AudioMedia - December 2008 - (Page 64) 12|08 AM MIDAS PRO6 Live Audio System SIMON ALLEN gets up close and personal with one of the major launches of 2008: the hotly anticipated PRO6. he Midas PRO is here, and here to stay. This has been a very eagerly awaited release, and I can see why. It is safe to say that the PRO will have a strong position in the market, and initial sales and responses are good. This more affordable brother of the Midas XL is compact, but not compact in its functions, as I discovered when I visited the purpose-designed demo facility at Midas HQ in Kidderminster. T THE REVIEWER SIMON ALLEN is Stage and Studio Manager of High Barn. At first glance the console is a dazzling array of colour, and the prominent illuminated logo makes the PRO stand out and be very recognisable. This is the second networked digital audio system from Midas. Employing technologies from its flagship model the XL , the PRO offers the same sample-synchronised audio performance in a compact package with that Midas sound. The system comprises of the desk itself, which really acts as one large remote control, and two U rack space units handling all the DSP and I/O. The I/O unit is completely configurable to whatever array of ins and outs are required, but the standard system provides channel inputs, eight returns, and digitally: busses, initially configured as auxes, matrix, three masters, and six solos. As the I/O hardware is all AES networked, the system can soon be increased to connect inputs and outputs, which should be enough. The other great news is that the hardware for the XL and the PRO are compatible. The desk itself also offers some changeable audio I/O cards to allow audio connections at FOH position if the racks are located on the stage. The whole system has that inevitable feel of Midas high quality about it, and the company has worked hard on fail-safe ways of protecting the show! The connection O ver view between the desk and the racks are two lots of m digital snake using Cat- e copper cabling: one master, and one as a spare. There is an optical option for further distances. Inside the console there are two Linux-based computers, and should one fail, the other can run the desk through the rest of the show. There are also redundant power supplies for back-up, so the PRO really is ready for the live sound environment. The console has input channel faders, on the left and four on the right, with master faders and auxiliary masters in the middle. Even though this is a digital mixer with two daylight viewable screens, the layout and manual feel is very much based around familiar analogue lines for intuitive operation. This is a massively capable piece of kit that is all singing and dancing, but it is designed in a logical manner. To move up and down the endless channels or busses and auxiliaries, there are simple navigation functions, as well as the now common VCA method of working. The pots work on direction and speed of turn to alter values rather than being simple encoders with only so many positions. This really does give the feel of Midas’ heritage in analogue mixers. The pots are also touch sensitive. As you touch them they become more noticeable on the screen with relevant information, such as dB value, giving the operator a ‘heads up’ approach to mixing. You can look at what you’re mixing, and not get involved in the gear. I actually think that because you are always looking at the same place on a screen in front of you rather than all over the mixer, and different bits of outboard gear in different places, and so on, that once you become used to it, it might actually make you more involved with the stage than a wholly analogue approach. It’s a little like choosing between > 64 AUDIO MEDIA DECEMBER 2008
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