Allen & Heath Qu-32 Digital Mixer. Image courtesy of Allen & Heath.
It's been fascinating to watch the proliferation of low-cost digital mixers in recent years. Because digital processing opens up nearly limitless possibilities for controlling audio, manufacturers are free to try very different approaches when designing digital mixers. Some manufacturers choose to closely mimic the look and feel of an analog mixer, sacrificing flexibility to present a familiar face. Others throw out nearly all analog mixer conventions, instead offering a stripped-down console with a handful of faders and a spiffy iPad app. Some digital mixers are bristling with analog I/O, others rely on a digital snake and external stage box to interface with the outside world.
Allen & Heath (A&H) is no stranger to analog or digital mixers, and they too bring their own unique approach to this crowded market. This review focuses on the largest member of A&H's low-cost Qu (pronounced “cue”) family, the 32-channel Qu-32. The Qu series of digital mixers brings much of the power of the A&H GLD series down to a much lower price point while eliminating their reliance on an external I/O stage box. The result is a digital mixer that tries to deliver plenty of “traditional analog” feel while capitalizing on the flexibility and power of the digital realm.
The Shape of Things
It’s not often that a mixer first catches your eye because of its unique shape, but the Qu series may do just that. Like a flat slab that bends down under itself, the Qu mixer has a top, a back, a shallow foot and a whole lot of nothing underneath. This unique shape puts the Qu mixer at a comfortable angle, and also allows enough airflow that passive cooling is all the mixer needs. This means no fan, no noise, no vents clogged with dust.
Up top, the Qu-32’s generous control surface has plenty of room for 33 motorized faders, many buttons and a few strategically placed knobs. Featured prominently is the Qu-32’s seven-inch TFT touchscreen, which is colorful and remains usable even in bright sunlight. Most of the Qu-32’s controls appear in this interface only, with a few duplicated into hardware form. Using a limited set of hardware controls to perform the same common function across inputs and outputs has become a fairly standard approach with digital mixers for one simple reason—it works well.
On the Qu-32, these dedicated hardware controls sit to the left of the touchscreen and allow quick setup and adjustment for preamp gain, high-pass filter, four-band EQ, noise gate and compressor. This complement of processing is available on every input and output (minus the preamp gain on outputs). The knobs in this area control the basic effect functions (i.e., compressor threshold), with the more detailed parameters accessible on the touchscreen only. When editing a touchscreen parameter, you spin an all-purpose knob to the right of the screen. This is another common digital mixer convention that works very well.
Each of the Qu-32’s outputs also has an additional 31-band graphic EQ which you can map to the faders, effectively turning the mixer into a massive graphic EQ. Combine this with the Qu-32’s excellent real-time frequency analyzer and you have a speaker tweaker’s (or feedback hunter’s) dream. Nice touch, Allen & Heath.
The excellent real-time frequency analyzer is a speaker tweaker’s (or feedback hunter’s) dream.
The Qu-32’s back panel is loaded with inputs and outputs, including 32 line/mic inputs, four matrix outputs, eight group outputs, 10 mix outputs and stereo output—all on balanced XLR. Other I/O on 1/4-inch jacks includes stereo Alt outputs, two-track outputs and a pair of stereo inputs. The third stereo input is an 1/8-inch jack conveniently mounted topside for portable music players. Digital connectors include AES stereo output and dSnake remote audio. The Qu-32 has a typical complement of networking ports. There’s a USB port on the top for a flash drive (scene and utility storage, limited recording), a USB 2.0 port on the back for bi-directional audio streaming from a computer, and an Ethernet cable for networking. Finally, the back panel boasts a pair of lamp connectors and a talkback mic input. Notably absent are analog channel insert jacks—the Qu-32 has none.
You can’t make a digital mixer these days without an iPad app for remote mixing, and the Qu series does not disappoint in this area. Connect the Qu-32’s Ethernet port to your network, install and configure the iPad app, and you’ll be mixing from the back row in no time.
To The Mix
Though I make it a point to actually read manuals, my first test of any digital mixer is to just turn it on and see how far I can go. In the case of the Qu-32, I accomplished a complex mixer setup (and nice-sounding mix) without ever cracking the manual. Only when I tried some tricky signal routing did I need to consult the manual. This speaks to the intuitive layout and controls on the Qu-32, and the care that A&H put into its interface design. Though your typical volunteer will likely need some help stepping to the Qu-32 from an analog mixer, the learning curve should not be steep.
I’m no fan of how the round and oval “retro” buttons look, but I found the Qu-32’s tactile interface to be efficient and visually informative. Each input has a three-LED signal meter (I’d prefer more elements), and peak indicators are sprinkled about judiciously. The gate and compressor both have one gain reduction LED each. If you want a better visual picture of levels or gain reduction, the TFT display has the full scoop. I especially liked the meter page that shows high-resolution levels on all inputs and key outputs, with gain reduction to boot.
One of the fun perks of a digital mixer is the on-board effects. In addition to all the input and output processing, the Qu-32 has four stereo effects units ported from the iLive console family. The effects cover the basics (reverb, delay, modulation) quite well, but don’t offer a terrific wealth of options. Fortunately, what’s there sounds extremely good—especially the reverbs. Plates (EMT models), halls and chambers are both spacious and thick sounding, and the reverbs offer deep editing capabilities for those so inclined. The modulation and delay effects are nice, and a pleasant surprise was a gated reverb that offers a great deal of control.
None of these goodies matter if the mixer doesn’t sound good, which the Qu-32 does. Very good. The digitally controlled preamps are clean and open sounding, and the internal processing maintains that clarity from input to output. Never once did I feel the Qu-32 was coloring or compromising the sound, even with severe EQ settings and close-to-clipping levels. The Qu-32 is a 24-bit, 48 kHz mixer, and it seems to milk out all the sonic quality that this resolution has to offer.
This review can’t touch on everything the Qu-32 has to offer, but a few last highlights are in order. The Qu-Drive system allows stereo and multi-track recording to a USB drive, then you can play those tracks back through their original input channels for a “virtual sound check.” The options this opens up (even with a smallish flash drive) are impressive. You have to work 16 channels at a time, but gone are the days when you’re caught wishing the band would stick around for a few more minutes (or hours). Record them, send them home, perfect your mix—with no computer attached.
The Qu-32 has different levels of user rights to limit control over the mixer. Scene and show recall works well, with global “safe” modes and per-scene recall filtering to make sure you load only the settings you want. You can copy and paste certain parameters with a few button presses, save individual effects or whole channel setups to the library, configure 10 custom buttons, and more.
No mixer this deep will be without flaws, and the Qu-32 is no exception. For example, there’s no dB readout for gain reduction. Some library names have to be ridiculously short (eight characters).
The mixer’s seven-inch touchscreen can be a challenge to use at times. Some of the buttons and selectors you have to work with aren’t very large, and require a fair amount of dexterity to hit (especially if you’re in a hurry). Poking at the smaller five-inch display found on the Qu-16 and Qu-24 must be even trickier. Maybe use a stylus?
Fade Out
Allen & Heath did an admirable job of capitalizing on the power of digital while maintaining key elements of the familiar analog mixer interface. The Qu-32 also bundles together crucial features lacking in many of its competitors. The Qu-32’s touchscreen is a major plus at this price point—iPad not required. The mixer offers a full complement of 32 faders—bank switching not required. Analog I/O is generous—remote stage box not required.
After powering up the Qu-32 and working with it for a while, I wagered a guess that the mixer sold for around $6,000. I was surprised to learn its street price isn’t much more than half that figure. For all it does, the Qu-32 is truly a bargain.
