LONDON — FOH engineer John Delf, who had used a Soundcraft Vi1 console for U.K. girl group Stooshe on the club circuit, opted for the larger Vi6 board for the Plan B (a.k.a. Ben Drew) arena tour. Supplied as part of a full PA package by Dave Shepherd’s BCS Audio, the arena shows feature tracks from Plan B’s 2010 album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, followed by the soundtrack of Drew’s hardcore London gangland movie Ill Manors, complete with harrowing visuals. Supported by six projectors — firing onto three screens plus I-Mag at London’s O2, where a DVD was also being recorded — it was an exacting challenge for Delf, system tech Dave “Boxx” Cann and Shepherd himself, who assumed production management duties. Aside from the mix, Delf was using time code to sync to the screens, supplying click tracks and recording to multi-track from the Vi6’s optical MADI onto hard disk recorder. “I know it’s a popular thing to say, but I am very impressed with the preamps,” said Delf. “The Vi6 just gives a bit more crunch and edge, which suits this kind of gig more, particularly with the hip hop section. It has a real clarity.” In addition, Delf loves the fact that he can get a complete visual reference of the show across the top page of his board — particularly useful on this tour, which carries a 10-piece ensemble. Delf also finds Soundcraft Vi6’s Fader- Glow “extremely useful; with everything in front of you, it is possible to see what has EQ on it and what has compression, you can see if the inserts are on,” said Delf. “When you hit the graphic, all the faders become EQ and change to red, so you know you are in graphic mode. It’s the workflow and sound quality that make the Vi6 special; it’s as near to an analog desk in layout as anything I have used.”