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Double First as XL8 Handles FOH and Monitors for Deacon Blue
Deacon Blue’s UK tour was another first for the Midas XL8 Live Performance System, with consoles used at both FOH and for monitors. The systems were provided by Scottish rental company EFX, who took delivery of the XL8s just days before the tour began.
Deacon Blue’s FOH engineer Dave Pringle was previously unconvinced that a digital desk would provide fast enough access, but the XL8 changed his view. “The way it’s been designed to bring the channels to you means it’s really quick,” he says. “It’s become like second nature, hitting a VCA and seeing the channels that are grouped on that VCA move over to the left. I’ve always used Midas consoles, and switching over to XL8 was much easier than I thought.
“It has so much potential and I’ve been learning something new every day. I’m using the automation, saving a scene for each song, storing the FX and mute groups, and I can imagine building on this over time. I still mix on the fly, so from that perspective it hasn’t really changed the way I work. However I’ve really noticed the amazing audio quality, particularly on condenser mics and overheads, things that sparkle. I bring the faders up and it just comes back really clearly.”
EFX’s Steph Fleming, Deacon Blue’s monitor engineer, has also been won over by XL8 and the band have noticed an improvement too. Keyboard player Jim Prime says, “The sound in my monitor system is noticeably different. The top end has extra headroom and there’s a great increase in clarity. I provide vocal cues from my keyboard and it’s really precise. It also gives stereo imaging like I’ve never heard before.”
EFX has also been beta testing the Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution hard disk recorders designed for the live environment, having pre-ordered two systems. “We’re very impressed with it so far – it’s a great method of recording shows for future reference,” says Pringle. “In the past we’ve recorded every show on DAT, but now we’ll be able to have multitracks so the material can be properly remixed. It’s also been a useful tool for listening back to channels and tweaking effects on the XL8.”
“We needed something to replace the XL4, and went down to Midas under the impression that we couldn’t justify having a desk like the XL8,” says EFX’s John Ramsay. “The more we listened to the guys at Midas, the more we felt it would complete our PA system, which was brilliant but this would make it even better. On the journey back we decided to get one, then after a few days we changed that to two.”
“It’s the finest sounding console I’ve ever heard, analogue or digital; there’s nothing out there that compares to its audio quality. The facilities are good, reliability has been phenomenal, you can ask no more.”
In picture: Steph Fleming (EFX), Dave Pringe (Deacon Blue FOH) and John Ramsay (EFX).
5th December 2007
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