At the Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt, Soundcraft by Harman has introduced the latest addition to the Vi range of digital live consoles, the Vi2000.
The compact Vi2000 combines the Vistonics-based control surface of the Vi3000, Vi5000 and Vi7000 consoles with a Soundcraft SpiderCore integrated DSP and I/O engine based on Studer technology.
“For touring or installations, the Vi2000 is an amazing console that includes everything today’s engineers are looking for in a compact digital console,” says Andy Brown, product manager, Tour Mixers, Harman Professional Solutions. “The technologies integrated into the console put the Vi2000 on the leading edge of sound quality, control responsiveness and complete digital connectivity.”
The Vistonics interface is central to the Vi2000 design, providing direct access to all functions with maximum information and visibility. Multiple switches and rotary encoders are built into each Vistonics screen. Functions are color-coded and change according to the selected mode.
The Vi2000’s sound quality is enhanced by Soundcraft SpiderCore, a 40-bit, floating-point DSP engine that mixes FPGA and DSP technology in a unique combination that maximizes I/O routing and DSP mixing capability in a footprint small enough for inclusion within the control surface.
In addition to a full assortment of onboard mic and line I/O, the console is configurable up to 48 mic line inputs and 16 line outputs, using combinations of 16-channel XLR modules in four rear-mounted slots.
It also includes two 64-channel expansion slots, allowing up to two MADI-based Stageboxes to be connected. Or, alternatively, the slots provide access to the extensive range of D21m I/O option cards, addressing all industry-standard audio formats. The total I/O count of the console is 246 in and 246 out.
Like other ViX000 Series consoles, a built-in 64 x 64-channel Dante interface provides direct recording/playback connection to any PC- or Mac-based recording software via Ethernet. It also allows the Vi2000 to integrate into an existing Dante network.
The Dante interface is complemented by an additional optical MADI interface, designed for either record feeds or to connect the Soundcraft Realtime Rack Plug-in engine, Universal Audio UAD-powered plug-ins to the Vi2000’s pristine audio quality.
The package is completed with an compact frame design measuring just under 3-feet 8-inches in width, with 16 input faders and 8 output faders. Patented features like FaderGlow, VM2 microphone monitoring, and Vistonics provide a user-friendly mixing experience.
In addition, the 40-bit floating-point DSP environment runs Studer, BSS, Lexicon and dbx audio processing algorithms, with the BSS DPR901ii dynamic EQ being the most recent addition.
