Square Brussels Gets Hip To Studer Consoles

Square Brussels, a new event space in the Belgian capital, recently purchased Studer Vista 5 and Vista 5 SR consoles as part of the sound reinforcement system for its auditorium. Belgium-based company Play, based in Nazareth, installed the consoles, which were purchased through Studer’s Belgian representative HeynenNV.

Square Brussels offers 13,500 square meters of meeting rooms, exhibition space and a state-of-the-art auditorium. The venue is in the heart of Brussels, offering breathtaking views of the city skyline and is located only 300 meters from the Royal Palace and next to the Museum of Arts and the Royal Library. Square Brussels is very sleek in its design and is perfectly integrated in the surrounding park with its plane trees. Old wall paintings from world masters have been restored and adorn the walls, while cutting-edge lighting, interior design, and top-class audio/video equipment all contribute to a warm, serene, inspiring and stimulating environment.

With its comfortable leather seats and modern design, Square Brussels’ large auditorium calls for the best and most versatile mixing consoles on the market today. In the end, ease of use multiple interfaces and scalability were the primary factors in choosing the Studer Vista 5 and Vista 5 SR consoles.

“The Studer Vista 5 and Vista 5 SR with its Vistonics™ interface are highly intuitive and very easy to use, which is perfect because during a live performance, the operator should be totally concerned with making the sound perfect as opposed to worrying about which button he is pressing," says Jos Jorissen, Managing Director for Heynen, which also supplied all HD video encoding and video over IP distribution equipment for the digital signage system.

For information on Square Brussels, please visit www.square-brussels.com <http://www.square-brussels.com>

For more information on Heynen Belgium, please visit www.heynen.be <http://www.heynen.be>

For more information on Play, please visit www.playbiz.be <http://www.playbiz.be>

The Soundcraft® Si3 – A Marriage Of Technology And People

A Big Team Effort Delivers Soundcraft’s Latest Digital Console Platform

“The launch of the Soundcraft Si3 is the culmination of a real ground-up research programme – an Engineers dream opportunity,” according to Stefan Ledergerber, Vice President of R&D for Soundcraft and Studer. “The console is completely new - new DSP, new light-weight surface materials, new user interface with newly developed - distributed display technologies, all designed to meet a new lower price point, whilst providing the customer with more new features.”

James Shears, Product Manager (whose track record includes the hugely successful Soundcraft GB Series and LX7ii) added, “When we started the Si3 project, our initial objective was to develop a technology platform that would provide us the flexibility to spin more models out downstream. Having secured a significant market position with the Vi Series and at the very top-end of the market, the Studer Vista 5 SR, we wanted to launch the first Si Series into the mid-low range price point but offer ‘more than the rest’.”

Shears continues, “Our intention is to provide engineers still using analogue consoles an easy transition to digital through simply switching to the Si3. This is a single box solution – you take your old analogue console out, and drop this one in its place – simple! The user-interface is precisely designed to align with current user interfaces and engineers’ ‘comfort zones’. We see it perfectly positioned for installations, touring and particularly suitable for house of worship applications. In fact we carefully selected beta test users to specifically represent these markets just to ensure we’ve designed into the specs what these type of customers need.”

Matt Rowe is the R&D Project Manager for the Si3. Matt transferred from the BSS team to lead the engineers developing the Si.

Rowe describes in a bit more detail about what’s under the bonnet (hood!). “Inside the Si3 is a totally new DSP engine – we call it EMMA which stands for ‘Embedded Multi-processor Mixing Architecture’. Being custom designed and using embedded software provides us the absolute maximum processing power with minimal latency all on a single board – in other words - it’s designed to mix audio, and only audio - unlike many processors that are designed for general pc activities.”

He continues, “We structured the team in such a manner as to enable as much concurrent engineering as possible. Cross functional groups were given individual responsibilities for various parts of the programme; there’s the EMMA team, surface design and styling (incorporating Studer frame design techniques), screen design, GUI and software writers. At various stages we went through an integration phase where we connect it all together and see how it looks and works.

All of this is managed on our web-based Product Lifecycle Management system (PLM) which ensures we’re driven through review-stage-gates involving the management of every function of the company.

Production and service departments have been heavily involved from day one and at all stages of the process to ensure we’re firstly following our DfM (Design for Manufacturing) rules guaranteeing that this is a product we can manufacture to high quality standards, and secondly, that we have designed in all the features to make it serviceable and simple to provide routine maintenance for our distribution partners.

