A&H Zed R16 Firewire Mixer

[voidar]

I don't really get the discussion as it seem we agree on everything? e.

My initial response was that by hitting the mix bus hard the R16 impacts it's own character that is not entirely obnoxious. Likewise you could strap a box on the inserts if you need some other effect. I.e. I have a couple of Trident Trimix pre/EQs here that I could use.

[djmukilteo]

Originally Posted by voidar

I don't really get the discussion as it seem we agree on everything? e.

My initial response was that by hitting the mix bus hard the R16 impacts it's own character that is not entirely obnoxious. Likewise you could strap a box on the inserts if you need some other effect. I.e. I have a couple of Trident Trimix pre/EQs here that I could use.

It may be just individuals who are not convinced that the ZED is a nice mixer and looking for excuses.
It imparts a certain sound that will sound better to people who are used to working ITB, because it's an analog summing mixer....that's all that's going on. It's smooth sounding. "warm" and not harsh when you push it above zero.
There's nothing stopping you from running the output of the main mix into whatever box you like and sending that into your DAW analog either.
You don't "have" to use the inserts on the main mix.

[SWAN808]

is anyone having success using the aux as a pseudo drum group?

[djmukilteo]

Originally Posted by TromboneRocker76

Here are some projects I've done using the Zed R16! This first one only got the final mixdown through the board (initially tracked with a Tascam US-1641).
http://soundcloud.com/brian-t-weingartner/sets/reggae-soul-dogs

Here's some more recent stuff, the first three tracks were totally recorded and mixed down through the board. The other three just mixed.
http://soundcloud.com/brian-t-weingartner/sets/recent-work-6

Cheers!

Very nice stuff!...it has superb clarity. Clean!
The only thing on my end was this is so hot it blasts my headphones.
I had to turn them way down....it was a good thing I didn't have them on when I started up your tunes!....I could hear them sitting on the desk! LOL
What are you using to get such a hot level?

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by djmukilteo

It may be just individuals who are not convinced that the ZED is a nice mixer and looking for excuses.

No need to be rude. I own the mixer. I didn't go fanboi overnight and if something doesn't make sense (to me) I question it.

[TromboneRocker76]

Originally Posted by djmukilteo

Very nice stuff!...it has superb clarity. Clean!
The only thing on my end was this is so hot it blasts my headphones.
I had to turn them way down....it was a good thing I didn't have them on when I started up your tunes!....I could hear them sitting on the desk! LOL
What are you using to get such a hot level?

Yikes, sorry about that... I did realize the acoustic guitar track was quite a bit hotter than some other stuff... I may revisit that.

I usually mix to about -12 to -6, then when I'm finished I put a Waves Vcomp on it lightly, and an L1 Ultramaximizer limiter to pull things close to 0. I don't like to over compress, just tames some transients. Usually I get my mixes to average out around -2.

Thanks for listening, and glad you like the tunes! Cheers!

[nerecording]

I was trying out using the aux as headphones outs but I only get sound through the left side of the headphones

[djmukilteo]

Originally Posted by nerecording

I was trying out using the aux as headphones outs but I only get sound through the left side of the headphones

The Aux 1-4 are balanced mono TRS. Headphones are wired unbalanced "stereo". Tip (L) Ring (R) and the sleeve is common ground (-) of both channels. So if you plugged your headphones into Aux1 all you would get is a mono signal and because Tip is positive that was all you get in the Left speaker.
If you want to use Aux 1/2 or 3/4 as a stereo pairs you would have to combine those two as L/R and wire a stereo unbalanced TRS jack which would be a type of "Y' cable that commons the rings and sleeves from both Aux 1 & 2 to the sleeve of the stereo headphone jack and then Aux1 tip to tip of the jack and Aux2 tip to the ring of the jack. Now you have a stereo feed.
Adjust each 1-16 channels Aux knobs however you like for a mix. You can create any combination of channels that way that is not part of the main mix buss and you have control for "more me" that way as well.
Another method without using the "Y' cable would be to connect each Aux pair balanced TRS directly to a headphone amp that has balanced L and R input connections as its master headphone feed. But not all headphone amps have that, most use unbalanced "stereo" inputs and outputs.
Another way is to use the Studio 1 or Studio 2 monitor outputs on the ZED for headphone outs, but again those are L and R balanced TRS so to use those directly as a stereo headphone feed you would still need to use that "Y' cable to combine them. They do each have switches to mix or combine Aux1-4 and the L/R Mix bus in any combination you like for a headphone feed.

