University Of Delaware Chooses Harman's Soundcraft Vi1 Console

The University of Delaware recently purchased a Harman Soundcraft Vi1 audio mixing console for use at its football games and other major events around campus. Joe Dombroski, audio engineering technician, and his colleagues at IT-University Media Services were looking for a new board to complete the expanding audio needs of the university's large events. After comparing a number of products they chose the Soundcraft Vi1. The board was purchased through New Jersey-based Total Video Products.

"This board is perfect for University Media Services needs," said Dombroski. "It's mostly used for entertainment during home football games and larger events around campus including commencements. I've worked with Soundcraft for a long time and I still have a Soundcraft Series 5 that I will never get rid of. It's a classic."

Speaking of the console, Dombroski said, "It has so much horsepower in a small footprint, it's great to be able to run every channel through one CAT5 cable and know it can support it all. I believe that, sonically, the Vi Series are the best boards out there. They have warm-sounding pre-amps that draw you in, and the Lexicon reverbs make everything so smooth and natural. It's surprising sometimes that it isn't an analog board, considering how good it sounds."

Dombroski also spoke highly of the Vi1's common mode rejection ratio -- the preamps' ability to reject noise. "So many boards have issues with grounding and interference," he said. "They are quiet in the studio or on the bench, but they light up with noise in the real world. I've never had a buzz or any sort of noise come out of the console. The number-one challenge of live audio is keeping things quiet -- as soon as you have even five dB of extra noise it will degrade a mix."

Dombroski also praised the console's setup and ease of use. "The Vistonics is wonderful, having the ability to scan across the board and see clearly what the settings are is great," he said. "It saves time and hassle instead of scrolling through many different menus. The multiple MADI cards are great and so convenient, giving so much flexibility to do a house mix or a multi-track mix, with endless options."

The University of Delaware relies on other Harman equipment as well, including JBL VRX and VP Series loudspeakers, along with BSS Audio processing.

"I've compared a lot of boards, and nothing is as good as the Vi1. Even when paying for more expensive boards you won't get the same audio quality that you do with Soundcraft," Dombroski concluded.