SSL SiX EXT 1 and EXT 2 Do Not Sum to the Foldback Outputs

[@WassupFred]

Man just getting this , this is gona be fun lol.. Thanks so much for your videos!! Cheers.

[@Dylanklinemusic]

In the next version of the SSL SiX manual, I wouldn’t be surprised if a link to this video is provided in lieu of additional text clarification! Great video!

[@JeffRolka]

Hey Dylan! Thank you so much for that! Seriously, I spent so much time trying to get the EXT 1 or 2 inputs to sum to the foldbacks. In the end, on the customer service ticket with SSL, the rep just said, 'Well, the SiX can do a lot, but it can't do everything!' Fair enough. Thank you! Jeff

[@frenchfry2895]

This guy is literally the coolest man I know.

[@JeffRolka]

Thank you so much!! I do what I can! Thanks for watching! Jeff

[@Dylanklinemusic]

Agreed, Jeff is awesome!

[@oscarsalinas3430]

Great Work! Warm up to your baritone warm up vocals and happened to be running into this problem with the SIX, this helps a ton! Thank you!

[@JeffRolka]

I am so glad to help. I hope I saved you a few hours/days of frustration! Jeff

[@oscarsalinas3430]

Definitely did!

[@theebob2008]

YES! This was my confusion too. External 1 & 2 cannot be used as click tracks, which is super annoying. Alternatively, what you could do is put the click tracks through the Alt Inputs on CUE 1. Or, you could put the click track through one of the Stereo channels.

[@JeffRolka]

Yup. Especially confusing as in one of SSL's demo videos they show the presenter doing exactly that - using an EXT input to send a click track out through the Foldbacks. I hope this saved you a little time and frustration. Best, Jeff

[@BB-Rareburto]

Another confusing issue with the SSL Six is Alt2 line input. The diagram is clear that Alt1 goes to Que1 only (does not go to Que2). But it is not clear where Alt2 goes. But if you look at the appendix A, for pinouts, they do not call it Alt2. They call it "Channel 2 Alt Input", which is actually a less misleading name than the abbreviation I use, Alt2. Anyway, Alt2 also goes to Que1 only (does not go to Que2). The factory confirmed this.

[@BB-Rareburto]

Yes the SSL video basically made an error by saying a click track is a use of External inputs. Which as you say is not something anybody would want to do. Thanks for letting us know. At least the block diagram is correct. It shows a switch that can be either Ext1 or Que1 but not both. Ideally they would’ve put a summation instead of a switch at that point. The manual, in Application Example #1, they write "DAW playback is sent into the Stereo Channel, and then to the artists using the Stereo Cue 1 control. If useful, two separate DAW feeds can be used into the two Stereo Channels allowing for separate click-track and playback level controls to the artist's cue feed." So the video is misleading. But at least the manual is correct.

[@doginconfusion]

Hi there! Just got my SSL six and the first thing I try is this :PP Get a click track through EXT1 and have it output from foldback 1 along with monitoring my voice coming from analog input 1. and yes I got the cancellation issue which was super frustrating. You saved me some time there. So at the moment I am using one of the stereo inputs to feed the click track on the foldback. It's kind of a shame that you have to sacrifice an input. I am wondering what other way there is that I might be missing :/ Thanks for the video. Cheers!

[@JeffRolka]

I am glad that I saved you some time! It's a bummer that it works that way. As far as I know, doing what you've already done is the best option. That was what SSL told me, and though I wish there were some other way, especially on a unit that only has six inputs, I think that's it. In terms of other ways, if you have the DB-25 input cable, you could try coming in on one of the insert returns or alt inputs, but those will pass through the stereo bus outputs, so anything coming in that way goes out the stereo bus. For a practice setup it could work, but if you're using the click to record to a DAW, where the DAW is connected to the main outs, it's useless. Best, Jeff

[@stuartbond3321]

Looking forward to this!

[@JeffRolka]

Awesome! I do enjoy doing the tech videos! I suspect that having done a few longer more over-arching videos on the SiX that I'll now be able to do more of these shorter quick hit topics on the device. Thanks! Jeff

[@mmmmmmyeeeaaahhh3880]

Hopefully this doesn't create any confusion but I have an SSL Six and I'm questioning a bit of what's being said here but I could be looking at this wrong. On my Six, I send stereo cue 1 out to my neve headphone amplifier. My turntable mixer's stereo outputs are sent into the SSL Six via the Ext 1 (stereo) When I go into Foldback 1 and click EXT 1, I can hear my turntable's record playing perfectly fine out the headphone amp. Isn't that what's being said isn't possible in this video?

[@JeffRolka]

Close, but not quite. Thanks for your comment! Let's say you had an additional turntable coming in on channels 5/6, just for the sake of argument. If you routed that out Cue 1, you would not be able to hear both turntables on your headphone amplifier. When you went to the foldback section and depressed EXT 1 to hear that turntable, it would cut off the signal from channels 5/6 going out Cue 1. Conversely, you would not be able to monitor the turntable coming in on EXT 1 out of the foldback section once you un-clicked it's selection there in order to hear the other turntable, going out the foldback section on Cue 1. The signal coming from channels 5/6, going out Cue 1 and the signals coming from EXT 1, also going out Cue 1 via the Foldback section, cannot be heard on your headphone amp simultaneously. In other words, they don't sum. Great question! Thank you for watching! Jeff

[@mmmmmmyeeeaaahhh3880]

@@JeffRolka Ouch! Got it! Thanks for your response Jeff. I thought I might have been overlooking something that was being said. And with that said, I've learned something new! You'd think that SSL would have thought this out prior cause obviously it would be nice to sum two simultaneous signals to the foldback section. Other than that, still a huge fan of my SSL Six!

[@JeffRolka]

You're welcome! I'm glad that this explained it! I think I mentioned it in the video, but I struggled to get my head around this for about 36 hours because SSL (link in the video) has a demo video on the SiX where they use a click track through the EXT inputs routed out the Foldback section. After going through the manual and emailing customer service at SSL for said 36 hours they finally came back with, 'Yeah, the device does have it's limitations and it doesn't do that.' Nice. I'm with you, I'd love to be able to bring something in via the EXT inputs and have it go out the Foldbacks summed with other sources on the channels, but as SSL says, the device has its limitations. I'm still keeping mine too, though! :-) Thanks for writing in!!! Great comment! Jeff

[@WesWookBeats]

How are you engaging the talk input mic?

[@JeffRolka]

I'm a bit confused, as I'm not using the talkback mic channel in this video. When I do use it, I primarily use it as a third mic pre by routing the foldback output into either channel 3/4 or 5/6. I hope that helps! Jeff

[@WesWookBeats]

@@JeffRolka thanks for the response. You understood what I was asking, I didn't realize the talk input wasn't normalled. Thanks again for the help.