Soundcraft 324LIVE BROCHURE

BEYOND 324 LIVE...

http:www.spiritbysoundcraft.com
e-mail: [e-mail]

Spirit by Soundcraft™

Harman International Industries Ltd.,
Cranborne House, Cranborne Road,
Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3JN, England.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Soundcraft USA

Air Park Business Center 12,
1449 Donelson Pike, Nashville,
TN 37217, USA.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Part Nº A4: ZL0547 US: ZL0548 02/2000 E&OE

LX7

24 to 40 Input
Live Mixing Consoles

LIVE 4

2

12 to 40 Channel
4 Group Live Mixing
Consoles

SPIRIT 8

16 to 40 Channel
8-Buss Live Mixing
Consoles

MONITOR 2

24 to 40 Channel
Stage Monitor
Consoles

POWERSTATION

16 & 24 Channel
Powered Live Mixing
Consoles

DIGITAL 328

32 Channel Digital
Mixing Console

A Range of
Professional Nearfield
Monitors

ABSOLUTE

16 Mono Channels
with onboard
Lexicon Effects

FX16

8 Mono Channels
with onboard
Lexicon Effects

FX8

12 Mono &
4 Stereo Inputs

SX

6 or 8 Mono &
4 Stereo Inputs

F1

4 Mono &
2 Stereo Inputs

NOTEPAD

Compact 10 Input
Mixing Console with
2 x 30W power amp

POWERPAD

LIVE 3

2

Spirit by Soundcraft Registered Community
Trademark / RTM Nº 000557793.

Soundcraft Registered Community Trademark /
RTM Nº 000557827

Spirit 324 Live is part of the extensive
range of Spirit professional audio
equipment. In the studio, on stage and
front-of-house, Spirit designs are
synonymous with versatility, innovation
and sonic excellence.

Since Spirit’s inception in 1991 the Company has forged an unrivalled reputation
designing and manufacturing high quality, low cost live mixing consoles. The
award-winning Folio range has consistently set the standard for all compact mixers,
while the Absolute range of nearfield studio monitors are now employed in some
of the world’s top studios.

Launched in 1998, Spirit's multi-award-winning Digital 328 console revolutionised
digital mixing with a unique, user friendly interface. Digital 324 Live shares and
develops this proven technology, introducing new levels of compact, feature­packed performance to the live arena.

For details of the complete Spirit range contact your local dealer or visit our
website where you’ll find comprehensive details of every product, including
information on users, downloadable PDF brochures, technical support and user
group information.

8 to 24 Channel
3-Buss Live Mixing
Consoles

32 INPUT LIVE
SOUND DIGITAL
MIXING CONSOLE

16 Mic/Line Inputs plus
16 T-DIF Digital Inputs

AES/EBU and S/PDIF
Input and Outputs

4 Groups; 4 Matrices
Left, Right and

Mono Busses
Automation System

tailored to Live Sound
Comprehensive MIDI

Event List capability
16 MIDI Controllers

on faders

3

2

324 Live is a compact digital
mixer which addresses the
unique requirements of the
Live Sound reinforcement
engineer. Equally comfortable
touring with a small band,
installed in a Theatre, or
providing vocal reinforcement
in a Place of Worship, 324 Live
is equipped as standard to
handle a wide variety of Sound
Reinforcement tasks.

Based on the proven
technology of the Digital 328
console, 324 Live boasts much
of the standard featureset of
its powerful Project Studio
sibling. However, to reflect the
unique requirements of Live
Sound mixing, 324
incorporates a number of
adaptations and new features
designed to assist the Live
Sound operator in creating
the desired mix with the
minimum of fuss.

The compact footprint of the
console belies the power
behind the front panel. With
up to 32 inputs plus 2 stereos,
4 Auxiliary sends, 2 internal
FX units with dedicated sends
and returns, 4 Groups, 4
Matrices, Left/Right and Mono
busses, 324 Live delivers
exceptional flexibility in a
small package.

Brochure conventions

To help you identify or locate
controls and functions on the
control surface and connector fields,
the wording that appears adjacent
to the relevant control or connector
is shown in the text using small
capitals.

For example, a Select control is
shown as

SEL.

Abbreviations, such as LED or MIDI,
are shown using full capitals.

AN OVERVIEW OF 324 LIVE

THE KEY TO 324’S OPERATION

In Live Sound, speed of operation is
everything. The unpredictable nature
of Live Sound - variations in the
performances on stage, the fluctuating
audience size, problem microphones ­demands that any piece of Live Sound
mixing equipment offers fast and
intuitive control over its featureset.

At the heart of the operation of 324
Live is the E-Strip - a concept inherited
from the 328. The E-Strip is essentially
a conventional channel strip, turned
through 90 degrees so that it sits
horizontally in the console rather than
vertically.

