"It was our first opportunity to hook up a PRO2 and PRO9 in this way, and it's a dream set-up," says Prosound's Mark Malherbe, who has been a Midas user for some 30 years. "You get all the benefits of the individual Midas digital consoles - great sound, great ergonomics and exceptional versatility - and when you team them together, the operation is seamless."
The event, which attracted a capacity crowd of some 30,000, certainly demanded the highest technical and operational standards with a multi-artist and multi-DJ line-up, headlined by South African reggae superstars Tidal Waves and African indie-pop band Hot Water, interspersed by live-feeds which included South African President Jacob Zuma's speech to the nation.
Monitor engineers Matt Hallowes and Mandla Gumbe set up the PRO2 with 16 auxiliaries to feed the stage monitors, deploying Midas DL351 and DL251 modular I/O units connected via Cat 5 cabling. The pair operated the console in its Advanced Navigation mode, with the Flip and GEQ controls, to make full use of one of its innovations, MCA (Master Control Association) groups. These operate in a similar way to the established VCA (Variable Control Association) groups, but are specific to the selected bus.
"The MCA control made fine balancing between various mixes quick and easy, and the unit is totally user friendly," report Hallowes and Gumbe.
The two consoles were connected by generic AES50 virtual tie lines enabling full talkback between the operators. The resulting ease with which the consoles could 'talk' to each other was used to maximum effect with all channel naming and VCA assigning set up on the PRO2, the settings then exported as a file to the PRO9.
At FOH, the PRO9 was linked to a Midas DL371 audio system engine by fibre cabling. Sound checks with individual bands prior to the event were saved as scenes for recall, enabling instant 'plug and play' on the night while Area B on the PRO9 was reserved for broadcast feeds and MC mics. Additional equipment included a Klark Teknik DN100 DI box and a Klark Teknik Square ONE mic splitter to handle the press feeds.
(Jim Evans)
