JANDS NEWS
3, 2, 1, GO! Soundcraft's new digital line up!
05 March 2010
Soundcraft Vi1 - Smaller, Lower Priced, But Still With Vistonics™, Lexicon FX, BSS EQ's, And That Sound Quality
With the Soundcraft Vi Series now firmly established as a firm favourite digital desk on both the touring, broadcast and installed sound scenes, Soundcraft have taken this amazing platform to another, more affordable level with the release of the new Vi1 console.
Many users have asked for a smaller, lower-priced desk that still has the acclaimed Vistonics™ user interface, and of course the now-legendary optimal sound quality established with the Vi Series.
So here it is, the Soundcraft Vi1™.
A complete standalone console package with 32 channels of analogue input to 27 analogue outputs, plus 6 digital inputs, 4 Stereo FX Returns and 6 digital outputs in one chassis. As standard, Input to mix capacity is 46chs, but by adding a stagebox (compatible with the existing Vi racks), simultaneous channel count increases to 64. Channels are routable to 24 multifunction busses, plus LR and Mono Mix busses.
Up to 8 of the busses can be configured as Matrix mixes, each with up to 16 sources.
The surface is just over a metre wide, and includes 16 motorised channel faders with fixed and user-definable layers, 8 output/VCA faders and 2 master faders.
What's really cool about the Vi1 though, is the new Widescreen Vistonics interface, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's driven a Vi6 or Vi4, as well as retaining the same 'walk-up' user-friendliness of the other Vi consoles. This new development displays all parameters for 16 channels side by side, on a single 22" Vistonics touch screen. The upper half of the screen handles the Output section control as well as Cue List or Menu displays. Parameter control is via two rows of 16 rotary encoders. Exactly the same channel functionality as the Vi6 and Vi4 is available here, along with all the same core snapshot, talkback and monitoring facilities.
Naturally, the Vi1 inherits many of the facilities of its larger siblings, including Soundcraft FaderGlow™, 4 stereo Lexicon effects engines, BSS Audio graphic EQs on all output busses, and integral dynamics on all channels.
The desk is compatible with Vi4 and Vi6 show files through the Virtual Vi offline editor, which is available as a free download.
As you'd expect, the price of the Vi1 is extremely attractive, which is sure to make it a clear winner with engineers and sound companies.
Many users have asked for a smaller, lower-priced desk that still has the acclaimed Vistonics™ user interface, and of course the now-legendary optimal sound quality established with the Vi Series.
So here it is, the Soundcraft Vi1™.
A complete standalone console package with 32 channels of analogue input to 27 analogue outputs, plus 6 digital inputs, 4 Stereo FX Returns and 6 digital outputs in one chassis. As standard, Input to mix capacity is 46chs, but by adding a stagebox (compatible with the existing Vi racks), simultaneous channel count increases to 64. Channels are routable to 24 multifunction busses, plus LR and Mono Mix busses.
Up to 8 of the busses can be configured as Matrix mixes, each with up to 16 sources.
The surface is just over a metre wide, and includes 16 motorised channel faders with fixed and user-definable layers, 8 output/VCA faders and 2 master faders.
What's really cool about the Vi1 though, is the new Widescreen Vistonics interface, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's driven a Vi6 or Vi4, as well as retaining the same 'walk-up' user-friendliness of the other Vi consoles. This new development displays all parameters for 16 channels side by side, on a single 22" Vistonics touch screen. The upper half of the screen handles the Output section control as well as Cue List or Menu displays. Parameter control is via two rows of 16 rotary encoders. Exactly the same channel functionality as the Vi6 and Vi4 is available here, along with all the same core snapshot, talkback and monitoring facilities.
Naturally, the Vi1 inherits many of the facilities of its larger siblings, including Soundcraft FaderGlow™, 4 stereo Lexicon effects engines, BSS Audio graphic EQs on all output busses, and integral dynamics on all channels.
