www.americanradiohistory.comSoundcraft 3200An operational report on a new mixingconsole by David MellorSoundcraft enjoy an excellent reputationfor producing workmanlike consoles inthe mid price range, in the sense thatthe technical specifications approach thelimits of possibility perhaps as closely as consolesby premium price manufacturers. The image ofthe Soundcraft console, however, has alwaystended towards the purely functional. Of course,any engineer will give greater regard to substancerather than style. But it is not always technicalexcellence that sells studio time. A &Rdepartments and producers may be inspired togreater achievement by a console that really looksthe part.The new Soundcraft 3200 is intended to be thecompany's flagship console, and it is meant tolook as good as it sounds. Not only to beattractive to the non -technical user, but also topresent its functions clearly and logically to theengineer's eye. To this end, industrial designcompany Roberts Weaver was engaged to workwith Soundcraft's designers to produce a consolethat looks right as well as sounds right.The 3200 certainly does look right. Soundcraft'sTechnical Director Graham Blyth has nicknamedit `Bigfoot': the large feet, as well as planting theconsole securely on the ground, also serve ascableways. A door at the rear of each foot allowsaccess for wiring. The other most noticeablefeature of the design is that it looks extremelywide, even though it isn't any wider than anycomparable console. The proportions haveobviously been calculated carefully to giveoptimum user appeal.Another, more important, function of anindustrial designer is advising on appropriatematerials and methods of construction. Thestrength of this console relies mainly on pressedsteel, rather than aluminium extrusions. Thisapparently cuts the cost of construction with noloss of rigidity. The separate fader section is adeparture from normal Soundcraft practice. Upuntil now, their consoles have had the fadersmounted directly on the channel strip. The 3200'sseparately mounted faders allow for anyautomation system to be added, either at the timeof placing the order or at a later date.It is a 36- channel, 32 -bus split console in the'traditional' British fashion. After the recenttrend towards in -line consoles, Soundcraft believethat a return in taste towards separate monitorsections is imminent. The monitor section, as willbe explained, is extremely well specified. Whereasan in -line console has to share the facilities ofeach channel between the input and the monitorsignal paths, the 3200 gives full control over both,avoiding the necessity to choose which path toassign the EQ (or filters, gate or aux sends) to.For users who require only 24 outputs (ratherthan the full 32) a 32 into 24 frame size of theconsole is available. This still has the full 32buses but the eight 'spares' can be used asadditional auxiliary buses. On either frame sizemore inputs can be specified, traded for feweroutputs.Input moduleThe input module is very clearly laid out.Legending is particularly comprehensive, yet easyto read. Where dual concentric controls are used,the inner knob has a blue legend, the outer knobbeing marked in white. All controls which need tobe easily rotated to their centre position have adetent, otherwise the action is smooth -muchbetter than the continuously variable pots withmeaningless clicks used on some consoles. Theknobs have clear indicators all the way down tothe panel, reducing the effects of parallax.The top of the module starts with 32 routingswitches. Each has an integral LED indicator, asin fact has every switch on the console.Soundcraft claim a very low crosstalk figure fortheir routing matrix. Obviously, the closeproximity of the switches in a typical routingmatrix provides an easy path for capacitativecoupling. Attention has been paid to the physicallayout of the switches, to the extent, they say, ofdesigning the buttons of the switches to allowcomponents to be placed where the constraints ofminimal crosstalk, rather than convenience,demand.The buses all work in balanced mode. This hasthe effect of reducing mix noise by very nearlythe full 3 dB theoretically possible, and alsoreduces any interference and crosstalk that thebuses -which of course run the whole length ofthe console -might pick up.The channel has three electronically balancedinputs, switchable between mic and two lines.There are separate concentric gain controls formic (padless, 0 to 70 dB) and line ( -10 to+20 dB). There is a phase reverse switch andswitchable phantom power for the mic input.Following the input stage is a filter section with12 dB /octave roll off at high (1 kHz to 25 kHz) andlow (20 Hz to 320 Hz) frequencies.A first for Soundcraft is a noise gate on eachchannel. It has the usual noise gate controls ofthreshold, depth, attack and decay on two dualconcentric pots. The key can be either the signalitself passing through the channel, or an externalkey can be patched through line input B. Ineither case, side chain filtering can be performedby switching in the high- and lowpass filters fromthe section above. Stereo linking is not available,although this could be simulated by paralleling akey signal into the B line inputs. An LEDindicates when the gate is muting.EQ is 4 -band sweep. HF and LF (LF peaking orshelving) have frequency and boost /cut dualconcentric rotary controls. The two mid sectionsalso have a Q control each, variable from 0.7 to 3.These are of conventional, rather than constant -Q,design. The channel insert point is controlled from112 Studio Sound, June 1989
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June 1989STUDIOAND BROADCAST ENGINE
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