When the Czech National Theatre in Prague began staging two new musical productions, the theater invested in a Midas Verona console from local distributor Audio Pro to get the sound they needed. The theater had booked two performances that were atypical for the venue: Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, which features a live rock group, and musical A Well Paid Walk. The sound department at the theater felt the existing 13-year-old theater console wasn’t up to the productions, especially as the sound control had to be brought front of house rather than in a glassed-in sound cabin.
Various console brands were brought to the National Theatre for evaluation by four of the house engineers. After just a few minutes, they had agreed unanimously on the Midas. “We simply put the same signal through the different consoles, and there was such a difference in the quality of sound that we immediately decided to choose Midas,” says the National Theatre’s chief sound engineer Emil Bohácek. “We also had to take into consideration the console’s size because the bigger it was, the more seats it would occupy and the theater would lose more money. We simply needed a desk with 32 inputs with a reasonable price and size and mainly with good sound. Verona perfectly fulfilled all of these requirements.
”We are completely satisfied with the Verona. Most of our audience aren’t used to hearing rock music in the National Theatre, so we’ve had to ensure the sound was good enough for them not to leave!” he continues. “It’s all down to the fact that the Midas microphone preamps simply sound so good, meaning that the outboard equipment is there just for each sound engineer’s individual requirements.”
The theater is now planning to take the Verona out on its touring productions.
For additional information on the board, visit www.midasconsoles.com.
