KATOWICE, Poland – Krakow-based Prosound and FOH engineer Daniel Schindler supported Riverside, a headliner for the Metal Hammer Festival, with a Midas PRO6 live audio system. Prosound provided all the audio gear for the event, which also featured a performance by Korn.
Schindler first encountered the PRO6 touring as a monitor engineer for Turkish singer-songwriter Nil Karaibrahimgil.
"From the first rehearsal for the Nil tour, I was blown away by the PRO6 sound," he said. "It sounds like an XL4 without 120m of copper between the source and the board. I've been looking forward to using the console with Riverside ever since. I also trained with German Midas distributor Mega Audio, and am proud to be a Certified Midas Digital User."
Schindler praised the natural-sounding preamps and onboard dynamics and FX processing as standout features, as well as the console's design. "It feels like using the analog Midas equipment we all love so much. The way of working is intuitive and a step towards the future. Once you've worked on it, you start missing that on other consoles."
Schindler used the PRO6's pitch shift feature to add second and third sets of vocals to the live mix, supplementing lead (and sole) vocalist Mariusz and recreating the harmonies captured on recordings in a live environment.
While crediting the PRO6 for its analog sound and feel, Schindler also appreciated its digital advantages. "Riverside are quite complex to mix," he noted. "Sometimes you need to change the full live mix in just two bars. But the PRO6's powerful automation makes this simple.
"The POP(ulation) Groups totally changed my way of working, in a positive way," Schindler continued. "It makes the access to the right channels even faster than on a big analog console and gives a great overview of the really important channels. I also like that the VCAs give access to the assigned channels in the same way as the POP Groups, while the Area B is great for channels that always need to be accessed directly."
Schindler added that the Midas PRO6 also weathered some challenges. The screens were clearly visible, even in bright sunshine; "a good thing if you have to soundcheck in Turkey at 2 p.m. under blue sky in 48° C (about 118° F)," he smiles. Even a thunderstorm failed to faze the PRO6. "I had to dry it out completely after 5cm of water got in the back of the case. The console continued to work like nothing ever happened."
Schindler is now looking forward to more opportunities to use the PRO6. "On Polish tours we always use equipment from Fotis Sound in Poznan and they already own a PRO6, so the future's looking good," he said.
For more information, please visit www.midasconsoles.com .
