Soundcraft SI Expression

Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Earl Harvey said:
Been waiting for a low cost digi board and I gotta say the Expression is probably gonna be it! The difference between it and the Performer is... No LCD scribble strip, No bell curve on the His or Lows, No VCAs, 4 1/4 inch inputs, DMX and Plastic Knobs instead of Chrome... In my opinion this board is much better than an X 32, Things I dont like about X 32 are the silly Fader knobs, Being able to reassign the faders into a usable fashion resulting in having to flip thru banks of faders to get to the fx returns, And all the orange diodes they use to display everything! I like the fact of having more faders like on the Expression 3... only time and how it sounds will tell if it is a better board than the X 32 or the over priced PreSonus... with the Expression 3 @ $3495, Expression 2 @ $2995, Expression 1 @ $2495
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Having VCAs solves any fader assignment needs I have on the X32. I never have to flip fader banks except to adjust vocal monitor sends. Transient Designer and Enhancers are great as well as all the effects. The Soundcrafts probably have Lexicon FX but I usually choose other makers reverbs for vocals even in the studio.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Great point John ! I primarily intend to use whatever digi-board I decide on for Live use mostly... mostly interested in In Ear monitors and the response compared to an Analog board... I use/certified Protools in the studios here in Atlanta and have a very wide selection of Reverbs/ Fx to select from... but implore not having to bring them out in a rack anymore... I like the lexicon plate reverbs for drums, cant remember if the X 32 has a harmonizer? I was almost sold on a X 32 but decided to wait until after the winter NAMM show... budget wise and hands-on use with the Expression seems a lil easier since I'm also running lights from a laptop and monitor requests from the artists...
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Earl Harvey said:
Great point John ! I primarily intend to use whatever digi-board I decide on for Live use mostly... mostly interested in In Ear monitors and the response compared to an Analog board... I use/certified Protools in the studios here in Atlanta and have a very wide selection of Reverbs/ Fx to select from... but implore not having to bring them out in a rack anymore... I like the lexicon plate reverbs for drums, cant remember if the X 32 has a harmonizer? I was almost sold on a X 32 but decided to wait until after the winter NAMM show... budget wise and hands-on use with the Expression seems a lil easier since I'm also running lights from a laptop and monitor requests from the artists...
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Hi Guys, jumping in on this discussion. I have an Expressions 1 at home right now on loan from a store and I'm gonna put it through its paces. Just to make note of the differences of this board compared to others in it's $$$$ range, the Presonus ( which I've used for 9 months trouble free on over 50 gigs and yes the pre's are lacking) is single layer, so is the Behringer X32. The big advantage of the Expression series is that you can have 64 mic pre'd inputs into 66 assignable channels. And that goes for all three models. This is what I'm trying to do. Reduce my footprint by running FOH and 5 stereo in ear mixes from one desk. I'm going to set it up with two layers of 32 inputs, so the only thing that is shared is input gain. Also buying the 32 input stage snake and I will also use it for recording via the dual MADI card which is not out as of yet.

NOW, my buddy who has been working on this board for a week says he has found some bugs, talked to Soundcraft and they are aware of it. They seem to be super fast at bug fix updates, which is really strange for Harmon (I personally am reticent to crawl back in bed with this company on any level).

like I said I've been running the Presonus trouble free for a while, it would be a huge competitor IF they had redone the pre's. it's feature set and recording software is stupid easy to use and really USEFUL. None of the other desks offer 32 channel recording without a card (which may or may not be relevant to your application). Blah blah blah, anyhow I'll let you know what I find out. Also I know that Soundcraft reps will be at Bananas At Large in San Rafael on This Weds.1-4 pm to answer questions and show it off.

BTW I was going to buy a Midas Pro1 and be done with it, but it's foolish not to see what's in this price point! ;-)-e
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Erik Schramm said:
Hi Guys, jumping in on this discussion. I have an Expressions 1 at home right now on loan from a store and I'm gonna put it through its paces. Just to make note of the differences of this board compared to others in it's $$$$ range, the Presonus ( which I've used for 9 months trouble free on over 50 gigs and yes the pre's are lacking) is single layer, so is the Behringer X32. The big advantage of the Expression series is that you can have 64 mic pre'd inputs into 66 assignable channels. And that goes for all three models. This is what I'm trying to do. Reduce my footprint by running FOH and 5 stereo in ear mixes from one desk. I'm going to set it up with two layers of 32 inputs, so the only thing that is shared is input gain. Also buying the 32 input stage snake and I will also use it for recording via the dual MADI card which is not out as of yet.

