COATESVILLE, PA – DBS Audio has long relied upon on Midas consoles – but until recently, only the analog variety. For the 2010 festival season, however, DBS made the shift to the Midas PRO6.
"It was our first leap into digital," said founder and president David Brotman. "We are solely a Midas console house, and again, I wanted to move into something that no one else had – and from an integrity standpoint, something we already had," he said. "So we were waiting and hoping that Midas would release something within our price range. After 15 years with them, we have a lot of trust in the Midas name. So when it was time to go digital, the PRO6 was an easy choice."
DBS Audio been providing sound for shows all over the Northeast since 1992, active on the festival scene and also for tours and installations. "When we built the company, we made it a point to shoot for the highest quality," said Brotman. "I also wanted to be something completely different, not built on the same inventory as everyone else. So we built the company starting with 100 percent Midas consoles and Meyer Sound enclosures.
"Originally, we were going to wait for our factory training, thinking it would take a while before we got comfortable with it," he added. "But literally after having the PRO6 in the shop three days, it was clear – this thing is easy. So we brought it out on a gig, and it performed flawlessly."
Brotman also liked the PRO6's ability to save scenes and the on-board effects virtually eliminated the need for outboard processing.
"Every job we've done with the PRO6 so far, I haven't brought any outboard gear," he noted. "The Klark-Teknik reverb sounds phenomenal and the delays all sound great. But for multi-stage festivals, I'll probably carry a small rack of reverbs and delays just to keep people happy with the brand names they trust, and those integrate into the console just fine."
Another benefit is the light weight of the unit. "It's amazing how much they've gotten inside this unit, between the control surface and the brain. And the whole thing weighs about 200 pounds, that's another bonus.
"I've never been happy with the sound of any digital console I've tried before this," Brotman continued. "But it's no surprise that Midas is the exception. First, it's got those great Midas preamps. But the best thing about the PRO6 is the latency control. I'm a real fanatic about time alignment, and in our world, time is your enemy. Midas is really the only digital console that addresses that, so you don't get any phase smear, even with old analog devices patched in. It's pretty amazing how they did that."
Brotman and his team were also pleased with how the console works. "Right from the start, it was easy to find anything I was looking for," he said. "I wasn't paging through to find things. Instead, With the VCAs and POP Groups, there are multiple ways to get to any given spot. It's just so easy to get around on this thing."
The PRO6's structure also allowed Brotman to "hide" the inputs he didn't want to see, such as his talkback mic and the CD player inputs. "I just assign them to a POP Group, so I don't ever have to see the inputs, but still have instant access."
Another plus for Brotman was the flexibility and multi-tasking enabled by the presence of Area B. "Of course, all the VCAs and POP Groups default to the left side of the board, which is Area A. But you can also send those groups to come up in Area B."
The two video screens on the PRO6 are another bonus. "The left side is typically input channels, and the right side would be metering. That's pretty standard," Brotman noted. "But what I really love is the KVM inputs. That lets me see outside gear like the Galileo processor or SIM EQ system for our Meyer Sound rig right at the console – very convenient. And the screens really are daylight visible – important for festivals."
DBS Audio opted for a basic tour package configuration, with 56 inputs and 8 outputs housed in the DL351 stage box, racked together with the DL371 audio system engine, which is connected to the control surface via Cat5. Connectivity from the DL351 to the monitor desk is an analog split, although that may change in the future. The company also opted for both an analog and digital input cards at the surface.
After a couple months of ownership, Brotman said, the PRO6 "fits right in with how we work as a company. We're very clear about our work and we only want it one way – perfect. That's a big reason why we're a Midas house, and the PRO6 just confirms that commitment."
For more information, please visit www.midasconsoles.com.
