Prism Sound Orpheus - Audio Media

05|08AMSRNeed a quality mixer for smallevents? BEN BURNS mightjust have found the perfectunit for the job.THE REVIEWERBen Burns is a London-basedfreelance engineer- both live andstudio- with credits including Blur,Dido, Embrace, Happy Mondays,and more.Soundcraft has been gaining a lot of respect in the livesound industry recently, thanks to the success of theVi series of digital consoles. To ensure no analogueusers get offended, the GB series has a new nephew in theform of a rack mountable 12- or 16-channel mixer.The Classic rack mixer design with rotating rearconnection panel is executed with Soundcraft precisionand quality, from the GB30 pre amps and EQ to the sturdyrack ears.All the features of this board are geared up to pleaseany SR professional, the XLR connectors are all top qualityNeutrik designs to ensure reliability, and there is a directoutput on a balanced jack for every channel.There are two versions available, a 16-channel desk withone master stereo buss, or a 12-channel (plus two stereoinputs) with two master stereo busses. The other featureson both models are identical: a stereo master bus and astereo sub-group.ConnectivityThe 16-channel review model strikes me as a veryfunctional piece of equipment. There are no bells orwhistles, except the designer’s signature printed abovethe meters. Neutrik XLR inputs are mountedon the extensively featured rear panel.Each input channel on this board includesthe usual ¼-inch jack ‘line level’ inputsocket, as well as an unbalanced ¼-inchjack socket for an insert. The directoutputs for each channel are providedon another ¼-inch balanced jack witha switch to tap the signal pre or postfader – the signal will always be afterthe gain stage, high pass filter, andpolarity invert switch.Direct outputs are perhaps one of themost useful features for any small board –they can be used to get the same instrument on two faders,as sends for a multi-track recorder, or another console suchas a monitor board.H idden Ex trasThe extra hidden features are the two stereo inputs,provided as two pairs of ¼-inch jack sockets on therear panel. With simple rotary pots on the deskitself, these extra channels will always come inhandy for effects returns, etc. As withmost similar designs, thereare inputs and outputsfor a two-track machineprovided on consumer RCAjacks. Including consumerconnectivity on a productsuch as the GB2R is veryimportant, it adds versatilityto the product and ensures thatany non-technical users can easilyconnect an mp3 player. There is a potfor the input level, but the only level controlfor the record outputs is via the master faders.It would be better to have attenuation/gainavailable for the record output, as it is a good way to getsignal to a video camera or a second PA zone.Main OutputsThe main outputs are grouped together with the ‘controlroom monitor’ outputs, which would typically be usedwhen mixing from a remote location using referencemonitors. The mono output is a simple XLR socket withno insert whilst the main left and right output socketsdo have unbalanced insert points, located directly abovethe XLR outputs.Aux outputs are grouped together with the first fouron XLR sockets, aux 5 and 6 are via balanced ¼-inch jackSOUNDCRAFT GB2RANALOGUE MIXERsockets. None of the aux outputs include insert points,which is not such a big deal as most people would runany processing (i.e., graphic EQ) in line. The only potentialproblem with this method is that any desk metering will notreflect changes made by the inserted processor.Mains AC is connected to the IEC socket which includesone of those metal clips to hold the cable in securely.This clip will only work with IEC plugs of a certain size, but ishighly recommended, as sudden power disconnection canbe bad for your professional health.A feature first introduced by another company is therotating connector panel. The basic idea is that when youuse the desk free standing, it sits at a comfortable angleand all the connectors are located on the rear of the desk.If you want to rack mount the desk then the whole panelswings around 90 degrees so the connectors are actuallyunderneath the desk. This method is usually implementedfor pre-wired racks, but you do have to be careful whenmounting the desk horizontally as gravity tries to remove allthe jacks from the connector panel as it points down.Channel StripsThis board is very well designed, the colour coding on thepots is well thought out and unless you pull the knobsoff and swap them all about, it makes perfect sense.Each channel has a phantom switch with orange LED toindicate when 48v has been applied. Both button andlight are clearly visible and can be easily changedat any time, unlike some desks wherethe phantom power switch is eitheron the back panel, or simply affectsbanks of eight channels rather than eachone individually.Electrical polarity can be invertedwith the ‘phase reverse’ switch, andthe high pass filter is set at100Hz. The gain pot affectsboth the line and micinputs, which usethe same pre amp(the line input issimply attenuated by20dB inside the desk).The GB30 EQ soundssweet and musical, twoshelving filters are set at 13Khz and60Hz with +/- 15dB boost/cut. These aresensible frequency choices and inexperienced>72AUDIO MEDIA MAY 2008