Quote:
Originally Posted by Mertmo2  .
1) Mike, earlier in this thread you stated that the mix buss circuit in the R16 was exactly the same as "the majority" of the rest of the ZED line... Can you be totally specific on this, are there *any* mixers in the ZED line that have an different mix circuit than the rest?
2) Let's talk EQ. How does the 4 band semi-parametric in the 420 compare to the R16. Obviously it's a different design and offers less control, being that it's not fully parametric. But is the sound in the same ballpark? I don't necessarily need that kind of control, especially since I'm looking to work with a "less is more" type of simple workflow. But it would be reassuring to know that the EQ in the 420 is a nice sounding EQ for mixing. I don't expect it to be the same EQ, just something that sounds nice.
Sub question: Is the EQ on the 14/24 the same as on the 420, just one less band? Or is it yet another different design? On your website it talks about the EQ on the 420 being borrowed from the GL mixers, but it doesn't say the same for the 14/24...
3) Are the insert points on the 420 the same as on the 14, in that you can use them as direct line inputs, bypassing the mic preamps? This is huge for me, I don't like mixing through mic amps and when I tried the difference on the 14 (listening to some CD's) I was very pleased with the sound of the direct input versus going thru the mic amp.
4) Is there any future possibility of the USB section being modded/upgraded to USB 2, so that one could potentially send and receive audio of higher sample rate and bit depth than 16 bit/48k...? This is mainly a curiosity, not a deal breaker in any sense. |
Hi Mertmo2
Hopefully, here are the answers to your questions:
1) On the 4 bus ZEDs I have designed the summing amp with a low noise transistor stage to reduce the noise from the summing amp when larger numbers of sources are routed to it. (In the 436 there are up to 42 sources to the main mix). With ZED-R16 this is not required because there are not so many summed signals, but the amplifiers are the same type.
2) Basically the ZED-4xx EQ is great, but the ZED-R EQ is stonking! The added dimension of width or Q control allows for great results, but the 4 bus EQ is also much liked and based on years of development.
The 14/24 EQ is based on it, but only having one mid means that the frequency needs to cover a sensible range.
3) Yes you can use the inserts to send from or to bypass the pre-amp.
4) Not just yet. Although customers see USB1.1 (16bit/48kHz) initially as a possible restriction, I think most/all find the interface perfectly ok for the intended use - it's just 2 track so it's not intended as a multi-channel studio interface, but it's fine for building a project or recording a rough 2-track mix at a show. It's as good or better than CD quality, and very convenient (no drivers required).
I hope that helps,
Let me know if you need more info (or email
support@allen-heath.com in the next week because I'm on hols for a few days).
Kind regards,
Mike.