New Midas M32 Console

re: New Midas M32 Console

Chris Nixon said:
The issue is that I doubt anybody is going to consider this to be an actual Midas, at least not in the same way they thought of the word "Midas" before. As mentioned, look at the FX units with "behringer" written on them.

This could have been a great opportunity to build a lot more credability for the Behringer name, not less for the Midas name.

Chris
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I think you'll be surprised.

Reminds me of when Midas killed off the DDA line and came out with their own lower cost analog consoles. One of the companies in town that i worked for jumped at the chance to buy a 'Midas' desk, so they bought a 24 channel Venice and paid a pretty premium price for it. I worked a bunch of shows on that thing and hated it. It was a cheap feeling toy compared to the comparable DDA console it replaced. But it said Midas on it and it was purple, so lots of people bought them. I think this will be much the same thing, except at least in this case the underlying desk is actually a good one.
 
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re: New Midas M32 Console

brian maddox said:
I think you'll be surprised.

Reminds me of when Midas killed off the DDA line and came out with their own lower cost analog consoles. One of the companies in town that i worked for jumped at the chance to buy a 'Midas' desk, so they bought a 24 channel Venue and paid a pretty premium price for it.
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Never heard of that desk. Are you referring to MIDAS Venice or Verona?
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

It'll only really be a Midas if the support is better than "ship it to the Behringer service center in Las Vegas". Back in the Klark/Midas days a few years ago if I called with a repair question the first person to answer the phone could usually tell me which circuit board to check for any given problem.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Misja Hoen said:
Well the X32 is a very capable mixer in it's own right. I think the M32 should be compared with a Venice or Verona. Better Pre's higher sample rate. Full AES50 support. I would say... Don't shoot me. Smart product!
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It's still not clear if preamps in M32/DL16 are different from X32/S16, as well as sample rate (48K in both, 96K at MIDAS site is clearly listed as future upgrade). Until somebody will get his hands on M32/DL16 and will look inside or do actual testing side-by-side. I would guess not until April.

Also, what do you mean by "Full AES50 support"? From what I know, AES50 is 48 channels of audio in each direction at 48K (24 at 96K), correct me if I'm wrong. If so, M32 still doesn't have access to all 48 channels coming from stage inputs via AES50, so it isn't full support. Until they will implement the long-awaited third "33-48" channel layer button (or upgrade firmware with some trick, like pressing "1-16" and "17-32" layers buttons together, thus accessing the desired "33-48" layer, no hardware changes will be needed).

What would be really interesting is to test both X32 and M32 with truly MIDAS stageboxes from Pro line, I mean DL151/251, these are definitely MIDAS preamps on par with XL4 preamps. They should work at 48K. Will there be any significant difference in sound quality of these versus DL16/S16? Should be difference when used with MIDAS Pro desks at 96K, but we are talking 48K here, at least for now.

Is anybody here who actually tried this, X32 with DL151 or 251? I don't have the 251 and don't feel like spending $5K for it if it will sounds the same as my S16s.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Arik Semagin said:
What do you think about Soundcraft MH3 and MH4? Local church wants to dump those. Any experience with these?
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I don't, but that's because i have a hate/hate relationship with Soundcraft based on some pretty major show stopping failures i experienced on their consoles. But that was 20 years ago and i'm told they've gotten better. i've just not been brave enough to give them another chance.

At any rate, this sounds like fodder for another thread. If you start one, i'm sure someone will be able to share their experiences with you.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Scott Helmke said:
It'll only really be a Midas if the support is better than "ship it to the Behringer service center in Las Vegas". Back in the Klark/Midas days a few years ago if I called with a repair question the first person to answer the phone could usually tell me which circuit board to check for any given problem.
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Behringer houses all its brands in Vegas in the same building (at 5270 Procyon St). They have "MUSIC GROUP" sign at the lobby. These guys are VERY knowledgeable, constantly on the phone and email with customers. I was there for CMDU training on Pro line, and even our trainer, Kyle Chirnside, was answering service calls on breaks. If they can't guide you to a certain circuit board yet, they are getting there. I've heard Kyle on the phone guiding someone through Midas Pro 2 setup screens without even having the desk in front of him! Like where to look and what to click on the screen. Seems like he and other MIDAS guys really know their products!
 
