Soundcraft debuts audio desk with lighting control with the Si Performer

Boasting a comprehensive set of audio features but with the addition of basic lighting control via a single DMX universe, the Si Performer follows the success of the manufacturer’s Si Compact digital console, and has been similarly targeted towards a very specific entry-level market including small to medium houses of worship, small theatres, the corporate events market and intimate music venues. The compact surface allows a single operator to produce an audio mix whilst simultaneously controlling a basic lighting set-up.

‘As long as somebody knows how to operate our consoles then learning how to do the lighting is a 30 minute to an hour job – it’s exactly the same user interface,’ enthused Andy Trott, Harman Professional vice president and general manager of mixing, microphones and headphones. ‘I challenged my team about two years ago to start thinking outside of the box, to think of things we could do horizontally from our market, and this is what they came up with – lighting.’

Nor is the console lacking in terms of audio, with approximately twice as much DSP power as the Si Compact, plus increased functionality and an input capacity of 80 inputs to mix. The Si Performer 2 features 24 mic and eight line inputs, while the Si Performer 3 boasts 32 mic and eight line inputs in addition to four effects return channels. The provision of two option card slots allows for I/O expansion via any of the Soundcraft stageboxes and option cards from the Soundcraft ViSi Connect range.

However, the desk’s most eye-grabbing feature is its integrated DMX512 port, which facilitates all lighting control. The first software release provides four scene masters (A-D) with associated slave channels on the ALT fader layers, and individual colour intensities or parameters are set on the slave faders with an overall master level fader, which itself may be assigned to any of the main fader layers for simultaneous access to audio and lighting levels.

‘We’ve also got Faderglow – the lighting element within the track of the fader – and we’ve allocated white to show when it’s being used as a lighting controller,’ continued Mr Trott.

Other features include fully-parametric four-band EQ on all input channels in addition to BSS graphic EQs on all bus outputs, standard filters, gates, compressors and delays on all inputs and outputs, which when calculated deliver the equivalent of over 220 rack units of processing. Meanwhile, 14 mixes may be configured in various combinations of mono and stereo to a total of 20 mix busses, and are supplemented by four stereo matrix mixes, four dedicated effects busses and three master mix busses which offer true LCR mode mixing. Additional key features comprise a further eight VCA groups and eight mute groups, and each channel features a custom LCD screen to show identifications. Finally, the console is compatible with Soundcraft’s ViSi Remote iPad app.

‘The range is particularly suitable for houses of worship where a lot of the operators are volunteers instead of trained professionals,’ added Mr Neal. ‘If they’re already familiar with the lighting side of it, then it’s a simple transition from audio to lighting. The learning curve is really quite simple.’

‘When designing the range, we wanted something that could make engineers’ lives simpler, allow them to have a smaller inventory, make set up quicker and allow a smaller crew to run a more complex show,’ added Chris Gomm, chief R&D designer, Soundcraft. ‘The house of worship market is one of our biggest aims for this launch, but also smaller to mid-sized venues where one engineer can control the whole creative flow.’

Mr Gomm was quick to add that ‘Soundcraft is very much about audio, so we don’t want to dilute that, we just want to enhance it. However, I do believe that this concept will remain part of our future roadmap.’

www.soundcraft.com