NOW, my buddy who has been working on this board for a week says he has found some bugs, talked to Soundcraft and they are aware of it. They seem to be super fast at bug fix updates, which is really strange for Harmon (I personally am reticent to crawl back in bed with this company on any level).

like I said I've been running the Presonus trouble free for a while, it would be a huge competitor IF they had redone the pre's. it's feature set and recording software is stupid easy to use and really USEFUL. None of the other desks offer 32 channel recording without a card (which may or may not be relevant to your application). Blah blah blah, anyhow I'll let you know what I find out. Also I know that Soundcraft reps will be at Bananas At Large in San Rafael on This Weds.1-4 pm to answer questions and show it off.

BTW I was going to buy a Midas Pro1 and be done with it, but it's foolish not to see what's in this price point! ;-)-e
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Hey Erik, Let us know what your experiences are like, especially in regards to the bugs that are being reported.

Few points:
- X32 does not show all inputs on a single layer.
- With the E1, wouldn't you need 4 layers of 16 channels to access 64 channels?
- While the X32 requires a recording card, it is being offered as a stock option at this time.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

I'll throw in my two cents as well. I have my Expression 2 for about a week now. First thing I did was update to the 1.04 firmware and have had zero problems with it, outside of the power supply making a little more noise than I would like.

The format is perfect for me. I can get all of the inputs for most of the shows this board will see on the first layer. I think it is hands down the simplest digital board to walk up to and mix on (even more so than the presonus) and I love being able to mix without looking at the screen. One thing I haven't figured out yet though is if you can send the LR bus to a matrix. :?:

Four fully parametric EQ bands would have been the icing on the cake, but I've never had trouble laying down a good mix on many analogue boards that often often only have two sweepable mids with no Q adjustment. For the $2500 bucks I paid for it, I will survive.

I'm still waiting for the stage box to show up, but I am convinced at this point that this is by far the best value out there now. Console, remote stage box, case, 200' of cat5, and the possibility of mixing 54 inputs + the stereo inputs for $5000, how can you beat that. And not to be a brand snob, but it doesn't say Behringer on it anywhere. :D~:-D~:grin:

If only it was black.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Hey there- so my buddy came over and we played around with the board. My "1" is running perfectly with the version 1 update. So far the only thing we haven't been able to do is save an effect after we modified it (probably needs to be saved as a scene or as a patch including all 4 effects ( bummer). The other thing we haven't figured out is when you copy an input to multiple channels ( I copied 1 to 29 to use 29 as the monitor send channel), any moves made we're reflected on both channels. Brendan maybe you have some insight? I'm tryin got segregate all ACS functions so FOH mix doesn't affect monitor mixes.

Other than that it looks like my only disadvantage to having the "1" is that I'll only be able to access 56 inputs on actual faders at once. Since that's WAY more than I'll ever need.......

also my buddy talked to Soundcraft and it appears that his desk has a bad SDram card. They said a series of serial numbers have had the problems he has faced. We're going to swap it and see what happens.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

I've had the Expression 3, update 1.4 for 2 weeks now, working great so far... headphone monitoring seemed a lil weird but plugged into the PA and it was just fine. My 2 concerns are 1, you cant do any online editing from the current software, it would be nice to have a monitor guy with a laptop to be able to mix monitors. 2, you cant access the FX busses or returns from the iPad app, Curious about the stagebox and MADI as well...

I agree with trying to figure out how to separate ACS functions in the monitor mixes from the main mix... I might look into that today...

Now if the case I ordered from Calizone would just get here !!!
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Earl Harvey said:
I've had the Expression 3, update 1.4 for 2 weeks now, working great so far... headphone monitoring seemed a lil weird but plugged into the PA and it was just fine. My 2 concerns are 1, you cant do any online editing from the current software, it would be nice to have a monitor guy with a laptop to be able to mix monitors. 2, you cant access the FX busses or returns from the iPad app, Curious about the stagebox and MADI as well...

I agree with trying to figure out how to separate ACS functions in the monitor mixes from the main mix... I might look into that today...

Now if the case I ordered from Calizone would just get here !!!
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You can, in fact, run monitors remotely with the iPad app. We've had a three-week run of just such gigs. where our Si Compact is at FOH, but we park someone on the deck with and iPad (and a charger!). But the app isn't good for much else, with no channel EQ. It's rather frustrating, with no metering, too. But at least you have access to the graph EQs on the outputs.