Contributing to this, we pioneered a new knowledge-based tool for PCB rule checking that speeds up our time to production for new boards. The system is interfaced to Harman’s Global component libraries which gave us confidence in the new designs and maximum benefits on price and supply.”

Ledergerber concluded, “I’m looking forward to the team being there to see the launch and hear the customers’ comments first hand. We’ve had a number of pre-launch visitors come to see it at the Potters Bar factory and they have left very excited. But we all have to keep focused as digital consoles enable us to develop new software features over and over, so we’ll be back in the office the next morning developing even more features!”

Soundcraft is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com).
Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Billy Joel's "Last Play @ Shea" Relies On Studer Vista 5SR

Soundcraft Unveils New Mid-price Digital Console – More Inputs, More Technology, and a True Analogue Feel

Soundcraft® Si3 promises to deliver more for less than any other.

Currently riding high with tours and engineers thanks to the incredible success of the Vi Series digital consoles, Soundcraft has launched a mid-market partner console in the Soundcraft Si3. This new desk is designed for live use on both touring sound systems and in fixed installations and its intuitive operation and high input and bus count makes it a perfect choice for House of Worship sound systems. Theatre users will also find the Soundcraft Si3 very applicable in their area.

What is particularly nice about the Si3 is it all comes in one chassis – console surface, all input and output connections, power supply – so it can literally drop in and replace an existing analogue desk as almost certainly no additional cabling would be required to install it. This compact footprint desk can directly handle 64 mono inputs, 4 stereo inputs and has full connectivity for all 35 output busses (24 Aux/Group, 8 Matrix and Left/Right/Centre mix buses), something you don’t find often on digital consoles at the price level of the Si3. Add to this 4 Lexicon® effects processors, 12 VCA groups, 8 Mute groups and bar graph metering for all 35 bus outputs and you begin to see what a package the Si3 is.

So what about the operating surface, is it easy to use? The obvious lack of what is now standard fare on most digital consoles, a large central screen, brings hope that cumbersome centralised channel operation is a thing of the past, and indeed when you look at the controls in detail you see it may well be. Although the Si3 does have a small central touch screen, it is really there for console management, cue-lists, labelling etc. All the normal day-to-day mixing operations are carried out adjacent to the channel faders continuing Soundcraft’s philosophy of ‘where you look is where you control’. An amazingly crisp and bright OLED display clearly shows important channel data for every fader on the desk, while in the centre section, OLEDs provide the same for the output faders.

Soundcraft has revisited the control topology employed on the ground-breaking Spirit 328 and 324 digital consoles, and made it even easier. The model is this - above each fader is a rotary encoder, the function of which changes according to the mode selected. This ‘bank’ of encoders, known as the VCS or Virtual Channel Strip can be set to control every function of a channel (known as Channel mode), so mic gain, EQ, dynamics, auxes, panning are all controlled as if you had a normal analogue channel strip laid sideways in front of you. The VCS also incorporates all the switching you would find on an individual analogue channel strip (48v, Phase Reverse, EQ in etc.). Alternatively, in what is called Global mode, each encoder controls the same function for each channel. So, for example, the encoders could control all the mic gains, pans or a chosen Aux bus (very useful for creating monitor mixes).

The encoder and OLED displays located in the output section are used primarily for output signal controls such as EQ, dynamics, Matrix contributions etc. but also double up as dedicated controls for the 4 onboard Lexicon processors.

When using the Lexicon processors, you can expand the controls to adjust virtually every parameter available, giving you outstanding control over the effects. Each of the four Lexicon engines can be assigned by the user to any channel. The gates and compressors, as you would expect, draw on the heritage of BSS Audio and dbx, Soundcraft’s sister companies within Harman.

The output encoders and OLEDs can also be assigned to control EQ and Dynamics control for any selected Input or Output channel for those who prefer central control.

Like its bigger sisters the Soundcraft Vi4 and Vi6, the Si3 uses the patented Soundcraft FaderGlow™ system to show what mode your faders are in, whether they are controlling inputs, aux or effects sends, bus outputs etc. For example, when faders are controlling Aux sends, the faders glow yellow, while for VCA’s they glow blue. In fact the colour codings closely follow the Soundcraft Vi6 setup, so engineers moving between consoles will be equally at home with both.

Complete desk settings may be stored as snapshots, as you would expect on a digital console, and these can then be sequenced from a Cue list on the central touch screen and controlled with dedicated snapshot automation buttons. Global snapshot filtering is also available.

