GATESHEAD, U.K. – The Sage Gateshead, a center for musical education, performances and conferences, has installed a Midas PRO9 live performance system at its FOH position in the main auditorium.
“We first came across the Midas PRO Series almost three years ago, when we used a PRO6 on a large surround sound opera, Skellig” explained Chris Durant, head of technical operations for the venue. “It was obvious that this was a product that would more than meet out needs when we needed to upgrade, and would reinforce our reputation as one of the best sounding music venues in the world.”
The venue’s demands range from small school concerts to large conferences and orchestral events to world-class amplified artists.
“The various I/O boxes available as part of the Midas system means 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, with its 88 inputs, means we should never run out,” Durant said.
The PRO9’s ability to be integrated into the venue’s Cat6 network helped minimize any disruption as it was installed. “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,” Durant noted. “192 channels of 96K in and out down one Cat6 cable is also pretty amazing for the main multicore run,” he added. “This suits us perfectly, as we will be using the I/O boxes in four separate locations: patch bay, recording room, stage, FOH, and each input is freely patchable to every output on the system.
“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,” Durant continued. “But ultimately it’s the sound quality that is most important. The sound team is 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.
“We’re very grateful to Rob Hughes and Jason Kelly from Midas for advising us during the purchase of the system, as well as for the comprehensive training for the team, and we look forward to using the console when events restart in the autumn,” Durant concluded.
For more information, visit: www.midasconsoles.com.
