Soundcraft Vi1

The Cat 5 version of the Vi Stagebox link uses MADI format digital audio to send up to 64chs of 48kHz 24-bit audio both to and from the stagebox.

We use Cat 5 cable for the connection because it is cost-effective and contains several twisted pairs, two of which are used for the audio - one sending and one receiving. Therefore for redundant operation, only two Cat 5 cables are required in total.

Although the cable is Cat 5, note that this is NOT using the Ethernet protocol which is used by computer networks, and for which Cat 5 cable is commonly used. Therefore you cannot connect a Network switch or hub to the Vi6 in order to extend the cable length!

Because it's designed for very low latency, the MADI digital audio protocol does not incorporate the built-in error checking that computer networks use, and for this reason, the cable length can be more critical.

The length you can get from a Cat 5 cable depends on the construction of the cable. The best performing cables are the solid copper core type, but these are not always suitable for continuous winding on and off reels. However there are some available now that are designed for this purpose (and is supplied by us as 100m reel part number RZ2746 for Vi4/6 with Amphenol connectors and RZ2682 for Vi1 with Neutrik connectors).

Flexible (stranded) cable is good for reeling but does not have such a good length performance.

Shielded cable is better in terms of radiated interferrence, but can also reduce the length performance.

The drum-mounted cable for touring applications that we supply from the factory is now 100m in length and is known as "Evolution Tactical Cat 5" (supplied by Direct Cable Systems in the UK). It is equivalent to Gepko CT504HDX which may be easier to obtain internationally.

We have tested some other cables however which can provide lengths of 100m or more. Two examples are:

- Klotz RC5SB 120m (shielded, solid core, but suitable for drum mounting)
- Belden 1305A 110m (unshielded, flexible core)
- Cat 7 cable with individually shielded pairs and solid cores can work up to 130m.

The lengths given are guaranteed for safe operation with 2 breakout panels included. In general a breakout in-line connector reduces the working length by 5-10m. If the cable is terminated in Neutrik Ethercon connectors, the cable can be plugged directly into the MADI card at each end of the link, in order to avoid the breakout panels, but this is only recommended for permanent installations in the case of Vi4/6. With Vi1, no breakout panels are required for Stagebox connections.

Note: When unshielded Cat 5 cables are used, the product may not comply with EC or FCC directives on radiated emissions when used with these cables. There is no effect on functionality of the product however.

Note that for distances in excess of 100m we recommend that the Optical Fibre MADI interface is specified for the Vi stagebox link.

The Vi Local Rack is usually shipped with a standard configuration of I/O cards.

This is made up of the following cards:

8ch Line In x2
8ch Line Out x2
16ch AES/EBU In/Out x1
64ch MADI In/Out Cat 5 or Optical x1 (used for Stagebox link)
64ch MADI In/Out Optical x1 (used for recording feed or additional stagebox).

In addition there is 1x 8ch Line Out card and 1x 4ch mic in card, but these have to be permanently fitted to the rack.

If required, the rack can be reconfigured by changing the relative quantities of these cards or fitting.

The following additional cards are available and can either be factory or retrofitted to the rack:
(These cards must be fitted in place of one or more of the above cards, since the rack is full with the standard config).

Aviom ANET16 16ch output card
ADAT 16ch In/Out card
TDIF 16ch In/Out card
Dolby E Decoder 16ch input card
3G SDI Embeder/de-embedder 16ch IO card
CobraNet 32ch In/Out card
Ethersound 64ch In/Out card * (available from Digigram)
Rocknet 64in/32out card (available from Riedel)

If you are interested in reconfiguring your Local Rack with any of these cards, contact Soundcraft for further advice on determining the number of existing cards that need to be removed, as the cards vary in width - some are single slot, others double. In general, the AES, MADI and Ethersound cards are double slot, all others are single.

Another factor you need to bear in mind particularly when adding more MADI, Cobranet or Ethersound cards is that there is a limit of 192 inputs and 192 outputs possible in the Local Rack. The standard config as shipped results in 164 inputs and 168 outputs being used. If adding a new card will exceed this limit, it is possible to limit the number of channels consumed by the MADI Ethersound and Cobranet cards, by changing DIP switches on the cards.
For example if you only need to use 8 output channels on the Ethersound card, you can set the card so that it only uses 8 output channels and 0 inputs from the available total.