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by nerecording

I was trying out using the aux as headphones outs but I only get sound through the left side of the headphones

I get that sometimes. Just have to slightly touch the mono button and both sides return.

[SWAN808]

does anyone successfully use the Aux as drum groups for compression on the Zedr16?

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by SWAN808

does anyone successfully use the Aux as drum groups for compression on the Zedr16?

I don't think that would work with regards to panning.

[SWAN808]

Originally Posted by lordnielson

I don't think that would work with regards to panning.

how you mean-getting the send levels equal? I would prob only group non panned eg snare kick and hi hat...but panning could be achieved thru different level of aux 3 and 4?

Might be too fiddly...but I prefer the more versatile EQ and reports on the sound from the Mackie 1640i...(which does have groups)

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by SWAN808

how you mean-getting the send levels equal? I would prob only group non panned eg snare kick and hi hat...but panning could be achieved thru different level of aux 3 and 4?

Might be too fiddly...but I prefer the more versatile EQ and reports on the sound from the Mackie 1640i...(which does have groups)

The Mackie sounds better than the Zed ?

[SWAN808]

Originally Posted by lordnielson

The Mackie sounds better than the Zed ?

meant to mean:

I prefer the more versatile EQ and reports on the sound 'of the Zed' from the Mackie 1640i...(which does have groups)

all speculation tho I havent heard either! Both seem to have Pros and Cons...

[djmukilteo]

Originally Posted by SWAN808

does anyone successfully use the Aux as drum groups for compression on the Zedr16?

I haven't done that, but I don't know why you couldn't.
To me it makes more sense to do your drum tracks in groups in the DAW and then bring those back into the ZED as stems.
Then print those back into the DAW as a stereo stem. You get recall and easier editing that way but still get all the analog features of ZED.
I think the Aux1-2 are better for creating a separate monitor mix of whats up on the board at the time for like a specific headphone mix or for stage monitor foldback.
The Aux3-4 are post fader so they would be better for the effect sends (compressor/reverb/delay) and then patch that back into a mono channel(s) and then print that.

[mitzush]

Hi Guys, we've got some stock ready, so we're having a 15% discount on Zed R16 side panels for Gearslutz members.

To claim the discount just email me direct at orders@mixingtable.com or PM me.

Let me know whether you want Walnut, Oak or Beech.
Immeadiate shipping while stocks last.

Offer ends Monday 13 Feb. 2012

Cheers, Pete
Allen & Heath Zed R16 wooden side cheeks

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by SWAN808

meant to mean:

I prefer the more versatile EQ and reports on the sound 'of the Zed' from the Mackie 1640i...(which does have groups)

all speculation tho I havent heard either! Both seem to have Pros and Cons...

I've seen you ask the question before and the answer has both times been something to the extent of "I don't see why not". Nobody has supplied a working scenario though, so I probably wouldn't bet on it.

With regards to your doubts about the Zed or the Mackie I can only speak for myself when I tell you that it's a really nice board.
I see that we have some common gear interests, like Overstayer and Nebula, so I can guess at what you're chasing.

The Nebula eq and preamp programs are nice, yeah. More solid and better sounding than most algo plugins. Yet the sounds still "act" like other plugins. It's "tangled" into the rest of the music.

The difference here is that the Zed coaxes the sounds out. Makes them almost tangible, with a clear and present soundstage. That's the effect I was looking for so I'm really happy about my decision.

