Scene Change Chooses Soundcraft Si1

Leading national audiovisual group Scene Change has selected the Soundcraft Si1 as its high-end mixer of choice. Scene Change has grown spectacularly since its formation in 2006, appearing this year as #48 on the BRW Fast Starters list, which ranks Australia’s fastest-growing startup companies. A key to that growth has been keeping their crew motivated by purchasing the best equipment available.

“When you want to attract the best crew in a tight labour market, you need to give them the best tools to work with, so they feel good about the quality of show they’re delivering,” said Sydney Director Vicken Hekimian. “So they work harder to make our clients happy, which is really important when you’re the underdog, the number 2 AV company.”

As part of this strategy, Scene Change takes a democratic approach to major capital expenditure. All the senior crew are given a chance to test drive prospective new purchases. The search for new mixers was a long one. Many digital desks were judged to be not flexible enough to handle the last-minute nature of large corporate events. The Soundcraft Si1 emerged the victor.

The key selling point was the quality of the onboard control gear. External effects racks take up time and space that is often not available for tight-turnaround corporate shows, so a digital desk was the logical choice.

“There’s no questioning the quality of the onboard gear on the Si1,” said Hekimian. “dbx equalisation, Lexicon effects, and BSS processing are all proven products that we know and trust. It passed all the tests we could throw at it.”

Apart from removing the need for the external rack, the Si1’s compact footprint also helps in the corporate environment, as control areas are continually squeezed as clients and venues put more tables and guests in the room.

Its programmability has proved useful for touring shows too, with the ability to work on a setup externally on a laptop, then upload it to the desk via USB.

“Unlike some of the other desks we looked at, the Si1 integrates really well with the analog world,” said Hekimian. “The whole input and output structure is really well thought out. It also looks really cool. The look and feel of your equipment is really important when you work with event producers who know their stuff. They’re sitting right next to the desk for the whole show, so you need gear that reassures them they’re working with professionals.”

 

Photo: “Happy about being the #2 AV Company: Scene
Change’s Chris Challinor with the Soundcraft Si1.”