These are made by Hirose, part number TM21P-88P(21), and are available in the UK from Farnell, their part number 1764402.

Note that you may have to flatten the metal lugs that protrude from the shielding cover to allow the connector to sit straight in the housing. Failure to do this can result in the connector sticking when trying to unmate.

We are currently working on an offline editor for the Soundcraft Vi1, but until this is available it is possible to create shows offline for the Vi1 by using the Virtual Vi4 or V6 software. Please bear in mind the following points when doing this:

- Leave the creation of stereo (paired) channels until you get to the actual Vi1 desk.
Reason: Due to the different layering layouts between the Vi1 and 4/6, paired channels will not be imported. You can prepare horizontally paired channels in advance and then you will only need to re-link the channels on the actual desk, but if you want to prepare vertical pairs it’s more complicated as you will also need to think through which channels will be above other channels given that the Vi1 has layers of 16 inputs, the Vi4 has layers of 24 and the Vi6 has layers of 32.

- Make sure that Busses 25-32 are set to Group or Aux mode, rather than Matrix mode in the Virtual Vi4/6. If you need any Matrix busses these should be set up on Busses 1-24.
Reason: The Vi1 does not have any busses above 24, but if 25-32 are set to Matrix on an incoming show, you will not be able to create any additional matrix busses on the Vi1.

- Leave the creation of User Input Fader pages until you get to the actual Vi1 desk.
Reason: You can set up User Input Fader pages on Virtual Vi4/6, but only the first 8 faders will show up as programmed on the Vi1 due to differing Bay arrangement between the two desks.

- Unless you have a Vi6 Stagebox connected to the actual Vi1 console, the input patch that is imported from the Virtual Vi4/6 will be converted to a Local IO patch when the show is loaded on the Vi1.
Reason: The Vi1 Mic preamp shows up as a different type of object to the Vi4/6 preamp, and the Virtual Vi4/6 editor does not currently recognise this preamp type. If you have a Compact Stagebox connected to the actual Vi1, you will either need to manually re-patch the inputs after loading your Show, or you can recall a Default show on the Vi1 first, recall the CSB Default patch snapshot, and then load your Show, which will be faster if you need a 1:1 patch.

No, you can use any version of Virtual Vi to create and save Show files, and these can be read by any Vi4 or 6 console, regardless of what version of software they are running.

If you have a beta version (3.0.0.111) of virtual Vi that was released at the PLASA Show and was downloaded from our website between Sept 2008 and Nov 13th 2008, we recommend that you upgrade this to the latest version of Virtual Vi, as the beta version contains some bugs which have been fixed on the current version (3.0.0.118 at time of writing - Nov 14th 2008).

To donwload the latest Virtual Vi release, go to:
http://www.soundcraftdigital.com/downloads/virtualvi.aspx

The Solo mode of the Vi4 and 6 works with an autocancelling action by default, and there is currently no switch to turn this off.
However, you can easily add Solos by just holding down the first Solo you press, and then when you press others, they will add up.

It's important to note that when you add Solos in this way, you automatically get AFL Solo, instead of the normal PFL that you get when soloing one channel at a time.
If you want PFL on multiple Solos as well as single Solos, you can get this by going to the Monitor Setup Page (press the Setup button just below the Headphones volume control) and changing the Input Solo mode from AUTO to PFL (buttons in top left corner of screen).

If you change this setting to PFL and then save your Show, it will stay like that on any desk you load the show on. But note that the Default Shows are programmed with the AUTO setting enabled, so remember to change it when you start a new Show.

When you change the setting from AUTO to PFL, note that you will also get PFL when you do a VCA Solo where there is more than one VCA member, which may not be what you want.

There is an easy way to do this (or any other function change that needs to be done on a lot of channels) and it's called the GANG mode.

First press the GANG button (next to SOLO CLR on the master fader panel) and it lights up in blue.
Next, either press input 1 and input 32 solo button simultaneously, which will select all channels in between into the gang (making a gang of all 32chs on the layer you can see), or if you want all 64chs in the gang, PRESS AND HOLD the Gang button AFTER YOU HAVE ALREADY SWITCHED IT ON, and this will gang all 64.

