allen and heath
Allen & Heath ZED16FX & ZED18 announced
Seems our Cornish friends have been rather busy of late. Hot on the heels of the GLD Series announcement earlier this month, we're also excited about the two new ZED series mixers. They beautifully fill the gap between the original ZED14 / ZED12FX, and the larger framed ZED24 / ZED22FX.
If you've kept even half an eye on the Factory Sound story over the past dozen-or-so years, you'll have notice that Allen & Heath has always had a starring role. From back in the days when our fave little mixer was a GL2, which (after a couple of generations) became part of the Wizard-3 series. GL2000, GL2200 and more recently GL2400 have been a staple for the mid sized (24-32 channel) 4-sub group console, and all of these consoles have had great EQ and responsive Mic Preamps.
Since then, the introduction of ZED series has seriously shaken the tree from the bottom, top and now the branches in-between. ZED18 and ZED16FX were announced at NAMM 2012, and look to be headed to Australia sometime late in February - more updates as they become available.
Like all of the ZED series, there is a flexibly routable USB port on board, along with the right number of Aux sends for the frame size, and a grunty DuoPre mic input that does the job nicely. Optionally available rack ears make this one just the right size to slot into a little rig and carry it from show to show - or build it into a tight booth for your performance space. For more detailed info on the mixers, check ZED16FX (10 mono, 3 stereo, USB + effects) and ZED18 (10 mono, 4 stereo, USB).
Or go nuts and have a squiz at the whole ZED Series range. Nice one Allen & Heath.
Read full postGLD Series - Allen & Heath Digital Mixer
Ready to tick all the boxes? Allen & Heath has been working hard at this one for a while, we're guessing. And possibly the name says it all - their much-loved analogue GL Series has kept A&H up the top of the tree for so long in live venues, and with mobile production companies, and now (thanks to plenty of innovation inherited from the iLive series) we've got a Digital soloution at an analogue price.
We haven't played with one yet, seeing as GLD was only announced today, but since Allen & Heath has always delivered in spades, since back when all of us at Factory Sound were still wearing shorts, let's borrow a bit of blurb from their pen: "As you would expect from Allen & Heath, GLD delivers outstanding audio performance, with a new high-end mic preamp, low latency and the DSP muscle to provide full processing without compromise. GLD-80's FX engines are taken directly from the iLive system and feature beautifully crafted emulations of industry classics."
But how does it all work? First of all there's the tactile heart of the system - the GLD-80 digital mixer. Via XLR, you get 4 in and 4 out (plus other I/O), so to fully get the system happening, you'll need to add either a GLD-AR2412 (main audio rack, 3RU, 24 XLR in, 12 XLR out), up to two GLD-AR0804 (expander audio rack, 1RU, 8 XLR in, 4 XLR out) - or any combination of all three, for a total XLR I/O count of 48/24.
As a nice little addition, there's even an 'Aviom' port on the GLD-2412, just to help out if you've already sorted your stage monitoring rig. And of course, we're really just scratching the surface here. GLD has the ability to record and playback a stereo signal on a USB memory stick. Standard iLive audio I/O option cards for Dante, MADI, EtherSound and Allen & Heath's ACE protocols can be fitted, allowing multi-channel record/playback, FOH/monitor splits, and connection to A&H iLive systems, which can easily be configured using GLD's extensive soft-patching.
We're seriously looking forward to getting stock, so make sure you keep an eye out - watch this GLD space. Thanks to Allen & Heath, it looks like a very happy new year in 2012.
Read full postAllen & Heath GS-R24M - now in stock
Our mixer room just keeps on filling up with excellent new releases. Keen observers will have noticed the new Soundcraft Si Compact 24, but here's a bolter from our Cornish friends at Allen & Heath.
Essentially it's a recording console - a revival of the GS-series by A&H. They describe this one as "larger version of the ZED-R16 with similar routing philosophy, high quality pre-amps and EQ"
Actually what they've ended up making though is a whole lot more. Nice chunky integral meterbridge, some serious channel EQ (4 band with fully parametric mids), 24 channel strips, DAW control for fast, on-the-fly tracking of your project, and a couple of interface-via-card options.
And the 2 Valve channels? Do whatever you want with them, within reason. There's a bunch of routing options, so you can use them on the way in - for mic, instrument or line - or you can route your DAW through them to add a bit of valve love to a subgroup or even the master channel. Big fat "dial as much 2nd harmonic content from the valve stage" knobs, and best of all - IT'S HERE!
There are two versions available, the stock-standard GS-R24, or for a little bit extra, you can go for the GS-R24M (yep, the M stands for moving faders).
Which one did we order first? We went for the M. Come and check out this nicely laid out recording console for yourelf in store - photos and spec sheets simply won't do this one justice.
And juice? It's got plenty, thanks to the chunky power supply er...supplied.
You know how we love to deal, so get talking if you're interested - we'll make sure you are very happy, and well-looked after.
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