www.psneurope.com
May 2013 l 41
livenews WORLD
Si Expression exceeds expectation for Soundcraft
Sales of the three recently launched Expression models are “approximately double” where the company expected them to be at this point, writes Dave Robinson
SOUNDCRAFT HAS revealed that the Si Expression, in the first month of sales since its NAMM launch, has become “the fastest-selling digital console in [the company’s] history”. “We’re probably at
the levels we were last year for selling analogue consoles,” said Keith Watson, marketing director for Harman mixers, at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt last month. Andy Trott, vice
president & general manager for mixing microphones & headphones, added that sales of the three Expression SKUs (models) were exceeding expectation “by approximately double”. Si Expression is available in 32, 24 and 16 mono microphone input versions (Expression 3, 2 and 1 respectively), with street prices starting around the £2,200 (€2,580) mark for the smallest board. “We went from concept to shipping in
fewer than four months,” confirmed Trott. This is all down to the power of the Si platform, he explained: developed for the Compact mixer and deployed in Performer and Expression, it’s a hard- wired platform built around the concept of “evolution”. “Instead of redesigning every time,
we evolve it,” he said. “It’s a very, very powerful thing, and relatively new for us to do. We’ve been working on getting to this point for a number of years... and now we’re there. That’s why we’ve been able to launch Si Expression in such a short space of time.” Sales of the Si Performer – the first console to combine DMX lighting control with an advanced audio mixing spec, launched last summer – are “going well”, said Trott. “It’s doing what we thought it would do. Obviously, it’s a new concept; it’s
Andy Trott with Si Expression desk in Frankfurt
been slow for people to appreciate, and we knew it would be. “But in the installed market,
it’s getting some really big fans. It’s hitting the sweet spot where people want to have basic lighting controls. We’ve got new software variants coming out and a number of [other] plans, so it’s a developing, supporting platform.” Trott said plans for Si technology go
beyond the current Compact, Performer and Expression desks. “There are always going to be limitations, because it’s aimed at the lower end of the market. This is not a ‘Vi’ (a reference to Soundcraft’s high-performance higher- spec digital live range) but that’s part of the design. “Si will allow us to take the platform
to lower and lower price points, and that is the whole strategy.”n
www.soundcraft.com
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