MIDAS XL8 DUO PREMIERES IN AUTOSTADT WOLFSBURG
Audiences, as well as performers, at the Movimentos festival in the Autostadt Wolfsburg (Volkswagen’s factory museum) were assured that the sound system matched the excellence of the programme. This year, a new duo made its German debut – a pair of Midas XL8 consoles that form a network sans pareil.
Although Movimentos is dedicated primarily to dance and the physical theatre, this year, stars from the worlds of rock and pop also graced the KraftWerk auditorium at the Wolfsburg Autostadt. These included the legendary Joe Cocker; multi-award-winning newcomers Sunrise Avenue and the ‘grey’ eminence of jazz and fusion-rock, John McLaughlin and his 4th Dimension.
An audio system for countless applications
Autostadt technical director Christian Kiel and his team spent eight weeks preparing for the event. During this time the facility power plant was converted into the perfect events location, capable of accommodating as many as 1,000 guests at a time. Sound reinforcement was provided not just for the auditorium but for the entire building complex. 24 sends were controlled by the XL8 at the front-of-house position, which also functioned as a central control room for the alarm and announcement system, and as a router for all signals entering and leaving the venue. The network made it child’s-play to distribute audio signals to any part of the KraftWerk. “We remain in the digital domain the whole time, all the way up to the amps,” explains Technical Director Andreas Meier. “That is an unassailable advantage, particularly when considering the enormous variety of events taking place here in the course of the Movimentos festival.”
Aside from the practical advantages offered by such a solution, the acoustic ones are obvious. “With this system, the problem of hiss is eliminated altogether,” says Meier.
Digital network between FOH, foldback and PA
Whilst the XL8 at the front-of-house position was used throughout the entire festival, the second XL8 at the monitor position was reserved exclusively for concerts. This XL8 operated by Tobias Kiemann, an experienced engineer, well-versed in the finer points of the XL8. “Even though the requirements of the various performers and dance companies are often very particular and the production managers of the Autostadt are very insistent upon the highest level of stability and reliability at all times, the XL8 offers more than sufficient capacity to handle even the most unusual setups.” Nor did anyone throughout the entire festival exhibit the slightest trepidation at being confronted with a digital console: “to the contrary; in most cases the briefest of introductions were sufficient to make them feel comfortable. In terms of sound quality, Midas is invariably synonymous with excellence, but with the XL8 you have, as a technician, the added advantages of unbelievably flexible routing and configuration options. Last but not least,” he added, “the XL8 really feels like a mixer – the faders have grip and the controls can be manipulated like those of a conventional desk.”
An unusual feature of the network solution involving the two digital consoles was the strict separation of the analogue and digital domains. Whilst the two desks form a peer-to-peer network, their analogue input sections (featuring three discrete preamps offering the characteristic Midas sound) remain independent. “In the case of the classic application i.e. sound reinforcement for a concert, with separate FOH and monitor mixes, each position has its own independently controllable gain stage, and the subsequent routing of inputs (e.g. their assignment to mixer channels) is also handled independently,” says Kiemann. Already in its second year of operation, the redundant network structure of the XL8 has proved not only impervious to interference but also fail-safe.
Caption: One of the star guests at the Movimentos festival: John McLaughlin, the ‘grey’ eminence of jazz and fusion rock (Photo: C.DiSari-Cortez)
Caption: “Unbelievably flexible routing and configuration options.” As ever, the Midas XL8 is inspiring enthusiasm
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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.