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Author Topic: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons  (Read 19223 times)

Florian Pagany

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Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« on: January 14, 2011, 12:36:16 AM »

Hello, my question is: Is there anybody who had to work or is a owner of a Vi6 and can give me some advice about the pros and cons of this console(AD/DA Converters, GEQ, PEQ, copressors, FX, routing ect.), compared to let me say any other digital one in the same category?
thank you!

Florian Pagany ;)
« Last Edit: January 14, 2011, 01:29:27 AM by flotrallala »
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David Buehler

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2011, 01:16:05 AM »

You need your full name in your profile to post....
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Florian Pagany

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2011, 01:54:13 AM »

done  ;)
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Ned Ward

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2011, 02:17:31 AM »

You need your full name in your profile to post....

So should you, nmsoundengineer.
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Royce Covington

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2011, 04:08:17 AM »

please read the quoted text.


this certainly has been an informative topic discussion...

R~
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Ned Ward

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2011, 10:50:56 AM »

While the op may now have had their real name, I was pointing out the nmsoundengineer still does not.
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John Sulek

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2011, 12:46:09 PM »

I have used a Vi6 on monitors for a couple of years now (it's an all iem setup with occasional sidefills and wedges for guests/support acts).
It is a great sounding desk. Very nice preamps, the eq works well and the comps/gates are very usable.
With the latest software, the GEQ on the outputs functions much like a 5D with the GEQ faders taking over the faders in the main bay which you toggle for different freq ranges. You can make the GEQ use all the input faders for a bigger display, but that sort of hinders your ability to mix.
The fx are Lexicon and sound very good. Usual assortment of rooms, halls, plates, E/R as well as delay, chorus, flange. You get 8 stereo fx.
The function that I really find useful is the ability to create custom fader banks on the input bays and output bays (including vca's). You can have what you need on one layer or copy the money channels into each layer so you always can get to them.
You can also temporarily "bank"any block of 8 input or output faders over to the right hand fader bay by touching the meter screen. Very handy to get to other layers quickly.

I much prefer it to a 5D as I find it has a faster workflow.

I have read a lot of comments questioning the reliability. The surface and racks I use have been on tour for at least five years ( they were at foh before I got them). That includes a few seafreight voyages, outdoor shows in the dead of winter and in the height of a Vegas summer.The only problem I ever had was a card cage that needed to be reseated after a very rough shipment (took 2 minutes to do).

The biggest stumbling block to me would be that they aren't as popular as Avid, Yamaha so you can't always spec them. If I was running a hire company I would pick what appeared on the most riders.

There is an offline editor program available on the Soundcraft website if you want to poke around the features a bit.

That would be my 2 cents.
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Christian Tepfer

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2011, 02:17:55 PM »

...
The biggest stumbling block to me would be that they aren't as popular as Avid, Yamaha so you can't always spec them. If I was running a hire company I would pick what appeared on the most riders.
...
Interesting.

The riders I get spec the Vi series a lot, the riders I write alway accept them.

Must be region-specific, I see the Vi's very strong in Germany and Poland.
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Christian Tepfer
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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2011, 03:01:42 PM »

Interesting.

The riders I get spec the Vi series a lot, the riders I write alway accept them.

Must be region-specific, I see the Vi's very strong in Germany and Poland.

Christian -

It is a U.S. thing.   Soundcraft has never been strong here.  I'm not sure about the rest of Europe, but my Dutch friends tell me Vi is OK there.
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John Sulek

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2011, 12:03:09 AM »

Christian -

It is a U.S. thing.   Soundcraft has never been strong here.  I'm not sure about the rest of Europe, but my Dutch friends tell me Vi is OK there.

I agree with you.
I do spec a Vi on my current rider, but also a few other choices that I know I'm more likely to get in the US.
Lots of Vi's in the UK. And there are a few creeping in the US. HOB in Boston has ( or did have )  a pair as house desks.
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John O'Brien

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2011, 01:18:41 AM »

I worked on one this past weekend, and I have to +1 the workflow aspect of the desk. Never before have I seen faders snap in to position that quickly.. it was almost frightening.  :o
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Andrew Moyer

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2011, 02:50:40 PM »

Our venue recently purchased a Vi4 and once our municipal council get around to approving our budgets for 2011 we will be purchasing a second one for monitors. 

I absolutely love the console!  As John mentioned the workflow is fantastic.  I find the preamps have a nice warm sound unlike other digital consoles I have used (Avid, Yamaha and A&H). 

And the user defined layers are very easy to work with and a big time saver.  Being able to put my money channel on each layer, and configuring my output banks for those that I want quick access to have been a show saver numerous times already!
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Chris Tate

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2011, 05:07:23 AM »

Hey there,

For What it's worth, I love the VI6 and reiterate what others have said above.

When I get the choice, I prefer the VI6. It sounds great and removes a layer of distraction when mixing. In fact work flow would be my main reason for loving it so much. It's no use having an amazing sounding desk if you have to think about your next moves 3 verses ahead all the time.

I for one am sick of the control surfaces of some consoles 'getting in the way' (I'm sure that there are many here that would flame the hell out of me if I mentioned brands so I'll just say that only being able to do ONE THING AT A TIME is not optimal and I've heard plenty of mixes suffer for it).

