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A Harman International Company
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2 Thank you for purchasing a SPIRIT LIVE 3 mixer, brought to you with pride by the SPIRIT team of Graham, Simon, James, Chris, Colin, Andy, Peter, Martin, René, Roland and Kevin, with the support of many others - we hope you will have as much fun using it! © Spirit By Soundcraft 1995 All rights reserved Parts of the design of this product may be protected by worldwide patents Issue 1 Part No. ZM0??? Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a comm
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 1 INTRODUCTION 2 hanks for purchasing a SPIRIT LIVE 3 mixer. Owning a Soundcraft console brings T you the expertise and support of one of the industrys leading manufacturers and the results of over 22 years experience supporting some of the biggest names in the busi- ness. Designed by engineers who understand the individual needs of musicians, SPIRIT 2 LIVE 3 has been built to the highest standards using quality components and employing automated assembly tech
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 2 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PA MIXING here was a time when the P.A. system and the operator existed only to increase the Toverall volume of the performers, so that they could be heard in a large room or above high ambient noise levels. This just isnt true any more. The sound system and the sound engineer have become an integral part of the performance, and the artists are heavily dependent on the operators skill and the quality of the equipment. The following introd
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 3 The terms PRE and POST are often used in the context of Inserts, Equalisers and Auxiliary Sends, and describe whether that facility is placed before (Pre) or after (Post) another particular section. This is explained further in the detailed description of facili- ties. A mixer is often judged, amongst other factors, by the amount of Headroom avail- able. This is a measure of the reserve available to cope with sudden peaks in the input signal, without distorti
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 4 Installation and Safety Precautions Installing the Mixer orrect connection and positioning of your mixer is important for successful and trouble- Cfree operation. The following sections are intended to give guidance with cabling, connec- tions and configuration of your mixer. o Choose the mains supply for the sound system with care, and do not share sockets or earthing with lighting dimmers. o Position the mixer where the sound can be heard clearly, preferab
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 5 CONNECTING IT UP 2 The diagram below shows various equipment that would be connected to a SPIRIT Live 3 Page 5
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 6 WIRING IT UP MIC INPUT Balanced Mic XLR he mic input accepts XLR-type connectors and is designed to suit a wide range of TBALANCED or UNBALANCED low-level signals, whether from delicate vocals requiring the best low-noise performance or close-miked drum kits needing maximum headroom. Professional dynamic, condenser or ribbon mics are best because these 2. Hot(+ve) will be LOW IMPEDANCE. While you can use low-cost HIGH IMPEDANCE mics, 3. Cold(-ve) 1. Screen y
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 7 STEREO INPUTs, STEREO RETURNS Accept 3-pole `A gauge jacks, or 2-pole mono jacks which will automatically ground the cold input. Use these inputs for sources such as keyboards, drum machines, synths, tape machines or as returns from processing units. The input is BALANCED for low noise and immunity from interference, but you can use UNBALANCED sources by Mix Outputs wiring up the jacks as shown, although you should then keep cable lengths as short as Mono
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 8 AUX OUTPUTS The Aux outputs are on 3-pole A gauge jack sockets, wired as shown on the left, and incorporate impedance balancing, allowing long cable runs to balanced amplifiers and other equipment. Mix Outputs HEADPHONES Mono Output The PHONES output is a 3-pole A gauge jack, wired as a stereo output as shown, suitable for headphones of 200W or greater. 8W headphones are not recommended. 1. Screen Polarity 3. Signal - You will probably be familiar with
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 9 Fault Finding Guide Repairing a sound mixing console requires specialist skills, but basic Fault Finding is within the scope of any user if a few basic rules are followed. l Get to know the Block Diagram of your console (see page 27). It is just like following a road map. The Block Diagram is a representative sketch of all the components of the console, showing how they connect together and how the signal flows through the system. Once you have become familia
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 10 GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CONSOLE INPUT CHANNEL wo inputs are available to the mono input channel, via XLR connector (normally for Tmicrophone sources) or 3-pole 1/4 A gauge jack socket for higher level signals such as keyboards, drum machines, synths or tape machines. Both input sockets are permanently active, and may be used simply by plugging the source into the required 1 input. You do not need to unplug anything in the MIC socket if you want to use the L
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 11 The centre two pairs of knobs are arranged as HI MID and LO MID frequency sec- tions, with a cut/boost control (lower knob) of +/- 15dB, and a SWEEP(frequency) con- trol which determines at which frequency the boost/cut action will be centered. These MID sections, with a combined frequency range from 75Hz to 15kHz are particularly versatile for vocals, enabling particular characteristics of the singer to be lifted or sup- pressed very precisely. Set the cut/
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 12 When the PFL switch is released the LED on the channel serves as a PEAK indicator, to warn when an excessively high signal level is present in the channel. The signal is sampled at three points in the channel, immediately after the Hi-Pass Filter (PRE- INSERT), PRE-EQ and POST-EQ. The Peak LED will illuminate approximately 4dB before clipping and therefore give warning of a possible overload even if the peaks are removed by external equipment plugged into
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 13 15 PFL When the PFL switch is pressed, a mono sum of the pre-fade signal is fed to the headphones and L & R meters, where it replaces the normal Mix L/R or Mono signal. The PFL/AFL ON LED on the master section illuminates to warn that the headphones and the meters are now responding to the PFL/AFL selection and the PFL LED on the 22 input section lights to identify the active channel. This is a useful way of listening to any required input signal without int
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 14 22 +48V & PSU MONITOR The +48V switch with its associated LED applies phantom powering to all of the microphone XLR sockets on the input channels. NOTE: Phantom powered mics should not be plugged in with the +48V switched on. Also you should be aware that some microphones draw an unusu- 22 ally large current which may overload the power supply, resulting in distortion. Consult your microphone supplier for guidance if necessary. 23 The PSU OK LED monitors t
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 15 2 USING YOUR SPIRIT LIVE 3 CONSOLE he final sound from your P.A. system can only ever be as good as the weakest link in the Tchain, and especially important is the quality of the source signal because this is the starting point of the chain. Just as you need to become familiar with the control functions of your mixer, so you must recognise the importance of correct choice of inputs, microphone placement and input channel settings. However, no amount of caref
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 16 l Listen carefully for the characteristic sound of `feedback. If you cannot achieve satis- factory input level setting without feedback, check microphone and speaker place- ment and repeat the exercise. Note: The initial settings should only be regarded as a starting point for your mix. It is important to remember that many factors affect the sound during a live performance, for instance the size of the audience! You are now ready to start building the mix
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 17 Application 1 - LIVE SOUND REINFORCEMENT This drawing shows a typical configuration for sound reinforcement, with the main PA fed from Mix L/R and a separate voice cluster fed from the Mono output. The illustration shows the flexibility of the inputs to the mixer and how the Record Output and Stereo Return can be used to link to a cassette or tape machine. The Aux Sends are used for reverb (Aux 1, or 2 & 3 switched to PRE) and for artists foldback (Aux 4, o
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USERMAN.QXD 13/06/97 12:27 Page 18 APPLICATION 2 - LIVE SOUND - MONO SYSTEM (E.G. CHURCH) This configuration is similar to application 1, but is a mono system. In this configuration Mix Left and Mix Right are used as subgroups by pressing the MIX TO MONO switch. As an example, one group could contain a small band, while the other might contain a choir or vocals, and the Left and Right faders are then available to balance the mix to the Mono out- put. Aux sends 2-4 are used as mono feeds for
