Soundcraft Si Expression 3 - Professional Digital Console

Building on over a decade of experience in digital audio mixing, the Soundcraft® Si Expression leverages the most advanced DSP technologies, component engineering, and manufacturing techniques to deliver our most powerful and cost-effective digital console yet. Every console in the range shares the same feature set, so your only choice will be how many local faders and mic preamps you need. With a range spanning from the super-portable Expression 1 (19" rack-mountable) to the powerful Si Expression 3 with its 30+2 faders and 32 mic/line inputs, there's a model to suit every need.

The Si Expression 3 features 32 recallable mic preamps (16 on the Si Expression 1 and 24 on the Si Expression 2), plus 4 line inputs, 4 internal stereo effects returns, AES input, and a 64x64 expansion slot that provides ample capacity to utilize all 66 input channels with processing. Each input channel includes dedicated processing: high-pass filter, input delay, gate, compressor, and four-band EQ. All of this is controlled by a comprehensive automation system, complemented by four mute groups and FaderGlow™ technology, which lights the way so you never get lost.

All Si Expression consoles feature buses, output processing, and connectivity to match the versatility of their inputs. The 14 aux/group mixes can be configured as 14 mono, 8 mono + 6 stereo, or any combination in between, while the 4 matrix mixes can be mono or stereo as needed. These bus and matrix mixes are complemented by four additional buses dedicated to the internal Lexicon FX processors, in addition to the Left, Right, and Center buses. Each bus mix features a compressor, 4-band EQ, BSS graphic EQ, and delay, always available. Output connectivity is extensive: all models include 16 balanced line outputs, a headphone monitor output, AES output, and, of course, the 64x64 option slot.

To complement the channel and bus processing, all Si Expression consoles feature four stereo Lexicon MX400-based effects processors, offering a wide range of sounds, user-adjustable parameters, and dedicated tap-tempo keys. As these are hardware-based effects, their use doesn't affect the rest of the processing, even in the most demanding programs; all dynamics, EQs, filters, delays, and GEQs remain available no matter what you do.

Flexible onboard I/O and expansion options ensure your Si Expression integrates seamlessly with other system components, utilizing any of the Si Series ViSi Connect™ option cards such as MADI USB Combo, BSS Digital Audio Bus (BLU Link), Dante™, CAT5 or Optical MADI, AVIOM™, CobraNet™, and more. The MADI card, in addition to functioning as an interface to multitrack recording systems or plugin systems such as the Soundcraft Realtime Rack™, allows users to connect the Si Expression to any Soundcraft or Studer stagebox for expanded I/O power and flexibility. Adding a stagebox to an Si Expression not only increases the number of available inputs, but also the number of channels you can mix simultaneously! It's said that "power is nothing without control," and here the Si Expression excels with a comprehensive yet easy-to-use control surface, incorporating a dedicated control for each parameter, a row of global mode encoders, and a color touchscreen, ensuring quick and easy operation.

As you'd expect from any Soundcraft digital mixer, the features are extensive and include legendary audio quality thanks to the latest-generation EMMA™ DSP processor, the same DSP platform that has propelled previous Soundcraft Si-series consoles to fame. All this power, combined with reliability, flexibility, and ease of use, puts the Si Expression in a class of its own.

Characteristics

• 32 (16 on Si Expression 1, 24 on Si Expression 2) mono microphone inputs
• 4 line inputs
• 66 inputs to mix
• 1 ViSi Connect™ option card slot for 64x64 I/O expansion
• Freely assignable faders and routes
• Pre/Post selection per input and per bus
• AES input and output
• Global mode encoders
• Soundcraft FaderGlow™
• GEQ on each bus
• 20 subgroups / auxiliary buses
• 4 FX buses
• 8 Matriz buses
• LR and C mix buses
• 4 stereo Lexicon effects engines
• Delay in inputs and outputs
• 4 mute groups
• Freely assignable insert loops
• Integration with Harman HiQnet
• Color touchscreen interface

Si Expression 3 Highlights

• Massive mixing capacity : 66 inputs to mix on a small form factor digital live sound console.

• 1 ViSi Connect™ option card slot : for 64x64 digital I/O expansion, including MultiDigital Card (Firewire/USB/ADAT), BSS Digital Audio Bus (BLU Link), Dante™, CAT5 or Optical MADI, AVIOM™, CobraNet™ and others.

• Assignable Fader Layers – Customize each of the four fader layer pages to suit your needs or add/insert additional faders.

• 1 Control = 1 Function : Each control is dedicated to a specific function, eliminating the need to "stack" controls or navigate menus, just like on an analog console.

• TOTEM™ (The One Touch Easy Mix) : Mix to an AUX, FX, or Matrix bus with the touch of a button; the surface reconfigures instantly.

• Soundcraft FaderGlow™ – Illuminates faders according to their function, with defined colors for FX, stereo, linked mono, GEQ, aux post-fader, and pre-fader.

• BSS® GEQ : Includes a BSS graphic equalizer on each bus, without the need to allocate resources.

• Security Lock : Allows you to lock the entire console or specific elements, managing access by user or profile.

• Personal Monitoring Interface – Combined with the Si BLU Link card, it integrates seamlessly with the dbx PMC16 monitoring system.

• DOGS (Direct Out Gain Stabilizer) : prevents changes in microphone gain from affecting direct outputs, ideal for shared setups.

• Copy and Paste : Copy channels, buses, mixes, or specific parts like the EQ or compressor.

• Hotkeys : Dedicated buttons for functions such as STORE, RECALL, TAP TEMPO, MUTE, etc., for agile operation.

• Function Focus : Displays channel information on screen whenever a control is moved or a channel is selected.

• Everything everywhere : All channels and buses feature full processing, with no additional configuration required.