UK - One year after unveiling its Verona console, Midas has launched Siena at the Winter NAMM 2005 in California and simultaneously on www.midasconsoles.com. Verona, says Midas, has enjoyed an unprecedented uptake over the past year, while sales across its entire range have boomed by 57% over the 12-month period. Now Midas is confident that the 16-send Siena, which is pitched at the same market sector to Verona and shares many of its design techniques, will repeat its success.

"When specifying Siena we felt there was a large gap in the market for a high quality, highly configurable console that had a high output count but was still extremely easy to use in the live environment," says David Cooper, sales and marketing director for Midas and Klark Teknik. "Siena has a feature set sure to appeal to monitor engineers as it is the only console in the world, at this performance level, that can easily handle in-ear monitors. Importantly however, for rental companies, it's also versatile enough to be used as a front of house console when required." Available in six frame sizes, from 24 up to 64 channels, Siena features 16 dedicated aux sends that can be simply configured as stereo pairs if required. In common with Verona are the high stability, low noise mic preamps and four-band EQ section, which in turn are based on those of the industry-standard flagship XL4. Other features include Midas' unique solo tracking system which allows the solo'd outputs to be shown on the Klark Teknik Helix EQ system, switchable insert points on all outputs, internal dual redundant power supplies and clear and accurate, long-throw output metering.

"NAMM visitors were particularly impressed with Sienas' ability to double as both a monitor and FOH console, and that all 16 auxes can be configured as mono or stereo pairs," says Midas and Klark Teknik brand development manager Richard Ferriday. "There was also a great deal of interest in the Solo Tracking System, a data connection to the Klark Teknik Helix digital equaliser."

(Lee Baldock)


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