Soundcraft Spirit Folio FX8

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:08 pm

Hi everyone; i wanted little info about this mixer: Soundcraft Spirit Folio FX8
I noticed it's passive but has phantom power; would passive speakers work with it? As i wanted to purchase it, is there something i should know about it?

The aim would be to start little home and live recording jobs in small venues associating it with stereo mixdown sound card first, and multitrack sound card after.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:17 pm

To power passive speakers you would need a powered mixer, or an unpowered mixer and a power amp. Not sure if you know but phantom power dose not refer to the speakers. If you have phantom power then you can use condenser microphones.

Are you providing live sound reinforcement as well as live recording? I have done that before, and it is more work that you might imagine.

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:24 am

The FX8 is a nice little mixer for small venues where the maximum number of performers is not going to be more than 2 or 3.

As Gecko said, if you have unpowered (passive) loudspeakers, you would need a power amp between the FX8 outputs and the speakers.

Where you will have a problem is making a decent 2-track (stereo) live recording. The FX8 has direct outs on its 8 mic/line input channels, which are set up for multi-track recording and later mixdown. If you simply record the stereo output that feeds the power amp, you will record the balance, channel EQs and effects that were used in that venue on the night with no chance of altering them individually later. Don't forget that a lot of what the audience hears in a small venue is direct acoustic sound from the performers, and the PA function is re-inforcement, so it's not in itself a balanced mix.

It's not easily possible to make a separate balanced mix at the time of recording, as you (or a assistant) can't get an acoustic environment for monitoring the mix separate from the live sound.

The FX8 would function as an entry-level board for 2-track home recording, where with some acoustic isolation you could just about balance a mix in real-time. However, if the live recording is your main focus, I think you will be looking at getting an 8-channel interface for your computer sooner rather than later.

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:35 am

So, with the fx8 and a good 8 track sound card i would be able to produce decent stuff both live and in studio?

What mixer would you suggest me to get, to have a good studio/live device?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:47 pm

8ch interface, I'm thinking an FP10 or something along those lines. How cheap must it be?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:55 pm

If you want to do live sound and multitracking with the same device, you could look into some of the firewire mixers.

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