Solid State Logic BiG SiX Professional Desktop Summing Mixer

This is a fantastic, top-of-the-line quality analog mixer with a ton of built-in features. The size, number of I/O channels, and connectivity could be perfect for some people's studios, while falling short for other people's needs. That's the very first decision a potential buyer needs to make: Does it have enough channels and preamps for your intended purpose? In my case, I'm usually only recording two or three microphones at once and overdubbing other parts later. I have a sampler and a few synths, plus a bunch of effect pedals. The BIG SIX is enough to keep all of that plugged in and ready to go for me. In the most basic terms, you get this: 4 Mono channels with SuperAnalogue mic preamps and inserts. 4 Stereo line level channels. 2 Stereo external inputs That accounts for 16 channels on the built-in audio interface from your DAW. When recording to your DAW, Bus B accounts for channels 13/14 and the Main Stereo Bus sends on channels 15/16. For my small project studio, the convenience of the built-in audio interface is absolutely key. Being able to go from a recording desk to a mixdown/summing desk with just the press of a few buttons is very convenient. The Big Six replaced the last remaining pieces of rack gear in my studio, specifically my audio interface and a patch bay (using a lot fewer cables too). There are two stereo CUEs (Sends) where a lot of other mixers give you mono sends instead. The Monitor section has plenty of options if you are using these as cues for recording. If you want to use them as effects sends and print to your DAW, you'll need to figure out where to return them, probably using one of the stereo channels such as 9/10 or 11/12. You get 3 Band EQ on each channel, and while it is pretty basic (no sweepable Mid frequency is my main complaint), it sounds good enough to not worry about messing anything up if you need to use it while tracking. When mixing, I take the EQ out of the path and use plug-ins in my DAW that are much more precise. The first four channels have a very basic (one knob) compressor that has improved bass handling over the original one on the smaller SIX mixer. The Main Stereo Bus gets inserts as well for external effects, plus it has the G-Series Bus Compressor. You get three controls over the bus compressor – Threshold, Make Up Gain, and a switch for Auto Release. So obviously it is a very simplified version of SSL's renowned bus compression, but it can still sound quite good. Specifically, look up some video tutorials on how to do parallel compression on the BIG SIX using the Stereo Cues. The overall audio quality is very clean with lots of headroom. This is not the mixer to buy if you want to push preamps into overdrive for added color. I get that color from DAW plug-ins and effects pedals instead. As far as expansion goes, the BIG SIX is entirely focused on analog with a stereo connection on the back labeled "Sum IP to Main". This lets you bring in another mix from some external gear and add it to the Main Stereo Bus. Some users might have preferred extra digital I/O on this desk, such as an ADAT input. Of course that would have increased the cost, and I really think the BIG SIX was intended to be a self-contained, easy solution for small project studios to get high quality audio in and out of a computer. And it excels at that. Regarding alternatives, there are just a few choices: The Tascam Model 16 / 24 series, and the Soundcraft Signature 12 /22 MTK series. They are fine products, but with fewer analog routing options and they rely heavily on the built-in digital effects. It's important to read the manual and make sure you understand what you are getting. Case in point would be, find out where in the analog path the A/D converter picks up the signal to send to your DAW. On the BIG SIX you can change that with the press of a button (USB Out Post Fader).