Allen & Heath: Zed vs. MixWizard

[cptnhook]

Hi all,

I'm looking for opinions comparing the preamps of the A&H Zed mixers with the pres of the A&H MixWizard. Any input is much appreciated, thanks!

[drtechno]

I don't know about the zed but the mix wizard is very poor quality, it ranks with mackie and behringer stuff

just because its labeled by Allen and Heath doesn't mean it will perform like thier famous consoles.

[cavern]

Originally Posted by drtechno

I don't know about the zed but the mix wizard is very poor quality, it ranks with mackie and behringer stuff

just because its labeled by Allen and Heath doesn't mean it will perform like thier famous consoles.

really? i hadn't noticed that with mine.

[901]

Does the the Mixwizard have the same preamps as the GL2 ?


I use a GL2 with my band for rehearsal and club gigs. I was a bit disappointed by the preamps for recording, but for the intended applications they are ok.
No big difference to a Behringer MX8000.

[Thescort]

For live mixing, I'd take a mix-wizard over a Mackie any day! Never used the ZED, sorry, no input. I think the only major difference is firewire connectivity?

Also, behringer and Mackie are on such different ranks from each other, I don't know what makes you think you can group them together. I'm not saying mackie boards are amazing, but they are not the same as behringer. I would say that the A&H stuff at the MW and ZED level are AT LEAST at the same level as the mackie, although I think the A%H mixwizard has some more sophisticated and important features compared to any of the mackies.

[Slikjmuzik]

MixWizard is def not as poor as the other mixers they are trying to compare it to(Mackie, Yamaha MG, Behringer, Samson & Soundcraft). I've had mine for over 4 years in smokey bars and clubs and the thing is still rock solid, very quiet and has darn usable EQ. Maybe for the studio it is not as solid in the preamp category and maybe it's preamps are only as good as that of an Octopre or what have you, but I assure you, if you feel a MixWizard is not doing the job in a live application, it's not the mixer that sucks. The board has plenty of headroom, 6auxs, is quiet, High bandwidth(upwards around 40k, which certainly makes a difference, mackies only go up to 20k), has 4 bands of parametric EQ with sweepable mids, usable reverb and to top it off, they still trew in 16 pres. I've even used it for summing 16 channels and has good results.

[trevoire520]

Not compared a Zed to a Mixwizard but I will also chime in and say that the Mixwizard is a perfectly useable mixer, good eq, clean quiet preamps, decent headroom and 6 aux's.

Certainly shouldn't be getting compared to Behringer!

[gizeh12]

Originally Posted by drtechno

I don't know about the zed but the mix wizard is very poor quality, it ranks with mackie and behringer stuff

just because its labeled by Allen and Heath doesn't mean it will perform like thier famous consoles.

The preamps of the mix wizard are very usable to my ears. And the eq & summing of the MW is miles ahead of the Mackie's and Behringer stuff, i even prefer the MW to most soundcraft consoles.

[Steffmo]

Originally Posted by drtechno

I don't know about the zed but the mix wizard is very poor quality, it ranks with mackie and behringer stuff

just because its labeled by Allen and Heath doesn't mean it will perform like thier famous consoles.

Which famous consoles are you referring to?

I've done a dozen 32 track remote recordings. They sound very good. No they don't sound like APIs...but you can get 32 tracks of MixWiz for the price of one 3124 (four channels. They have real direct outs on all channels, which the others I believe do not.

[badboymusic]

Originally Posted by drtechno

I don't know about the zed but the mix wizard is very poor quality, it ranks with mackie and behringer stuff

just because its labeled by Allen and Heath doesn't mean it will perform like thier famous consoles.

Congratulations, you get the "Dumb Ass Statement Of The Day" award. It will be waiting for you at the front desk.

[joelpatterson]

"Of The Day"? I nominate it for the whole week!

[TurboJets]

FWIW I've been using a ZED14 for more than 3 months now and find the pre's to be exceptionally solid, transparent, open but not huge, with a hint of sweetness; I find myself not being able to stop using the pre's. The EQ is transparent and extremely useful and the sweepable mids have a fantastic range. All the other features make it an awesome bargain IMO. The board is also super quiet. No comparison to a Mackie IMHO and (hello?) a Behri(?)...we won't even go there.

I have no experience with the mixwiz so...

[msl]

+1 on all that TurboJets said.

I'v had my zed14 for 2 months now, I like the eq the most, sounds very 'musical' to me, very quiet unless you really whack up the input gain, great build quality. Haven't used the pres very much yet. Great bargain all round, and it sounds way better than any Behringer crap I've used in the past.


.

[cptnhook]

Originally Posted by msl

+1 on all that TurboJets said.

