'Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision' - Dix Points For Soundcraft's VI4

'Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision' is taking the Eurovision Song Contest's unique mix of kitsch, catchy pop songs and satirical humour on the road, using a sound system with a Soundcraft Vi4 at its heart.
The 20-date tour runs from April to August and features 10 countries with each member of the audience assigned a country to support with a text vote to decide the winner.
Measuring less than 1.5m (5 feet), the Vi4 offers the Vistonics II touch-screen user interface and Soundcraft FaderGlow functionality in a compact footprint that's ideal for space-conscious applications such as theatres.
'Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision's' tour takes in a variety of venues from the beautiful grade II listed New Wimbledon Theatre to the art deco styled King's Theatre in Glasgow.
One of the UK's leading providers of audio-visual equipment and services, Blitz Vision purchased their Soundcraft Vi4 console from the SSE audio group, who have over 30 years experience in hiring and selling sound equipment. SSE equipment sales specialist Alex Penn explained: "We've tested all of the digital sound consoles and we highly recommend the Vi4. It's really user friendly and anybody could walk up to a Vi Series consoles and be comfortable with it within a couple of minutes of using it even if they'd ever seen one before, and it looks and sounds great."
Eurobeat is set to make its West End debut this September with each performance incorporating multitrack music playback using QLab software running on a fully redundant Mac Mini system with all the show's live vocals delivered through radio mics interfaced to the Vi4 via a preamp using a MADI fibre link. There's no external processing, thanks to the onboard Lexicon effects.
Working with Blitz Vision's Eurobeat project manager Peter Russell, sound designer Mike Walker of Loh Humm Audio, reveals why he specifically requested a Vi4 console: "Compared to other products in the price range, it wins on speed of response, the feel of the faders (the ability to mix on it!), ease of use and most importantly audio quality. One other major advantage for me as a designer is that it is possible for two people to be working on the console at the same time."
Further information is available at: www.soundcraft.com.
(KMcA)