Midas Pro X-CC-IP Live Digital Console

The Midas PRO Series family moves up a gear with the PRO X control centre and the industry-changing NEUTRON Audio System Engine. Featuring 168 simultaneous input channels and 99 time-aligned and phase-coherent mix buses, the PRO X sets a new performance benchmark in high-profile live sound applications and is a truly impressive digital control surface for the engineer whose very livelihood depends on both unparalleled functionality and reliability. Like all PRO Series consoles, the PRO X features managed latency and 40 bit floating point processing precision.

HyperMAC and AES50 audio networking technologies allow the PRO X to dynamically assign up to 288 inputs and 294 outputs at 96 kHz sampling rate to any of its input channels and bus outputs on a scene-by-scene basis. This high level of connectivity, coupled with the large channel and bus counts, makes the PRO X equally at home in theatres and symphony halls as it is in live concert touring, outside broadcast and music festivals.

Digital Audio Networking

SuperMAC (AES50-Compliant) and HyperMAC digital audio networking technologies from Klark Teknik simultaneously provide high channel counts, ultra low and deterministic latencies, sample-synchronous and phase-aligned networked clock distribution, error detection, network redundancy, and ease of deployment and use – to meet the demanding requirements of live concert touring.

The PRO X HyperMAC router provides a dual redundant snake connection to the NEUTRON Audio System Engine over optical fibre and copper with a bandwidth of 192 bidirectional channels of 96 kHz 24 bit digital audio, up to a distance of 500 m with optical fibre or 100 m with CAT5/5e cable.

PRO X is compatible with all Midas PRO Series digital I/O units, as well as with any other 96 kHz enabled AES50-equipped devices. Multiple PRO Series consoles can be connected together to create either larger mixing systems, or multiple discrete mixing consoles can share a common resource of networked and distributed I/O interfaces.

PRO X Advanced Navigation Flexibility

PRO X incorporates new and innovative methods of channel and mix bay navigation: FLIP Navigation, FX Navigation, GEQ Navigation, and MCA Navigation. These four options allow an engineer to easily and efficiently mix a large number of inputs on a compact control surface. PRO X also features the ability to display and control any output bus on the input control bay area. This navigation flexibility makes working with the console as simple as requirements dictate, or as deep and complex as a user desires. PRO X’s new centre section, which features 24 LCD switches that provide immediate access to up to 24 stereo pairs of output mix buses, also supports the new navigation modes.

Integrated Effects Processors and Graphic Equalisers

The PRO X can simultaneously process up to 24 internal multi-channel effects and NEUTRON’s 40 bit floating-point audio processing hosts a wide choice of virtual effects devices, which range from dual-mono delay units, stereo modulation and numerous diverse reverberation simulations, multi-band compression, dynamic EQ and multi-channel dual-function dynamics processing. Up to 36 1⁄3 octave Klark Teknik DN370 Graphic Equalisers (GEQs) are provided, which can be patched into any output.

PRO X provides comprehensive automatic latency management of all internal routing andprocessing latency – and also includes compensation for external analogue inserts. All audio samples are synchronised before summing, resulting in absolute phase coherence at the outputs,without the comb filtering effects of competing products that often result in specific frequencies being cancelled out completely.

All effects processors and GEQs are custom-designed to function within this automatic latency compensation system. This ensures a phase-coherent, sample-accurate mix regardless of whether the devices are used as channel inserts or on auxiliary buses.

MIDAS PRO Fader

Not satisfied with the existing motorised fader choices in the marketplace, Midas created the PRO FADER, rated for up to a million cycles – three times that of other leading manufacturers - and providing high linearity, robustness, and smooth feel during operation. This decision yielded many other benefits, including total quality control over the manufacturing process and lower costs that could be passed on to customers.

As a digital console manufacturer, Midas has a perspective on the actual application of motor faders that a component manufacturer would not have. The multi-disciplinary development project combined mechanical design, electronic hardware and software optimisation with a rigorous testing programme and an investment in material science to produce the best possible performance in actual operation in Midas PRO Series consoles. Semi-precious metals are used for the wiper fingers for their hard-wearing properties, and precision resistive tracks were created that offered highly linear positional accuracy, coupled with long-term durability and even response in use.

Highest Quality Display Screens

The PRO X Control Centre features dual 15" full colour daylight-viewable TFT displays for use in all environments, both inside and outdoors. The displays provide visual feedback for the entire system, the on-screen menus instantly navigate to the console overview page, which keeps all vital information (all metering, all fader positions, mutes and solos) in view at all times.

Digital Precision, Analogue Response

The oversampled digital signal processing algorithms, combined with the fully interpolated and touch sensitive user controls, result in the smooth continuous response and immediacy of working on an analogue console. Parameter adjustment becomes fast and easy, and the continuous phase shift of a swept frequency control is heard without the quantisation artefacts exhibited by competing digital consoles.