Ref: Caroline Moss PR0623
Date: November 2007

XL8 ELEVATES AEROSMITH TOUR

The Midas XL8 Live Performance System has completed the final leg of Aerosmith’s 2007 world tour, with FOH engineer Jim Ebdon at the controls as the Boston rock legends made their way across North America.

Earlier this summer, Aerosmith embarked on the “World Tour 2007 – The Tour Heard ‘Round The World”, bringing their signature brand of rock 'n' roll to fans across the globe. Given the strenuous demands that accompany this kind of schedule, coupled with the band’s notorious insistence on the best possible sound, roadworthiness and audio quality were top priorities when it came to spec’ing the gear. This added up to a demanding but potentially rewarding task for man and machine.

Enter the Midas XL8, and Ebdon, whose history with acts like Sting, Annie Lennox, and American Idol have earned him a "golden ears" reputation; exactly what a tour with a band of such high critical standards demands. Along with Ebdon at FOH, Chuck Wells acted as assistant FOH engineer besides handling systems technician duties.

When the console joined the tour, “The lid came off to ‘oohs and ah's’ from the few of us standing by,” recaps Ebdon. “It looked beautiful, and was smaller than I remembered, which was a good thing. I started to program the console and very quickly found my way around setting it up, patching input channels, routing, effects, sends and returns, and outputs. I had the crew band play for me, which is how we sound check, and within a few minutes I was confident with the console and had them sounding very good. I had very good results from the first show, and gained even better familiarity with it for the rest of the tour.”

Ebdon and the XL8 saw plenty of live action and racked up the miles as they took the tour’s homecoming stretch of the North American tour up to Toronto.

“I've been a user of digital consoles since they were first introduced to the market and have really tried them all,” continues Ebdon. “However the XL8's audio quality is above and beyond anything I've heard in the digital realm. It has that warm Midas analogue sound - both the pre's and EQ's are what you'd expect from Midas. Plus, you've got the VCAs (variable controlled associations) and POP (population) groups which allow you to quickly grab any channel assigned for easy control.

"Add the fact that its work surface is completely intuitive - very much like an analogue desk - and it's been a real treat to use on this tour. Plus, it integrates very nicely into our Pro Tools HD system. From the sound of the plug-ins to the work surface and Linux operating system design, to the first-class EQ and pre's, to its virtually limitless networking potential, the XL8 is a fantastic console. I look forward to using it on more high profile jobs in the near future."

Photo caption: Aerosmith FOH engineer Jim Ebdon and the Midas XL8

ENDS

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Editor’s information:
Midas live performance mixing consoles have been used by the world's most demanding sound engineers, performers and rental companies for three decades. The company strives to raise the standards of sonic quality through its programme of continual research and development, implementing new control functionality and user-friendly desk operation to anticipate and accommodate the ever-evolving needs of audio professionals who specify Midas consoles for their major tours, festivals, international events, broadcast projects and prestigious fixed installations.

Klark Teknik was founded in 1974 and in the years immediately following, their innovative approach to design and development allowed them to introduce some truly groundbreaking designs. Klark Teknik was responsible for the world’s first digital delay and digital reverb units, however it was their concepts for equalisation devices that really changed the world of professional audio resulting in the DN370 and the famous DN360. Today Klark Teknik continues to bring innovation in design and dedication to engineering and sonic quality in both the analogue and digital realm of signal processing, with the Square ONE and Show Command ranges updating the brand.