On a worldwide tour in support of her hit album It’s Not Me, It’s You, singer/composer Lily Allen has enjoyed great front-of-house sound on four continents, thanks to the Soundcraft Vi6™ large-format digital live sound console. The Vi6, designed using the proven reliability of Studer’s Vista™ and OnAir 3000™ series of consoles and that utilizes the incredibly intuitive Vistonics™ II user interface, lets Allen and her band effortlessly convey the sophisticated lyrics and dynamic music of her powerful songs.
Front-of-house engineer Shan Hira has found the Soundcraft Vi6 to be a comprehensive mixing and processing platform: he’s using all onboard effects except for a Manley Voxbox and an XTA â…“-octave graphic EQ on Allen’s vocals. “I especially like the onboard effects package,â€? he says. “Having eight Lexicons to play with is a rare old treat!â€?
Hira, who has also mixed for the Chemical Brothers and The Streets, has been a fan of the Vi6 for some time. “I had used it before and liked the layout, ease of use, and most importantly the sound of the desk,� he says. The Vi6 delivers a lot of power and features, including 64 mono inputs into 35 outputs and a 32-group/aux matrix, plus main LCR Mix and LR Solo busses. But it does so in a very compact amount of space. “As we were doing a sold-out club tour, the footprint at FOH was an issue, as was truck space,� Hira explains. “So its small size fit the bill perfectly. It made FOH very quick to set up, and it was very reliable—never let me down once. It’s a great console.�
Soundcraft’s first large-format digital live desk, the Soundcraft Vi6 is a third-generation console, thanks to a joint development with sister console company Studer, and is part of the extensive Vi Series of consoles. Its patented Vistonics II interface uses a sophisticated touchscreen color TFT monitor with integral rotary controls and switches mounted on the glass to provide a “where you look is where you control� user experience. The Vi6 offers 64 mono inputs (expandable up to 96) into 35 outputs. Pairs of mono inputs can be linked to create stereo channels. Its 24 insert send/return pairs can be configured (using available I/O) and assigned to any of the 64 inputs or 35 output channels. All 64 input channels can have direct outputs in addition to their internal bus routing, assuming sufficient I/O is available (via an optical MADI card). There are 16 GPIO contact closure inputs and outputs on the local rack, and 8 inputs and outputs on the stagebox, as well as one MIDI In and two MIDI Outs on the rear of the control surface.
Artist Photo Credit: Fay Woodford, faywoodford.co.uk
