Here is the video of the noise as promised.

SSL X-Desk Noisy Monitor Level control - YouTube

wow, that is pretty bad. I guess I have something to look forward to.

The first noise you hear sounds worse than it was. It is still bad, but it is more of a softer fuzzing sound as opposed to a typical dirty pot sound. Maybe I just got unlucky, but the loaner one I currently have does it too. I would say only about 1/5 as bad/noisy.

Design flaw?
How much did the X-DESK cost new? 2600$??

are you inferring it's not a design flaw and just part of the inexpensive line, and something I as customer should just deal with? if so, I say no way!

I've had tons of cheap ass to cheaper monitor stations, from consolidated m-audio interfaces to SPL monitoring systems. no fuzzy/static build up issues. with ssl in the game for quite a while you'd think your dollars would at least buy you that...

and according to madhermit:

"SO I heard back from the SSL distributor here. They say my noisy Monitor Level pot is sort of a design issue. The way the circuit is designed, the pot gets a build up of static or something, that's why the noise that comes from using it doesn't sound like a traditional dirty pot, but has more of a softer sound to it. They said my unit was bad, but that it is how it is designed. They have sent me a new one."

A good recording dealer has the X-desk listed for $2999, X-Panda for $3249, then I had $1250 in DB25 cabling. All in at about $7500. I feel in my experience, it's quality does not live up to the price charged.

For the record, if I have misunderstood the dealer/distributor, I will post an update here. I have no indication of this being the case currently. I intend to inform, not bash (not directed at anyone in particular).

not bashing here either. just an issue with many users.

and $7,500 ain't no chump change.

That was the aim of my question-
In the car industry their exist free-recall-campaigns if a design flaw is found.

Not to offend here but I was very pleased how good and clean my A+H ZED 14 sounds. A cheap China-Product designed in GB. At first I bought it without any idea that it could sound good.... in the end it did and I use it for mixing and summing- the Faders are precise the pots as well and the SNR is excellent - it has a nice subtle phase shift which opens up the mix.

Yes it is a simple desk - nothing special.

I still cant believe how A+H is managing this for 350 Euros.

gotcha, thx.

Just talking today with my dealer about what I am replacing everything with. He informed me that the distributor was actually the one who stepped up to the plate this time, where SSL wrote it off as out of warranty. (I had the store's extended warranty, so I wasn't worried, plus this was a replacement of another faulty one, so I think they should have done the warranty from the replacement time personally.) Stand behind your product.

How are the new X-Desks now? are these flaws sorted?

Actually, if you are getting a fairly loud output from the pot at 1 or 2, it suggests you have too much gain in your amplifier/speaker system, and should turn your speakers down, because you are compromising the noise floor of the monitor chain. The X-Desk mon pot is an attenuator, so at fully clockwise the output is +24 dBu max. You'd want to set ~80 dB SPL somewhere around noon or more, so you have more play at lower levels. It sounds like the throw of your monitor chain is a bit "upside down."

The noise is very low on that thing, so any noise you hear may be an error in your gain staging/your amps. Speakers are not really designed to handle the full +24 dBu output of a piece like this, for example the Genelec 8040A produces its max output at a mere +6 dBu. Most speaker sensitivities ship too "hot" and need to be turned down when you connect it to gear like this. Start with the speaker turned fully down and the SSL pot fully up to set the best signal-to-noise of you mon chain.

ok, the crackling of the volume pot? sorted?
the hum, increasing when engaging ALT to main mix, sorted?

i'd be really interested in hearing what SSL has to say about this - not a cool thread to find after ordering one. . .

Don't worry man, a lot of us love ours and have never had any problems!

Cheers

I'm looking into one too, hence my question.

is this the sort of problem that will either be there when I get mine, or will only show up over time?

how long have you had yours KennyS?

Im on my second Xdesk sense purchasing in Feb.

So far so good with this one, But we'll see if it stands the test of time.

crap, now this what i call an anticlimactic thread - ive been this close to finally accepting X-Desk-Panda to be my system of choice for a smallish OTB setup. :(


i did GS forum search for "X-Desk", and on almost every thread there's Jim or someone else from SSL present - except this one. why?


i was hoping to read somewhere that they started making a newer version/update of X-Desk, with these bugs sorted (like Toft did) .. has anything moved in this dept at all? at the same time im thinking is this really SSL we are talking about.. dunno about you, but am dissapointed a little bit.

I'm on my third and I really hope it doesn't happen again. SSL has been great about replacing them, but it's a bit of a hassle.
It's so strange that the crackling is always on the right speaker and doesn't occur until after about a month of use.

What'd the best way to hook up? Db-25 from x-desk to xlr inputs on 7720??? Please help

your bus comp goes in the master insert send/return. You can use the Σ or not for parallel compression or adding two more ins during mix down. Btw... my SSL X Desk sound´s glorious, has a ton of headroom, and by that i mean A TON!! if my AD for printing mixes is clipping i just turn the master rotary¨fader¨ down and i can continue to mix, even turning things higher in the mix, and the master ¨fader¨keeps going down and the stereo summing bus starts ¨compressing¨a little bit with a great analog sound to it, never sounding harsh. Try this in your Allen Heath HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

If you like transparent, just low the individual faders and master back to 0db ...

and yes, just a little scratch in the control room volume, but is very very low and has not gone worse, 5 years daily use here... this is a workhorse... in my book...

Update:

Over 3 years and the monitor knob crackling issue has not resurfaced.

Im now having this issue. Now the whole right section will go out sometimes left. I have to recycle the board to get it to come back on..

I called SSL they told me to email another guy in a different department.. Is this going to kill my wallet to get fixed? Im on a cherios budget ... Damn..

Been using mine for 6 years, monitor pot has always been scratchy at the beginning of the day but quickly fades off when turning it back and forth a few times. I will have to work out a solution for the monitor pot eventually but for now its only an issue right after turning it on.

I may have been a little harsh on it years ago, the X-Desk/X-Panda are great boards especially with an XRack filled with stereo EQs and compressors. Its super clean and super low noise and when I put it up against the duality mix bus I was shocked to find that the difference was negligible.

I will probably never buy another board again honestly, its become an all time favorite.

I run the XDesk monitor outs to an external monitor controller
The XDesk pot sits on 11 the whole time.

Replacement of a pot does not help?

This is real. I had an SSL Matrix and this annoyed the heck out of me and I sold it. My SSL Six does it, but less.

It is in my basement studio and I have terribly dirty electricity so guitar amps also sound noisy, and probably some things like that SPL are simply more high-end and complex and filter out the noise better.

I would think it's probably not an inherent flaw with the x desk, but just that it needs very clean power to remain quiet.

Just a guess though.