You can add or subtract channels from the gang by pressing their Solo/Sel buttons.

Then you simply use the PRE mode button (below Copy/Paste buttons) to change the Vistonics Aux On/Off buttons into Pre/post mode, and then press one of these Aux On/off buttons on ANY of the ganged channels, and the Pre/post mode will change to the same mode on all channels for that particular bus.

When finished, switch Gang mode off, and also don't forget to switch the global PRE mode button off again!

Hint: It is also advisable after using a Gang to CLEAR the gang contents before switching Gang mode OFF - this is done by pressing and holding the Solo/Sel button of any of the member channels whilst still in Gang mode. Try to get into the habit of doing this as a routine before you switch Gang off, as otherwise it's easy to leave channels selected to a Gang on a layer you can't see which could remain selected the next time you use Gang.

There is no native Mac version of the Virtual Vi available, but you should be able to run the program on most Macs under Windows XP.

This can be done either using a Windows emulation such as Parallels, or on newer Macs with Leopard OS it is possible to boot into a native Windows XP operating system where the Virtual Vi should run exactly as on a PC.

If you have any problems with running Virtual Vi on a Mac, please let us know by emailing info@soundcraft.com

As well as its functionality as an off-line editor, Virtual Vi can also be used as a real-time on-line controller for the Local Rack. Please note however that at this time it is not possible to connect BOTH Virtual Vi and the Vi control surface to the Local Rack at the same time and get simultaneous control of the audio.

Hooking up in On-line mode

Simply connect a length of standard Ethernet network (Cat5) cable from the network port of your laptop, to the Control Data port on the back of the Local Rack. A 'straight' cable will be OK as most laptops now automatically deal with either straight or crossover cables.
As mentioned above, the Control Surface must be disconnected from the Local Rack in order to do this.

Once the physical connection is made, start up the Virtual Vi application, and when it has booted, click the ONLINE button, located to the top left of the central control screen, next to the Power button.
When the Online button is clicked, then if you have more than one network adaptor in your laptop, a dialogue box will appear allowing you to choose eg: LAN port (wired) or Wireless. Currently you can only use the wired port - wireless operation using 8011.N will be possible on a future release of Virtual Vi, but is not possible
reliably with the current release (V3.0).

There should be no need to set or change any IP address setup of the laptop, since Virtual Vi will automatically assign a secondary IP address to the laptop which will allow it to connect to the Local Rack. This IP address will be removed when Virtual Vi is shut down.

After a few seconds, you should see the diagnostic indicators on the top right of the main screen in Virtual Vi indicate that the Local Rack and Stagebox are connected - you can check this by touching the screen in that top-right corner or by clicking the Menu button and going to the 'System' page for the Local Rack and looking at the
'Connect' indicator.

If you look at the back of the actual Local Rack whilst the system is establishing a connection, you will also see a green LED on the Cat5 port of the Bridge Card which communicates with the Surface. The green LED built into the socket will be seen to flash whilst connection is established, and then illuminate steadily once there is a connection.

Once the connection is established, you will be able to use Virtual Vi exactly as you do the real surface, to control audio. Please note that it is not possible to synchronise Virtual Vi to the audio settings that are already in the Local Rack - you must transfer the Show file from the Control Surface to the laptop using a USB stick.

Troubleshooting connection problems in On-Line Mode

If you have problems getting the application to connect to the local rack, there is either an IP address problem, or a cable connection problem.
To resolve this you can try setting an IP address manually for your network port, as follows:

- go to Start-Connect To-Show all connections. Right-click on the Local Area Network icon and select Properties.

- scroll down the list, click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) item and click the Properties button.

- select the 'Use the following IP address' item and enter the following IP address and subnet mask:

192.168.1.20
255.255.255.0
(leave default gateway blank)

- Click OK and then close the LAN Connection properties and Network connection windows.

Try the connection again.

If there is still a problem, go to StartRun and type 'cmd' and click OK.

