The new Soundcraft Compact Stagebox for Vi and Si consoles offers a high density of I/O connections in only 4U of rack space. The modular unit offers as standard 32 mic/line inputs, 8 line outputs, 8 channels of AES/EBU outputs and 2 expansion slots for standard Studer D21m I/O cards. The D21m is the I/O architecture for Studer as well as Soundcraft digital mixing systems and allows connection to most popular digital formats, including CobraNet®, AVIOM A-Net®16 Ethersound ADAT and RockNet. A MADI recording interface can also be fitted to the expansion slots.

The Compact Stagebox is connected to the host console using either Cat-5 or Optical-fibre MADI, the same way as the larger 64 Mic/line Vi6 Stagebox is hooked up, and shares the same redundant MADI cable capability.

As well as the flexibility of the D21m option card interface, the Compact Stagebox also uses the same Mic/line I/O modules as found in the Soundcraft Vi1 console, and as a result it is possible to move or share modules between console and Stagebox, should a different configuration of I/O be required.
The unit comes complete with twin redundant power supplies, thermostatically-controlled fan cooling and full LED status monitoring. An 8ch GPIO interface is also provided.

The Compact Stagebox is ideal for existing owners of Vi consoles as a cost-effective method of expanding the input capability (for example in conjunction with the DSP upgrade available for Vi6, which adds 32 Mic/line inputs to the 64 of the basic console), or as a partner for the Vi1 and Si range of consoles providing cost-effective remote I/O capability in conjunction with the optional MADI interface cards available for those consoles. The price of the Compact Stagebox starts at £3,500 UK list.