I'v had my zed14 for 2 months now, I like the eq the most, sounds very 'musical' to me, very quiet unless you really whack up the input gain, great build quality. Haven't used the pres very much yet. Great bargain all round, and it sounds way better than any Behringer crap I've used in the past.


.

Thanks for all the responses. btw, this is for live applications.

Any issues with the padless gain staging with the Zeds? Is the console itself made of plastic or metal?

[ctmsound]

The Zed pres are a new design for allen heath. I like them better than my mix wizard, definitely.

I can't believe someone said the mix wiz compared to the likes of behringer and mackie. Have you done an A/B comparison? I have. It's staggering how much the mix wiz destroys the other two! It's also built like a tank.

[TurboJets]

Originally Posted by cptnhook

Thanks for all the responses. btw, this is for live applications.

Any issues with the padless gain staging with the Zeds? Is the console itself made of plastic or metal?

Didn't see this before...the console itself is metal, very sturdy IMO.

And to add...I used the Behri IMP pres quite a bit for a few years and the ZED stomps them...same goes for Mackie VLZ pre's. I always found the VLZ pre's to be sterile - coulda been the dominance of AKG mics in the locker at that time - c1000's, etc. I'm not knocking Mackie or Behri, just comparing.

[Keagan C]

I use the mixwizard a heap.

It's a solid, reliable, and very decent sounding desk. It has a heap of good features for a rackable desk.

The only downer with it for me is that i find it really easy to run out of room on the pre's if you have a lower gain source. Apart from that they are completely fine 95% of the time.

I haven't used the Zed, but i definitely believe that the Wiz is way above the behringer and mackie. Not just for the pre's... the eq quality and features also.

[jkung]

Originally Posted by badboymusic

Congratulations, you get the "Dumb Ass Statement Of The Day" award. It will be waiting for you at the front desk.

hahaha

i do use my wixmiz pres everyday. super clean and plenty of gain.

[FreshSkweez]

MXWZ is a great little live board (way better than Behringers and other Yamahas of its class). A bit thin-sounding (compared to stuff like Midas Venice with the same channel count) but very sturdy and reliable. I'd say the board's strongest point is eqs - very straightforward and versatile.

I've only used the Z a few times but they were not good times as I recall. Could be just me not used to the board but I doubt it.

[BruPri]

I have a ZED 14 as my default small mixer of choice, I was quite surprised when I compared it to my Soundcraft Spirit Live and Yamaha M916.
The reigning king is the Yammie, big and detailed-3 dimensional sound... followed by the ZED which is transparent, fast and has a similar wow factor...the Soundcraft coming in 3rd, more one dimensional and utilitarian. I hadn't expected that. I have an opportunity to pick up an older MixWizard and hope to compare the ZED, I would hope to expect more from it however from a purely sonic standpoint, it absolutely shocks me how a $399.00 board can just gets out of the way and sounds so good.
Not surprising however considering this is all A&H does, and their experience and quality shows, even in their ZED series.

The Mackies I've used in the corporate A/V support world have been very serviceable for utility public address work.

[loopy]

Originally Posted by ctmsound

The Zed pres are a new design for allen heath. I like them better than my mix wizard, definitely.

I can't believe someone said the mix wiz compared to the likes of behringer and mackie. Have you done an A/B comparison? I have. It's staggering how much the mix wiz destroys the other two! It's also built like a tank.

+1
I've been using a Mix Wiz in my live rig for years and it just keeps on ticking.
It replaced a Mackie 1604VLZ which was decent but I never liked.

IMHO the MixWiz has a smoother sound (awful terms I know) than the Mackie.
It's built better as well.

[funkymunk]

I use a Mixizard at work (live) and bought a Zed R16 for home. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to use the R16 as I'm still saving up money for the laptop, but I can say that if you're going live, probably best to get the MW. Everyone's already commented on the pre's and eq, which are great, but for live purposes the MW has more options, including pads and being able to group channels on L-R, plus effects, three features lacking on the ZED which you'll most likely need if you're going live. The MW is also a bit smaller and doesn't have all the MIDI controllers like the ZED which take up space.

[wicksy]

I was using my zed 22 fx in the studio. I actually bought it for live applications but was fooling around in the studio with various combinations of mics and just running out of the left and right masters into 2 channels on the interface, got some nice guitar and vocal sounds and very usable.

[microwave]

The pres on the Zed R16 are very, very sweet. I haven't used a MixWiz in a long time but I've good memories of it - clean, well designed, useable eq very A&H in character, decent pres.
The pres and eq on the R16 are definitely better, but its a more expensive board - to compare the MixWiz to a Behringer mixer is just wrong.