0406 AMSR

>

 

 

 

you, with only a single button press required

 

 

 

 

to bring the next 16 auxes onto the surface.

 

 

 

 

The solo section has A and B solo busses,

 

 

 

 

which are exclusive. In other words, if a

 

 

 

 

channel’s solo is assigned as a ‘B’ solo it

 

 

 

 

cannot be an ‘A’ solo at the same time. This is

 

 

 

 

useful for driving two monitor outputs, or for

 

 

 

 

dual operator use for exampe. Incidentally,

 

 

 

 

the console does have freely assignable A

 

 

 

 

and B sections for dual operator use or for

 

 

 

 

convenience. Both sections scroll through the

 

 

 

 

channels independently.

 

 

 

 

The automation on the XL8 is, as you’d

 

 

 

 

expect, pretty comprehensive. The system

 

 

 

 

stores all settings, and can even store

 

 

 

 

parameter isolation settings within each

 

 

 

 

scene, though there is independent isolation

 

 

 

 

available as well. The main feedback centre for

 

 

 

 

this is the centre-section screen, though on

 

 

 

 

the surface itself and large illuminated ‘next’

 

 

 

 

button does the obvious, along with Last, Now,

 

 

 

 

Confirm, and Cancel buttons. You can use the

 

 

 

 

jog wheel to navigate through the scene list as

 

 

 

 

well – when the show isn’t quite ‘linear’.

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, the two screens that

 

 

 

 

correspond to the centre sections show, by

 

 

 

 

default, colour-coded metering for the entire

 

 

 

 

console, and the plug-in rack.

 

 

 

 

There’s plenty more to talk about, but that

 

 

 

 

will have to wait for another issue. One point

 

 

 

 

of interest may well be the three KVM switches

 

 

 

 

inside the console and data tunnelling over

 

 

 

 

the network. This means you can feed

 

 

 

 

external video in to the console and switch

 

 

 

 

the screens around, you could plug-in your

 

 

 

 

laptop control system and run that from the

 

 

 

 

console controls, or you could even throw

strips are peppered with little round navigation

compression types based on RMS, Peak, Linear,

TCP/IP and USB data around the auditorium.

buttons that assign that to the Channel Strip.

and Vintage types. Again, Midas says it has been

For a Sound Reinforcement community becoming

You don’t have to hunt for a select button, for

working on these algorithms almost as long as it’s

ever-more reliant on those kinds of systems, these

example, when you want to get into

For a company that

been working on the console in order to

are nice extras.

the EQ – just press the button where

provide the best fundamental tools for

Conclusion

the EQ would normally be and the

was exclusively

the XL8 user.

Channel Strip is at your disposal. The

analogue not so

Plug And Play

The Midas XL8 is not cheap, but it does offer the

screen for that bay then displays the

kind of scale, fail-safes, and completeness that is

detail of that control down its right-

long ago to recruit

Also on board you’ll find a large array

hard, if not impossible, to find elsewhere. For a

hand side.

the right people

of plug-ins. The list will continue to

company that was exclusively analogue not so

It ’s wor th mentioning the

grow but for now the console has 16

long ago to recruit the right people and create

compressor and EQ sections on this

and create such

stereo effects processors with a choice

such a sophisticated and SR-friendly product as

console, mostly because Midas has

a sophisticated

of auto-panner, chorus, stereo delay,

this is an incredible achievement. Will it live up

done an incredible amount of work

DN780 reverb, stereo flanger, Midas

to the legacy left by the outgoing XL4? I have a

to give options and control to suit the

and SR-friendly

reverb, and graphic EQs. As mentioned

feeling it will.

live sound engineer. Take for example,

product as this

earlier, graphic EQ control is via the Helix

 

work done on interpolation of the EQ

Rapide controller.

 

control. Midas says that one difficult

is an incredible

On the centre section of the console

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

aspect of most digital EQs is the ability

achievement.

you’ll find the 12 VCA group masters,

 

to ‘dial in’ the right frequency – sweep

16 auxiliary masters (and associated

 

the frequency of an analogue EQ

 

 

‘detail’ section), and 16 matrix masters,

I N F O R M A T I O N

and a good engineer will settle in the right place

as well as the main output controls, monitor,

 

almost immediately. Try that on a standard digital

talkback and oscillator controls, dual track balls,

£Midas XL8 £194, 000 + VAT.

EQ and it will take some twiddling to hone in on

and more.

Midas (UK)

your target. Thus by doing analogue-like phase

In monitor mode you can bring the auxiliary

T+44 (0)1562 741 515.

shifting and detailed interpolation Midas claims

mixes onto the faders, and lock particular

www.midasconsoles.com

to have fixed this particular bugbear and make a

auxiliaries to the two knobs on each channel

 

better EQ in the mean time.

 

strip. By assigning your mixes to the first 16

Midas USA (Telex Communications, Inc)

In fact, there are several EQ types available

auxiliaries and the 16 matrix outputs you have

T +1 952 736 4031 Ext. 84031

to the user, just as there are a wide selection of

access to the first 32 mixes right there in front of

E matt.larson@us.telex.com

A U D I O M E D I A A P R I L 2 0 0 6

69

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Midas Consoles XL8 manual Was exclusively, Right people, Sophisticated, SR-friendly, Product as this, Is an incredible