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re: New Midas M32 Console

Looks like "Badge Engineering", one of the things that helped kill General Motors. Anybody remember the Cadillac Cimarron? A rebadged Chevy Cavalier with some fancy trim and it said "Cadillac" on the grill.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Matt Lillie said:
Looks like "Badge Engineering", one of the things that helped kill General Motors. Anybody remember the Cadillac Cimarron? A rebadged Chevy Cavalier with some fancy trim and it said "Cadillac" on the grill.
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Not true. Labor unions are the ones who nearly killed GM. Nothing is wrong with "Badge Engineering", in any industry. Chevy Suburban/GM Tahoe/Cadillac Escalade are a good example. Many office equipment makers have nearly identical models under their brand names (probably made by the same contract manufacturer in China). That's the way sharing R&D costs and outsourcing works. Those who try to invent the bicycle usually end up in a shithole, buried by high costs.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Arik Semagin said:
Not true. Labor unions are the ones who nearly killed GM. Nothing is wrong with "Badge Engineering", in any industry. Chevy Suburban/GM Tahoe/Cadillac Escalade are a good example. Many office equipment makers have nearly identical models under their brand names (probably made by the same contract manufacturer in China). That's the way sharing R&D costs and outsourcing works. Those who try to invent the bicycle usually end up in a shithole, buried by high costs.
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Okay, fucker. Gloves off.

GM management negotiated those contracts. Nobody forced one of the biggest corporations in American to sign them. Any buyer's remorse came after management's plan to operate the company failed.

It takes 2 to tango. The UAW needed GM to say "yes". And they did.

Find a new straw man, Arik.
 
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re: New Midas M32 Console

Arik Semagin said:
Not true. Labor unions are the ones who nearly killed GM. Nothing is wrong with "Badge Engineering", in any industry. Chevy Suburban/GM Tahoe/Cadillac Escalade are a good example. Many office equipment makers have nearly identical models under their brand names (probably made by the same contract manufacturer in China). That's the way sharing R&D costs and outsourcing works. Those who try to invent the bicycle usually end up in a shithole, buried by high costs.
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Okay, fucker. Gloves off.
To quote Tim.

Many, many things went into the downfall of GM. To take a post that said, "ONE of the things that HELPED kill General Motors" and turn it into a platform to spew right wing extremist propaganda is distasteful at best.

Next, are you going to tell us trickle down works?

I won't be buying a Behr-as M32. I won't support a company that built it's empire on the backs of others R&D, regardless of what fanboys say. My choice in this "free market economy". You do as you will.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Arik Semagin said:
What do you think about Soundcraft MH3 and MH4? Local church wants to dump those. Any experience with these?
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What is it you want to know. I owned a pair of MH3s a number of years ago. They are full on pro level analog desks. Very well built. Sound very good. If I recall correctly, 4 band full parametric eq, sweep hpf, 10 auxs, 8 subgroups, 8 matrixes, 8 vcas, balanced inserts....it is fair to see we loved those consoles. They were expensive, big, heavy and require tons of A level outboard gear. All of the things that have killed analog.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Totally understand the show stopping blacklist concept. 20 years ago... No doubt that was failed power supply. SC dealt with that in spades and fixed long ago. I won't detour this thread, but Soundcraft has been making solid consoles with excellent support for 10 years or more now. Now back to your regularly scheduled Behringer (er, Midas?) programming.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Is $4,999 Retail or MAP/Street? I've been told it is retail, which would make MAP around $3,999. This sounds too good to be true.

If that is the case, there is no way B will keep the X32 at $2,999 MAP. I can see it going to $1,999-$2,499 MAP.

Those price points will kill most of the competition for another year.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Sean Thomas said:
Is $4,999 Retail or MAP/Street? I've been told it is retail, which would make MAP around $3,999. This sounds too good to be true.

If that is the case, there is no way B will keep the X32 at $2,999 MAP. I can see it going to $1,999-$2,499 MAP.

Those price points will kill most of the competition for another year.
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MAP.
 
re: New Midas M32 Console

Sean Thomas said:
Is $4,999 Retail or MAP/Street? I've been told it is retail, which would make MAP around $3,999. This sounds too good to be true.

If that is the case, there is no way B will keep the X32 at $2,999 MAP. I can see it going to $1,999-$2,499 MAP.

Those price points will kill most of the competition for another year.
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+1 on that. Presonus, Soundcraft Si, Yamaha. Their MSRP numbers sounds like a Christmas wish now. I just got brand new Yamaha 01v96i (with USB interface) for a grand! New in the box with warranty!

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