In the black DOS window that appears, type IPCONFIG and hit Return.
This will give a list of the IP address or addresses currently set for the laptop - if you can see one which has 192.168.1.xx and subnet mask 255.255.255.0, then this indicates a connection should be possible.

Type 'PING 192.168.1.60' (this is the address of the DSP core in the local rack) and hit Return.
The resulting message will indicate if there is a successful connection: if the message says that 4 packets were sent but none were received, and you have verified the IP address as described above, then a faulty cable is the most likely problem.

Finally, in the event that you have tried all the above and still cannot connect to the Local Rack, contact your local Soundcraft Distributor or email csd@soundcraft.com for technical assistance.

No, at the moment Virtual Vi can only be used as an on-line controller when it is the only thing controlling the audio rack.

It cannot be used as a 'parallel' control at the same time as the Control Surface.

To control audio from the laptop, you must therefore disconnect the Cat 5 'Control Data' cable from the surface to the back of the Local Rack, and instead connect a Cat 5 cable from the laptop to the Control Data port on the Local Rack. It is possible to connect both laptop and surface to the Local Rack using an ethernet switch, but only the first device to connect will win.

One other point to note is that it is not possible to transfer the existing audio settings out of the Local Rack, and onto the Virtual Vi.
To use it as an emergencey backup controller therefore it is necessary to have a copy of the currently running Show on a USB stick, so that you can tranfer this to the laptop before you connect it to the Local Rack and therefore get the laptop settings as close as possible to the current audio.

Almost every switch on the Vi Series control surface, including the switches on the Vistonics screens have a 'push & hold' attribute whereby a function or page is active only as long as the switch is held.... Here are some examples of how this can be used...

EQ In/Out - To review the change between 'flat' & EQ IN push & hold the EQ IN button. Assuming you started with EQ enabled it will be bypassed whilst you hold the button letting you hear the effect of your change; when you release the button the EQ will flick back in!

Changing Layers - Assume most of your channels are on layer page 'A' but your FX returns are on layer page 'B' and you need to make a small change... Push & hold the 'B' button to being these faders to the surface, make the change as required then release the 'B' button and the console goes back to layer page 'A'

As noted, this feature operates on almost every switch function on the console and so can be used on all types of fader pages, the encoder mode switches, talkback, and even on the master touch screen to bring groups of 8 channels to the right-hand bay by touching the relevant input meters.

The Vi touchscreen technology is relatively robust and will withstand most of the conditions experienced on the road, but the screens can be damaged by liquid ingress under certain conditions.

To avoid this, it is essential that the following guidelines are followed when cleaning the screens:

Never spray cleaning fluid directly onto any part of the screen area. If it is neccessary to use a liquid cleaner, use a solvent-free antistatic cleaner, and spray the fluid onto a soft cloth first, allowing it to soak in before carefully rubbing the screen with the dampened cloth. In particular, avoid working any excess liquid into the edges of the touchscreen area.

It can be useful to use the 'Lock Console' feature when cleaning screens with the desk switched on - this is accessed directly from the Main Menu page. Ideally the screens should be cleaned when the desk is off, and the dark screen backgound will also make it easier to see marks.

Vi4/6 is supplied with a choice of Cat5 or Optical MADI link from the local rack to the stagebox.
If you've bought one type of desk, it can easily be changed into the other, as the stagebox and local rack MADI cards are easily replacable adn can be swapped out for the other type.

You will also need to change the breakout panel in order to have the correct type of heavy-duty connectors.

All the necessary parts are available via your Soundcraft distributor.

The Libraries functionality enables various elements of the console, eg EQ section, Dynamics section, or complete channels and busses, to be copied from the desk and stored in the Library system. Later these items can be retrieved and pasted from the Library to any destination channel or bus on the console.

The ability to export complete Libraries or individual entries to a USB stick allows you to extract saved items from the console and later import them to another console.

For more information on the Libraries functionality, please refer to the Vi6 User Guide 'Chapter 18 Copy Paste & Libraries.' Click here for download.

The front-panel Talkback mic input on the control surface has a fixed gain mic preamp that is located in the rear of the control surface on the pcb where the XLR and MIDI sockets are located. The gain can be internally set to one of three values, 46dB, 56dB or 66dB using a push-fit jumper. By default it is set on the middle value.

