Midas has announced a range of standalone digital snake and audio distribution products, aimed at all situations and venue sizes.
The snakes use Midas mic preamps with full remote control and sample-synchronous low latency. Models range from 16-in/8-out up to 64-in/64-out, with up to 3km range, and include a fixed-format, competitively priced 48-in/16-out model. There is a choice of four road-rugged hardware options including the DL431 24-channel, five-way active digital/analogue input splitter. Each of its 24 inputs features three Midas mic preamps, completely isolated from each other to prevent any audio interaction.
The DL351 64-channel and DL451 24-channel units support a range of five different I/O modules, providing configuration flexibility. Options include the Midas remote controlled mic preamps, line in/out on various connectors and AES3 digital audio with sample-rate conversion and local synchronisation capability.
The DL251 and DL252 provide a fixed-format, 48-in/16-out, all-analogue remote stagebox, which uses Midas mic premps and dual-redundant power supplies. Remote control of mic amp functions is from any Midas digital console, or via a PC running the appropriate Midas software. The DL251 and DL252 can be used as a stand-alone snake system for restricted budget applications. All the systems are connected using standard Cat5e cables carrying the AES50 multichannel audio and control protocol and provide a standard 100m range. This can be extended up to 3km with the Klark Teknik DN9650 network bridge.
Intended applications include: analogue I/O digital snake systems from stage to FOH; digital multichannel splitter systems for remote locations with dual remote control; and mic preamp stageboxes for mixing consoles and other devices with multichannel network connections such as Madi, EtherSound, Aviom and Dante
‘This is the beginning of a whole new product range for both of our brands,’ says John Oakley, Midas Klark Teknik MD. ‘We have been quietly designing a whole range of multichannel, high-performance audio distribution units for seven years as part of the Midas digital console programme. All the new systems use exactly the same technology and components as the XL8 and Pro6. This is a perfect example of the way our highly advanced networked audio strategy allows us to bring new products to the market very quickly. We are now able to offer the market what it has been asking for – easily-deployable digital audio distribution with uncompromising audio performance. Who isn’t going to want an affordable digital snake with Midas mic pres on the end?’
More: www.midasconsoles.com
