Ministry of Sound chooses Soundcraft Si2 Digital Console

Ministry of Sound London’s Technical Manager Alex Barrand moved a step nearer his sonic nirvana with the commissioning of a Soundcraft Si2 digital sound desk for the famous main dance room, The Box. At the PLASA Show last September he was introduced to the Soundcraft Si1 by Harman UK/ROI distributor Sound Technology’s Dave Bradshaw (also former head of technology at the Ministry).

“There are so many digital desks on the market — but I realised that this was the easiest analogue-to-digital conversion desk money can buy,” commented Alex.

As it transpired, Ministry opted for the larger Si2 model. Whereas the standard Si1 has 32 mic inputs mapped on 16 faders, with four dedicated stereo line channels and four dedicated FX Returns from the Lexicon FX processors, the Si2 has 48 mic inputs mapped on 24 faders.

“My other house technicians are delighted with the upgrade,” confirms Alex, who has long been familiar with the Soundcraft topography and excellent signature sound. “ I have used a Vi before and as well as one of the old SM24’s, and have always felt comfortable. But I had never been on this.”

The console was pressed into service straight out of the box. “After patching the desk on the virtual version then uploading the show data it was extremely easy,” he said. “The sound was the best we have ever had, from the moment we turned it on.”

The Si2 is used as master mixer for the main room setups, taking feeds from all the booth DJ mixers — as well as bands. Alex Barrand says the extra fader group provided by the Si2 was a real bonus, adding that he no longer has any need for an outboard rack … although it is simple to make third party inserts, such as a valve compressor.

“With four Lexicon processors and each channel with its own gate, comps and EQ using dbx and BSS heritage components I have everything I need inline. It’s got a lot more weight behind it. Plus every input and output has its own dedicated input (output) socket on the back of the console.”

The Si2 also allows him to download a virtual console on his laptop and save show mixes to a USB from home.

Finally, the 24 Group/Aux busses, available at all times, have made Alex Barrand’s life (and those of his technicians) a breeze. “On our old analogue desks it was a nightmare to do switchovers — you had to put together your outboard racks every night. But using the bus sends on the Si2 anything can be done very quickly.

“Even the strictly analogue guys are over the moon.”

Further information from UK/ROI distributor Sound Technnology Ltd on 01462 480000, info@soundtech.co.uk, www.soundtech.co.uk/soundcraft

Hard Rock Café Singapore Gets In The Mix With Soundcraft® Si2

Singapore recently upgraded its in-house sound system with a Soundcraft Si2 console to easily manage all entertainment from background music to multiple live bands each night, keeping tourists, locals, musicians and celebrities continuously coming back for more.

HRC Singapore was the first HRC to open in Asia more than 20 years ago.  The first mixing console in use when it first opened was the Soundcraft Spirit Live.  It was subsequently replaced by a Soundcraft Delta and a Soundcraft Series 8000 32 channel that was in use for more than 10 years. 

With a history of bringing the best in entertainment to its customers, the management and technical crew at HRC Singapore decided to replace its older Soundcraft Series 8000 console with the Soundcraft Si2.  “It always comes down to the overall experience with our patrons, so we decided to concentrate on making the music really stand out.  We have been using Soundcraft consoles from Day One and are very happy with their quality, sound and reliability” “With the Si2, our system has performed flawlessly and sounds great,” says Irwan Snin, Front of House Engineer.

Supplied and installed by Electronics & Engineering (E&E) PTE LTD in Singapore, the Si2 continues to provide quality sound to Hard Rock Café fans every day. Established in 1951, E&E is one of Singapore’s leading A/V specialty contractors, and has represented Soundcraft for more than 20 years.

Gary Goh, Director of E&E stated, “The user-friendliness of the board was the top selling point in our work with Hard Rock. The digital console was perfect for a mid-sized venue like this one.  There is no doubt that the Si2 has made musical operations run much more smoothly at the Hard Rock.”

Shattered Glass Prepares For The 2010 World Cup With The Soundcraft Si2 Console

As South Africa’s leading supplier in technical event staging, Shattered Glass has depended on Soundcraft consoles to deliver flawless performances in some of the most highly attended international events for years. With its past experience validating Soundcraft’s ability to handle even the most complex setups and the 2010 FIFA World Cup coming to South Africa next year, the company recently purchased the Soundcraft Si2 to prepare for the events ahead.

Shattered Glass has been using the Soundcraft Vi6 console for years for various types of live applications, including corporate events, concerts, and theatre environments, without ever having experienced the slightest interruption. After reviewing the features, Shattered Glass realized that the Si2 was also a perfect solution for all of its live sound needs based on the console’s ability to switch between channel and global mode, the FX and dynamics processing on every channel, and the easy VCA routing. In addition, the incredible versatility that allows the Si2 to be used for a multitude of applications meant that Shattered Glass will be prepared for any and every event at the FIFA World Cup.

“We chose the Si2 because it is so user-friendly,” said Adriano Landi, the technical director for Shattered Glass. “Any good sound engineer will be able to use this desk in a matter of minutes without using it before. It’s compact, straightforward, easy to learn and so easy to train on.”

Shattered Glass has already used the Si2 for several events, including the Coca-Cola Moment 4 Summer Recruit, the MNet Long Service Awards, and the Vodashop Spring Break at Sun City. With its totally independent filters, 31 band EQ and dynamic processing, the Si2 has already lived up to the high expectations set by the Vi6.