Under the hood of the Si3 is an array of new technology, most notably EMMA, a single-board digital mixing console with an embedded operating system. This compact pcb holds not only the processing and DSP to run the mixer with its EQ and dynamics, but also four Lexicon AudioDNA chips to provide the Si3 with arguably the best effects available in the pro audio world. The team of developers at Soundcraft was responsible for the entire development and coding of this new mixing core which is also the base core of further new console designs already in development.

But how does it sound? Needless to say with the wealth of experience in digital platform development that Studer and Soundcraft have with the Vista and Soundcraft Vi Series’, the Si3 has inherited the same sound quality pedigree, and coupled with Graham Blyth’s talents in mic pre-amp design and the extensive development of the integral dynamics and gates and Lexicon FX, sound quality is a given.

On the rear of this highly-featured console are all the I/O connectors you’ll need. Sixty-four XLR’s for the mic/line inputs, 4 stereo line level inputs, 24 bus output XLR’s, 8 matrix output XLR’s Left/Right/Centre mix output XLR’s, Left/Right/Centre monitor output XLR’s and comprehensive internal and external talkback and Oscillator connections. There are also 8 analogue insert connections which allow outboard processing to be inserted into any input channel output bus.

The power supply for the Si3 is integral to the chassis, and a secondary PSU module can be fitted for total redundancy. There are also four spare slots for other optional cards such as MADI interfaces or AES/EBU inputs.

Of course, the Si3 has been developed with Harman’s HiQnet™ networked audio system in mind, and connection to the HiQnet network is included.

To make preparation of the console setup easier, Soundcraft is also planning to release an off-line editor for the Si3. This self-contained suite runs on a PC or laptop, and allows configuration of the console which can then be downloaded to the desk, saving precious on-site setup time. Just like with the Virtual Vi software for the Soundcraft Vi Series (www.soundcraftdigital.com), engineers can move between different consoles and take their shows and settings with them.

The Soundcraft Si3 is bound to appeal to regional tour sound companies and regional theatres, medium sized Houses of Worship and Corporate Event sound companies.

Soundcraft is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com). Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Famous Turin Theatre Upgrades With Soundcraft Vi6™

Teatro Regio di Torino (Turin Royal Theatre), one of Italy’s most famous and prominent opera houses, recently installed a Soundcraft Vi6™ digital console as part of an equipment upgrade.

The theatre dates back to the 1740’s when the Nuovo Teatro Regio (New Royal Theatre) was inaugurated. It went through several changes of use before being restored to its original name, and after a period of financial crisis it was taken over by the municipality in 1870.

After the destruction by fire of the Teatro Regio in 1936, it was intended that the Teatro Carignano would serve as the main opera venue for the city until the new L-shaped theatre, with its striking interior, reopened in 1973 with a production of Verdi’s Vespri Siciliani, directed by Maria Callas and Giuseppe Di Stefano.

With a new acoustic shell designed to improve the sound, the main theatre seats 1,750 (including 37 boxes around the perimeter) while the smaller Piccolo Teatro Regio takes a further 600 people.

The theatre has a long association with Soundcraft (a Series 1600 24-channel desk dates back to 1981, while in the control room of the Piccolo there’s an old Series 600). Two years ago the theatre purchased a 32-channel Soundcraft MH3 analogue desk from distributors Audio Equipment, which continues to mix monitors.

Audio Equipment have maintained continuity with the brand, recommending the Vi6 for the main FOH position because the three house technicians are from the analogue school, and only one day’s training was required. The console can also be used for recording the operatic performances and classical music using an RME MADI interface and Pro Tools.

The Vi6 also met the venue’s requirements for a large number of inputs, said Audio Equipment’s Danilo Meroni. “Normally 40 or 48 channels would be plenty but here they have 64.”

The local rack is situated in the control room where there is a full analogue system with a large matrix linked with a short Cat5 under-floor cable run.

Turin Royal Theatre is particularly pleased with the flexibility offered by the Vi6’s internal matrix — and the possibility to configure and store many shows (eg Rigoletto) and then recall the set-up (by plugging in the USB key) when the production returns the following year.

Aside from the Recall facility, the quality of the mic pre-amp section was vital in view of the condenser mic set up with operatic performances.

“But beyond that they really love the Vistonics interface — you can see 32 strip icons at all times — and the compact size and the colour co-ordination of the knobs; the possibility of being able to use two people on the interface is great.”

