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[Chris Tate]

Hey Bart,

I think you can make groups pre/post as I remember once changing some pre fader aux busses into groups on the fly and they defaulted to pre fade.....quite a handy feature....the pre fade aux thing is most likely the way your console defaulted to pre fade as they default to post fade normally......

here is how to change it:

1) hit the pre/post button in the master vistonics bay
2) hit the gang button
3) hit a select button on any channel
4) press and hold gang button until all channel select buttons light up
5) select pre / post using any vistonics bay encoder button for the (buss or busses) you wish to make pre/post


Another easy way to check would be to go into fader flip mode and then solo a group master.

If the pre lights come up on the fader bay, then use the instructions above to switch pre/post.

PS: the pre fade feature is quite handy for keying dynamics off a group of things, but the console has no option for keying group outputs so I usually carry a few xlr jumpers with me and return some groups back into the bottom layer of channels (AES I/O is handy for this) for this....VERY handy for 'auto mix' situations when using the gates as duckers etc etc...


chur


chris

[Bart de Wit]

Hi Chris,

Thanks ever so much for your quick reply. However, last night I was doing another one of those extremely loud events and I had a few hours to spare in the afternoon so I got the talkback mic on an input and started playing and then found out that indeed it has to do with how the aux was set and I found to change it, I'd have to change the group back to aux quickly and post that aux on the channel where it was set as a pre.
Worked really well. It was really loud and the vocals were right in there and audible even though  the overall volume didn't change much. It's horrible mixing that loud but it's what the client wants and when you get paid directly by them...
Thanks again,

Bart

[Chris Tate]

Ah Ha!

Yes I just tried it again myself and came up with the same thing...

There are a couple of things like that that have changed over various software revisions....this is one that I haven't used for ages!!....lol.....(not being able to assign Matrix busses back to Stereo is one I really miss as it was also VERY handy....but alas to many people had feed back disasters by engaging when stereo was a contributor and the feature was removed:( )

It comes about from the starting off as a pre fade aux buss thing...I'm about to email Andy at soundcraft to see if they could put the pre/post thing in on group busses as it's really handy.....will probably have to wait till the next software revision....but a birdy has told me that version 4 is in beta at the moment so not be that far away for everyone:)

I think putting the pre/post option in would be better than just defaulting groups to 'always post fade' for the reasons outlined in my previous post!!

PS: I know what you mean about screaming girls!! lol....I'll never forget the first time it happened to me.....I was about 17 at the time, had sound checked LOUD!..... when the band came on I figured out what it must have been like at a Beatles show....meters pinned and a band somewhere in the background.....ear plugs in and wait for the show to be over!! (and the Beatles never had anything like what we would call a PA)

chur


Chris

[Bart de Wit]

I was thinking the same, about getting on to soundcraft to see if the can get the option in for a next update.
Yeah, levels like that aren't nice but sometimes just plain necessary. I could not find my plugs Saturday, till 1,5hrs in! It was an 8hr show
I had a chance to have a half hour break after the time without plugs and had to grab it, my right ear was ringing. After that I did not listen for more than 5 minutes before the plugs went back in! lol!
The venue's got a very nice DV-DOSC system but the bad thing is, you don't notice it's loud, till you really can't understand anyone talking anymore! It's good it had the versataille VI6 in so I could still get the vocals out above without getting more level!

[Bart de Wit]

I managed to crash the work surface twice today while setting up!

It happened when I was setting up the VCA's and I had an external keyboard attached to it. I know that the issue has something to do with typing.

The stagerack and localrack stayed up. As did the faders, or so it seemed, they stayed up and the little screens above them stayed on. I had no audio running through at the time but with some previous crashes I lost all control and the whole thing would reboot. here it just seemed to be the vistronics bit (WIN XP embedded?) as the screens went off and that bit rebooted.

It happened in VCA 3 While I was typing 'Guitar'  in the long label and was typing the 'u'. The 2nd instance occured when I was typing 'Effects'  in the long label of VCA 7 and when I pressed the 'f' for the second time.

After the whole ordeal I had to move some VCA's round but nothing happened when retyping labels.

I'm using a Trust keyboard, which is certified for XP.

