USA - In preparing for the 2010 summer tour season, Rat Sound knew it would be adding some new equipment to its inventory. Starting the season doing five stages at the Coachella festival in April and with several arena tours booked, the company is poised for a big summer. "We're seeing demand we haven't seen in several years," notes company president Dave Rat. "This will definitely be our strongest year ever."
One area of need was a new digital mixing console. Rat says: "Knowing our client requirements, we tested several consoles. There were two different angles I look at in evaluating a board - me personally as an engineer, and of course, the company as a sound vendor. Basically, we found that the Midas PRO6 has features and usability that I have not been able to find in other digital consoles."
From a business perspective, Rat Sound's needs were clear. "Like every successful rental company, we are a mixture of demand-based and the pursuit of quality," says Rat. "Finding the balance between those two is crucial. We were looking for a premium console that was also in demand, and several of our up-level clients have requested the PRO6. So we knew that Midas digital was in our future; the only question was whether we would sub-hire or purchase the console."
To answer that question, Rat Sound brought the PRO6 in for a demo. As a long-time user of Midas analogue consoles, Dave Rat knew what he was looking for. "This is where it goes back to my personal angle. Does the console fulfil the qualities I'm looking for as an engineer? Yes, the PRO6 has the features and the usability I need. It is the first digital board I've found that actually meets the requirements for me to actually carry it and be happy."
