MIDAS Analog Consoles – BFD Rental & Recording

That fat sound, the build quality of the top line MIDAS consoles continues to appeal to the imagination and loved by many sound engineers, musicians and audio professionals for live audio and recording. We are driven to keep the analog mixing desks and consoles alive.

Why MIDAS Consoles?

At BFD we focus mainly on MIDAS Consoles. These mammoths resonate the long heritage in the music industry in which MIDAS plays a large role. And most important the legendary sound so many engineers still love and praise to this day. Also, there’s something magical using analog consoles. The way you interact with it, shape and control the sound you’re looking for is very different from digital consoles.

We believe there’s a special place in the audio world for these beautiful mammoths and therefore we keep them alive and available primarily for the European market.

History of MIDAS Audio Systems

The story of Midas is an exciting one. Here are a few milestones:

1970 – The Stanhope Street Years. Midas Amplification was formed in London: the company manufactured transistorised guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets during a time of musical progression in Britain.

1974 – On Tour with the Supergroups. Midas established industry connections, resulting in an association with Supertramp’s sound rental company, “Delicate Productions.” One of the founders, Jeff Byers, went on tour with Supertramp on their “Crime of the Century” tour alongside engineer Russell Pope in 1974.

1980 – The PRO40 is Born. In the 1980s, Midas introduced the PR 40 series, often referred to as PRO40. This range of modules expanded Midas’ offerings and allowed for the production of much larger mixing consoles.

1986 – The Kidderminster Connection. Midas launched the XL console, the first of the XL series, at the New York Audio Engineering Society Convention in 1986.

1987 – Klark Teknik Acquires Midas. Midas faced financial challenges with the XL console, which they were unable to bring to market. Terry Clarke, who knew Jeff Byers and held Midas in high regard, led Klark Teknik to acquire Midas.

1990 – XL3-The New Midas. The XL3 console was introduced, which was essentially a monitor version of the XL2.
This console incorporated innovative VCA faders and was suitable for Front of House mix duties as well.

1995 – XL4 – The Ultimate Analogue Console. Midas released the flagship XL4 console, which became a renowned statement in analogue live performance mixing consoles. The XL4 toured globally with high-profile acts such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, and Simply Red.

1996 – The German Connection. In 1996, it was decided to split R&D into two separate sections: one for Klark Teknik and one for Midas. DDA remained autonomous due to its Hounslow location.

1998 – Midas’ Heritage Made Real. Following the success of the XL3 and XL4, Midas introduced the HERITAGE series, which further solidified their dominance in the concert touring business.

2002 – Legend-The World’s First “Tri-Purpose” Console. In Kidderminster, Midas launched the innovative LEGEND 3000 console in 2002. The LEGEND 3000 was marketed as the world’s first “Tri-Purpose” mixing console, suited for Front of House and monitor mix duties and featured two sets of faders per channel.

Check out the official Midas website to learn more about the developments in the history of Midas consoles.