PERTH AND KINROSS, Scotland – A plethora of digital systems were used across this year's three-day T in the Park festival. Britannia Row deployed three Midas XL8 live performance systems at FOH on the main stage, while Scottish rental company EFX Audio supplied two XL8s for FOH on the Radio One stage.
Some of the headlining acts also brought their own Midas digital systems to the festival. These included a PRO6 and XL8 for Dizzee Rascal; FOH PRO6 systems for Faithless and Florence and the Machine and PRO6s at FOH and on monitors for Paolo Nutini. Rap artist Jay Z also arrived with an XL8 system to the main stage.
On the Radio One stage, many of the engineers were using an XL8 for the first time. EFX set up the two XL8s in tandem, using the 431 active splits to enable them to access all the mics all of the time, on both consoles. Guest engineers were then able to ‘listen-in' to the preceding band and get a feel for the EQ, as well as lining up gates, compressors, reverbs and overall functionality prior to line-checking their own band.
"We felt it was important for guest engineers to become acquainted with the XL8s prior to show time," noted EFX's Steph Fleming. "After that, the consoles would speak for themselves. For most, their big impression was of the sheer audio quality of the XL8, and also of the way it feels very much like a ‘proper' mixing desk."
While engineers credited the XL8's analog sound and feel, Fleming spoke of benefits including the XL8's networking capabilities, with just one optical fiber cable replacing the 500 feet of cable required by a traditional analog setup. Midas DL451 I/O boxes were used to distribute the audio to multiple locations, enhancing the whole network's flexibility.
"For us, it's always about the great sound," said Fleming, "but equally essential is the flexibility especially when you've got some 24 bands appearing over three days."
Sophie Grant, FOH engineer for Jamie T and Kate Nash, had never touched an XL8 before T in the Park but was an immediate convert to the world of Midas digital, mixing Jamie T on the festival's opening night.
"The sound was exceptional, and I found it very easy to mix on," she said. "Selecting the VCAs to see my channels on the screen was so much easier then flipping between pages or layers. I also liked the fact that I didn't have to flip layers to access my FX. And the color coding is fantastic. Midas have always been my desk of choice, now I want to do a headline show on an XL8."
For more information, please visit www.midasconsoles.com.
