Five stages. Only one is irreversible — which is why it sits where it does, after the arrangement works and before the mix.
Stages 1–3 are free — change anything, as often as you like. Stage 4 commits sound. Stage 5 is free again — and only because the tape comes back as four separate tracks instead of a mix. That is the entire reason for the four tape outputs.
MIDI runs underneath all of it. MOTU 8×8, clock from Logic, R-8 on clock only with MTC/MMC off. Everything stays in time whether or not its audio is being recorded.
Every column is two jacks wired to two different things. Top = a source's output. Bottom = a destination's input. The normal is an internal link a cable can break.
Source feeds destination. The default.
Still feeds down and out to you. Breaks nothing.
Destination fed by you. Source still live on top.
Two unrelated points. Fully independent.
Two passes with a gap between them. Nothing is real-time: you print, then you play back and capture.
PASS 1 — PRINT
PASS 2 — CAPTURE
| SSL SiX | 424 mkIII | |
|---|---|---|
| Transients | tightens | softens |
| Top end | leaves or lifts | rolls off |
| Dynamics | deliberate, adjustable | a byproduct — what tape gives |
| Effect | more defined | more cohesive |
| Speed | real-time — audition freely | a pass — print, rewind, capture |
| You have | 2 channels + bus comp | 6 channels |
Usual order when both are in the chain: Logic → SSL (shape) → 424 (saturate) → tape. Shape it tight, then let tape soften it.
Four tracks, so you choose. Printing everything flattens the record — the contrast between tape-coloured and clean is what makes the colour read at all.
Usual picks: RD-8 drums (an 808 through tape is the canonical sound), bass,
one pad or the VC-340, guitar that already went through the pedals.
Usually leave clean: anything where detail matters more than weight.
Bay A is the spine: Logic ⇄ SSL ⇄ tape ⇄ effect sends, plus the SSL's channel and mix-bus inserts. Bay B is the sources: the four bay instruments, the guitar chain, and the effect returns.
With nothing plugged in, the studio is ready to write. Every bay instrument plays through the SSL, Logic is in your headphones, a Logic print lands on the 424, and tape playback lands back in Logic. Most sessions need no patch cables at all.
Bus B is the record send, not the main out. On the SiX, a channel's Mute button does not kill it — it routes that channel to Bus B instead of the main mix, processed through its own strip, on its own, into Clarett IN 7–8. The main out would carry everything live on the console, so it sits on A23/A24 with an open bottom jack for the one job it suits: printing a finished mix.
The feedback guard: EXT 1 carries Logic and stays off the mix bus. That one setting is what stops Logic reaching the mix or Bus B while you record from them. The single exception is printing a finished mix, with input monitoring off.
Columns marked open have nothing on the bottom jack — that source goes somewhere only when you patch it. B15–B24 are spare, with room for the MS-2000B, Minilogue or R-8 if they ever move closer.
| # | Top — source | Bottom — destination |
|---|---|---|
| Bay A — the spine: Logic, SSL, tape and effect sends | ||
| A1 | Clarett OUT 1 (Logic L) Logic and Mac audio in your headphones. EXT 1 stays OFF the mix bus - that is the feedback guard | SSL EXT 1 IN L |
| A2 | Clarett OUT 2 (Logic R) | SSL EXT 1 IN R |
| A3 | Clarett OUT 3 Print stem 1 to tape | 424 IN 1 |
| A4 | Clarett OUT 4 Print stem 2 to tape | 424 IN 2 |
| A5 | Clarett OUT 5 Print stem 3 to tape | 424 IN 3 |
| A6 | Clarett OUT 6 Print stem 4 to tape | 424 IN 4 |
| A7 | Clarett OUT 7 Reverb send from Logic | Yamaha R-1000 IN |
| A8 | Clarett OUT 8 Spring reverb send from Logic | Fostex 3180 IN |
| A9 | SSL BUS B OUT L Record any SSL channel you mute - processed - on its own | Clarett IN 7 |
| A10 | SSL BUS B OUT R | Clarett IN 8 |
| A11 | 424 TAPE OUT 1 Capture tape track 1. RCA to 1/4" TS. -10 dBV so it arrives quiet | Clarett IN 3 |
| A12 | 424 TAPE OUT 2 Capture tape track 2 | Clarett IN 4 |
| A13 | 424 TAPE OUT 3 Capture tape track 3 | Clarett IN 5 |
| A14 | 424 TAPE OUT 4 Capture tape track 4 | Clarett IN 6 |
| A15 | 424 LINE OUT L Patch to EXT 2 to hear the 424 on the SSL. Monitoring only - NOT the capture path | open |
| A16 | 424 LINE OUT R | open |
| A17 | 424 EFFECT SEND 1 Patch to an effect input | open |
| A18 | 424 EFFECT SEND 2 / TAPE CUE Doubles as TAPE CUE - check the mode before suspecting a fault | open |
| A19 | SSL CH1 INSERT SEND Insert bypassed until you patch outboard in | SSL CH1 INSERT RETURN |
| A20 | SSL CH2 INSERT SEND Insert bypassed until you patch outboard in | SSL CH2 INSERT RETURN |
| A21 | SSL MIX BUS INSERT SEND L Bypassed. Patch an effect - or the 424 - across the whole mix | SSL MIX BUS INSERT RETURN L |
| A22 | SSL MIX BUS INSERT SEND R | SSL MIX BUS INSERT RETURN R |
| A23 | SSL MAIN OUT L Patch to Clarett IN 3-4 to print a finished mix. XLR to TRS | open |
| A24 | SSL MAIN OUT R | open |
| B1 | Alesis 12R MAIN L (RD-8 submix) Drums get the SSL channel strips. Pan CH1 hard left | SSL CH1 LINE IN |
| B2 | Alesis 12R MAIN R Pan CH2 hard right | SSL CH2 LINE IN |
| B3 | Juno DS L Juno plays through the SSL | SSL ST1 L |
| B4 | Juno DS R | SSL ST1 R |
| B5 | VC-340 L VC-340 plays through the SSL | SSL ST2 L |
| B6 | VC-340 R VERIFY - is the VC-340 true stereo? If mono this frees up and ST2 pans centre | SSL ST2 R |
| B7 | JV-1010 L JV-1010 plays through the SSL. EXT 2 DOES go to the mix bus | SSL EXT 2 IN L |
| B8 | JV-1010 R | SSL EXT 2 IN R |
| B9 | Guitar pedalboard out (Dimension C) The guitar chain works untouched | RE-202 IN |
| B10 | RE-202 OUT L Patch to a Clarett IN or an SSL input | open |
| B11 | RE-202 OUT R | open |
| B12 | Yamaha R-1000 OUT L Reverb return - patch where needed | open |
| B13 | Yamaha R-1000 OUT R | open |
| B14 | Fostex 3180 OUT Mono reverb return - confirmed mono in and out | open |
| B15 | — Room for the MS-2000B / Minilogue / R-8 if they move closer | — |
| B16 | — | — |
| B17 | — | — |
| B18 | — | — |
| B19 | — | — |
| B20 | — | — |
| B21 | — | — |
| B22 | — | — |
| B23 | — | — |
| B24 | — Headroom. Wire Bay B past B14 only when something earns a permanent point | — |