also available in 24 channel
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/oct96/soundcraftghost.html
After months of curiosity-arousing, X-Files-style advertising, Soundcraft's Ghost is here, offering the project studio owner automated 8-buss mixing at a highly competitive price. DAVID MELLOR deliberately avoids all jokes about transparent EQ and haunting sound quality...
When manufacturers first started to design consoles for the home and project studio market, they didn't seem to know how to make the equipment affordable enough without cutting corners. They threw out important features, loaded up the compromises -- and then wasted all these savings by using clumsy, labour-intensive manufacturing techniques. We ended up with minimalised desks that didn't really perform as well as we wanted them to. But bit by bit, low-cost manufacturing techniques improved, and the features we need have returned -- and more have been added besides. We asked for more, and we have got it. Enter Soundcraft's Ghost. I doubt such sound and build quality, and well-directed facilities have ever been available before at such a canny price.
THERE'S NO SUCH THING!
When reviewing a desk with a name like this one, from the company which is also responsible for the Spirit range of mixers, there's an overwhelming temptation to indulge in a tirade of ectoplasmic puns -- but that would be to divert your attention from what is actually a very serious, 8-buss mixing console. Available in both 24- and 32-channel frame sizes, and with the option of a 24-input expander module, the in-line Ghost is currently available in two different versions, depending on your automation requirements, or lack thereof: the straightforward, manual mixer with no automation (the so-called Ghost Le), and a version with mute automation and machine control (as reviewed here).
Despite the name, this console has few insubstantial qualities. I can see that it has been aimed at the top end of the home project studio market -- there's nothing cut-down, cut-price, or anything less than professional about the look, feel and sound quality of the Ghost -- and for those in this bracket aiming to sell studio time, the appearance of the console is very important.
This is a traditional analogue desk, and whereas digital recorders have certain sound quality advantages over analogue tape, in terms of low noise and low distortion, even the top-end digital mixers are still hard pushed to rival the dynamic range and headroom of analogue mixers. In addition, there is no learning curve with a 'traditional' analogue console -- you just sit down and start mixing. There is one knob or button per function -- no menus, no shift keys.