[SWAN808]

Originally Posted by lordnielson

I've seen you ask the question before and the answer has both times been something to the extent of "I don't see why not". Nobody has supplied a working scenario though, so I probably wouldn't bet on it.

With regards to your doubts about the Zed or the Mackie I can only speak for myself when I tell you that it's a really nice board.
I see that we have some common gear interests, like Overstayer and Nebula, so I can guess at what you're chasing.

The Nebula eq and preamp programs are nice, yeah. More solid and better sounding than most algo plugins. Yet the sounds still "act" like other plugins. It's "tangled" into the rest of the music.

The difference here is that the Zed coaxes the sounds out. Makes them almost tangible, with a clear and present soundstage. That's the effect I was looking for so I'm really happy about my decision.

yes thats this issue - Ive asked before but not actually heard anyone chiming in saying "yeah I use drum groups on the Zed its fine"...without this reassurance Im not too keen to shell out £1000...esp when there is a competing (and cheaper) product which does have groups...I want to go with the Zed but the Mackie has a lot going for it...6 Aux...2 groups...more routing...rack mountable and smaller...

Anyways - what you say about sound is what Im looking for...Im fed up with plugs TBH...

[voidar]

I've been contemplating this for a long time and I guess there are only two ways.

You can sub-mix drums on the R16. 1) Strap the compressor on the master 2) Record all processed drum tracks as well as your compressed master. 3) Build an ITB group of these and send them off to the R16 again as a stereo pair. Of course, then you could compress this group as you would like.

That option is less appealing I am sure though fully capable.

Treat Aux 1 and 2 as a pseudo group. I don't have an outboard compressor at the moment, but I am getting into the 500/51x series game now and I am pretty sure this scenario would work if you sub-group the drums ITB as kick, snare, toms, cymbals etc. This means you would pan ITB, and sending an equal amount of "left" to aux 1 and "right" to aux 2, I imagine the stereo imaging will be preserved.

[frico]

Originally Posted by SWAN808

yes thats this issue - Ive asked before but not actually heard anyone chiming in saying "yeah I use drum groups on the Zed its fine"...without this reassurance Im not too keen to shell out £1000...esp when there is a competing (and cheaper) product which does have groups...I want to go with the Zed but the Mackie has a lot going for it...6 Aux...2 groups...more routing...rack mountable and smaller...

Anyways - what you say about sound is what Im looking for...Im fed up with plugs TBH...

-I do exactly this, I have a stereo compressor that I send Aux 1 and 2 to when mixing, to add some parallel compression to the mix. I return the outputs of the compressor on a stereo return channel. It works fine -you do indeed have to be careful to send the same amount to each aux to maintain the stereo balance but it's not a big deal as far as I'm concerned. The Zed is a great desk, although the firewire has been fiddly for me at times. The analogue side of things is excellent.

[TromboneRocker76]

Anyone know of any covers for the mixer? I don't like dust coating it...

[Scott Shane]

Originally Posted by TromboneRocker76

Anyone know of any covers for the mixer? I don't like dust coating it...

+1, I'd like one of these as well.

[Barfunkel]

Going through the whole topic is a bit too much so I'll ask this here:

Has anyone posted examples of how overdriving the gain sound like?

If no one hasn't, could anyone be kind enough to do so? Preferably drums (real drums, samples or drum machines, doesn't matter). Just a 20 second long clip while turning the gain knob (to hear how different amounts of gain distorts the signal) would be fine.

Thanks!

[sweevo]

Hi,

This is my first time posting on here so any advice / help would be much appreciated.
Basically i'm looking to get a mixing desk for mixing dub reggae and I've been advised to get a board with good sub groups so i can run the outboard fx to sub groups and out to a spare channel strip. Apparently this way you can stack fx and have more control. Heres a link to a video of a guy doing exactly what i'm looking to do only he's using a tascam board (You can see him pushing sub group buttons on the channel strips) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z4L1...G0eTBETy7JsbQJ

The r16 looks fantastic and from reading everyones reports on here it sounds amazing for the price. I'm really hoping it can be used this way.

cheers,
sweevo

[TrueTone Studios]

Just bought this mixer, arrived Monday , just pure quality, enough said!

