KIDDERMINSTER, UK—Emphasizing the trend toward building digital audio consoles with smaller footprints—and lower price-tags—Midas used last month’s PLASA tradeshow in London to launch
Midas’ new PRO6 live audio system its PRO6 live audio system. The launch was quickly followed by a two-day event in Minneapolis for the U.S. market.
The PRO6 uses the same microphone pre-amp design as Midas’ flagship XL8 digital console as well as its industry standard analog boards such as the XL3, XL4, and Heritage, while its designers used the company’s 32- channel Verona console as a template for the size of the control surface.
“Our roadmap always had the XL8 as the launch digital product, to be followed by smaller and more cost-effective consoles,” John Oakley,
NEWINGTON, VA—Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) has been selected by the Maryland Stadium Authority to design and build a new HD digital production system for Oriole Park at Camden Yards. CEI will upgrade the existing analog facilities to a modern HD production facility that can originate HD programming to the stadium’s new HD LED video displays and CATV systems. The project is expected to be complete by February 2009. managing director, Midas, told SCN. “The PRO6 is the logical next step and we believe it sounds as good as any console we’ve ever built.”
Like the XL8, the PRO6 uses the international AES50 audio networking standard, featuring feed-forward error correction.
CHAPMAN, KS—In June a massive tornado tore through Chapman, KS, damaging or destroying well over half the town’s buildings and knocking down utility poles on the football field of Chapman High School. While much of the field was a total loss, school officials powered up the Community R-Series loudspeakers to find every one working perfectly, thus giving a whole new meaning to the term “weather-resistant.”
The idea of an “affordable” XL8- style console has already proved a popular one, with Midas reportedly taking over 100 orders at the PRO6’s launch.