The desk is compatible with Vi4 and Vi6 show files through the Virtual Vi offline editor, which is available as a free download.
As you'd expect, the price of the Vi1 is extremely attractive, which is sure to make it a clear winner with engineers and sound companies.
In just 9 months, Soundcraft has now launched 3 models in this range, picking up no less than 5 industry awards in that time commending the Si console on its ease of use and simplifying the transition from analogue to digital.
The new Si1 has a very compact footprint of just 1200mm width, meaning it fits nicely into space-restricted areas such as theatres, small venues, and Houses of Worship, and of course comes at an extremely competitive price.
As standard the Si1 has 32 mic inputs mapped on 16 faders, and with four dedicated Stereo Line channels, four dedicated FX Returns from the four stereo Lexicon FX processors can mix up to 48 inputs. Eight balanced insert sends and returns are provided, along with the same bus structure as the Si2 and Si3 of 24 Group/Aux busses, 8 matrix busses and a full complement of monitor talkback and main bus outputs. These buses may be freely assigned to any of the 16 physical XLR connectors in addition to the dedicated MIX and monitoring output XLRs. Every bus has a dedicated 30-band BSS Audio graphic EQ, permanently patched in with no additional drain on DSP resource. Three option card slots are provided for further expansion such as recording of all the channel direct output feeds or increasing the number of channels to mix.
Such is the power and topology of the Si Series that the separate DSP and control engines allow you to make any system or function changes live with no interruption in the audio.
Like the Si3 and Si2, the Si1 uses a combination of rotary encoders and OLED screens on every channel so the engineer mixes at source, without recourse to a central screen, an interface welcomed by many engineers since the Si3’s launch last year. Using the center section and channel encoders, it is possible to simultaneously monitor and control input EQ, input dynamics and output EQ. Four assignable on-board lexicon effect engines supplement 4 stereo inputs to provide a really powerful mix package in a width of 1.2m. Soundcraft’s offline editor program, Virtual Si, can also be used to setup and manage complete shows offline, for later download to an Si1 console through a USB memory key.
With a wealth of input and output connections and power supply on board, the Si1 can simply drop in where an existing analogue console sat, utilising existing copper cable snakes and splitter systems.
The new Si1 has a very compact footprint of just 1200mm width, meaning it fits nicely into space-restricted areas such as theatres, small venues, and Houses of Worship, and of course comes at an extremely competitive price.
As standard the Si1 has 32 mic inputs mapped on 16 faders, and with four dedicated Stereo Line channels, four dedicated FX Returns from the four stereo Lexicon FX processors can mix up to 48 inputs. Eight balanced insert sends and returns are provided, along with the same bus structure as the Si2 and Si3 of 24 Group/Aux busses, 8 matrix busses and a full complement of monitor talkback and main bus outputs. These buses may be freely assigned to any of the 16 physical XLR connectors in addition to the dedicated MIX and monitoring output XLRs. Every bus has a dedicated 30-band BSS Audio graphic EQ, permanently patched in with no additional drain on DSP resource. Three option card slots are provided for further expansion such as recording of all the channel direct output feeds or increasing the number of channels to mix.
Such is the power and topology of the Si Series that the separate DSP and control engines allow you to make any system or function changes live with no interruption in the audio.
Like the Si3 and Si2, the Si1 uses a combination of rotary encoders and OLED screens on every channel so the engineer mixes at source, without recourse to a central screen, an interface welcomed by many engineers since the Si3’s launch last year. Using the center section and channel encoders, it is possible to simultaneously monitor and control input EQ, input dynamics and output EQ. Four assignable on-board lexicon effect engines supplement 4 stereo inputs to provide a really powerful mix package in a width of 1.2m. Soundcraft’s offline editor program, Virtual Si, can also be used to setup and manage complete shows offline, for later download to an Si1 console through a USB memory key.
With a wealth of input and output connections and power supply on board, the Si1 can simply drop in where an existing analogue console sat, utilising existing copper cable snakes and splitter systems.