This allows the strip to perform two
key functions: it offers a conventional
complete channel strip for any
selected channel, or a view of one
function across a number of channels.

It is this flexibility that allows the
audio parameters of 324 Live to be
viewed and edited with minimal fuss.
Checking for the cause of a hot send
to an FX device, for example, is as
simple as selecting the appropriate
Aux to be viewed on the E-Strip, and
identifying the channel with the
excessive send level. Viewing the
complete EQ for a microphone input
can be achieved with a single press of
the appropriate Select switch.

AUTOMATION

Why use Snapshot
Automation Live?

During almost any
performance, the
nature of Live
performers and Live
performance spaces
requires that the user
make adjustments to the
console settings to compensate for the
changing situation.

In addition to this, the user is often
required to make fast and accurate
predetermined changes to EQ, Levels,
Routing and Aux sends, which need to
happen regardless of the variance in
performance. This is where automation
comes in. With just a small amount of
preparation time, an operator can

program in a number of different
console settings (“snapshots”), and
then step between these with a single
button press. This means that the user
is now free to concentrate on the
business of mixing the performance,
rather than trying to remember which
switch presses have to be made at the
end of the next song.

However, there can be problems with
Live automation - if the performance
deviates radically from the planned
material, then the settings
programmed into some channels for
upcoming scenes may well be highly
inappropriate. At this point, the user
needs a way of quickly removing just a
FEW channels from the snapshot
system, while keeping the bulk of the
console under
automated control.

This need gave
rise to the

ISO(late)

switch,
present
on all

Input channels. Pressing the

ISO switch

protects that channel from the
Automation system, but still allows full
manual access by the user.

MUTING

In addition to manual MUTE control,
324 Live offers 4 Mute groups.
Assigning input channels to a Mute
Group will result in all those channels
being Muted when the Mute Group
Master is Muted. This is particularly
helpful when rehearsing, as it allows
Muting of similar channel types - e.g.
Radio mics, Keyboards, or Drums ­with a single keypress.

MIDI

As well as console audio parameters,
324 Live is capable of sending MIDI
information when a cue is recalled.
The user may define a number of MIDI
events to occur with each cue
(choosing from Note ON

, Note OFF, or

Program Change).

MIDI is extremely useful for triggering
external sound FX (via Note ON

sent to
a MIDI Sampler), or for setting up the
desired FX Patches in external FX
devices (via Program Changes sent to
the remote device).

Of course, when the snapshot
containing MIDI is recalled, the console
audio parameters are also recalled
from memory. This means that a
Sound Effect triggered by a cue can be
routed, processed via the two Lexicon
FX, subgrouped and routed to a matrix
in one cue, then be processed
completely differently in the next.

The console will also respond to
incoming MIDI Program Change data,
which is mapped to Snapshot recall.

SECURITY

It is often necessary for a single
operator of a Live console to leave the
desk unattended in a venue at certain

points during setup, and

before the show. During that time, the
temptation of so many controls can
occasionally prove too much for
audience members, and the carefully­prepared mix can be quickly undone.

To help prevent unauthorised use of
the desk, 324 Live employs a Security
function, enabled with the

LOCK key

adjacent to the

CUE LED display.

Various levels of lockout are offered,
from

OFF (nothing locked), through

combinations of faders, automation,
and switches, to

ALL (every function

locked out).
A permanent lockout could be counter-

productive, so the console may be
unlocked either with the appropriate
keystroke, or by powering down, then
repowering the console, so an
operator can always regain complete
control of any 324 Live should the
need arise.

MATRICES

324 Live offers 4 Matrix outputs on
dedicated balanced XLR connectors.

These additional outputs are most

commonly employed as sends to

individual speaker positions in a
distributed system, allowing the
operator to feed a specified
amount of the Group 1-4,
Left/Right and Mono buss signals
into each Matrix output.

This can be particularly useful

when trying to improve vocal

intelligibility in a room, as the

operator can increase the balance
of Vocals against Music in certain
parts of the room without affecting
the Main mix.

5

4

The benefits of Digital mixing
consoles extend beyond simply
the capability to accurately
reset the parameters from
scene to scene. The user
interface of 324 Live
incorporates features that
would simply not be possible
on an analogue equivalent.

OPERATIONAL EXAMPLES

Although 324 Live is a digital mixing
console, and most console functions
are therefore performed in a generic
DSP “block”, the signal path can be
shown in much the same way as that
of an equivalent analogue console.

FADERS

Although 324 Live has an exceptionally
small footprint, it is still capable of
handling some 32 mono inputs and 15
outputs. Control over these inputs is
achieved via the 16 motorised faders,
operating in 3 “BANKS

”, or pages.

