out post sound blog

I was lucky enough to be flown out to Hong Kong and China by Music Group, the holding company setup by Behringer that now incorporates Midas Klark Teknik.

At the beginning of the year much scandal hit the interweb at this purchase was announced. Would Midas consoles now come bedecked with a brushed silver finish? Would Behringer rape the Midas high end quality for integration into its lower end equipment? Will the Empire ever really Strike Back?

Suffice to say, with my journalistic hat on, I was whisked from Heathrow to Hong Kong and then onto a giant new opera house in Guangdong. The project, costing around 1.6 billion Yen (quite a few pounds) incorporates probably the largest stage I have ever seen or had the chance to stand on and four Midas digital consoles.

The Midas quotient includes two XL8s and two PRO6 consoles as well as a Heritage analogue console as, get this, backup!

However, the most important reason I was there was to visit the Behringer manufacturing facility, officially called EuroTec or Behringer City, meet Uli Behringer and also the MD of Midas, John Oakley.

The factory tour was impressive, if a little overwhelming. 3,000 staff making Behringer products by hand — the only automation of any note being the pick and place machines for the integrated circuits.

Yet, the boys at Behringer are not sitting still. Uli himself announced the purchase of a 700 acre site very close to the existing factory where they will be building a factory three times the size of the existing one along with extensive recreational facilities for the 3000 on site staff, including a cinema, football pitch and tennis courts. The company also announced a new installation arm, BIG, Behringer Installation Group, that will aim at the middle part of the market.

John Oakely also expressed his excitement that Midas were now a part of the Music Group and went to great lengths to explain why this was good for Midas. Bosch apparently had had a freeze on investment and additional employment, whereas Behringer has already committed around £1 million to Midas to implement a manufacturing floor at EuroTec as well as giving the go ahead for the employment of another DSP engineer.

Oakley stressed that the partnership of Midas and Behringer would not be detrimental to the Midas brand and that already the two companies had been exchanging working methods and experience to the benefit of both.

Only time will tell what Music Group and Behringer's real motives are behind the purchase, but at this point there seems to be little doubt in Oakley and Behringer's mind that this is a mutually beneficial marriage.