Théâtre Musical de Pibrac invests in new Soundcraft Vi1 console

A popular music-based theatre in the French town of Pibrac—10 minutes from the centre of Toulouse—has installed a new HARMAN Soundcraft Vi1 mixing console as part of a major overhaul.

The Théâtre Musical de Pibrac—which was built in 1989—features an amphitheatre-style main auditorium with a capacity of 448 people seated or 750 standing. In addition, TMP includes a separate lobby, exhibition area, café theatre, and rehearsal and reception areas.

The TMP welcomes incoming shows as well as producing its own through its own resident company, Figaro & Co (about three performances per season).

However, recently the rue Principale venue decided to overhaul its distribution network. In the process they decided to upgrade their old Soundcraft analogue mixing desk.

“We needed a desk both to run our own shows and for the incoming productions,” explained the TMP Theatre Director, Stéphane Novak, “and therefore it needed to be one that would be familiar to the bulk of technicians.”

The theatre thus plumped with a new Soundcraft digital desk—which could be placed on its new Riedel RockNet backbone—to replace its analogue predecessor.

As Novak noted: “We were looking for a compact desk, with good de-esser and compatibility with the RockNet card for the stage preamp.” For them—after three of the venue’s technical team had reviewed the market leaders—the Soundcraft Vi1 was ideal for their needs.

The 32-channel Vi1 is the smallest sibling of the massively popular Soundcraft Vi digital range which started with the Vi6. As well as providing 32 channels of analogue input—and 64 channels to mix when attached to stagebox—to 27 analogue outputs it also includes six digital inputs, four stereo FX returns and six digital outputs in one chassis.

The console—which was provided by local dealers, Spotco—arrived at the venue in January was immediately pushed into active service and has already impressed the TMP staff.

“We are satisfied that we made the correct purchase,” added Novak. “We particularly like the quality of the EQ, the onboard dynamics and the routing.”

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