So the Soundcraft ui24R is a sound mixer. Unlike the kind of devices I’ve used in the past, it doesn’t take up a big patch of desk, only about three knobs instead of a hundred or more and no sliders at all. It sits neatly in a rack mount unit and includes its own WiFi network.

Our main interface to it is a touchscreen monitor and I can also log on via my iPad or phone, which has been useful a few times when I’ve ended up having to run sound as well as being on stage. It has 24 main inputs, which is more than we presently need (or have channels to run back to the desk).

Not having the physical mixing surface takes a bit of getting used to but going to a software orientated system has several advantages. In particular, we can configure the screen to show just the channels we need for a particular setup and each channel has multiple tools like compression and graphically represented parametric EQ that go well beyond any manual desk I’ve ever used. Sacrifice the hardware controls and you get the equivalent of a whole rack of studio grade equipment thrown in, which seems a good swap to me.

Tomorrow I’ll pick out some of the particular features I’ve loved using.