A crucial part of guitarist Pete Townshend's stage set-up is a Crest XR-20 rack-mount mixer which has performed every show with him since the beginning of the tour.
Dick Hayes of Entec Sound and Light, long-time suppliers of audio equipment to The Who, explained that Townshend uses the XR-20 to do his own band mix onstage. "It receives sub mixes from the main FoH and monitor consoles and then Pete takes it from there. I'm pleased to say that, contrary to our initial expectations it does an extraordinarily good job, and we've all been forced to eat our words."
The XR-20 features 12 mono and four stereo inputs, all with mic preamps, individual 48V phantom power switches and 4-band EQ. The mono input channels offer 18dB per octave hi-pass filters as well. There are six aux busses, which are selectable pre-or post-fader in pairs. The main outputs use XLR jacks and are switchable between mic and line level.
Hayes continued, "I confess that we were sceptical in the beginning. No-one thought it would see out the rehearsals, let alone stand up to going out on tour, but the XR-20 been as good as Crest promised it would be, and more. It's compact, versatile, reliable and it sounds good. What's more, Pete loves it."
(Jim Evans)
