Midas Consoles

Hard rock superstars Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry’s co-headlining tour, which kicked off in September last year, has proven so successful that the run received a lengthy extension through the winter of 2009. Nigel Paul and Steve Shaw, Front of House Engineers for Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry respectively, both credit the tour’s success not only to both bands’ popularity and reputation for killer live performances, but also to the clarity, power, and warmth of the show sound, mixed through the new PRO6 digital mixing console from Midas.

 

“For me, the Midas name has always been synonymous with the best-sounding, best-designed live mixing consoles in the business,” says Paul. “In the analogue realm I have long-considered the XL4 to be peerless, but with the XL8, and now the PRO6 digital audio system, Midas has met and even exceeded the widely respected sonic qualities of their analog flagship. That achievement is difficult to overstate, but by simply listening and comparing, it is easy to understand how excellent a console the PRO6 is. Moreover, Midas has managed to incorporate this superlative audio quality into by far the most intuitive and intelligently designed control surface and user interface that I have encountered in a digital mixing system. It’s refreshing to be able to concentrate on the business of mixing again; to focus on the music and performance while being supported by the hardware/software interface rather than distracted by it.”

 

All factors that made the prospect of using the console on a nationwide tour an easy sell from Paul to Buckcherry’s FOH Engineer Steve Shaw: “I proposed using the PRO6 for the current Avenged Sevenfold/Buckcherry tour to my Steve based on the highly favorable impression I had formed of it when test-driving a pre-production model a few months earlier,” says Paul. “Given the technical and logistical requirements of the tour, and my dissatisfaction with other digital consoles I have mixed on over the last few years, I knew that we both needed the relief the PRO6 could provide. For too long I had felt that I had to work way too hard, and in too indirect a manner for my mixing comfort to obtain results that ultimately only continued to disappoint me. Steve felt the same, and graciously and enthusiastically agreed to give the PRO6 a trial run. Neither of us has looked back since!”

 

“During the course of my first sound check with the PRO6 everything turned around for me as regards mixing on a digital console,” adds Paul. “With the greatest of ease, everything could now be made to sound as full, natural, solid, present, and punchy as I am used to with the XL4, and spectrally placed exactly where I wanted it to be. The response of the console to my every input was equally as accurate, precise, and sensitive – the whole mix just came alive and fell effortlessly into place. The onboard processing and effects are full-featured and sound superb, offering choices and options to suit every application and taste. The sound had Midas stamped all over it. I believe the PRO6 will prove to be a landmark product for Midas – one that has been well worth waiting for.”