ProAudio Review - October 2008 - (Page 63) | IN USE I can’t imagine a better scenario. Midas hired Myth (www.mythnightclub.com), one of the Twin Cities’ top clubs which already has a great PA, brought in a PRO6 desk, and let a bunch of us engineer junkies spend the day mixing our hearts out using virtual soundcheck. Virtual soundcheck allows all of the inputs to be recorded pre-processing. This feature (Yamaha and Digidesign digital desks have a variation of this as well) allows an engineer to listen to a band and theoretically soundcheck them even if they aren’t there. Midas used the Klark-Teknik KT DN9696 recorder to accommodate the playback but as long as the PRO6 is configured with the right I/O, any multi-track recorder will work. At first glance, I was impressed with the console’s small footprint, which will make it inviting to theaters, churches and touring sound companies. A closer look revealed an overly inviting work surface layout, which often isn’t the case with digital desks. I started pushing buttons and turning knobs and was immediately struck by how real the desk actually feels — not that digital consoles aren’t real, but the faders and knobs typically don’t have the same resistance and feel when you touch them as a classic analog desk. It turns out this is because all of the console’s variable controls are genuine potentiometers, not encoders. These controllers access the FPGA engine through A/D converters and Midas’ custom interpolation algorithms. This ensures that mixing on the console looks and feels exactly like the real deal. I found that mixing on the PRO6 was like sitting down at a nine foot Steinway grand piano after playing a Yamaha DX-7 for several years; it’s almost indescribable. As I pushed the faders up and listened to the individual inputs, I was again impressed. The sound quality rivals a top studio desk and the onboard EQ and compression sound wonderful. Navigation of the control surface is intuitive and all of the controls are within easy reach. The mic preamps in the PRO6 are built from discrete components and based on the classic Midas design and as with other Midas desks, they can be pushed harder to attain more of that classic Midas sound. My first concern with the PRO6 is the limited number of active faders. I thought that mixing a full band might be compromised with only 16 channel and 10 VCA faders. After a few minutes on the console, this perception was quickly altered. By utilizing the VCA/POP groups and their pallet of 16 selectable colors, it is easy to navigate any of the inputs to the surface in any desirable configuration. So instead of thinking in terms of layers and pages as with other digital consoles, the PRO6 allows you to think of the surface as one single, big layer that you can look at in many different ways. I initially questioned the PRO6’s inability to support third-party plug-ins but once I heard what the desk had to offer (and I’m sure there will be more in the future), I became more than confident that the internal processing could handle any situation. The track ball is the only feature that I see taking a while to get used to. The buttons are above the ball rather than beside it making it a bit awkward. The trackball seemed a bit stiff as well but hopefully that was just because it needs to be worn in a bit. Technical aspects aside, the PRO6 simply feels human. A great example is the warning message I received after choosing to clear the routing, “WARNING: Do you want to Clear All Routing (not undo-able)? This is the same as unplugging all cables in the system, packing them in flight cases, putting them in the truck and driving away.” You simply won’t find that kind of humor on a Japanese desk. | SUMMARY The reasonably priced Midas PRO6 is a wonderful sounding, feature-packed console that should be given top consideration in the broadcast and sound reinforcement arenas by anyone looking for a digital console with a small footprint and uncompromised sound. Russ Long, a Nashvillebased producer/engineer, owns The Carport recording studio. He is a regular contributer to Pro Audio Review. Visit him at www.russlong.ws Contact: Midas Consoles ¤ 800-392-3497 · www.midasconsoles.com Midas PRO6, which is essentially just a smaller version of the XL8. www.proaudioreview.com October 2008 | ProAudio Review | 63 http://www.mythnightclub.com http://www.russlong.ws http://www.midasconsoles.com http://www.proaudioreview.com
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