In little more than a year they have 14 Soundcraft Vi6s and four compact Soundcraft Vi4 consoles operating in the field, a considerable achievement for a country of under five million people.
LydRommet sales manager, Flemming Bjerke says: "From our point of view, it was important to be involved at an early stage. We were part of the original discussion group when the Vi6 was being planned, and to have part of that ownership makes us proud. Also, as one of the beta-testers we are pleased to say that from a user perspective the desk has been stable from day one."
Flemming's colleague and PA sales manager, Espen Andersen, added: "The single most important aspect of the Vi6 is the sound quality. People love how it sounds, also its ease of use and operation. You can walk up to it and it makes sense immediately."
Espen attributes his company's extraordinary sales record to the fact that he permanently has a demo console out on the road - and is regularly touring it personally, as a bona fide sound engineer. "The first thing I did after we took delivery of the console in August last year was take it on tour - enabling many leading sound engineers to see it operating in a real world situation."
It wasn't long before two of Norway's finest - Turbonegro's long-serving FOH man Lars Voldsdal and monitor engineer, Ingve Sand, got their hands on it. Voldsdal, who says he has never looked at the manual, was introduced to the surface by Espen Andersen and the first time he used it was in the UK, mixing the sound for New York band, Taking Back Sunday. "That was my first time - and now it's top-listed on my tour rider."
Sand first saw the Vi6 on an event where Espen was the house monitor engineer, and used it for the first time on the VG Top 20 Festival in Oslo. "It's easy to use and is almost like working on an analogue desk," he observes.
(Jim Evans)
