Depeche Mode’s Tour of the Universe is now back in Europe, having travelled the globe since last April with a dual Midas XL8 live performance system for front of house and monitors, playing to audiences of up to 85,000.
FOH engineer Antony King, a big fan of the Midas XL4 and Heritage 3000, appreciates that Midas has created a digital desk that’s as familiar and easy to operate.
“The XL8 has a very analogue front end to it,” he says. “As for the features it offers, I really like the POP(ulation) groups, they’re great and give you really fast access to whatever channel you need at the time. Then the VCAs (Variable Control Association) give me more choice to split those groups further. It’s all in front of you and this is a feature that’s not available on any other digital console.
“I also love the sound of it. I guess the whole point of Midas making a digital desk was to put the XL4 preamp into a digital format. It’s ironic really; the idea of making a digital desk sound like an analogue might not seem like progress, but it’s what the human ear wants to hear. It’s created a warmth in some of the enormous venues we’re playing. Also, there’s a lot of output power, which some digital desks struggle with, and this gives a clarity I really like. Metaphorically speaking, if I compared the XL8 to an HDTV, it sounds as if it’s got more pixels!”
Over on monitors, Sarne Thorogood is confident the XL8’s the best console he’s used in a while.
“For an act like Depeche Mode the automation is a must,” he says. “The XL8 also has excellent navigation, retaining enough familiarity from the analogue versions to be comfortable with; everything seems to be in the right place. As time’s gone by I’ve been running more and more on the console, getting used to its character and its ways, and I’m feeling very confident with it.”
Thorogood is running a total of 20 mixes, consisting of a mix of mono and stereo in ear mixes and wedges for the band, four fx sends, delay and reverb for vocalist Dave Gahn, two reverbs for drums plus three mixes for the techs.
“I also have a KT Rapide graphic controller, which displays whatever I solo,” he adds. “It’s very functional and quick, and I can reach over to the rack and grab whatever I need while still running the desk. With an act like this, especially with Dave, who’s not on in ear, and the show at a reasonably high level, I need to get to the EQs quickly. The sound is a Midas, it’s wonderful, you can do a lot to it and it’s very forgiving. I don’t actually have to do very much to the signal, it comes in good and it goes out good.”
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