About The Control Centre; Overview Of The Control Centre; Bay And Gui Layout - Midas PRO X Quick Start Manual

12 PRO X

About The Control Centre

Overview Of The Control Centre

The control centre has a combined control surface and GUI that provide an array
of easy-to-use controls for the precise manipulation of audio.
The control centre is of modular construction and is built on a robust MIDAS steel
frame chassis similar to those used for established MIDAS analogue products.
The frame houses three full size bays with a smaller one on the right. All of the
bays are controlled from a single processor and, collectively, provide the primary
mixing needs of the engineer.
All associated power supplies, computer motherboards, memory and graphics
cards are housed within the control centre, which also contains a digital audio
router box that supports local FOH (insert) I/O connectors on the rear panel.
Substantial forced air-cooling is provided by a bulkhead and large (but slow
moving) internal fans. These produce very low noise, suitable for seated
areas, theatres and concert sound, and can even be turned off under the user
preferences menu.
Externally, the control centre has three main areas: control surface, GUI and
rear panel. The control surface is populated with instantly recognisable controls
that are logically distributed in major sections. The GUI, which comprises two
screens at the top of the centre bays, enhances operation by providing visual
representations of the control surface and also gives you extra functionality.
The rear panel provides all of the control centre and network connectivity,
and houses the mains power sockets and isolator switch.
Being of modular design, the overall form and shape of the control centre is
similar to MIDAS's fl agship XL8. The control surface is split into bays, each one
containing a fl at fader tray and shallow raked control area. The centre bays also
have a third area that houses a steep-raked display screen.
(1) (1)
(1) Input bay (12-channel) (1) Input bay (12-channel)
(2) Mix bay (2) Mix bay
(3) Master bay
(4) Input bay (4-channel)
Multiple hardware fault types are tolerated by the control centre without loss
of audio control due to the dual redundancy and N+1 methods incorporated in
the system. This is further helped by the modular nature of the bays and GUI
independence. Either of the GUI screens can be used to operate the whole control
centre, even if none of the control surface hardware is working. The unit off ers
the facility of universal input, N+1 redundant power supplies with three latching
mains connectors.

Bay And GUI Layout

The control centre has four discrete bays that house the following control
surface controls:
• • Input bays (12-channel and 4-channel) — two input
bays provide fast access to input faders and important signal
processing controls
• • Mix bay — provides access to outputs and groups, a detailed
processing controller (all channels) and navigational controls
• • Master bay — provides access to the master output mixes,
monitor (A and B) faders, automation, comms control,
assignable eff ects control, and another set of detailed processing and
navigational controls.
Two GUI display screens at the top of the central bays provide extensive screen
support (standard confi guration) and extra functionality for the channels and
buses. For example, when mixing or processing. They also facilitate the use of the
GUI menu, which gives you access to the many powerful features of the control
centre, such as patching, eff ects, GEQs, diagnostics etc.
(7) (7) (5) (5)
(2) (2)
(5) Mix bay GUI screen (5) Mix bay GUI screen
(6) Master bay GUI screen (6) Master bay GUI screen
(7) Talk mic and USB connectors.
(6) (6)
(3) (3) (4) (4)