Hello all,
I’m exploring using an SQ-6 as an interface+mixer centerpiece for a home studio, in concert with a DAW and some analog gear. Here are some of my pre-purchase questions:
1) How good are the AD/DA converters? I’ll probably be using outboard pres, but I am looking to use the local analog IO to accept the output of these pres, as well as to go out and back to analog insert processing. I’ve seen mentions here of the superiority of DX and Prime over the local IO, leading me to believe the local IO is not the best A&H has to offer.
Specifically related to the AD/DA converters (not the pres) – how do they compare to the ADC/DAC chipsets in the current crop of audio interfaces from Motu/Focusrite/UAD/RME et al?
What chipset is being used for conversion in the SQ?
What’s the difference in conversion between SQ/DX/Prime?
2) Related: given there are no pre-bypassing line ins (other than the TSRs), how transparent are the pres to line-level input with zero gain?
3) How do the “DEEP” add-ons compare to equivalent VST plugins?
4) I’ve watched the ‘latency’ video (and many others 🙂 which unfortunately didn’t cover MADI. Has anyone subsequently tested MADI latency with SQ, especially vs Dante?
5) How loud do the fans get?
6) I appreciate and intend to use the MCU-based DAW control. Given that the SQ does not have touch-sensitive faders, does anyone have experience writing/updating DAW automation with it?
7) related: I noticed that the SQ scribble strips can pick up the DAW track names, but I didn’t see a way to address the scribble scripts via the SQ MIDI protocol – how does that work? (I’m presuming that the MIDI Control MCU driver sits on top of the SQ MIDI protocol, if not, what then?)
8) Is there OSC support for SQ?
Thanks so much for any info!
Rich