And I gotta say, I run several iPad editors and the Si is the worst about stable connections and force-closing. The rest of my remote apps and VNC are fine and stable with an Airport Extreme (and I've seen all the router discussions and mine is working great, so save yourself some typing if you were so inclined), so I've trouble-shot it down to the ViSi app itself.

Geri O
 
You can access FX returns and sends on the App, I don't know what you mean. Also, if you want to have separate ACS you'll need to create a new logical channel and assign it the same preamp as your desired channel, and operate it separately. This is similar to the operation on LS9, X32, and etc.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Anyone else's expression making a high pitched whine from the power supply located in the lower left hand corner of the desk? It's operating just fine, just wondering if it is something I should be leery of?
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

I only see Buss 1-14, the 4 Matrices, and the Mains available on the iPad app... fx busses are 15,16,17,18.... thats what I mean, I did forget Stereo 3,4,5,6 are the FX returns. they are purple on the app instead of blue like the console
 
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Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Samuel Rees said:
All the Si desks do it, in my experience. Soundcraft Tech told me its not unusual behavior. It's weird, I know.
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Thanks, I was hoping it was just a quality of the desk and not a sign of a failing power supply. The huge vent along the front probably doesn't help much either. It isn't loud enough to notice in a gig situation, but still annoying.

I was kind of surprised that the desk seems to rely on convection for cooling(no fan). The power supply may have its own fan, but the rest of the board doesn't. Now, there is a lot of room on the inside which helps, but be sure to allow for ample room around both the top and bottom vents.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Brandon Wright said:
Thanks, I was hoping it was just a quality of the desk and not a sign of a failing power supply. The huge vent along the front probably doesn't help much either. It isn't loud enough to notice in a gig situation, but still annoying.

I was kind of surprised that the desk seems to rely on convection for cooling(no fan). The power supply may have its own fan, but the rest of the board doesn't. Now, there is a lot of room on the inside which helps, but be sure to allow for ample room around both the top and bottom vents.
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Hey there so I spent a couple hours with the Soundcraft reps yesterday, and it seems most questions have been adressed in this thread. As for their iPad app they say they are "working" on expanding the functionality. My experience with HArmon in the past is that they say this stuff all the time with no intention of doing s#%t. So expect to only have what's currently available for a while. These guys tolf me they were pushing these out into the market fast so hopefully they'll catch up with themselves.

In regards to the Mini Stagebox, I have a 32 on order so with my Exp. 1 I'll have 48 mic inputs. More than I'll ever need. The box is "supposed" to ship late May. -E
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

A venue where I shoot video has just acquired a pair of Expression 3s. I've been dealing with the house stereo feed, but that obviously is not optimum.

Is it possible for me to get a pair of the outputs and make my own mix with my own iPad so I wouldn't have to hassle the sound engineer, who is more than busy enough mixing both the mains and monitors.

I would prefer to receive the channels post-EQ, post-FX and post-mutes so I can benefit from his work, but so I can also compensate for the differences between the bass and guitar shy house mix and my ideal mix.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

Cool, thanks. I'm not sure exactly how he has everything configured, but last night he was using outputs 1-7 for monitors and 13-16 for mains. The AES output wasn't in use at all, and I have an AES to SP/DIF converter that I could donate to the cause of getting my video feed an isolated feed. I'll have to see how he has these outputs configured.

Like everyone else, he is waiting for the option card so he can add the stagebox and set up his second Expression.

OK, just to make sure, we can have two different iPads linked to one Expression, one mixing mains, the other mixing my video mix?
 
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Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

shouldn't think you would have to use AES output but you can... also might use a pre fader aux instead of a post aux so when he mixes it wont affect your mix... use aux 9 & 10 and configure it as a stereo aux unless ya want two mono mixes... you could even record onto a Zoom in 4 channel mode and add a pair of condenser micks to get the crowd and ambient room sound... yes you can use more than one iPad at the same time, I would recommend that you disable screen lock on the iPad while mixing as it takes a min to re establish communication to the Expression thru the wireless router...
 
Re: Soundcraft SI Expression

I was looking at the AES out mainly because he has no need for it, and it should always be free for my use.

Just so I'm sure, pre-fader is also post-EQ, post-FX and post-mute?

I usually record the board to the XLR inputs of my Canon XH-A1, and record a pair of condensers through a small Rolls mixer to the mic input of one of my other cameras. I drop all my camera feeds onto my Edius timeline, sync to within a frame then export the audio tracks to WAV and slip them to get more exact than a single frame sync in Vegas.
 
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