[TrueTone Studios]

HELP!!!

ok for some reason, when i now plug my r16 into my pc, cubase wont recieve single from channel 1 or 4, however, if i plug into my mates mac, it works as normal with logic, i have reinstalled drivers etc...nata...why has it stopped working

[asdfdsa]

Ok, back from the dead...

I bought a brand new HD and a brand new copy of Win 7 and just got it all going.
I installed the dice control, everything seemed to go good. But I can't upload the firmware for it.. here is a screenshot.

Can anyone help me out?

[asdfdsa]

Also, I see nothing under device manager for A&H...but I think thats bc the driver/firmware won't install.

[asdfdsa]

Update: I got the driver going out of the blue after I turned on the ZED yet another time for lucks sake. So there are some cool beans.

I'm have wierd routing issues.

For one: I'm only getting playback out of my odd channels. Let me explain. I'm using the zed as the main audio output for the computer. So if I listen to songs, or Youtube w/e I only get input on channel 1 of the zed, which is then routed to L-R for the main monitor output. So essentially, I only hear the Left side of songs (which plays through both LR main outs of mixer), not the Right since I get not input going to channel 2. Also wondering why the digital computer output is going to 1/2 instead of directly to 17/18... another thing that I tested is when going to ''configure'' in the audio output devices panel, I tried test different setups, ie. quadraphonic, 5.1, 7.1, and what I got was only half the speakers would work, ie. channels 1,3,5,and 7 get sound...channels 2,4,6,and 8 get nothing.

My DAW is Cubase 5 (which I just copied over from my other drive onto this new one) and it sees the zed drivers/A&H asio and I can switch to it. I can also route all the ins/outs to chnnls 1-18. But I get no input into Cubase when trying to record anything (yes it is set to DIG SND), and I get no output when trying to playback previous projects...the output meter/LR indicator in cubase isn't showing anything either...


So there is my new can of worms

[TrueTone Studios]

Originally Posted by asdfdsa

Update: I got the driver going out of the blue after I turned on the ZED yet another time for lucks sake. So there are some cool beans.

I'm have wierd routing issues.

For one: I'm only getting playback out of my odd channels. Let me explain. I'm using the zed as the main audio output for the computer. So if I listen to songs, or Youtube w/e I only get input on channel 1 of the zed, which is then routed to L-R for the main monitor output. So essentially, I only hear the Left side of songs (which plays through both LR main outs of mixer), not the Right since I get not input going to channel 2. Also wondering why the digital computer output is going to 1/2 instead of directly to 17/18... another thing that I tested is when going to ''configure'' in the audio output devices panel, I tried test different setups, ie. quadraphonic, 5.1, 7.1, and what I got was only half the speakers would work, ie. channels 1,3,5,and 7 get sound...channels 2,4,6,and 8 get nothing.

My DAW is Cubase 5 (which I just copied over from my other drive onto this new one) and it sees the zed drivers/A&H asio and I can switch to it. I can also route all the ins/outs to chnnls 1-18. But I get no input into Cubase when trying to record anything (yes it is set to DIG SND), and I get no output when trying to playback previous projects...the output meter/LR indicator in cubase isn't showing anything either...


So there is my new can of worms

Hi, computer playback, you need to go back into the a&h controll panel, in there you can set your play I/o's for PC, its under "WMD" I think,

Cubase, you don't need to set to dig send, that's only if you want the on board eq, it sounds to be like you haven't set something on cubase, possible the channel monitor switch, it won't show you input with that on, or possible you haven't got the input bus selected! I don't to sound patronising, but I don't know how much you know about cubase etc. haha , hope this helps, let me know