Soundcraft have been building mixing consoles since 1973, with desks designed for everything from professional studios and live venues to smaller setups. The Signature Plus range continues that analog tradition while bringing some useful modern features into the mix.
We’ve recently put the Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 through its paces, and in this review, we’ll look at how it feels to use, the level of control it gives you, and its overall performance.
With digital mixers becoming increasingly common, it’s easy to assume analog desks are becoming a thing of the past. But there are still plenty of situations where a straightforward analog workflow makes sense.
Analog mixers are particularly great for their reliability, straightforward operation, and visible, hands-on control. These are some of the main areas we’ll be testing the Signature Plus 12 on, alongside its sound, EQ, effects, routing, and USB recording capabilities.
In a hurry?
In short, the Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 is a solid analog mixer that feels most at home in smaller live sound setups. It’s straightforward to use, sounds clean, and gives you plenty of hands-on control, with good Ghost preamps, precise Sapphyre EQ, Lexicon effects, and useful routing options.
The 4×4 USB interface is useful for basic recording and playback, but it’s fairly limited if you want to use the mixer mainly in a studio. For small bands, pubs and clubs, or acts regularly taking their own setup on the road, the Signature Plus 12 works great.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Clear and detailed Ghost preamps | 4x4 USB limits multitrack recording |
| Precise and useful Sapphyre EQ | Switching between FX banks isn’t immediately obvious |
| Simple, hands-on layout | |
| Good built-in Lexicon effects | |
| Sturdy but relatively lightweight |
Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 Analog Mixer review
First impressions
Straight out of the box, the Signature Plus 12 feels like a substantial piece of kit. The construction is sturdy and built to last, but it’s still relatively lightweight for its size, so transporting it to smaller gigs shouldn’t be too difficult.
My colleague Craig and I took the mixer into our office studio to put it through its paces. At first glance, there’s a lot going on, but the controls follow a simple and logical layout.
It might take a little time to get familiar with all the routing options, but the mixer quickly becomes intuitive once you start using it. I also found the rounded-square “squircle” knobs surprisingly comfortable to adjust.
Despite how closely packed some of the controls appear, there’s enough room to make adjustments without accidentally knocking the neighbouring knobs. Overall, the Signature Plus 12 looks clean and professional, with a practical layout that suits its hands-on approach.
The test
For our test, we wanted to cover as much of the Signature Plus 12 as possible, so we connected a range of sound sources and tried several of its inputs. With 12 input channels, four aux sends, two groups, and a built-in 4×4 USB-C interface, there was plenty for us to get stuck into.
We started with a standard dynamic vocal microphone plugged into the XLR input on channel one. It wasn’t a particularly high-end mic, but it gave us a good idea of how the mixer might perform with the sort of microphone you’d commonly find at a rehearsal space or small venue.
The results were clear and detailed, with very little noticeable noise. Soundcraft specify an Equivalent Input Noise figure of -128dBu for the Ghost preamps, alongside a residual noise figure of -90dBu under their stated test conditions, which supports what we heard during our test.
Next, we connected an electric piano and a TR-8S drum machine, as well as playing recordings from a DAW through the mixer. This gave us a good mix of microphone, instrument, stereo, and digital sources to work with.
Getting everything running was straightforward. We could connect our equipment, set the gain and levels, and start mixing without spending too much time working out the signal flow.
The USB-C connection was similarly easy to get going with our DAW. It provides four channels in and four channels out at up to 192kHz, making it possible to record and play back audio without needing a separate interface for a relatively simple setup.
With everything connected, we could start digging deeper into how the Signature Plus 12 actually feels and sounds when mixing.
Inputs, channels, EQ, and compressor
Once we started mixing properly, one of the first things I noticed was how good the faders felt. There’s enough resistance to make small level changes feel controlled and precise, without making them difficult to move.
There’s plenty of routing available, too. Each channel strip gives you a good amount of control, while the two groups make it easy to bring multiple channels together and control them from one place.
The mono channels use Soundcraft’s Ghost mic preamps, and these performed well with our dynamic vocal mic. Vocals came through clear and detailed, while the electric piano sounded equally clean through the mixer.
Soundcraft specify a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz at +0.5/-1.5dB and THD+N of less than 0.005% under their stated test conditions. Specs only tell you so much, but those figures line up well with the clean and relatively transparent sound we heard during testing.
The EQ became particularly useful when we connected the TR-8S drum machine to stereo channel 9/10. Soundcraft use their Sapphyre EQ on the Signature Plus 12, and I found it precise without being overly aggressive.
Cutting frequencies was particularly effective, while the sweepable midrange gave us plenty of control when shaping the drum machine. It was easy to find the area we wanted to work on and make a fairly focused adjustment.
Boosting was restrained in a good way. The EQ sounded accurate with a little warmth when pushed, rather than dramatically changing the character of the source.
The mono channels also include built-in dbx one-knob compressors, which are a nice addition for quickly controlling dynamics without needing an external processor. You don’t get independent controls for ratio, attack, or release, but the single-knob design keeps things simple for quick adjustments. It does limit how precisely you can shape the compression, though.
FX and Aux Sends
The Signature Plus 12 comes with a built-in Lexicon hardware effects processor, giving you 32 reverbs and delays split across two banks. There’s a 16-position selector for choosing the effect, along with three parameter controls for making adjustments.
We worked our way through Bank A and found a few effects that we preferred over others, but overall, they sounded good. There’s enough control to tweak an effect to suit the mix without making the section overly complicated.
One thing that caught us out was switching between Banks A and B. It wasn’t immediately obvious how to do it, and without the manual to hand, we couldn’t work it out during our test.
