At the show Keith, Watson, Harman's marketing director for mixers said, "We've had a fantastic reaction to the 24 fader model launched at PLASA in September. Being 19" rack mounted, the 16 is our response to massive demand from our clients in live sound including Houses of Worship, installed systems, theatres and corporate events."
With full DSP functionality built-in to a small-footprint chassis, the Si Compact range provides up to 40 inputs to mix in three frame sizes. Motorised faders with Soundcraft FaderGlow operate on two layers, but the main difference from similarly priced mixers is the provision of a full encoder set for all the functions on a channel, from input gain through EQ and dynamics to bus controls, says the company.
Speaking at the launch, Andy Trott, Harman's VP and general manager for mixing, microphones & headphones said, "Whilst over the past two years we've expanded our digital range with high- and mid-range extensions to the Vista, OnAir, Vi and Si Series, we've been determined to drive our product portfolio down into the sub $10,000 price points.
"Our strategy has always been to integrate no-compromise audio quality together with innovative, feature-rich specifications and an easy-to-use-and-learn, highly intuitive user interface. Si Compact is the result of 18 months of extremely focused and creative development and is particularly exciting as it's so unique; it brings together so many professional features and technologies from across Harman Professional brands into a highly specified but yet super compact mixing platform at an unbelievably low price point."
Trott adds, "I'm confident that the user community will be delighted with the Si Compact and the wide choice we now provide with Soundcraft and Studer mixing consoles. We now have the widest price-range of digital consoles in our history - that's got to be good for engineers and audio companies."
(Jim Evans)
