Small is beautiful...The SiX may be small, but it is very serious. What follows are the key elements that make it a professional product for the highest quality audio applications.Fully balanced inputs and outputs All, and we mean ALL of SiX's inputs and outputs are fully balanced (except the Phones output, of course!). This means professional equipment with balanced connections can be properly interfaced allowing longer cable lengths without noise/hum pick-up penalties and the best signal to noise performance from the whole signal chain.Short is beautiful...To provide the purest audio signal paths, SiX has several features not normally found on small footprint mixing consoles e.g. the channel processing is switched, allowing it to be removed from the signal path if it's not being used. Also, the insert sends are always active, meaning that the purest path from Mic Pre to DAW is achieved by using the Insert Send as a direct channel output, with the Dynamics and EQ switched out of circuit. This is one example of how SiX's versatile signal flow can be used. It's definitely worth taking some time to understand the SiX block diagram and reading the examples later in this manual. We hope you'll really unlock the versatility of the console when discovering the many signal paths that are available and the multiple ways they can be used.Meter scales and responseThe upper LED meter points on SiX's main meters have been carefully chosen. The console is designed with a huge +26dBu headroom and the meters have defined segments for +24dBu and +18dBu, this is to match the two most common 0dB Full Scale (dBFS) alignment standards, i.e. European/EBU at 0dBFS=+18dBu and the US/SMPTE standard at 0dBFS=+24dBu. Ensuring optimum performance for convertors and ensuring proper gain structure throughout the signal chain. The meters in SiX have been designed with a fast 'peak' response (rise time to 60% Full Scale Deflection approx 1ms @ 1kHz) and a slower release to meter peaks while still showing useful signal levels.Power and power managementYou will have noticed that SiX is powered by an external power supply. This may not be that convenient, but it significantly helps the design and performance of SiX. It moves the electrically noisy power supply away from the SuperAnalogue circuits that live inside SiX. This allows us to design the internal electronics to have a bandwidth as wide as feasible and thus deliver the great phase and transient response SSL large format console users have come to expect in a very small footprint package. Another thoughtful design feature is how the power rails are gently ramped on power-up to avoid thumps on all outputs. wo wide gain range stereo line inputs. Individually switchable phantom power on each Mic Input. Line level input with true HiZ (1M) impedance switch for passive coil inputs (e.g. guitar pickups). Two recording channels with fully balanced inserts, simple SSL EQ and Dynamics and true bypass processing switching. Accurate, fast peak response LED meters. Mixing versatility 12 channel stereo summing Probably more studio grade analogue summing per square inch than any other console. Main bus with fully balanced insert and simplified SSL Bus Compressor. 100mm studio grade long throw faders, unique in this form factor. Application flexibility A 'proper' foldback section with two stereo send/cue busses with talkback, local monitoring plus 2 stereo cue feeds. Versatile B-Bus/Mute switching provide record and mix busses for simple overdubs. Useful, flexible signal routing and summing. Versatile 'summing' monitor section with two external source selectors. 'Listen mic compressor' with flexible routing for studio talkback or more creative applications.