That feels slightly at odds with how straightforward the rest of the mixer is. Once you know how it works, it’s unlikely to be a major issue, but I’d prefer the method of switching banks to be clearer from the panel itself.
You also get Store and Tap Tempo functions, with the latter being particularly useful for getting delay effects in time with a track. Alongside the effects, there are four aux sends, giving you plenty of scope for setting up monitor mixes or routing signals elsewhere.
Overall, the effects section keeps things relatively simple while still giving you useful control. Having the Lexicon processor built in also means you can put together a basic live setup without immediately reaching for an external effects unit.
Digital handling
Although the Signature Plus 12 is primarily an analog mixer, it also includes a 4×4 USB-C audio interface. This lets you send four channels between the mixer and a computer, with support for sample rates up to 192kHz.
We found the USB side very easy to set up. Once connected to our computer, we had audio running between the mixer and our DAW quickly, with little to no noticeable latency during our test.
Recording quality was clean, with very little noise, and playback through the mixer sounded equally clear. The specifications back this up with a stated recording dynamic range of 107dB and playback dynamic range of 94dB.
The USB-C connection sits on the top panel, just below the analog inputs. It’s easy to reach, but I think there’s a trade-off here, as a connected USB cable could potentially get in the way of the other connections. Personally, I would have preferred it on the back, although that would make it less accessible.
There are limitations to the USB implementation, too. Four inputs and four outputs should be enough for straightforward recording and playback, but you can’t record every individual mixer channel to separate tracks over USB.
At this price point, I would have liked more extensive multitrack recording capabilities, particularly when other modern mixers offer this alongside features such as DAW control. If you’re looking primarily for a studio centrepiece, that’s worth considering.
But that isn’t really the Signature Plus 12’s main purpose. It’s an analog mixer first, and the USB interface feels more like a useful extension of that workflow than the focus of the console.
For live sound with occasional recording, playback, or computer integration, I found it did its job very well. As a dedicated studio interface it’s less comprehensive, but as a digital addition to an otherwise hands-on analog mixer, it’s genuinely useful.
History of Soundcraft and the Signature series
Soundcraft started out in the UK in 1973, founded by engineers Phil Dudderidge and Graham Blyth. Right from the start, the company was focused on making live mixing more practical for engineers working on the road.
One of their first big innovations was the Series 1. This was the first flight-cased mixing console to have a multicore and stagebox integrated into the setup, making it much easier to take a complete mixing system from gig to gig.
Over the years, Soundcraft became a pretty major name in both live and studio mixing. Consoles like the Series 4, Spirit, and Ghost all came along, with some of that technology eventually finding its way into smaller and more accessible mixers.
That brings us to the Signature series, which first arrived in 2015. The idea was fairly simple: take the things Soundcraft were already known for, including Ghost preamps and Sapphyre EQ, and put them into a compact analog mixer.
The original Signature 12 also had Lexicon effects, dbx processing, and plenty of routing options. There was even a Signature 12 MTK, which added a 14-in/12-out USB interface for multitrack recording.
A lot of that DNA is still present in the Signature Plus 12 we’ve reviewed here. You still get the Ghost preamps, Sapphyre EQ, dbx processing, and Lexicon effects, but there are some modern additions too.
There’s now a 4×4 USB-C interface, four aux sends, improved monitoring options, Talkback-to-routing, and some extra control over the effects.
Interestingly, the old Signature 12 MTK actually had more USB recording channels, so the Plus isn’t necessarily an upgrade in every single area. But when it comes to the analog side of things, you can definitely see where the Signature Plus 12 has come from.
Who is the Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 suited to?
Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 is perfect for smaller live sound applications. Small bands, pubs and clubs, and acts that spend a lot of time on the road will get the most out of it.
At 6.1kg, it’s light enough to carry between gigs, but it still feels sturdy and well built. Four aux sends, two groups, and built-in effects also give you plenty to work with for a small live setup.
You can use the Signature Plus 12 in a studio, but it’s not really what it’s made for. The 4×4 USB interface limits how many individual tracks you can record at once, and I’d say there are better mixers out there if studio recording is your main priority.
For live sound, though, the Signature Plus 12 makes much more sense. It’s portable, straightforward to use, and has the controls and routing you need for smaller gigs.
FAQs
What are analog mixers?
Analog mixers are audio devices that combine, control, and route multiple audio signals using analog circuitry. They allow you to adjust microphones, instruments, and other sources using physical controls for things like volume, EQ, routing, and effects.
Do people still use analog mixers?
Analog mixers are still widely used for live sound, recording, rehearsals, and other audio applications. Their straightforward operation and hands-on controls make them particularly useful for smaller setups where you want quick access to everything on the mixer.
Which is better, a digital or an analog mixer?
Digital and analog mixers each have advantages, and the better option depends on how you plan to use them. Analog mixers tend to offer a simpler, more hands-on workflow, while digital mixers usually provide more advanced processing, routing, recall, and control options. For smaller live setups, analog can be the more straightforward choice. Digital tends to make more sense when you need more complex routing and processing.
Final thoughts
So, to bring the review to a close, here’s our verdict: the Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 is a solid analog mixer that keeps things simple while still giving you plenty to work with.
We really liked the Ghost preamps and Sapphyre EQ, while the Lexicon effects, dbx compression, and flexible routing all add to what you can do with it. The 4×4 USB interface is useful too, although we’d have liked a few more recording options for studio use.
For us, this mixer is at its best in a live setting. Small bands, pubs and clubs, and acts regularly out on the road are where we can really see it being put to good use.
Hopefully you enjoyed our Soundcraft Signature Plus 12 review and found it useful. Thanks for reading, and make sure to check out more reviews, guides, and everything else music- and gear-related.
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