"I had the luxury of playing with one a few times in lunch breaks at the warehouse before the tour!" he says. "I've found that the console is easy to get around, especially when using the POP(ulation) groups. Especially useful is a function which allows you to see any audio in the patch bay when you scroll over the I/O in question; very handy for troubleshooting."
Pope, working with an input count of 60 with a further 22 for FX returns, says, "Out of all the digital boards that I've used in the live environment, the XL8 is sonically by far the best. The definition in one's mix can only described as 3D; I have not heard separation like this before. The board is also very intuItive and once you have coloured-coded your VCA groups it is quick and easy to navigate to selected channels at the touch of a button. I use the automation between scenes for all of my keyboard rides, and I basically run the rest of it as an analogue board."
Jamiroquai's European tour started in March and continues throughout the summer with the addition of a second XL8 on monitors, manned by Midas digital aficionado Tristran Farrow.
(Jim Evans)
