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Soundcraft SI compact


cedd

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Not released yet, but I believe it's in testing at the minute, they apparently had a mockup at a few trade shows (possibly plasa).

 

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product.aspx?pid=181

 

I just wondered what people's thoughts are on "another" small digital desk in the marketplace.

 

From looking at the (still quite brief) details, I'm actually quite excited by it. It looks to be an LS9 sized desk, with similair spec, footprint, feature set. BUT, it adds some really nice finishing touches. The channel strip looks very similair to the ilive offerings. It has a touch screen (albeit quite small), it has soundcraft's fader glow, and apparently it could be quite cheap.

 

I guess it's also in the Roland territory, but comes from a manufacturer who have a bit of a longer track record in mixing desks, and I guess it's a name that would be slightly more rider friendly. Inputs are on the desk, rather than at the end of a cat5 multicore (a bonus for me actually).

 

I have a couple of questions about it still though;

They have a 32 channel version, but they also quotit having a card slot for madi, does that mean the channel count can be increased further? I think I read 40 channels to mix somewhere, but can't find it again now!

 

It has hiqnet control. Is that an ethernet protocal? I'm really thinking, can I do wifi control of the thing?

 

Does anybody know an RRP for it yet. American sites quote it as being sub $10k. English prices???

 

And general thoughts on it too. Is it an LS9 killer, but possibly too late to join a crowded market? Are there any glaring features missing that should be on there?

 

C

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I had a bit of hands-on time with one at Plasa. General impressions are good. There are nice touches like the LED backlighting of faders which I haven't come across on any desks at a similar price point.

 

From an ergonomic point of view I think I would have preferred a slightly larger screen. I don't find the LED segments round the knobs on the channel strip to be as useful. (E.g. for telling the sweep frequency or Q at a glance)

 

Seems like a generous amount of outputs. There is access to a "B layer" of inputs so the capability is obviously there, although I'm sure exactly what options exist there.

 

For me, the lack of a digital multicore option is a big loss for rental and events use. Of course, for many existing Soundcraft customers who already have analogue multicores in place, it won't be much of a problem. I can understand where their reasoning came from.

 

It seemed quick and smooth to navigate around, and since the models on the stand are quite early examples, this bodes well for the future. The only thing I noticed "missing" was that the 48v button on the desk I used didn't illuminate, but I'd expect this is just something missing from the prototype software.

 

The rough idea I have of pricing is that a 32 channel SI Compact will come in cheaper than a 32 channel LS9. I think I'd definitely prefer the Soundcraft overall, but on the other hand the Yamaha standard has become quite entrenched, so it may be a more rider-friendly choice. Again, it all depends on what you will be doing with it and who you are providing for.

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From what I've seen/read about it, the list for the 24 channel is going to be around £6200. From what I can gather, it will accept a expansion card to use a digital snake with it, but not if it'll increase the channel count. One thing I'd be interested to know is whether you can link two desks to increase channel count like you could with the old 328xd.

 

It does look an all round interesting desk from soundcraft - seems to further bridge the gap between analogue and digital both from a price and interface standpoint. definitely looking forward to them hitting the shelves :wub:

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It's 40 channels max to mix, and it will work with any of the Si range of digital stageboxes, so if you use 32 channels down cat5, you can only use 8 of the local inputs.

 

One slightly weird feature is that the 'top' layer only has faders for 22 of the 24 inputs, leaving 2 inputs slightly orphaned on the second layer.

 

Generally liked it. The screen is less integral to the wokflow than on the LS9 or M400, much less so than the SD9. It feels very much like a small analogue desk. And the cost saving if you have a regular snake already in place is quite considerable. It'll do well in mid-size churches, I think.

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When I was looking at it at PLASA I was talking to one of their R&D engineers. He said that he signal processing algorithms are the same as the bigger desks and was confident of the sound quality. I liked that it has full GEQ on every bus unlike the LS9. I agree with the screen not being too great, but it was still beta software and maybe they'll take on board some comments. It came across to me a good entry for those coming over from Analogue as most of not all the channel controls are available on knobs. I suspect it may be popular with churches and schools where you are less likely to have professional engineers.
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It has hiqnet control. Is that an ethernet protocal? I'm really thinking, can I do wifi control of the thing?

 

C

 

 

HiQnet is a network system developed by Harmann that works with multiple compatible hardware types and is programmed with BSS London Architect & System Architect. Both are free for download and offer vast system design parameters, all of which controlled through a HiQnet network.

