FOH engineer Huw Richards had used an XL8 for orchestral concerts in the past, but this was his first time on a PRO6.
“What I love about this board more than anything is the feel of it: it’s like Midas has always felt, which is reassuring,” says Richards. “So many digital boards are so flimsy and light, there’s no foundation, but I don’t think of this as a digital desk, to me it’s a Midas.
“I like the ‘fast zone’ controls which take you to any instrument or control parameters wherever you are on the desk. You don’t have to search through layers or change pages, everything you need is on the surface, which again is reassuring.
“The sound is also what you’d expect from a Midas; it sounds wonderful, it’s open, you can drive it hard, and the sweet spot’s easy to find. They’ve really done their work and listened to what people wanted. Everybody’s been waiting for an XL4 to occur in the digital domain and that’s happened with this desk.”
SSE’s system tech Nick Pain particularly appreciated the PRO6’s Area B, a four-channel ‘fast zone’ on the right of the control surface, which allows easy access for dual operators. “If Huw needs some assistance on any of the channels, or I need to change the EQ on the PA, I can bring it into Area B, deal with it on separate headphones and repatch things without disturbing him,” he says. “On academy tours like this where our equipment has a small footprint, I don’t have a drive rack, delay or EQ, it’s all in the desk. Area B means if I need to get into something, I don’t need to lean over Huw like I would with other desks.”
The support bands – a total of five across the tour – were also mixed on the PRO6. “They’ve all fitted into the same basic channel list that Maximo Park does, and it’s so quick to set scenes up for each one and flip between them,” says Pain. “The respective engineers have found it really easy to pick up, and from my point of view it’s been a lot easier just having the one console to look after.”
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