With its original art deco interior, the Grade II*-listed Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the UK’s premier arts and entertainment venues, received the new FOH desk as part of a complete new design and installation, masterminded by Adlib’s Installation Director Roger Kirby and MD Andy Dockerty.

It is the latest chapter in a long relationship that has existed between the two organisations, which has seen the service providers frequently renting sound systems to the Hall over the years.

Liverpool Philharmonic’s Technicians opted for the Vi3000 as part of a complete new audio infrastructure after attending a Soundcraft open day hosted by Adlib. This was followed by an onsite demo which enabled Dave Kay, Adlib’s Soundcraft specialist, to show off the multiple features, as well as its ease as a walk-up desk, thanks to an intuitive user-interface.

With Soundcraft’s renowned quality and reliability the 96 channel console also has new aesthetics with a more efficiently designed control surface, complete with 36 faders, 24 mono / stereo busses and an impressive sweeping black screen panel. The four Vistonics II touchscreen interfaces and new 3D graphics make it the only console in its class that can be used by two engineers at the same time.

At the same time, both the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall itself and visiting sound engineers will be able to take advantage of the Vi3000’s adaptability and full complement of analogue and digital I/Os, which provide MIDI, USB, Ethernet, DVI out, Dante/MADI record feed outputs, redundant power supply and other connections as well as two expansion bays.

Crucially, the Vi3000 can also accommodate the new Soundcraft Realtime Rack, a hardware/software unit designed with plug-in manufacturer Universal Audio that provides access to 74 industry-standard UAD plug-ins. Additionally, it is the first Soundcraft console to offer seamless networking with Dante-enabled devices.

A dedicated returns multicore is used to connect the FOH console to the amp racks at side stage, and additional signal processing and control for day-to-day peripherals is managed by another Harman owned company, BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-160 DSP. This was picked for its flexible switching and its routing of balanced signals for the subs, in-fills and choir-fill speakers.

Summing up the installation, Liverpool Philharmonic's Acting Technical Manager Richard Curtis said, “The Soundcraft Vi3000 at FOH provides us with an up to date control system as well as being easy to adapt to any of the event types with which we use the PA – from RLPO concerts right through to Pop/Rock. I look forward to our continuing relationship with Adlib to provide the best possible production for our musicians, clients and audiences alike.”

All system training was carried out by Adlib.

The Soundcraft and BSS components were supplied as part of the Harman professional portfolio by UK and Eire distributors, Sound Technology Ltd.

For further information please call us on 01462 480000.

Photo credit: Deana Kay