When the time came, recently, to upgrade to a digital multicore system and new FOH console, The Sage Gateshead was prepared…

‘We first came across the Midas Pro series almost three years ago when we used a Pro6 on a large surround-sound opera, Skellig,’ says the UK theatre’s Head of Technical Operations, Chris Durant. ‘It was obvious that it would more than meet our needs when we needed to upgrade, and would reinforce our reputation as one of the best sounding music venues in the world.’

Durant and his team revisited the Pro Series, comparing the Midas Pro9 live performance system to other consoles that could match it for channel and output count: ‘Our demands range from small school concerts to large conferences and orchestral events to world class amplified artists,’ Durant explains. ‘The various I/O boxes available as part of the Midas digital system means that we’ve been able to come up with solutions for all of these, as well as applications that were previously impossible. We found that we were able to justify investing in a Pro9 which, offering 88 inputs, means we should never run out.’

The Pro9 readily integrated into the venue’s comprehensive Cat6 network, allowing it to be installed with minimal disruption. ‘We’ve only had to physically shuffle round some of the patch bay panels to accommodate the DL371 audio processing engine, the rest is just on short Cat5E cables,’ Durant says. ‘Other consoles we considered would have required additional BNC or fibre cables, adding thousands of pounds and time onto the install cost.

‘The Pro series has been obviously designed from the ground up as complete audio system; it’s not just a console and stage box solution. Its192 channels of 96kHz audio in and out down one Cat6 cable is also pretty amazing for the main multicore run. This suits us perfectly as we will be using the I/O boxes in four separate locations: patchbay, recording room, stage, FOH, and each input is freely patchable to every output on the system.’

Four I/O boxes – a DL251, DL252, and two DL451s with D-Sub I/O cards – provide flexibility throughout the building: ‘We went with the I/O boxes to give us a variety of options,’ Durant continues. ‘The DL251 will be our main stagebox, inside a custom built 48-way split rack. One of the DL451 units is located in our patch bay, handling all the feeds to the house PA and enabling inputs from the existing analogue infrastructure. The other 451 will be a floating rack, providing higher channel count on stage, for more inputs at FOH or elsewhere, or for use on its own on smaller events where we don’t need the full stage split system. Finally we needed to interface with touring or additional consoles if needed. The DL252 will be used as a complete digital multicore system with the DL251 on stage or connected to the AES50 ports on the control centre.

‘The desk has proven really easy to get to grips with, so we can’t foresee many issues with touring engineers picking it up really quickly. But ultimately it’s the sound quality that is most important. The sound team are already really impressed with the quality and ease of use of the EQ and dynamics; it’s really powerful, but musical at the same time.’

One of the first acts to use the Midas Pro9 at The Sage Gateshead will be the Soweto Gospel Choir in early October.

More: www.midasconsoles.com