“The Si2 is an absolute pleasure to work with and outstanding value for our money,” Landi continues. “We are delighted with our investment and look forward to many more performances to come.”

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.”

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Three, Two, One, Go! Soundcraft’s New Si1 Digital Console Expands Si Series Range

POTTERS BAR, England – Today, a third member joins the very successful Si Series family—the even more compact Soundcraft Si1 digital live sound console.

In just nine months, Soundcraft has now launched three models in this range, picking up no less than five 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, eight 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 four stereo inputs to provide a really powerful mix package in a width of 1.2m for a UK list price of under £14,000. 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.

Soundcraft Vi6 and Si3 Live At Peabo Bryson’s Performance In Malaysia

When GRAMMY Award winner Peabo Bryson performed for a charity gala dinner at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia last June, the Soundcraft Vi6™ and Si3 consoles were used for front-of-house and monitor mixing. The R&B and soul sensation dazzled the crowd with a variety of songs at the High Networth Summit and Pride Foundation Charity Gala Dinner, both of which were set up by former Malaysia Prim Minister Tun Abdullah Badwal as an initiative to support breast cancer patients.

Bryson enthralled the crowd with his catalog of material, including his Disney hit duets “Beauty and the Beast [Beauty and the Beast]” and “A Whole New World [Aladdin].”

For the event, sound company Show Gear deployed a Soundcraft Vi6 front of house console and Soundcraft Si3 monitor console, which were supplied by Soundcraft distributor Systems Electronics & Engineering Sdn Bhd.

“The Soundcraft Vi6 is easy to set up and repatch, and the usability allows even the most elementary sound engineer to program and run any level event, even on their first use,” said the Show Gear team. “The user interface is very straightforward, with multiple touch screens that allow for quick navigation and control of functions. The bank of faders makes the sound engineers feel that they are working on analogue and the changing fader colors relieve them of the ‘digital panic.’”

The Soundcraft Vi6 and Soundcraft Si3 were also deployed at other high-profile events such as Monsoon Cup Concert, 2009 New Year’s Eve Countdown by Kota Bharu and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia’s (MOSTI) official logo launch, according to Show Gear.

Soundcraft Showcases Lower-Priced Si2 Addition To Si Series Digital Console Family

Digital consoles seem to be freely flowing from the Soundcraft Studer team these days, as a new member of the Si Series is announced. The Soundcraft Si2 is a smaller partner to the Si3 launched only in September last year, and is bound to appeal to those wanting a compact and highly-featured digital console at a competitive price.

The Si2 comes in a smaller footprint than its bigger brother, and has 48 mic inputs mapped on 24 faders (the Si3 has 64 inputs), but this is where the differences end. The Si2, like the Si3, has four dedicated Stereo Line channels, four dedicated FX Returns from the four stereo Lexicon FX processors, 8 balanced insert sends and 8 balanced insert returns. Si2 is complete with 24 Group/Aux busses available at all times, 8 matrix busses and a full complement of monitor talkback and main bus outputs. One of the most unique and compelling features of the Si series is that every input and output has its own dedicated input (output) socket on the back of the console.

Like the Si3, the Si2 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 console’s launch last year. Four assignable on-board lexicon effect engines supplement 4 stereo inputs to provide a really powerful mix package in a width of 1.4m for a UK list price of £17,950.

This package will be highly suited for installations where a smaller footprint is critical, such as theaters, houses of worship and smaller tour sound systems.

With all input and output connections and power supply on board, the Si2 can simply drop in where an existing analog console sits, utilizing existing copper cable snakes and splitter systems.

For more information and to find out what the reviewers are saying, visit www.soundcraftdigital.com.

Soundcraft Announces Lower-Priced Si2 Addition To Si Series Digital Console Family

Digital consoles seem to be freely flowing from the Soundcraft Studer team these days, as a new member of the Si Series is announced. The Soundcraft Si2 is a smaller partner to the Si3, launched only in September last year, and is bound to appeal to those wanting a compact and highly-featured digital console at a competitive price.

The Si2 comes in a smaller footprint than its bigger brother, and has 48 mic inputs mapped on 24 faders (the Si3 has 64 inputs), but this is where the differences end. The Si2, like the Si3, has four dedicated Stereo Line channels, four dedicated FX Returns from the four stereo Lexicon FX processors, 8 balanced insert sends and 8 balanced insert returns. Si2 is complete with 24 Group/Aux busses available at all times, 8 matrix busses and a full complement of monitor talkback and main bus outputs. One of the most unique and compelling features of the Si series is that every input and output has its own dedicated input (output) socket on the back of the console.

Like the Si3, the Si2 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 console’s launch last year. Four assignable on-board lexicon effect engines supplement 4 stereo inputs to provide a really powerful mix package in a width of 1.4m for a UK list price of £17,950.

This package will be highly suited for installations where a smaller footprint is critical, such as theaters, houses of worship and smaller tour sound systems.

With all input and output connections and power supply on board, the Si2 can simply drop in where an existing analog console sits, utilizing existing copper cable snakes and splitter systems.

For more information and to find out what the reviewers are saying, visit www.soundcraftdigital.com.