By Mark Farmer
Mixing consoles have become extensive control rooms of the live sound industry. Computers and Midi are now an integral part of the larger touring systems. Although, as time passes it costs much less to manufacture mixing consoles with more features that sound better than a similar desk might have a year earlier. With this in mind, Soundcraft has built and designed the Spirit LX7. This uncomplicated, small, unique mixer is manufactured in the United Kingdom and designed by Soundcraft co-founder, Graham Blyth. Although there are many of these compact mixers out there nowadays, Soundcraft has taken their years of experience and created a noteworthy product.
Features
The Soundcraft Spirit LX7 is one tightly packaged product. Having received a 32 input version it weighed in at a mere 40lbs. even with its all metal wedge shaped design. With dimensions just under 34” long, 20” deep and 6.5” tall I could almost carry the console under my arm. Since I am not a fan of wall-warts multiplying in racks, Soundcraft managed to design the power supply inside the mixer.
Notice I said 32 inputs and not 32 channels. There are 24 actual microphone input channels and 4 stereo balanced 1/4” inputs running the total up to 32. A very nice feature to allow for inputs of CD players or even stereo effect returns. I will give more information on the Master section later.
Looking across the desk, channels 16 and 17 are separated by the versatile master section in the right/center of the mixer. Each mono channel starts with the Ultramic™ mic preamp allowing for up to 22dBu of input gain. This new Ultramic™ technology has raised the standards for a no noise design. Also with this new system it allows for up to 60dB of gain range for use with many of today’s newer microphones. As the popularity of condenser microphones rises, Soundcraft has installed an across the mixer +48V of Phantom Power. Hopefully in another year or so this feature will move to each channel on some of these types of mixers. An 80Hz high pass switch with an 18dB per octave slope is installed inline with the mic preamp. Although a roll off around 120Hz would be better for most live sound uses.
A 4-band British EQ has been selected and is based on the same design in the more popular Spirit 8-Bus mixing desk. The fixed High frequency point is a shelving filter being centered around 13kHz and the fixed Low frequency point operating below 80Hz. Two fully sweepable knobs are available to access points in between. The Hi-Mid operates bandwidths from 550Hz and 13kHz, with the Low-Mid reaching the frequencies from 80Hz and 1.9kHz. An EQ Switch is available for comparing the non- equalized to any changes made.
Six yes, six Auxiliary sends are on this small mixer. Aux sends 1-4 are all selectable in pairs to Pre-fader or Post-fader. These four would come in handy for on stage monitor mixes or recording. Aux sends 5 and 6 are always Post-fader which could be most useful for outboard effects. Plus or minus 15dB of boost or cut is available from the EQ section. According to the manual, the bandwidth or Q is set at a wide 1.5. Although one downside of these Aux sends is they are all pre-set from the factory Post-EQ which means any changes made to the channel EQ affects the Aux outputs. So, if monitors are being run from any of the Aux’s, all channel EQ boosts or cuts will change the stage monitor mixes which can become an inconvenience.
I must mention the 100mm faders on this particular console are some of the most solid feeling long throw faders I have encountered on desks of this price range. Signal routing, channel Mutes, and the PFL(Pre-fader listen) are all nicely prioritized to the right of each fader. Signal routing can be assigned to Mono, Mix(stereo), or one of the four sub-groups. The Mono output is a clever addition for such things as a system delay, front fill or a center cluster. The Mute button, complete with an LED, on this mixer will terminate all outputs from each channel. The PFL switch doubles as a PEAK light that will illuminate around 4dB before clipping occurs at each channel input.
The master section in the right-middle of the console sports quite a few features for the small size of the mixer. Six stacks of three color bar graphs are placed directly above all of the master output faders. These LED’s are set up in pairs from left to right corresponding to 1-4 of the sub-groups and the last pair of bar graph meters reading the main Left and Right outputs. The main L/R bar graph meters also double as PFL/AFL meters. All of the six Auxiliary sends and corresponding AFL(after fader listen) buttons are located directly above the sub-group metering. Power LED’s are in plain view for the console power indication as well as the Phantom Power illumination. Some other key features of the Master section are a TB(talk back) Level control(XLR input in rear of desk), 2TK(track) level control, headphone volume and gain and two Stereo Returns. A notable switch in this section is the 2TK Replaces Mix Output button. One little flick here will allow the user to replace what is assigned to the main Mix Outputs with whatever source that is connected to the 2TK inputs.
One very flexible feature of the LX7 is the ability to use the 16 Direct Outputs on channels 1-16. On each of these channels is a DIR PRE switch which will allow, for instance, during recording to choose between Pre or Post fader.
In Use
Of my favorite things about the LX7 one is its compact size and the how it could almost be carried, into a gig, literally almost under my arm in the box. My first use of the console proved its simple layout as I was able to opperate it without even reading the manual. I did reference the very simple and well laid out manual for a few items.
I began my first setup at a festival by plugging in my portable CD player and some Crown PCC 160 plate/type microphones. My fist impression with music playback was surprising. Lots of dynamics, highs and even super lows were reproduced quite well. With the microphones, it did not take to much work to dial out any problem frequencies.The EQ section was attentive allowing me to get rid of any feedback. By using the channel High Pass Filters most of the low end rumble went away. Once again, a higher HPF around 120Hz would be more practical on a desk like this. During a few corporate events I was pleased to its multiple outputs for backstage feeds, delay speakers(mono output), and all of the Aux feeds. Employees from the video company at one event even commented on how expensive the channel faders felt.
Summary
Two great features of this type of desk is its ability to produce a nice sound and also have the flexibility of a larger console. These two things are what separate the top of the line “compact mixers” from all of the others. House’s of worship, studios, bands, and theaters would highly benefit from the purchase of the LX7. The desk channel-split layout is thought out to work from a recording standpoint. Channels 1-16 could become instrument inputs and the Direct Outputs could be taken to the multi-track. With this, the right half of the console, channels 17-24, become returns from the multi-track recorder. This flexibility is a major plus which creates a much wider purchasing audience.
I enjoyed the overall solid construction of this desk. It did not have the cheep feel of some similar mixers in this field. The knobs, faders, and switches all felt like a much more expensive console. All of the equalization all sounded very accurate and responsive. The overall sound was pleasant and natural and I did not have a hard time making vocals or instruments sound pleasing. Find your local Soundcraft representative and give the LX7 a serious consideration. With the $2,499.95 suggested retail price, it is a value that is hard to beat.

Mark Farmer is a live sound engineer with Live Technologies in Columbus, Ohio and a contributor to Pro Audio Review. He can be reached via email at: mixthat@columbus.rr.com

PRODUCT POINTS
Soundcraft Spirit LX7
24*4*3 Mixing Console

PLUS
+Low price
+Compact size
+Up to 25 outputs
(16 direct, 6 Aux, 3 main)
+Flexibility
+Soundcraft “sound”
MINUS
-Aux outs all Post-EQ
-Headphone jack placement

THE SCORE
The Soundcraft Spirit LX7 is the
definition of getting the most
“bang for your buck”