® by HARMAN Quick Start Guide v1.
IMPORTANT Please read this manual carefully before using your mixer for the first time.
Contents IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 4 SAFETY SYMBOL GUIDE 6 Si EXPRESSION KEY FEATURES 8 Si EXPRESSION Control Surface and Connector Overview 9 Si EXPRESSION Front Panel 9 Si EXPRESSION Rear Panel 9 tOTEM™ (THE ONE TOUCH EASY MIX) KEYS 10 FADER LAYER KEYS 11 FADERGLOW™ 11 PATCHING & FADER LAYERS 12 Si EXPRESSION 1 Fader Input Patching & Layers: 12 Si EXPRESSION 2 Fader Input Patching & Layers: 12 Si EXPRESSION 3 Fader Input Patching & Layers: 12 Si EXPRESSION Fader Output Patchi
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Follow all instructions. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with a dry cloth. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. Do not defeat the safety purpose of a polarised or grounding type plug.
Ventilation should not be impeded by covering the ventilation openings with items such as newspapers, table cloths, curtains etc. THIS APPARATUS MUST BE EARTHED. Under no circumstances should the safety earth be disconnected from the mains lead. The mains supply disconnect device is the mains plug. It must remain accessible so as to be readily operable when the apparatus is in use. If any part of the mains cord set is damaged, the complete cord set should be replaced.
FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY AND TO AVOID INVALIDATION OF THE WARRANTY PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. SAFETY SYMBOL GUIDE For your own safety and to avoid invalidation of the warranty all text marked with these symbols should be read carefully. WARNINGS The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, is intended to alert the user to the presence of un-insulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.
INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing this Soundcraft Si EXPRESSION mixer. The Si EXPRESSION series is an incredibly versatile but simple to use digital console optimized for live sound environments or other situations where fast and clear access to any control or parameter is needed.
Si EXPRESSION KEY FEATURES The SI EXPRESSION series includes many unique technological and operational qualities which include: • MIC pre amps from the renowned Vi series. • Soundcraft 4-band EQ on all inputs and outputs. ™ • Fader Glow illumination on all faders. ™ • BSS Graphic EQ on all bus and matrix outputs. • Independent Centre/Mono bus. ™ • Quad Lexicon FX processors. ™ • tOTEM (The One Touch Easy Mix) system that instantly sets the console surface as you need it to create mixes quickly and easily.
SI EXPRESSION CONTROL SURFACE AND CONNECTOR OVERVIEW Si EXPRESSION Front Panel Si EXPRESSION 2 shown: Assignable Channel Strip (ACS) Meters, Monitors USB & Power Colour LCD Touch Screen Lexicon FX Controller tOTEM Fader Follow keys Global Mode switches and encoders Cue Control Master Faders and associated controls Main channel or mix master faders, meters and associated controls Phones socket under faders Mute masters plus MUTE & setup key.
tOTEM™ (THE ONE TOUCH EASY MIX) KEYS These keys place the console into ‘MIX’ mode allowing quick & easy mixing from Channels to Buses, Channels to FX or Buses to Matrix. Pressing any key triggers a sequence of events that re-configure the control surface and console monitoring system to the optimum layout for the desired/required function. NOTE: If selecting a tOTEM key whist there are no contributing channels or buses on the active layer the surface will appear 'blank' — this is correct.
FADER LAYER KEYS Fader Layer Keys change the function of the faders to the left of the master faders: 1. A: Layer ‘A’, nominally inputs. 2. B: Layer ‘B’, nominally inputs. 3. C: Layer ‘C’, nominally bus masters. 4. D: Layer ‘D’, nominally Matrix Masters. 5. GEQ LO: The lower half of the GEQ. 6. GEQ HI: The upper half of the GEQ. NOTE: The GEQ pages are only available when an audio master fader is SELected.
PATCHING AND FADER LAYERS The fader layers on Si EXPRESSION are arranged in a simple and logical form, by default the fader layers are as follows: • A: Nominally first bank of mono channels (1-14 EXPRESSION 1, 1-22 EXPRESSION 2, 1-30 EXPRESSION 3). • B: Nominally additional mono channels plus six stereo channels (15-22 plus stereo 1-2 and FX1-4 Si EXPRESSION 1, 23-38 plus stereo 1-2 and FX 1-4 Si EXPRESSION 2, 31-54 plus stereo 1-2 and FX 1-4 Si EXPRESSION 3). • C: Nominally all Mix bus masters (1-14)*.
Si EXPRESSION OUTPUT PATCHING & LAYERS: As all Si EXPRESSION models offer the same level of output processing and number of physical output all models have almost identical Output Layers & Patching systems: • MIXES 1-14 > Fader Layer C faders 1-14 > Analogue Line Out 1-14. . • MTX 1-4 > Fader Layer D faders 1-4 > Not Assigned. • Main L&R > Master L&R Fader > Analogue Line Out 15-16. • MONO > MONO/SEL Fader > Not Assigned.
MIXING TO MAIN L&R BUSES To create a simple mix to the Main L&R outputs: 1. Connect your inputs to the Mic/Line inputs on the console. 2. Connect the PA to Analogue Outputs 15 & 16. 3. Connect headphones to the socket under the armrest. 4. Adjust the gain to achieve a ‘good’ level on each channel, as a guide the -12dB indicator should be on most of the time with only the most occasional ‘flickering’ of the 0dB led. 5.
MIXING TO FX BUSES To create a simple mix to FX Processor 1: NOTE: This function may only be enabled if an FX processor is patched to a stereo input; this is achieved from the PATCH function in the inputs window. 1. Select fader bank A. 2. Press the FX1 follow key; notice the input faders have changed colour and position as they are now your sends from the input channels TO FX Processor 1 whilst the ON keys are now the routing ON/OFF from the channel to the FX bus.
QUICK HINTS AND TIPS Full details of all functions are provided in the user guide if needed, but the following bullets cover some other common functions. • Snapshots — Press the STORE key to create a snapshot, the CUE LIST key opens the list of snapshots where you can select the next cue to recall and, amongst other things, edit the cue name. • Home Page — Pressing the MENU key will return the touch screen to the home page.
POWER OFF The Si EXPRESSION incorporates a safety feature to prevent the power ‘accidently’ being turned off. To shut down the console: 1. Press and hold the POWER key for ~2 seconds, the power light will flash orange. 2. To confirm the shut down press the POWER key again whilst the light is flashing. If the confirmation is not received within ~5 seconds the command is cancelled and the POWER key reverts to solid green.
WARRANTY 1 Soundcraft is a trading division of Harman International Industries Ltd . End User means the person who first puts the equipment into regular operation. Dealer means the person other than Soundcraft (if any) from whom the End User purchased the Equipment, provided such a person is authorised for this purpose by Soundcraft or its accredited Distributor. Equipment means the equipment supplied with this manual.
PRODUCTS UNDER WARRANTY UK customers should contact their local dealer. Customers outside the UK are requested to contact their territorial distributor who is able to offer support in the local time zone and language. Please see the distributor listings on our website (www.soundcraft.com) to locate your local distributor. OUT-OF-WARRANTY PRODUCTS For out-of-warranty consoles purchased in the United Kingdom, please contact the Customer Services Department (e-mail: soundcraft.csd@harman.
® by HARMAN Soundcraft Harman International Industries Ltd Cranborne House Cranborne Road Potters Bar Herts. EN6 3JN United Kingdom +44 (0)1707 665000 www.soundcraft.
