A-HA TAKE ON MIDAS XL8
Norwegian pop band a-ha have played a string of sold-out dates with FOH engineer Sven Persson at the helm of a Midas XL8 Live Performance System.
Four dates at the Oslo Rockerfeller Music Hall preceded an appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The concerts showcased each member of a-ha with their individual bands for 30 minutes, with a-ha coming together to launch two new songs for the finale.
The XL8 belongs to Norwegian rental company Avab-Cac, of which Persson is a director. “I’ve always been a great fan of Midas consoles and we got our XL8 about a year ago, so I have been lucky enough to play around with it at our warehouse,” he says. “When this show came up it was the obvious choice of console, combining supreme audio quality and automation.”
As the show was divided into four parts, the XL8’s automation really came into its own, allowing Persson to set each section up. “During preproduction I was able to prepare scenes for each act, which was invaluable as they all had big set ups, with a totally different approach to sound,” he says. “The XL8’s assured sound quality, and the way it is laid out, makes it very easy to operate when working with a lot of different acts, with such short changeovers. It was the first time I’d used it in a live situation, and I felt very comfortable from the start. Once again, this was largely down to the layout of the console because it feels like any other familiar Midas surface.”
“It was like working on an analogue console, but with the advantage of being digital.
My experience of other digital consoles is that they can be slow when you want to make quick changes to the mix such as effects sends, gain settings etc, but the way the XL8 is built allows you to be spot on immediately.
“In summary, the sound quality of the console is fantastic, and the parametric EQs are unbeatable - I don’t think any other console has such a great EQ setting. And the way you can work with your gain settings on the console are fantastic. The preamps give you such a feeling of headroom, and to me that is probably the most important detail when it comes to live sound.”
Sven Persson, a-ha’s FOH engineer, with the Midas XL8
Midas XL8 with a-ha on stage
ENDS
All brands and trademarks are recognised.
Editors' information:
Midas live performance mixing consoles have been used by the world's most demanding sound engineers, performers and rental companies for three decades. The company strives to raise the standards of sonic quality through its programme of continual research and development, implementing new control functionality and user-friendly desk operation to anticipate and accommodate the ever-evolving needs of audio professionals who specify Midas consoles for their major tours, festivals, international events, broadcast projects and prestigious fixed installations.