SSE sales director, Alex Penn, confirms: "We have a long history with Soundcraft's Vi Series." He continued "We saw the new console for the first time at Frankfurt Prolight+Sound; it sits neatly between the Vi1 and Vi4 and offers many new features which will secure the longevity of this series, which has always been popular with engineers."
Marking a massive technological upgrade to the Vi series, Vi3000 offers many advantages, including the much requested access to Universal Audio's plug-ins and Soundcraft Realtime Rack plug-in engine - both points picked up on by Penn.
"The Realtime rack can also be used with our existing Vi6 inventory," he continued. "We have a pool of sound engineers who are existing Vi users and it will be useful to let these guys know about the new facilities on offer with Realtime rack.
"We also see a lot of potential in SSE Sales and Installations for the Vi3000 with its very competitive price point and new facilities," he continues. "This is the first time a large format Vi control surface has been available to the market at this level and the Vi3000 will integrate very neatly and cost effectively into venues with existing analogue infrastructure via the I/O on the back of the surface. Onboard MADI and Dante interfaces as standard are also a huge bonus as well as upgraded DSP and new graphics."
SSE's Vi3000 had its first major outing at the recent Isle of Wight Festival where it was used by SSE regular Chris Courtney to mix monitors for Travis. Chris had previously used a Vi6 for the band, but for this festival run, the reduced size and lack of rack requirements made the Vi3000 a more attractive proposition.
SSE Audio Group staged an open day event in May, to showcase the new Vi3000 console, the v4.8 software update for existing Vi consoles and the new Soundcraft Realtime Rack plug-in engine.