The five icons per channel offer essential information for 32 channels at all times. One icon per bank of eight channels can be adjusted at any time by simply touching the icon.

For Audio Equipment the next step now will be to replace the entire analogue matrix system with fibre.

Soundcraft is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com).
Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Studer Is At The Heart Of The Kingdom's HD Program

Three orders totaling seven digital audio broadcast consoles have put Studer at the heart of the ongoing program to upgrade TV facilities for the state-run SAUDI TV in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Studer has supplied seven Vista 5 consoles to the Ministry of Culture and Information, which takes responsibility for the Kingdom’s television broadcasting, and operates the four networks of Saudi TV.

These are hugely prestigious orders for Studer. Although the company has supplied numerous on-air consoles and radio automation systems to radio stations in the country, these are the first digital desks to be deployed by Saudi Arabian government-owned TV stations. The Vista consoles are being delivered by Riyadh-based systems integrators First Gulf Company (FGC), nominated by the Ministry of Culture and Information, which is collaborating with Studer for the first time.

The first three Vista 5 consoles have already been installed in the Riyadh TV Centre, which houses the facilities for the Saudi Sport and Saudi News channels, the latter known as al-Ikhbariya, with the third console going into Production Studio D. Another two Vista 5 desks are due to be installed in the new TV centre in Dammam, where they will be used in the Saudi TV Production studio and in the Saudi TV News studio. Two consoles are destined for on-site HD TV studios at the Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina. All audio installations are taking place as part of an ongoing programme to upgrade the state-run TV facilities to high-definition capability.

Having seven digital consoles operational in the TV networks of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completes the regional picture for Studer, which has been consolidating its reputation and user base in the Middle East for the last ten years. This summer, in Abu Dhabi, the government-owned Emirates Media Inc. is taking delivery of four Outside Broadcast vehicles, equipped with Vista 8 and Vista 5 audio consoles, which have been built by Thomson in France.

Studer is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com).
Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Clair Showco Provides Studer Vista 5 SR Digital Audio Console For Country Music Star Keith Urban Nationwide Tour

Showcasing the quality, ease of use and reliability of the Studer Vista 5 SR console, Clair Showco of Lititz, PA, recently provided the audio system for country music star Keith Urban’s U.S.-based tour. The multi-city tour featured Studer Vista 5 SR digital audio consoles in use for both FOH and monitor mixing applications.

Taking both the Australian and U.S. country music scenes by storm, the New Zealand born Urban heavily relies on the sound quality of the Vista 5 SR while on tour. The Studer Vista 5 SR was chosen by his mixing engineers who went through a vigorous evaluation process prior to the selection of the console but chose the Studer after it met all required criteria: Sound quality, flexibility/ease-of-use and reliability.

FOH Engineer Steve Law and Monitor Mixing Engineer Jason Spence evaluated numerous brands of sound consoles before the tour. Spence noted he had never felt as comfortable with a new desk as he did during the week he was trying out the Studer Vista 5 SR.

"When choosing a console, I have three criteria," said Spence. "It has to sound good to the artist on stage! If it doesn't, there's not much point in continuing. Second, I have to be able to get around it quickly. With the 'inline design' of the input and output strips, the Vista 5 SR feels very 'analog.' I'm able to have control and access to all the parameters at my fingertips. There are not multiple pages to plow through to gain control of any particular feature. Lastly, it needs to be reliable and not crash. It seems that with other brands, I could get one, maybe two of my criteria met; however with the Studer, I got all three!"

Howard Page, Director of Engineering for Clair Showco, was excited about including the Vista 5 SR on the tour for both front of house and monitor mixing duties due to its ease of use. “We had originally fallen in love with the Vista 8 at the AES Convention,” said Page. “We suggested that Studer create a console dedicated to the live touring market. The Vista 5 SR is one of the most stunning consoles we’ve ever heard. Other competing consoles are incredibly large and awkward, whereas the Vista 5 SR has a small footprint and only takes us five minutes to set up. And most significantly, we find that people who get on the Vista 5 SR for the first time respond extremely positively, for both house and monitor applications. That is key for us.”

Additionally, Crown Macro-Tech 3600 amps and a Lexicon M480L Reverb Effects Processor were in use as part of Clair Showco’s custom JBL-loaded loudspeaker system for the Keith Urban tour.

Clair Showco can be reached at www.clairshowco.com.

Studer is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com). Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”