment? The SiX is so named for its six input channels that are assigned to faders: two mono and two stereo. There are actually a further three pairs of inputs available, giving a total of 12 (and the talkback mic input), but more about these options later. The two mono channels feature SSL’s Super-Analogue mic/ line preamps with individual phantom power, high pass and Hi-Z instrument instrument DI option.

SSL describes Super-Analogue as bringing large console sonics and processing into a very compact design. And they’re not wrong. At this point I could start quoting technical facts and figures showing how good these mic pres are, but to most musicians that doesn’t mean a lot so there’s a little test I do which came about from a project that myself and Headliner’s editor were working on a number of years back.

We were in a little studio which had a Soundcraft Spirit 24-channel desk in it, and the following test you could not do before being swamped with hiss and noise: put a microphone as far away as possible (which in my case is at the bottom of a staircase on the floor below me in the far corner of my house); put your headphones on; turn up the gain and see whether you can hear yourself breathing.

Not only could I hear my own breathing, but I could also hear a neighbor’s conversation down the street, and the sound of me tapping on my keyboard was uncomfortably loud. Quick tip: turn it down when the refuse collectors turn into the top of your road. These are exceptional mic pres.

Next to the gain pot there’s a one pot compressor which represents the threshold. The compression is gentle at 2:1 and the release time is fixed at around 300ms. The attack is programme-dependent but seems to be fairly quick at around 10-30ms. Makeup gain is automatic, and maintains the signal level through the mic pre.

I love this little comp; it’s very subtle, and it’s not until you switch it in and out that you can tell it’s working - beautifully transparent. This is perfect, gentle compression for recording as you want to reign in those peaks but at this stage don’t want to change the dynamic of the original performance.

Below the comp is a simple, effective EQ section - also with an in/bypass switch - with high and low shelving at 3.5kHz and 60Hz. A bell switch next to each pot changes the EQ to a cut or boost curve centred at 5kHz and 200Hz, respectively. This very musical EQ has its roots in the filter section of the SSL E-Series EQ; the two stereo channels feature a centred trim pot as opposed to the gain control, and at the top of each 100mm fader on all channels is the pan pot.

When it comes to routing there are a few options on the SiX. All six input channels feature a cue1 and cue2 stereo (aux) buss, all of which can be switched in or out. The two preamp channels’ cue busses also have a pan pot above them so you can send them where you want during recording or mixdown. On the mono channels’ cue1 there is another button marked ‘alt’ which when lit takes signal from the insert return D-Subs channels five and six, giving you that additional input pair (channels 11 and 12) that I mentioned earlier.

Also mentioned earlier, there are fully balanced inserts on the two Super- Analogue channels which send and return via the D-Sub rear connectors should you need to insert your SSL 611 500 Series EQ modules. Finally, at the bottom of each channel strip is a Mute BusB button which re-routes audio from the master bus to bus B; and below that is the PFL which routes audio to the monitor output section and monitor LED meters.