It is possible that with some microphones the preamp will distort at this gain setting.
If this is happening, open the rear panel of the control surface (behind the master section) by removing the 9 hex screws closest to the edge of the back panel.
This will allow access to the pcb and if you look immediately behind the rear panel TB Mic socket (which is just a parallel of the front socket by the way), you will see the three jumper pins. The gain settings are marked but may be difficult to read - remove the jumper using long-nosed pliers and move it to the left position to reduce the gain.

The factory-supplied length of the umbilical cable linking the Vi Control Surface to the Local Rack is 7m, but this can be extended.

The cable is made up of 4 parts: 3 standard balanced audio cables for headphones and talkback links, and one Cat 5 cable for the control data.

The limiting factor here is the Cat 5 connection, but since this uses standard 100MB/s ethernet, this cable can be extended up to the normal limits of this technology - around 100m, depending on the cable type. Solid core cable gives the best performance.

In addition, a standard ethernet switch can be used to further extend the length if required.

When operating the Vi stagebox to local rack MADI link in redundant mode (using two Cat5 or Optical cables), it is essential to make sure that you have set the small toggle switch on the stagebox MADI card to the centre position - marked 'RED'.
This switch enables the redundant operation, and if it is left in one of the other two positions, the automatic switchover will not occur if one cable is damaged or disconnected.
Since you won't know that until the problem happens, it's a good idea to check the switch regularly.


Conversely, if you run the system with only one cable, you must make sure that the switch is set to the MAIN or AUX position - according to which socket you've plugged into (usually MAIN, but it doesn't matter).
If the switch is set incorrectly to RED and you only have one cable, you will get unoredictable behaviour on the MADI link!

EXAMPLE 1: COPYING A WHOLE CHANNEL, INCLUDING THE ‘IN1 PATCH’ PARAMETER

• Press [COPY] to enter Copy Mode
• Press [Solo/SEL] button on required input channel to select it to the clipboard.
• Touch the Input touch field on the channel strip with a long press (2s) to enter the 'zoom' mode for the input parameters. Notice that only the Trim, Filters and Delay parameter are already selected (indicated by yellow text).
• Touch the encoder (or press the adjacent Vistonics button) in the IN1 PATCH field to add the patch parameter to the copied items. (the IN1 PATCH text changes to yellow to indicate selection)
• Press PASTE and select the destination channel(s) to paste the selected channel including the patch setting.



EXAMPLE 2: COPYING FX PARAMETERS

Parameter settings from any of the 8 internal Lexicon FX units can be copied from one device and pasted to another.

To make selection of the source and destination units easy, a set of 8 FX-select encoders appears on the central screen in both Copy and Paste modes. The selection is made by either touching the relevant encoder or pressing the corresponding Vistonics button beside the encoder.

Alternatively, if the FX unit is assigned to a channel or bus and is therefore visible on the channel or bus strip, then the source and destination units can be selected by touching the FX block on the channel strip.

Note that only the parameters relating to the currently active FX Type are copied and pasted for each unit – so for example if LEX1 is currently set to the Small Hall FX type, then only the Small Hall parameters will be copied, if LEX1 is selected to copy.

When the settings are pasted to another unit, the target unit will have its FX Type changed to Small Hall, and only the Small Hall parameters will be pasted. None of the other 28 FX Types within the target FX unit will have their settings changed.



To copy an FX unit’s settings to the clipboard:
• Press [COPY]
• Select the required FX Unit, either using the FX Select Encoders displayed in the central screen, or touching the FX unit’s icon on the Channel or Bus strip, if one has been assigned and is visible on the strip.
Parameters are copied to the clipboard
• Press [PASTE]
• Select the destination FX unit by touching the required FX Select Encoder (or adjacent button) in the central screen.
OR
touching any touch field on the target channel or bus strip.
OR
pressing [SOLO/SEL] on the target channel or bus.
The FX unit settings on the clipboard are immediately copied to the destination FX unit.
• The operation can be undone by pressing [UNDO], before exiting Paste mode.
• End the function by pressing [PASTE] again.