Soundcraft COMPACT 4

URL: http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=121
Price: Froogle

Sound On Sound editor, Paul White, has already written a review of the Soundcraft COMPACT 10 (the COMPACT 4’s larger brother), so I’ve decided to just add some of my own observations with the COMPACT 4. For a more thorough analysis of these units’ capabilities you may wish to consult Paul’s review, as well as the Soundcraft site.

The Guided Tour

The defining feature of this mixer concerns its use of two independent signal paths – offering an independent record buss. This provides the ability to record and monitor simultaneously without resorting to auxiliaries. The key is in its simple and dare I say it, ‘Apple-like’ approach to recording. With cute little symbols to indicate where your headphones and microphones/guitars should be plugged in, it’s certainly the most helpful mixer of its class. This is all rounded off by the funky metering which comprises blue and white LEDs that kept me entertained for hours! The unit’s build quality is reasonably solid and although it’s primarily designed for studio use, the COMPACT 4 should be suitable for live situations if treated with due care. As its name suggests, this mixer is wonderfully compact making it perfect for a crowded studio. The wooden side supports give it a more professional appearance, whilst also concealing the earth terminal and power supply inlet.

The power supply is of the dreaded external type and is possibly one of the hottest I’ve ever come across! It literally burned to the touch and I would have reservations about the quality and longevity of the power supply. Unfortunately, Soundcraft also felt it appropriate to omit a power switch. This is not the first time I’ve seen it done, but it still never fails to baffle me how a company can create a device without any means to easily cut power. Considering I purchased it on one of the hottest days of the year, I was wholly unimpressed by the thermal aspect and fear the unit would fail if placed in that kind of environment all the time.

Performance

To see how she performed, I plugged in my trusty Shure SM57 and Oktava MK-319 microphones and recorded a variety of instruments. Comparing preamps at this end of the price scale is essentially much of a muchness. Preamp design has marched on to the point there are very few mixers with truly awful preamps. There’s the odd design that stands above the rest (such as the Mackie VLZ and Onyx designs), but realistically most preamps in this price range are fairly average. The Soundcraft’s COMPACT’s pres are no different. They’re quiet with no major noise or colouration issues and perfect for a unit which will find it’s way into a lot of musician’s studios who are just starting to get into recording. I also experienced Paul White’s observation regarding the gain pot which seemed to leap at about the 3-4 o clock mark, introducing an awful lot of gain at the very end of the pot’s travel. This issue was made worse by my use of a dynamic rather than a condenser microphone. The EQ however, is a little better than you might expect for the money. Soundcraft is known for the quality EQ available on its budget desks and sensible adjustments did have a positive effect on the sound.

The routing options were just as easy to understand and comprehensive as the literature suggests and it was easy to avoid feedback loops. I also had no issues with crosstalk or setting appropriate levels for various devices. The manual is a bit of a mixed bag. It starts off by going through an example setup to get a sound in the quickest possible time using easy to understand language, but it seemed a touch lacking on the more technical details. It also omitted any mention about the batteries. This puzzled me because, as a simple man, I assumed that the battery compartment was integral to the unit. All the signs were there: a “Low Batt” indicator, “Battery Power” stated as a feature on the box and the unit seemed perfect for taking on the road to do small scale location recording. As my investigations found no compartment for the aforementioned batteries I emailed Soundcraft customer services who very promptly informed me that the battery power was an “add on option” which would be available in the latter part of this year.* A good opportunity missed there!

The Competition

Mackie’s Tapco range of products offer some very competitively priced mixers. The Blend 6 offers two mic/line/instrument inputs like the COMPACT 4 plus stereo inputs and sells for an incredible £39.99. The Mix Series combines a few compact mixers with varying channel options and ranging in price from £38.99 for a MIX.60 to £68.99 for a MIX.120 – effects versions are also available. However, none of these mixers offer the RIAA inputs of the COMPACT 4 or the bussing architecture to allow easy simultaneous recording and monitoring. For that, you would need to resort to auxiliaries for monitoring. Moving up the scale just slightly, we find the various MG ranges from Yamaha. There’s considerable breadth in the range spanning mixers of various sizes with optional extras such as effects and USB connectivity. The Yamahas are larger and sturdier than the COMPACT range and offer more channels and features but also command a price premium with the range starting at around £100. Some models also provide the same buss system needed to facilitate monitoring and recording, but there are no helpful symbols like those available on the COMPACT. Although Behringer provide a range of mixers (some with remarkable design similarities to other mixer manufacturers’ offerings), when companies like Soundcraft, Tapco and Yamaha are providing such competitive mixers, both in terms of performance and price – I don’t think I could ever recommend someone buying a Behringer mixer at any price-point.

Conclusions

Overall, I’m very impressed with ths Soundcraft COMPACT 4. It’s small, flexible and sounds good. Any gripes that I have with the product are minor and fail to detract from the unit’s desirability or usability in any practical way. Soundcraft have spotted a gap in the market for a newbie friendly unit that interfaces seamlessly with a computer and I think they have succeeded! I purchased the product soon after launch for £89.99 and it represented excellent value. Digital Village are now selling it for just £59.99 and for that kind of money, there’s nothing to fault it. The COMPACT 4 would make a worthy addition to any musician’s desktop.

Pros

• Small footprint
• Enables easy recording and monitoring with a computer for newcomers
• Hypnotic Metering
• Cheap

Cons

• Uneven gain control

Summary

A great little mixer for people new to recording and want a portable, high quality and good value solution to recording and monitoring with a computer

*To my knowledge, the optional battery pack has never been made available. I don’t know the reasons for this, but I think it’s a great shame. The COMPACT 4 is easily lightweight enough to be slung in a bag with a laptop or some other portable recorder and form the basis of a very powerful location recording system.