SoundCraft Audio Mixing Console Model Spirit Studio Bedienungsanleitung

Issue 1 (first draft)

Part No. ZZ2686

Information in this manual is subject to change without

notice and does not represent a commitment on the part

of the vendor. Soundcraft Electronics Ltd. shall not be

liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from

the use of information or any error contained in this

manual.

No part of this manual may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical,

chemical, including photocopying and recording, for any

purpose without the express written permission of

Soundcraft Electronics Ltd.

It is recommended that all maintenance and service on

the product should be carried out by Soundcraft

Electronics Ltd. or its authorised agents. Soundcraft

Electronics Ltd. cannot accept any liability whatsoever

for any loss or damage caused by service, maintenance

or repair by unauthorised personnel.

Soundcraft Electronics Ltd.

Unit 2

Borehamwood Ind Park

Rowley Lane

Borehamwood

Herts.

WD6 5PZ

England

User Guide

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Basic Principles of Multitrack Recording . . . . . . . 4

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Connections and Connectors . . . . . . . . . 6

Fault Finding Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Getting to know your console . . . . . . . . . . 10

Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Input - Channel Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Input - Monitor Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Group Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Master Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using your SPIRIT STUDIO Console . . . . . . . 21

Initial Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Playback/Mix-Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Overdubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Live P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Care of your mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Selectable Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Front Panel Layout . . . . . . . . fold out rear cover

Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . inside rear cover

Page 1

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of a SPIRIT STUDIO

mixer. Owning a Soundcraft console brings you the

expertise and support of one of the industrys leading

manufacturers and the results of over 17 years experi-

ence supporting some of the biggest names in the

business. Packed full of features for track-laying,

mixdown and overdubbing SPIRIT STUDIO provides

you with access to the full range of professional mul-

titrack techniques from an unusually compact mixer.

needs of musicians, SPIRIT STUDIO has been built to

the highest standards using quality Japanese compo-

nents and employing automated assembly techniques

beyond the reach of most manufacturers of compact

mixers.

A rugged steel chassis is combined with moulded side

trims to give protection and distinctive appearance.

Custom-moulded controls, designed for the best feel

and visual clarity complement the styling, resulting in a

truly professional product which is ideal for all types of

multitrack recording from 8-track all the way up to 24-

track.

An in-line console available in two frame sizes (16/8/2

and 24/8/2) there is no shortage of inputs on SPIRIT

STUDIO, since in mixdown mode the multitrack moni-

tor inputs double as extra line inputs.

The input channels are able to accept a wide range of

Microphone and Line level signals from separate input

sockets. Every channel features a separate Channel

and Tape Monitor section, with unique flexibility to

swap functions between the two paths. The 4-band EQ

is in two sections - normally the HL/LF section is be-

fore the insert point and the LOW MID and HI MID after

the insert point, thus allowing separate EQ of Send and

Return. If EQ to Monitor switch is pressed the HF/LF

EQ is switched into the Monitor path leaving the LOW

MID and HI MID section after the Insert point in the

Page 2

Channel path. The Auxiliary Sends are similarly split to

give 1 Foldback and 2 Auxiliary sends in both the

Channel and Monitor paths, or all four Auxiliary sends

may be assigned to the Channel path.

The Monitor fader is normally a rotary control, but an

INPUT REVERSE switch swaps Channel and Monitor in-

puts, allowing the tape return signal to be brought

down the full facilities of the Channel path and mixed

on the long throw channel fader. The Channel PAN

control drives a matrix of routing switches to feed the

signal to 8 Groups in stereo pairs, plus the Stereo mix.

The Group masters are arranged as pairs, and the out-

puts are normalled to the respective Tape Sends on the

input channels in blocks of eight unless the Channel DI-

RECT switches are pressed. The Group output is also

available on a separate jack socket for use as an extra

send during mixdown. Groups may be routed as odd

and even pairs to the Stereo mix, or as combined

MONO feeds. Each group has a 16-segment LED bar-

graph meter.

