Soundcraft Extends Vi Series Digital Mixing Consoles with new Vi5000 and Vi7000 Models

May 25 2015, 03:00
Providing a wider range of options to its Vi Series digital mixing consoles Soundcraft recently introduced the Vi5000 and Vi7000 models, now offering optional 96kHz processing, upgraded channel counts, larger control surfaces and even more reliable hardware. Both consoles also introduce remote monitoring and control of networked Shure wireless systems.

Designed for live sound production, the Vi5000 and Vi7000 replace Soundcraft’s popular Vi4 and Vi6 consoles, offering significant technology and feature set improvements whilst retaining and building on the user interface and sound quality characteristics that have made these consoles a favorite on technical riders for the last eight years.

Following on the same line as the recently introduced Vi3000, the new Vi5000 and Vi7000 provide a choice of control surfaces with new local rack and active breakout box hardware, delivering simultaneous mixing of up to 128 inputs and 32 mono/stereo busses with up to 384 inputs and outputs in the I/O system allowing unlimited record feeds from all channels. 

The sound quality is assured with ultra-low noise microphone amplifier designs and enhanced 96kHz 40-bit floating point digital audio processing, with the first ever digital implementation of the classic BSS DPR901ii Dynamic EQ adding to the channel processing armory, while effects contain eight independent Lexicon multi-FX units, and a BSS graphic EQ on every bus output. Both consoles also feature an additional dedicated 64ch MADI interface for Realtime Rack; a collaboration with Universal Audio that gives users access to industry-standard UA studio plugins.
 

The Vi5000 and 7000 consoles boast the most configurable local and Stagebox I/O hardware in their class, with extensive ViSi Connect I/O expansion options available (EtherSound, CobraNet, Dante, MADI, etc.) plus a choice of Cat 5e or Optical fibre Stagebox connection to suit budget and cable length. The Vi5000 and Vi7000 also feature the latest 3D Vistonics II and FaderGlow interfaces, now with rapid configuration via new encoder assign functions and shortcut keys, plus an improved ViSi Remote iPad control interface. 

“Our Vi4 and 6 consoles have been enormously popular with countless tour sound professionals, as well as theatres, houses of worship, and more,” said Dave McKinney, Vice President and General Manager, Soundcraft and Studer. “With the introduction of the Vi5000 and Vi7000, we are showing that we’ve listened to our customers and are offering a significant step up with the User Interface features they need and the world-class audio quality and processing tools they expect, so that any engineer can have the very best mixing technology at their fingertips.”

Soundcraft and Shure
With the launch of the new Vi5000 and Vi7000 digital consoles Soundcraft and Shure announce a new collaboration that enables  
native monitoring and control of select Shure wireless systems on Soundcraft Vi Series digital consoles. The initial implementation with support for Shure’s ULX-D and QLX-D Digital Wireless Systems was showcased at the Prolight+Sound 2015 show.

The new extension to the Vi’s patent-applied-for VM2 radio microphone status monitoring feature now allows the same functionalities with Shure’s digital wireless systems, recognized alongside Harman’s own AKG DMS800 and WMS4500 systems. This integration enables automatic Shure device discovery, identification, and mapping of each wireless system to the appropriate mixer channel. When that channel is selected on the console, all essential wireless parameters are displayed. 

This enables live monitoring of the channel’s RF and audio metering, with the ability to adjust receiver gain from the console, much like trim adjustment for a wired mic. In addition, battery life status for Shure rechargeables and standard AA alkalines is supported.

“We are very pleased to be collaborating with Soundcraft to enable remote monitoring and control of networked Shure wireless systems,” said Shure President and CEO Sandy LaMantia. “Providing the essential wireless functions within the console inspires user confidence and adds value to both systems by providing a more seamless, integrated experience.”

Dave McKinney, General Manager and Vice President of Soundcraft and Studer notes, “The Vi Series consoles are designed to deliver the features and technology that our customers demand, so collaborating with Shure to deliver wireless data, natively and automatically, was an easy decision as it creates a smoother workflow for our users – something we are always striving to achieve.”

Models ULX-D and QLX-D are two of the newest digital wireless systems from Shure. Both use Ethernet connectivity to deliver system data to Soundcraft Vi Series consoles. ULX-D Dual and Quad systems also offer networked digital audio connectivity via Dante. Along with the new Vi5000 and Vi7000, a subsequent software update will support Shure wireless integration, including the current Vi1 and the Vi3000. 
www.soundcraft.com  | www.harman.com
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