HELP!! Not audio Savvy and need advice on SOUNDCRAFT SPIRIT FOLIO

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flagswipe

New member
New to the forums. HI. I have the first spirit folio board made. I need the board for my work. Like the title says, I don't know anything
about audio. Problem in a nutshell.... There is a PFL/AFL light under the bar graph meters. When this light is on, I get no
output of sound to speakers. According to the instruction manual and technical support at Soundcraft, this button only comes
on when I have a PFL or AFL button pushed. What it's doing... This light comes on completely randomly. Sometimes it's on for several minutes,
sometimes it blinks, sometimes it's not on. (without me pushing any buttons) It comes on speratically even when I have no audio going through it. I can sit
and stare at the light and it just randomly comes on and I get no sound. Again it's nothing I am doing to make this light come on. It comes on when
it feels like it. I have pushed all the AFL/PFL buttons and none seem stuck and they seem to function normally. All I need to know
is if I need a new board. Has anyone experienced this problem? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
flagswipe said:
New to the forums. HI. I have the first spirit folio board made. I need the board for my work. Like the title says, I don't know anything
about audio. Problem in a nutshell.... There is a PFL/AFL light under the bar graph meters. When this light is on, I get no
output of sound to speakers. According to the instruction manual and technical support at Soundcraft, this button only comes
on when I have a PFL or AFL button pushed. What it's doing... This light comes on completely randomly. Sometimes it's on for several minutes,
sometimes it blinks, sometimes it's not on. (without me pushing any buttons) It comes on speratically even when I have no audio going through it. I can sit
and stare at the light and it just randomly comes on and I get no sound. Again it's nothing I am doing to make this light come on. It comes on when
it feels like it. I have pushed all the AFL/PFL buttons and none seem stuck and they seem to function normally. All I need to know
is if I need a new board. Has anyone experienced this problem? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...




I am new here, but I've been doing live sound on analog gear for over 20 years. The AFL/PFL stands for after (post) fader listen and pre fader listen. Normal is afl. You send the channel signal to the headphone monitor bus just as it is mixed. In PFL it sends the incoming signal after your gain(or trim) knob at the top of your channel strip and before the fader. in PFL the individual channel is monitored on the meter allowing you to adjust the individual channel signal to an optimum level using the GAIN (TRIM) knob. At the hottest part of the signal you should adjust the gain up or down a few db below clipping. If it has colored display - into the yellow, but not into the red (much). Pressing this knob should not interrupt the main output signal. However it may interrupt the headphone output signal. If the light is coming on randomly, most likely you have a short in one or more of the channels AFL/PFL circuits. Not too uncommon in very old gear. Are you using headphones for monitoring or going out of the main output jacks to live monitors?
Hope this helps some. I'm sure there are other contributors who have worked with Spirit boards.
Adam G.
 
Adam Greene said:
I am new here, but I've been doing live sound on analog gear for over 20 years. The AFL/PFL stands for after (post) fader listen and pre fader listen. Normal is afl. You send the channel signal to the headphone monitor bus just as it is mixed. In PFL it sends the incoming signal after your gain(or trim) knob at the top of your channel strip and before the fader. in PFL the individual channel is monitored on the meter allowing you to adjust the individual channel signal to an optimum level using the GAIN (TRIM) knob. At the hottest part of the signal you should adjust the gain up or down a few db below clipping. If it has colored display - into the yellow, but not into the red (much). Pressing this knob should not interrupt the main output signal. However it may interrupt the headphone output signal. If the light is coming on randomly, most likely you have a short in one or more of the channels AFL/PFL circuits. Not too uncommon in very old gear. Are you using headphones for monitoring or going out of the main output jacks to live monitors?
Hope this helps some. I'm sure there are other contributors who have worked with Spirit boards.
Adam G.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Adam. I do have a pretty good understanding of the functions of AFL/PFL. Thanks to some research and your reply. No I am not using headphones. I'm outputting to desktop speakers. I cleaned what I could with contact cleaner and compressed air, and for a couple hours I thought it worked. I went for lunch and came back
and the light was dim but flickering again. I believe you answered my biggest concerns. I can get a new board through work, so I am not exactly looking for crazy solutions,
but more of a diagnosis. If that light is NOT suppose to come on unless I push AFL/PFL buttons then my question is answered. I'm not doing anything and the light comes on.
So after talking to Soundcraft, reading the instructions manual and talking to you, I am pretty convinced that there is something wrong with the board. It is very old (first model folio produced) Soundcraft Spirit Folio I don't believe it has ever been properly cleaned or maintained. If anyone else has any input on the subject I would love to hear it.
 
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