Above the Group masters are 4 Stereo Effects Returns,

with balanced inputs, 2-band shelving EQ and feeds to

the two Foldback busses, the Stereo mix or summed

to the local Groups in stereo.

The Master section comprises the control room moni-

toring facilities, Oscillator with two fixed frequencies,

Talkback and Stereo mix and AFL/PFL metering.

A full description of all facilities in Getting to know your

console can be found on page 10.

SPIRIT STUDIO is designed to be as user-friendly as

possible, but a few minutes spent reading through this

manual will help you become familiar with the product

away from the pressure of a recording session, and al-

low you to gain full benefit from the superb

performance offered by your new mixer.

Above all, remember that your SPIRIT mixer is de-

signed to extend your creativity. The more you explore

the controls and the effect they have on the sound out-

put, the more you will appreciate how you can

influence and enhance the final sound, both by careful

and creative balancing of channels and the use of

Page 3

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF RECORDING

The MixerThe Mixer As one would expect, the main purpose of the mixer is

to combine sounds, but under precise and smooth

control. This is why long-throw faders are essential on

any professional product. The faders provide you with

total control of the final sound at your finger tips and

like an artist playing an instrument you should listen to

your fader movements, not look at your hands.

Your SPIRIT STUDIO mixer accepts a wide range of in-

put signals via a microphone input, for very low level

signals, or a line input, for higher level signals from, for

instance, tape machines, effects processors, etc.

The mixer is split into two sections. The Inputs receive,

match and process individual source signals, and dis-

tributes them at precise mix levels to a choice of

outputs. The Master and Group sections allow overall

level control of all outputs, and provides monitoring of

the audio signal at many points in the mixer, either on

headphones or meters.

The Equaliser controls are the most flexible and poten-

tially destructive feature of the mixer. They have a

similar effect on the frequency response of the input

channel as the tone controls on a hi-fi system, but with

much greater precision, and allow particular charac-

teristics of the input signal to be emphasised or

reduced. It is very important that you become familiar

with the effect each control has on the sound and this

is best achieved by spending time listening to the effect

of each control on a well-known track played through

the mixer.

The Auxiliary Sends provide a way of routing the input

signals to a number of secondary outputs, for artists

foldback, echo units or additional speaker outputs.

The Pan control adjusts the position of the input signal

within the stereo mix, and can be swept from full left,

through to full right. This allows particular artists to re-

tain their correct spatial position within the mix,

particularly important for stereo recording.

Pre-Fade-Listen(PFL) allows you to monitor the signal

at many points in the mixer. Pressing any PFL switch

places the signal at that particular point onto the control

room outputs (or headphones if plugged in) and the

Page 4

right meter. This allows the engineer to check the qual-

ity of the signal or to pin-point problems. Using PFL

will not affect the signals on the Left and Right Mix out-

puts.

Each input channel and the Group and Mix outputs

have an Insert A gauge jack socket, which is a break

point in the signal path. It allows the signal to be taken

out of the mixer, through an external piece of equip-

ment and then back into the mixer directly after its

original exit point. The Insert point is normally by-

passed by the A gauge jack socket contacts, and is

only brought into operation when a plug is inserted.

Typical uses would include Effects Processors, Limiters

or additional Equalisers.

The terms PRE and POST are often used in the context

of Inserts, Equalisers and Auxiliary Sends, and describe

whether that facility is placed before (Pre) or after (Post)

another particular section. This is explained further in

the detailed description of facilities.

A mixer is often judged, amongst other factors, by the

amount of Headroom available. This is a measure of

the reserve available to cope with sudden peaks in the

input signal, without distortion caused by Clipping,

when the signal becomes so high that it would exceed

the power supply rail voltages and is as a result limited.

This commonly occurs where gain settings are incor-

If the signal level is too low it may be masked

by the noise.

Signal

Noise

If the signal level is too high, clipping distortion

may occur.

Clipped

Signal

Noise

Page 5

rectly set or where sources are improperly matched to

the mixer input. If the source signal is too high, clipping

and distortion results. If the signal is too low it be-

comes masked by the background noise which is

present to some degree in all mixers. The diagram be-

low illustrates this point.

