EM Acoustics equips Midas training room

EM Acoustics has equipped Midas’ Kidderminster training room with three pairs of EMS-51 compact full range speakers, a pair of EMS-61 small format full range speakers and an i-8 compact subwoofer.

Midas decided last year that its training room was in need of an upgrade, eventually deciding on the EM Acoustics range. Midas’ technical support manager, Jason Kelly, who oversaw the upgrade, explained that a comprehensive list of criteria had to be met by the new systems. “The first point was that they had to be small,” he stated, “partly because space is at a premium in the room, and also because with five sets of loudspeakers on at once during a training course, we still needed to be able to hear ourselves think.

“The second criterion was that I wanted something that sounded full and rounded and that was able to reproduce the high resolution audio for which our consoles are famed. Previously we had used studio monitors for this type of application, as they sound great and offer all the detail. However, the problem is that they don’t really sound like a PA, which is of course what most of our users work with every day. In short I was looking for a balance of small size, great sound quality and PA sound. We looked at a number of speakers, but nothing really fitted the bill until I came across the EMS-51 from EM Acoustics, which was ideal.

“We also wanted to add a larger speaker system that would be used in conjunction with the studio monitors that act as our main reference system in the training room,” continued Kelly, who explained that the criteria were essentially the same; a small box that produced high definition audio. “However, this time I was looking for a more ‘horn-loaded’ PA sound to complement the very high resolution of the studio monitors we’ve used for years. The EMS-61 proved to be a great choice, along with an i-8 sub to give it that full, mini-PA sound we were searching for.”

Following Kelly’s selections from the EM Acoustics range, Mike Wheeler and Dave Kelland from EM Acoustics travelled to Kidderminster to perform a series of listening tests in front of Midas UK customer support manager Rob Hughes, a number of the R&D team, and kelly himself. “The EM speakers performed exactly as I’d hoped,” he confirmed. “They delivered the great sound we needed to show our consoles at their best, with the added advantage of being a ‘neutral’ brand that is unlikely to prejudice engineers one way or the other. We’re delighted to have been able to work with another UK brand, and the support we’ve received from EM Acoustics has been exemplary.”

EM Acoustics operations director Wheeler was equally impressed, stating: “It’s great to have had the opportunity to work with Midas, and the fact that they chose EM Acoustics is a huge accolade for us. Everyone in the professional audio industry knows that Midas is a by-word for sonic quality, so it is a huge honour for us that Midas is reliant on EM Acoustics to reproduce that legendary quality.”

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