For now, the gig's about to start in 10 mins and I should be alright as I had no hitches other than when I was typing but I will pass this on to Soundcraft tomorrow

Oh, and as a footnote to a really annoying thing:
When I type comments in snapshots so that if I fall ill or can't do a few gigs and another engineer has to take over for a few gigs, Why can't that be readable and do I have to scroll thru it by keeping clicking on the arrows?
Can that possibly come to the left of the snapshot screen, you know, where you can also hide and show the scope?

Another thing that I would love to see, Improvement of GEQ's. At the moment you can't really see how much you're cutting etc. It would be nice if the GEQ zoomed on the screen where you pressed it? Same goes in a lesser sense for the PEQ's. it would be great if they could zoom a bit more as at the moment they are very small?

[Evan Kirkendall]

Well, I had some bad experiences on this console tonight...

First, while I was programming it, I managed to lock the whole console up twice by rapidly scrolling through various menus and fader banks. Not a huge deal, but it was rather annoying to have to wait for the thing to reboot twice...

Secondly, and most annoying was come show time, my file from sound check did not save/recall correctly. My gains were all waaay off(most inputs were solid red during line check), all of my high parametrics had become high shelves with a +3dB boost @ 10k and my compressor settings were back to the default position. Certainly annoying trying to fix this by memory in the cans before the show... And yes, I saved the show properly, and no, nobody fucked with anything after I left the console.

Also, I still hate the onboard graphic EQ. It's to the point where I actually had the house guy get an external EQ for me to use...  

Overall though, I still enjoy using the console. It's not my favorite digital desk, but Soundcraft did a good overall job with the console. Just a few glitches that need to be worked out.




Evan

[Chris Tate]

Wow guys, that sounds a bit suck....

I can honestly say that I've never had that happen on the 3 consoles I frequently use down in my neck of the woods....

The only time I've ever had a show not come up correctly is once when a touring guy thought he was up dating his snapshot but in fact was updating the highlighted snap shot which wasn't his.....luckily I managed to figure out what he'd done and recalled the other snap shot for him.....

I've never ever ever seen the surface crash.....although switching between layers is slower than I'd hope for when the fully functional surface is software'd up....and I've seen guys get get in a vicious circle holding the layer buttons down waiting for the change only to have it flip back to the previous layer due to the fact that if the button is held for 2 seconds it becomes momentary...

I'd be ringing the local agents I reckon...sounds to me like the consoles used have problems.....and not software ones.....my brain works pretty fast on shows and I find the console very responsive....(layer change thing excepted)....the console should react instantly... If it's not, something is wrong!

[Bennett Prescott]

Herein endeth the Road Test of the Soundcraft Vi6. It held up flawlessly through an entire summer of abuse, with band engineers and without, with files and with BEs who had to get used to it over the course of a half hour. I still say it's my favorite digital desk at any price, and after talking with Tom Der at AES a few weekends ago most of my nagging concerns will be fixed in an upcoming software update.


Of course, it rained.


Fortunately, it doesn't end here. Jason is buying one, with plans for another down the road, so I will get to spend plenty more time on this excellent piece of hardware. Talk about a pro console to build a company around. I'm very glad to see Soundcraft really polishing this desk, and I can't think of a task that I wouldn't be thrilled to have it at.

[Bennett Prescott]

Another night on the VI6... two things come to mind (I still really like the desk):

1) It does not appear possible to remotely key the individual channel compressors. This comes in helpful sometimes on corporate gigs, like tonight.
2) The new software (4.0.0.157 is what my desk says) is much better polished, but hot damn does it take the desk a long time to boot now. It used to be less than a minute, now it's... well, I'm in the middle of the show, so I'm not going to find out. But it's uncomfortably long. I would hate to lose power to the surface during a show.

[Andrew Moyer]

Bennett Prescott wrote on Sat, 26 June 2010 01:39

1) It does not appear possible to remotely key the individual channel compressors. This comes in helpful sometimes on corporate gigs, like tonight. 2) The new software (4.0.0.157 is what my desk says) is much better polished, but hot damn does it take the desk a long time to boot now. It used to be less than a minute, now it's... well, I'm in the middle of the show, so I'm not going to find out. But it's uncomfortably long. I would hate to lose power to the surface during a show.

1) I think I'm just missing something because it's 3am but what do you mean by remotely key the individual channel compressors?
2) I noticed this on a demo we had of a desk running version 3.  One of the debates we had was whether the computer being in the control surface or the brain made a difference.

Now I just need for the budgeting to get finalized so we can order our Vi4!