Question for anyone who's used a Midas H3k

Ok, this is geared more for the guys (and girls) here who've been out on tour. Does the Heritage 3000 have motorized recall for the faders, or do the LED's next to them show where the fader should be, and you set it manually? Also, can you have different VCA asignments associated with different scenes? Like, if I was running a show, and I had a lead vocal on channel 8, assigned to VCA 2, and a background vocal on channel 12 assigned to VCA 3 in that same scene, on the next scene, can channel 12 be assigned to VCA 2 when I fire that scene?

I'm just curious about how the recall on these consoles work. I've downloaded the manual, but it didn't clear up my questions. I don't think I'll be using an H3k anytime soon (of course, that's what I said about the D5), but I'd like to know, just in case.

 

HI
you are correct in that the midas does NOT have motorized faders. The led's only show you the position to move the fader to. On vca's the led on the assigned inputs are showing you the stored level and then you can move the fader as a trim (ie you do NOT move the fader in this case unless you want to trim the level. All the switches are under program control,it was really to save the cost and noise etc of motorized faders that things were done this way even though we are looking at a 100 grand console

You of course need the program for control

Sharyn

 

There are two ways of running the automation on the H3K. In "real fader" mode, the actual physical faders control the signal levels, and the automation provides prompts next to each fader. You then manually move each fader until the green light goes out.
In "virtual fader" mode, the automation controls the signal levels of each channel directly, ie ignoring the position of the fader, although there is the option of pushing the fader through the current setting point to take over control. In this case, the 11 LED's next to each fader show the level that the channel is operating at.
This method of operation is accessed by the "VIRTUAL FADER RECALL MODE" switch, which is a press and hold function, to prevent inadvertant operation.
I have never seen or heard of the board being run in this mode, i think it is a feature that was probably aimed at the theatre/events side of things rather than rock concerts, but has probably been superseded by digital consoles.
Once you have the automation and aux assignment stuff figured out, the H3K is a fairly easy desk to walk up and mix on.

Neil

 

From what I read and understand, don't the auxes take the place of conventional groups (or busses, depending on how you learned)? The one thing I was kinda overloaded on was the whole thing about controlling the auxes on the channel strip, how it is switched between all these different modes, then somehow the one aux knob becomes a pan while the other is level...

I think I get the automation system now, and I kinda get how the auxes work, I guess I'd get it better if I was working on one. Maybe someday. Thanks guys

 

The aux/bus structure on a Heritage 3000 is really flexible. You have 24 busses which can be switched in pairs between either 2 audio groups, 2 mono auxes or a single stereo aux. This switching takes place at the top of each bus master section in the middle of the console, on what midas call the "key routing switch". If this is not lit, the busses are setup as a sub group, if it is red then it is a pair of mono auxes, and if it is green it is a stereo aux master. This selection then affects how the aux controls on the individual channels behave.

Each of the 24 "aux send" controls on the channel strips also have a built in push button, with different actions depending on the modes.
In group mode, channels are routed to the group bus through the on/off switch, with the level control having no affect on the signal. The led beneath each channel shows the status of each assignment.
In mono aux mode, you have a pair of individual level controls, with individual on/off, and switchable pre/post. So to send channel one to say, aux one, you would need to press the aux one knob down. It will click, and the green light will come on, and then you can turn the knob in the usual manner to dial in the amount of signal you want. As a quick note, the Pre/Post switch has no indicator light and is relatively easy to miss a change in setting, and is worth double checking. On the Heritage 4000, the on/off light changes colour to show pre or post.
In stereo aux mode, the left hand pot on each channel becomes the pan, and the right hand pot becomes the level and on/off routing as per the mono channel.

So if you think the desks auxes are behaving strangely, the best place to check is the key routing switches in the middle of the desk!

The Heritage 3000 brochure on the midas web page has close up pictures of the channel strips and master sections which may give you a better idea of how the controls are laid out than my description.
Im only 18 but have been working for a rental company in the UK part time for 3 years, I got given a H3K to play with in the shop in my first week, and sussed out the routing pretty quickly, its definately easier when you have a surface in front of you.

Hope that is of use
Neil