It is fader paging that is often
criticised when engineers consider
using a digital console, as they feel
that it takes too long to find a
channel, and furthermore it is too risky
to have only some of the channels
visible, and the remainder “hidden” in
a separate page.

However, the reality is that any
channel on 324 Live is no more than a
single button press away - the three

FADER BANK switches above the fader

panel give instant access to the three
main fader pages. This is only a view
function, and does not in any way
affect the audio.

Pressing

BANK A brings up the 16

Mic/Line Inputs
Pressing

BANK B brings up the 16 T-DIF

Digital Inputs
Pressing

MASTERS brings up all the Buss

Output faders - Groups, Matrices,
Auxiliaries, FX sends and Main Outs.

Note that, even when a bank is
changed, a channel SELected to the
E-Strip remains on the E-Strip until
another channel is selected or a

ROTARY

CONTROL

switch is pressed to reassign
the E-Strip to other duties. This means
that it is possible to flip to another

FADER BANK

to view levels without
losing a main microphone from
the E-Strip.

One of the main problems with paged
faders is that a “hidden” channel could
overload briefly, and the operator
would miss the peak as they were
viewing a different Bank at the time.

To assist with this issue of “hidden”
channels peaking, an additional ALT PK
LED below the channel meters
illuminates to denote that the channel
in that slot on the hidden bank has
peaked. This way, it is possible to
monitor the peak LEDs of all 32
channels without paging at all, and
access to the problem channel is never
more than a button press away.

QUERY MODE

Although routing and switching of
channels may be performed via

SELection of the channel to the E-Strip

and pressing the individual switches,
324 Live also allows switch
information to be viewed “in reverse”.
That is, instead of selecting a channel
and looking at all the parameters for
that one channel, the operator may

choose a switch and view the status of
that switch across all channels. This
feature is called “Query mode”, and is
activated by pressing and holding the
appropriate channel switch in the

SELECT panel.

As an example, to check which
channels have been routed to

GRP1, the

operator would usually press the

SELect switch for each channel in turn

to verify whether

GRP1 was active or

not for that switch.
However, with Quer y mode, pressing

and holding the

GRP1 switch will result

in the

SELect switches on each channel

showing the status of the

GRP1 switch

for that input. Settings may be edited
simply by pressing the appropriate

SELect switch, which will toggle the

status ON/OFF.

ISOLATE

Automation on a Live Sound mixer is
very helpful, as long as the show goes
as planned. Inevitably, however, things
go wrong: a radio mic taped in the
hairline moves an inch, requiring more
gain and a new EQ; a musician adjusts

their output level on stage,
meaning a trimmed fader
position on that input.

At this point, although the
changes can easily be made
manually, as soon as the next
snapshot is recalled the
channels will be reset to their
setting for that snapshot ­undoing all the careful
adjustments.

To combat this, 324 Live uses
a feature called

ISOlate to

protect individual channels
from Automation system replay. When
a snapshot is recalled it will replay the
data as expected to all channels
except those with ISO activated. Note
that this feature only affects replay to
the console - settings on

ISOlated

channels will be stored along with all
other data when a snapshot is created.

Thanks to the Query function, ISOlating
a series of inputs in an emergency is a
very fast process. Dropping the first
four microphones from automation,
for example, involves just pressing and
holding the ISOlate function, and
pressing the

SELect switch on the

appropriate channels. Those
microphones are now “safe”, and may
be edited manually without the risk of
the console overwriting the settings.

CHANNEL COPY

It can often be useful to copy data
selectively from one channel to
another. This is not only useful for fast
setup, but also during a
performance. In the event of
a microphone line going
down, it offers a very quick
way of copying the entirety
of a channel setup from one
input to another if a mic has
to be repatched to a
different input, leaving only
the analogue input trim and
HPF settings to be manually
matched.

Copying of channel data is a
two-button process. Pressing and
holding the SELect switch for the
source channel will put the console
into copy mode. At this point (still
with the source SELect held), pressing
any other channel

SELect will result in

the source channel data being copied
across to the destination channels.
Additional presses of other SELect
switches will continue to copy that
information to those channels.

In certain setup situations, a more
specific type of copy may be required.
Take an example where all channels

need to be routed to the

MIX

(for a

house system), but also to

GRP1/2

for
an additional stereo feed for
Broadcast, and to

GRP3 for a Mono

backstage feed. Setting up a single
channel with the appropriate routing
takes just a couple of seconds, but
multiple settings would take a while.
Even Query mode doesn’t help much
here, since there are multiple settings
to be copied, and it is not possible to
press and hold multiple switches.

This is where selective copy comes in.

This allows the operator to copy only
certain parameters of the source
channel to the destination channel.
Setting the copy function to copy only

ROUTING, then performing a normal

copy SELecting all required destination
channels will give the desired result
with minimal fuss.