Adding to Soundcraft’s growing roster of front-line PA companies adopting their Vi digital platform, is long-serving Southampton-based RPA Sound. Experienced FOH engineer Ian Grove, who set the company up 22 years ago, has placed his first order for a Vi6, with Soundcraft’s UK distributors, Sound Technology.
RPA’s touring commitments today take them worldwide, and fresh back from an event in Vladivostok, RPA’s MD said, “We run an inventory of industry-standard equipment, and having seen how popular the Soundcraft Vi6 is on the continent, and the large number of engineers who use it, I took the decision to invest. I have always been knocked out by the sound quality and ease of use since first coming across it on a show in Austria three years ago.”
Having placed the order, Sound Technology Ltd promptly responded by sending Sam Brandon, from their Project Team, to run through features of the desk.
“But actually there’s nothing difficult to work out — everything is so obvious,” stated Grove. “Much as I like the sound of my old analogue desks, the Vi6 matches it. The days of analogue are numbered and there was no point remaining in that domain.”
He has noted the growing swell of sound engineers plunging into the digital world, with the reduced prep time involved, less weight and the availability of more onboard FX.
“But it’s the sound quality that’s the big thing for me — the Studer preamps are amazing, the Vistonics II™ interface is very obvious, and the FaderGlow™ alerts you to what’s going on and is especially good for the User Defined fader page.”
Other advantages, he says, are that different FX can be called up song by song — with far greater expedience than trying to repatch in analogue.
He has also noticed the growing number of sound engineers turning up at festivals with memory sticks and cards, and plugging straight in to the board.
This became evident at the first high profile show RPA Sound undertook with the Vi6 — the Great Escape Festival at Brighton Dome with Groove Armada headlining. “We provided a spec, and four out of the eight sound engineers turned up with their USB’s — which was great.”
Summing up, Ian Grove says, “With the Vi6 Soundcraft have jumped a step ahead.” And as a result, RPA Sound expect a heavy tour of duty for the Vi6, which is presently out with the Proclaimers. “In fact Tom Oliver [the band’s manager and FOH engineer] is an analogue stalwart. We have done nine or ten tours with them and had unsuccessfully tried to convert him to digital … and yet he has taken to the Vi6.”
The console then made a hugely successful appearance at the five-day Larmer Tree Festival near Salisbury. “We offer a choice of digital and analogue desks — and last year it would have been a 50-/50 split between sound engineers. But this year the Vi6 enjoyed an 85% success. In fact Robert Cray’s engineer, Bob White — who produced the best mix of the Festival — was all set to work off the analogue board; but as soon as he saw the Vi6, he went off and came back with his USB stick!”
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