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Author Topic: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm  (Read 19847 times)

Kevin Messerschmidt

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Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« on: November 18, 2011, 11:44:13 PM »

I just got a chance to demo a si compact.  I was pretty disappointed.  It could be a great mixer but when you consider the price, I believe it missed the mark.  I felt like it was only slighty better than a studiolive. If it is it is only due to recallable preamps, moving faders and glowing fader colors.  Other than that it feels cheap, lacks a ton of features found on other mixers in it's price range and just left me wanting more.   Too bad, I was excited about it going in.   
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Ryan McLeod

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2011, 04:45:14 PM »

Curious... As I own three of them, very much like them, and myself and my team have discovered that they're generally 'everything that we need, with little extra and little missing' - what are you comparing them to and what missing features bother you? In my mind, moving faders and recallable preamps are more then a minor improvement over a studiolive.

And please don't misunderstand my question - I recently had the same conversation with myself, and other then a few minor issues with ver.1 that have been fixed, I'm very happy with the desks at their pricepoint, and I very much love the MADI stagebox we picked up as well.

My only 'real' issue is the 2 parametric eq + 2 sweep eq per channel, with the freq conscious gate - I would have preferred a 4ch parametric and lost the freq part of the gate, but at the same time is has yet to cause me a problem - it's just in my head  ;D
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Jamin Lynch

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2011, 09:13:33 PM »

Curious... As I own three of them, very much like them, and myself and my team have discovered that they're generally 'everything that we need, with little extra and little missing' - what are you comparing them to and what missing features bother you? In my mind, moving faders and recallable preamps are more then a minor improvement over a studiolive.

And please don't misunderstand my question - I recently had the same conversation with myself, and other then a few minor issues with ver.1 that have been fixed, I'm very happy with the desks at their pricepoint, and I very much love the MADI stagebox we picked up as well.

My only 'real' issue is the 2 parametric eq + 2 sweep eq per channel, with the freq conscious gate - I would have preferred a 4ch parametric and lost the freq part of the gate, but at the same time is has yet to cause me a problem - it's just in my head  ;D


I feel exactly the same way.

I like my Si Compact better then the LS9.
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Gianfranco Favero

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2011, 12:45:33 AM »

lacks a ton of features found on other mixers in it's price range and just left me wanting more.   Too bad, I was excited about it going in.

I registered in this forum just to answer this (I've been reading for a long time, though).
Compared to the ls9 the compact feels dumb. I like a desk that lets me personalize it, that gives me a lot of options and that I can do what i want with it. I don't want to work the way the desk wants. Few examples?
-Stereo channels only on second layer. Really? enough to piss you off every time there's a backing track or something.
-Channel linking only starting from even number to odd. You can link 1 and 2 but not 2 and 3.
- graphic eq on the L&R together, not possible to separate L&R.
-not possible to send L to one matrix e R to another, that is what you would most commonly do, I think...
- only 2 sweep PEQ per channel
- no custom layer or custom buttons
- other things that I can't recall at the moment because I try to use it less that I can. If the Ls9 is not busy, I go for that one.

ah one more thing, effects returns only on second layer. Is it awkward enough for a digital desk?
It's got some drawbacks typical of the digital (ex: not all the pots available straight away) and some drawbacks of the analog (ex: inflexible).
I have to say I started mixing with digital desks, so I might be biased, but for me the more features the better.

Actually a think a GB4 would be better if for the onboard dynamics
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drew gandy

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2011, 03:18:56 PM »

- graphic eq on the L&R together, not possible to separate L&R.


Since the Studio Live was mentioned, I would like to bring up the fact that it has the opposite problem.  If you want to do a stereo mix with identical EQ you have to do the eq first on the L and then copy it to the R.  Not very helpful on the fly when you're adjusting as you're hearing what you get.  Although, I think having the LR eq permanently fixed together would be a bigger drawback. 
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Arrogance is usually far worse than ignorance. But every once in awhile they swap places.

Gianfranco Favero

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2011, 04:57:13 AM »

I worked with the Compact today again, and I found some more flaws: you can't in any way separate L and R out. To be more specific, I wanted to hear only the left PA for a minute: the only way to do it is by unplugging one of the xlr from the outputs. big shit.
Want to copy an eq setting between channels? you have to copy all then channel, even fader position. I really think that people that prefer the sicompact to the ls9 need to explain me very carefully what is better.
And I'll have to deal with that for the next 3 days  in a row.
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Gianfranco Favero

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2011, 05:00:13 AM »

some more?
the PEQ doesn't have 400hz freq. only 315 or 500. I find that awful. 400hz is always a pain.

And it's SLOWWWWWWWWWWW. selecting different channels to see the different settings, you have to stop for one or 2 second s to wait for all the lights to light up to see what's happening, the routing, etc. D'You know how many things happen in 2 seconds?

And the buttons are spongy, they don't click so yo never know if you pushed it right or not.

Do you want me to go on?

Probably tomorrow night I will, after smashing my head over it all day long.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2011, 05:07:16 AM by Gianfranco Favero »
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Pat Latimer

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2011, 07:47:41 AM »

some more?
the PEQ doesn't have 400hz freq. only 315 or 500. I find that awful. 400hz is always a pain.

And it's SLOWWWWWWWWWWW. selecting different channels to see the different settings, you have to stop for one or 2 second s to wait for all the lights to light up to see what's happening, the routing, etc. D'You know how many things happen in 2 seconds?

And the buttons are spongy, they don't click so yo never know if you pushed it right or not.

Do you want me to go on?

Probably tomorrow night I will, after smashing my head over it all day long.

No, please don't. You're obviously a Yamaha/LS-9 fanboy but there's nothing wrong with that.

If you're so disappointed with the console, why not just return it and get your beloved LS-9??

Completely bashing a product that a lot of people have had really good luck with is getting us nowhere.

Pat
« Last Edit: November 22, 2011, 07:50:09 AM by Pat Latimer »
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Chuck Simon

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #8 on: November 22, 2011, 10:26:03 AM »

Quote
Completely bashing a product that a lot of people have had really good luck with is getting us nowhere.

I disagree.  I have not heard any criticism that sounds unreasonable or insults directed at anyone(like the term "fanboy" for example).  As one considering the purchase of a digital board, I want to hear as many opinions as possible - good or bad!
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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2011, 11:23:16 AM »

I disagree.  I have not heard any criticism that sounds unreasonable or insults directed at anyone(like the term "fanboy" for example).  As one considering the purchase of a digital board, I want to hear as many opinions as possible - good or bad!
I also appreciate the feedback.  Among other things, having a more limited EQ on an $8000 board compared to a $2000 01v96 will keep me away from the Soundcraft.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Soundcraft si compact . Hmmm
« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2011, 11:23:16 AM »


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