Allen & Heath has unveiled the Qu-16 compact digital mixer at the ProLight & Sound show in Germany.
With ‘a professional feature set and an entry-level price tag’, the Qu16 is a 19-inch rack desk based on A&H’s GLD and iLive digital mixing systems. It features total recall of settings (including 17 motorised faders and digitally controlled preamps), an intuitive touchscreen, Qu-Drive integrated multitrack recorder, dSnake for remote I/O and personal monitoring, multichannel USB streaming to Mac, Qu-Pad control app, and iLive’s FX library.
The desk offers 16 mic/line inputs, three stereo inputs, four FX engines with dedicated stereo returns, 14 mixes (including LR, ten aux mixes, plus two dedicated FX buses), 12 mix processing channels, patchable AES digital output with a further 2-channel Alt output, dedicated Talkback mic pre input, and 2-Track output.
There are also five high-speed, dual-core DSP processors for channel and FX, with room for updates and functionality. Five latest generation 200MHz super-efficient ARM core processors run in parallel – one to drive each of the touchscreen and surface, the Qu Drive USB interface, USB streaming, Ethernet port and the moving faders.
Qu-16 is equipped with a high-resolution (800x480) full colour touchscreen featuring Touch Channel access to channel processing, the FX racks and all the set-up and system management controls. In keeping with the iLive user interface, a SuperStrip provides control knobs for a selected channel’s key processing parameters, such as gain, HPF, parametric EQ, gate threshold, compressor threshold and pan.
Qu-Drive, the mixer’s integrated USB recorder, which works with an external USB drive, can record and playback multitrack and stereo audio .wav files. The USB interface can also be used to store scene and library data for archiving and later recall. If using the Qu-16 in the studio, there is also a USB audio streaming interface for record and playback to Mac DAW systems.
A&H’s proprietary dSnake low-latency audio connection enables the mixer to connect over a single 120m Cat5 digital snake to a remote audio rack, such as the AR84 or AR2412, and is compatible with the ME personal mixing system.
Motorised faders provide total recall of mix levels giving full benefit from the scene recall system and ensuring the fader is always in the right position even when swapping between the desk’s two layers, which allows instant access to all channels and masters or the Graphic EQs. To customise the fader layout to suit certain applications, a third user definable layer is also available.
A free iPad app connects to the mixer via a wi-fi router plugged into the Ethernet control port and gives instant wireless control of the mixer’s key parameters and settings, enabling the user to tweak the PA, adjust the monitors on stage, and even mix the show from the audience.
Qu-16 also contains 16 AnaLOGIQ total recall pad-less preamps, and is equipped with many of the iLive pro touring series’ FX emulations including classic reverbs, gated reverbs, delays and modulators.
‘The Qu-16 represents the best technology we could pack into a 19-inch unit to deliver all the benefits of professional digital mixers and I am very proud of the looks, performance, ease of use and sonic quality from this great new product. The R&D team has done a fantastic job,’ says A&H MD, Glenn Rogers.
The Qu-16 is espected to ship in May 2013, with an SRP of £1699 (ex VAT).
More: www.allen-heath.com
