MIDAS PRO9 is wizard in Oz
Leading Australian events company Production Works, based in Hobart, Tasmania, has become the first in the country to upgrade its MIDAS PRO6 digital audio system to a MIDAS PRO9.
The PRO9 package, supplied by Victoria-based MIDAS distributor National Audio Systems, tops the MIDAS PRO Series and features a massive 88 channel input count and 35 buses, with the dual stage boxes offering placement flexibility up to 200m apart and 500m from the FOH position.
Production Works CEO Tony Miller is delighted with the new set up. "The PR09 gives us identical features to the PRO6 but with expanded input channels live on the surface," he explains. "This allows us to tackle larger theatre shows and concert events without the need for multiple consoles. Twenty four extra live channels make a big difference when you have 30 or so radio microphones, and a large chorus or choir with a 30 piece orchestra. Now everything is condensed onto one console, with the benefit of the PRO Series features available on all channels."
Miller has long been a MIDAS fan and still holds an XL200, XL250, Verona and several Venice consoles in his inventory. He was bowled over by the PRO Series when he acquired a MIDAS PRO6 in 2009. "The PRO series has so many highlights," he enthuses. "The population groups are a fantastic feature, allowing live channels to be brought to the working surface very quickly and in manageable groups, and the audio distribution system is flexible, reliable and convenient. You can send, patch and assign anything almost anywhere. Combined with the latency management system it is a force to be reckoned with."
But while Miller revels in the speed and flexibility of digital afforded by the PRO Series, the consoles' analogue characteristics are equally important to him. "The whole analogue feel to the operation and layout of the console makes for an easy transition from an analogue to digital console for die hard, 'I'll never use digital' FOH and MON engineers," he explains.
Most important of all? "The sound," says Miller. "A digital MIDAS PRO sounds like an analogue XL4. It's the sound quality all digital console manufacturers would die for."
Photo: L to R: Production Works' Gareth Kays (digital systems engineer), Nathaniel Collins (ICT specialist), Tony Miller (CEO), Malcolm Battersby (senior audio engineer), Tom Black (digital system engineer)