As an FOH guy I've used pretty much all the offerings from all of the manufacturers. The company that supplies my act in Australia provides me with a Pro6, I'll agree.... It sounds really nice... but so does the VI and the VI is much easier to set up and mix on.

As a sound company owner I have purchased quite a few of the offerings and heard the resulting mixes night after night....... I still rate the VI stuff as a no brainer..... The VI6 is also the most reliable digital console we own.

Oh yeah, one last thing I see as an advantage with the VI / Vista stuff is the fact that the knobs are on the glass. I've seen many innovative upgrades to the VI feature set implemented without the need for anything other than a graphics change (a MAJOR advantage of having the controls on the screen).

chur,

Chris
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2011, 10:57:13 AM »

The VI consoles are great. I love mixing on them. They seem to be able to get the mix to "gel" much better than any other console on the market, although I will admit to not using a Midas digital yet. Out of all the other major players that I've used, the VI is my favorite.

On the other hand I will say that there are some things that bug me about the VI user interface. Channel naming is one. I would love to be able to stay on the keyboard and just tab/arrow to the different channels to add names. The way you do it on the VI means a lot of back and forth button pressing to get channel names entered. the 5d wins here.

Copy/paste could be a little better implemented. you can easily copy an EQ from one channel to the next, but I like the drag and drop style from the 5d here. It would be cool if I could press a "drag copy" button and then be able to just press a screen module and drag it to where I want it.

Output pairing is confusing. I would like to be able to marry up matrix or aux outputs to be able to make changes, but still having them act as independent outputs. Yamaha does well in this area too. Pair up some outputs and change eq, or delay, or whatever, but then you need to change level on one and not the other? Just hold the select and it becomes unhinged and you can freely make those changes. The VI uses the "gang" button to kinda do this, but be sure you remember to untoggle the gang buttons or you'll screw yourself on another page somewhere.

It would also be awesome if multiband comps were included in all new digi desks. Yamaha, please make your's usable!

As you can see, these are nit-picky things about the desk that could use some improvement. Overall the desk is a hit.
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Bennett Prescott

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2011, 12:07:37 PM »

On the other hand I will say that there are some things that bug me about the VI user interface. Channel naming is one. I would love to be able to stay on the keyboard and just tab/arrow to the different channels to add names. The way you do it on the VI means a lot of back and forth button pressing to get channel names entered. the 5d wins here.
Tim,

Name your channel and then hit the select button below the fader on the next channel you want to name. Only works within the same bank of 8, but saves you a few taps.

I wish they had smart labeling like the Venue desks, having to make my own long and short names every time is what annoys me.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2011, 12:41:42 PM »

I know and use that shortcut. I am just too used to the 5d way that everything else bugs me. One screen with a spreadsheet-like field of all channel names that I can tab to? Yes please....
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Christian Tepfer

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2011, 12:48:58 PM »

Tim,

Name your channel and then hit the select button below the fader on the next channel you want to name. Only works within the same bank of 8, but saves you a few taps.

I wish they had smart labeling like the Venue desks, having to make my own long and short names every time is what annoys me.
This method (using the select buttons) is fast enough for me.

That and tab - double backspace for the short name.

Another method is exporting and importing channel labels to/from a .csv file. This is faster when you use the editor to name a lot of channels.
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Christian Tepfer
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2011, 01:01:54 PM »

I forgot to mention that this desk is one that 2 people can truly work side by side on. That is huge.

I hate it when I've got to wrangle house music and an MC mic while the BE is futzing with stuff and always stealing the focus from my channels. This doesn't happen on the Vi. Plus, when a BE steps up that is not familiar with the desk, I can help them get going by taking care of the drums while they tweak lead vocals or whatever. That right hand section is golden.
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John O'Brien

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2011, 10:45:29 AM »

I forgot to mention that this desk is one that 2 people can truly work side by side on. That is huge.

I hate it when I've got to wrangle house music and an MC mic while the BE is futzing with stuff and always stealing the focus from my channels. This doesn't happen on the Vi. Plus, when a BE steps up that is not familiar with the desk, I can help them get going by taking care of the drums while they tweak lead vocals or whatever. That right hand section is golden.

+1
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Rob Bird

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #19 on: January 26, 2011, 06:10:30 AM »

Tim,

Name your channel and then hit the select button below the fader on the next channel you want to name. Only works within the same bank of 8, but saves you a few taps.

I wish they had smart labeling like the Venue desks, having to make my own long and short names every time is what annoys me.

From memory after you type the first name, tap the short name (which will highlight all text in the field), then press backspace twice and it will bring the long name across automatically. 

As for the Vi in general as everyone else has been saying they sound great and the workflow is awesome.  I've used it at both FOH and Mons and and its very easy to teach walk up engineers to use and I have only had positive feedback in the time we've been using them (3 years)
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Christian Tepfer

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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #20 on: January 26, 2011, 08:08:51 AM »

From memory after you type the first name, tap the short name (which will highlight all text in the field), then press backspace twice and it will bring the long name across automatically. 
...(snip)
Even faster:

Type long name, tab - double backspace, shorten short name if it is too long and scrolling bugs you - ready.
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Christian Tepfer
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Re: Soundcraft Vi6 pros and cons
« Reply #20 on: January 26, 2011, 08:08:51 AM »


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