Come check out the Midas M32

[PatrickSmith]

.... It's in at the SFL demo zone. Get in touch at Info@SFLgroup.co.uk if you fancy having a play.

 

[Ynot]

Only a few hours too late then, Pat...?

:D :D

[paulears]

Oddly similar to the X32 , isn't it?

[TomHoward]

Blimey it's pricey, £2000 more than the X32, over twice the price..

 

I was considering it as an X32 alternative but that's a hard difference to justify.

[dbuckley]

Lordy, how times change. Just a few years back, the idea that you could buy anything from Midas at just two grand more than something from Behringer woud be laughable, just suggestinmg that would be cause enough for the men in white coats to be at your door...

[Pete Alcock]

So, if one got an X32 and bought a couple of of the Midas CAT5 stage boxes to go with it, you'd have all that front-end Midas secret goodness and save money on the desk part? Just a thought.

 

The desk does looik lush though - like the dashboard of an AMG Mercedes.

 

Hope to get hands on with one at BPM in a few weeks (given that Plasa seems to be given over to rigging and LED blinding things and be largely devoid of sound equipment).

 

PA

[paulears]

The stage box end of the Midas looks identical, so my betting is there's no difference. After all the S16 Behringer says 'designed by Midas', and the same product with 'built by Midas' would be quite correct?

 

I must admit I rather like the design though - they've put better knobs buttons and switches on it, but the physical blocks of components on the rear panel, for example, strongly suggest the same modules. I suppose it's just like the Merc and VW Sprinter vans - big price differences, but really the same thing - and this seems to work for them, sales wise. The only downside is the physical volume - meaning the Midas case will be bigger and full of air.

[TomHoward]

Lordy, how times change. Just a few years back, the idea that you could buy anything from Midas at just two grand more than something from Behringer woud be laughable, just suggestinmg that would be cause enough for the men in white coats to be at your door...

I appreciate that, but at that time the MIDAS and Behringer gear probably didn't have the same innards...

 

OS looks exactly the same from all the MIDAS promotion material, so at best it's some new physical switches and faders, possibly different pre-amps, but the processing and operation looks identical.

[Ynot]

Talking to Pat from SFL yesterday (as this was on our options list, though it didn't arrive at his desk in time for a practical demo) the Midas version is of a better physical build (one of my guys has an X32 and I feel it is rather 'plasticky') and yes, many of the physical components are of a better quality - pre-amps in particular are Midas rather than Behringer.

 

Pat has legged it on a week's hols now so would guess that he won't be back to comment just yet (depends I suppose on how much of a holiday his holiday is... :) )

 

 

 

 

[OneEng]

I am sure that no one is shocked that the architecture is taken directly from the X32 ;)

 

I have heard a couple of people who hooked up their DL251's to an X32 and preferred the sound to the native X32 head amps. This is interesting since the X32 preamps are measurably linear and have low noise. My current guess is that the MIDAS preamps are not linear, but rather non-linear in a pleasing way ;)

 

I suspect that the additional cost is largely in the case which is of a much superior design and material than the X32. The faders are a nice touch as well.

 

All that being said, the M32 can't help but be an impressive console. What many are reluctant to admit about the X32, will be fashionable to declare about the M32. The software infrastructure surrounding the X32 line is impressive and IMHO, industry leading.

[smalljoshua]

The Midas Pre amps are indeed non-linear in a way similar to the Midas analogues. Compared to the X32 our Pro2c sounds a bit nicer "out of the box" and we can get a mix dialed in with less work on the Midas.

 

If the M32 brings this "ease of mix" to the price point then I can see it being top of its class!

 

Josh

[top-cat]

2 points that others haven't really mentioned yet but may be relevant to higher end users in particular...

 

1) How will the customer support change between M32 and X32? Midas have people who will answer the phone to you mid-gig when something stops working and you need an answer immediately to get the show up again. Do Behringer offer this? Will there be a difference in warranty coverage? etc etc etc.

 

2) Will the brand name simply be more acceptable for higher end hire companies? Will it just look more 'pro' to turn up with a Midas product than that of a Behringer? Will it be more viable for venues where riders still say "absolutely no Behringer" but Midas is always welcomed?

 

I think both are still low cost consoles, the Midas might just offer a bit more of a professional package outside of it's feature set, which customers like hire companies would expect from their products and wouldn't get with Behringer.

[Mark Payne]

I am sure it is not news to people...

 

Of course the UI and processing of the M32 is an X32. When I finally forced myself to look at it (X32) I was surprised how good it was.

 

However, the mic pre amps, the A/D convertors, the D/A convertors and the output stage electronics (on the XLR outs) of the M32 are from the Pro series consoles. As are the faders.

The additional cost is not just the case.

 

M

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure that no one is shocked that the architecture is taken directly from the X32 ;)

 

I have heard a couple of people who hooked up their DL251's to an X32 and preferred the sound to the native X32 head amps. This is interesting since the X32 preamps are measurably linear and have low noise. My current guess is that the MIDAS preamps are not linear, but rather non-linear in a pleasing way ;)

 

I suspect that the additional cost is largely in the case which is of a much superior design and material than the X32. The faders are a nice touch as well.

 

All that being said, the M32 can't help but be an impressive console. What many are reluctant to admit about the X32, will be fashionable to declare about the M32. The software infrastructure surrounding the X32 line is impressive and IMHO, industry leading.

[OneEng]

@Mark,

 

I agree that the improved faders will increase the cost over the X32; however, the difference in circuitry between a MIDAS pre and the existing M32 pre is likely insignificantly small. The case on the other hand is much more expensive on the M32.

 

@Top-cat,

 

I believe you have hit the nail on the head with where the real value of the M32 lies. It is a much more acceptable rider than the X32, and there is nothing like a voice on the other side of the phone when the chips are down.

 

In a professional environment, I would have difficulty recommending an X32 over an M32 despite the difference in price.

 

It is somewhat ironic that anyone is even blinking an eye over the price of the M32. 5 years ago 5K would have been a marvel for this level of mixer....... my how things have changed.

 

@smalljoshua,

 

I thought that may be the case. I do see value in having the mixer being "easier to dial in" from scratch, but still find it difficult to believe that with two competent sound engineers and all other things being equal (which they never are) that one could not achieve the same sound quality from an X32 as from an M32. I don't believe we are talking about the same kinds of differences one would hear between a Meyer rig and a Carvin rig as many have eluded to. IMHO, these people are listening with their eyes with respect to the X32.

 

Still, it is my belief that the same people will listen with their eyes on the M32 and declare it a superior console ;)

 

 

[paulears]

Actually, Behringer have a world wide support network in each territory, so Monday to Friday, there would be somebody to call somewhere in the world, and I don't think the Midas support is actually 24/7 is it? The benefit of world time zones gives you a pretty decent Behringer forum support, and sheer weight of numbers has shown buy the number of notification emails I get, that there are indeed people willing to help at all times. I was a bit stupid this week and accidentally loaded in a duff scene that was from an old version of the firmware that crashed my desk because I'd messed up the routing and set it up in a feedback loop, routing outputs to inputs in pre-fade mode, so nothing stopped the feedback. I did a reset, and ended up a bit stuck because I could not remember how to reinstate a particular feature I use, and in five minutes I had the answer, courtesy of somebody in the US.

 

I'm assuming that the Behringer community are not going to be the same size as any Midas community, but as both desks share the same system, then a solution for the Behringer should work for the Midas. That's got to be good.