 

Having a HiQnet port on the mixer means it can be integrated into the network and controlled entirely from the PC that holds the program via IP or Wireless

 

very cool :blink:

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I've just been told that the prices are as follows:

 

SI Compact 24 £6200 then a 32 is £7800. Watched the videos on the soundcraft website and from a user POV it seems to be better than the LS9 in many points so only time will tell how successful it will be...

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As an original Si series owner, the HiQNet protocol hasn't been implimented for us yet and I'm not sure what it's standing is for the Si Compacts yet either.

 

The expansion slot allows for any of the Si series cards to be used: AVIOM, MADI, AES/EBU and CobraNet at the moment. The MADI card options come in two formats at the moment: optical fibre and Cat5e connections, as do the stageboxes - same as the Vi series of stageboxes which are certainly compatible with the full sized Si range now. The Si series was designed not to have the screen as the main focus while doing anything to the desk, apart form channel naming on the full size versions and choosing the Lexicon effect type on both the full and compact version. Again like the full sized Si range, you have the integrated effects engines which do not use up channels in the desk, unlike the Yamaha! So whether or not you're using the effects, you still have all your auxes to send from. GEQs and 4-band PEQs over every output too. It doesn't look like the compact has teh fader follow mode that the full size has for assigning auxes/ groups.

 

Prices I've been told were a little cheaper than those posted but that was when I enquired about the desks pre-release last year and they were offering discounts on them.

 

Oh, forgot to mention that the C-16 is also rack-mountable.

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Had a quick glance at plasa, looked ok but felt a little cheaply made, compared to the full size SI or VI desks anyway!

 

Yeah but there is a slight price difference there!

 

I'm certainly very keen to give one a try!!

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I recently spent the day with some R&D guys at Soundcraft/Studer UK factory and head office, mainly to work with the Vi series but they were keen to show me the new Si Compact too.

 

They admit that it is meant as a competitor to the LS9 and indeed A&H iLive but at the same time not compromising on sound quality and userbility. With this in mind they have tried to incorporate as many features from their flagship Vi6 into this desk as possible including all the DSP algorithms to get the best possible sound.

 

The 16ch version is designed to to fit on top of a 19" rack which is why you get 14 inputs on the first layer then ch15&16 on the second layer. For some reason they kept that feature with the 24ch and 32ch version so you get 22ch and 30ch on the first layer and then the remaining 2 on the second layer. The MADI card is so that you can use a cat5 or optical (much better range and reliability) connection to an external stage box (compatible with both Si and Vi stage boxes) to expand the inpuits and make use of the other channels on the 2nd layer. You can aslo route effect/insert returns and other cross channel patching onto the second layer.

 

Very easy and intuitive to use and all the critical functions are right in front of you. Which is handy because the screen is pretty tricky to use and you don't want to be reaching to that every 10 seconds during a gig.

 

HiQNet is a comms. protocall that Harmann are starting to roll out in all their gear (check the website to see which brands they own) and will allow all the devices to talk to each other and be controlled from a central point. In essence you can run a whole live show from your office 100 miles away assuming all your DSP gear is a Harmann.

 

16ch version goes for around £4,500, 25ch just over £6,000 and the 32 for just under £8,000 but if you have a chat with the guys at Sound Technologies and pay them lots of compliments you can get a better deal.

 

If anyone is seriously considering purchasing one of these I have a good relationship with the distributers and could get you sorted out with a good deal and good level of service.

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I've sat through all the videos on the soundcraft website - I really like the look of the desk.

 

BUT, a major concern is that there appear to be no subgroups. Unless I've missed something, it all appears to go straight to mix or to a bus.

 

Now I know in the matrix it could be possible to put all the buses to the L&R outputs, and there's a "bus" button that puts all the bus masters on the faders, but it really makes mixing theatre clunky and means lots of layer changes. There doesn't appear to be a custom fader layer to get around this.

 

For example, we're at the number where the leading lady is singing her rousing solo, I want her fader in my left hand, and the pit and offstage singers in my right hand on 2 subgroups. Instead I have to change layer from input channels to buses in order to tweak the band's level. It's just not workable. It's a real shame as it's one place where the LS9 excels.

 

So am I right in thinking that with the right input cards and stageboxes, the 32 channel model can actually handle 44 input channels over the 2 layers?

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