It is during recording that the greatest demands are

made on a mixer in terms of transparency and audio

quality. While a stereo recording will often be made di-

rect to the master tape machine, multitrack machines

provide greater flexibility by allowing the recording to

be done in three stages. The first stage is Tracking in

which individual voices or instruments, or groups of in-

struments are recorded as cleanly as possible on

selected tracks on the multitrack machine. The second

GETTING STARTED

CONNECTIONS ANDCONNECTIONS AND

CONNECTORSCONNECTORS

Although this may seem a simple subject, faulty con-

nectors and cabling are the source of most sound

system problems. Correctly-made cables of the proper

type, with the right connectors for the job will ensure

peak performance from your system with minimum

noise pick-up. The following section will help you to

connect SPIRIT STUDIO mixer correctly.

Two different types of audio connectors are used, 3-pin

XLR and 1⁄4" three pole (A gauge) jacks. These are

Balanced

Input

2. Hot(+ve)

3. Cold(-ve) 1. Screen

Page 6

used in several configurations as shown in the dia-

grams below.

Balanced andBalanced and

UnbalancedUnbalanced

All channel inputs are balanced, i.e. there are separate

+ve(hot) and -ve (cold) wires for each signal plus a

ground. The design of the differential input amplifiers is

such that interference picked up on these wires is can-

celled out. This is because, since both wires are in

close proximity, the same interference will be picked

up on each wire and balanced input amplifiers will only

amplify the difference between +ve(hot) and -ve(cold).

Any signal on both hot and cold (i.e. noise) will not be

amplified - this is known as common mode rejection

(CMR.). If using an unbalanced source into a balanced

input, it is a good idea to connect the source ground to

the negative input. Should the source device have no

connection to mains ground, then connect the shield at

both ends. If there is a connection to mains ground,

then the shield should only be connected to the source

device ground.

Note: many modern audio/musical instruments have

electronically balanced outputs which should not be

unbalanced by shorting one wire to ground. Always

use your inputs balanced where possible.

The mix, group and auxiliary outputs are ground com-

pensated and provide a very effective way of

optimising noise immunity, without the cost and com-

plexity of balanced outputs. These outputs employ

ground compensation techniques to cancel out the ef-

fects of variation in ground potential between the mixer

3 POLE (stereo) JACK 2 POLE (mono) JACK

Tip

Ring

Sleeve

Hot(+ve)

Cold(-ve)

Screen

Left Signal

Right Signal

Ground

Send

Return

Screen

Signal

Ground

Tip

Ring Sleeve

Insert Points Line Input

Aux Outputs

FX Returns

Headphones Unbalanced

Input

Page 7

and other equipment which would otherwise show up

as hum. If the output is driving a device or amplifier

that has an unbalanced input, connect the -ve(cold) sig-

nal to the ground at the destination, not at the output of

your SPIRIT STUDIO console.

PolarityPolarity You will probably be familiar with the concept of polar-

ity in electrical signals and this is of particular

importance to balanced audio signals. Just as a bal-

anced signal is highly effective at cancelling out

unwanted interference, so two microphones picking up

the same signal can cancel out, or cause serious deg-

radation of the signal if one of the cables has the +ve

and -ve wires reversed. This phase reversal can be a

real problem when microphones are close together and

you should therefore take care always to connect pins

correctly when wiring audio cables.

Source

Input

GND

LINK

GND

LINK

GND

LINK

BALANCED TO BALANCED

UNBALANCED TO BALANCED

UNBALANCED TO UNBALANCED

If ground link absent, or mains earth isolated from

source ground, then connect shield at both ends

Grounding andGrounding and

ShieldingShielding

For optimum performance it is vital that all signals are

referenced to a solid, noise-free earthing point and that

all signal cables have their screens connected to

ground. To avoid earth loops, use balanced connec-

tions where possible and ensure that all cable screens

and other signal earths are connected to ground only at

their source and not at both ends.

Page 8

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