27th July 2008
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#61 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2007 Location: Honolulu HI  |
Oh I definitely look at the ZED as a "mixer with more", so my critique is coming from the perspective that there could be a true all-in-one product and how it falls short from that, but despite the negative sounding tone of that criticism, I do think that this product is exciting and surely head and shoulder above previous analog mixers with firewire interface.
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27th July 2008
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#62 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,046
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I really like the concept of this mixer/controller, but not having the faders where i last left them sux. Im sure they could come up with some simple snapshot of the fader positions like the tascam m3700 did..............i miss that console 
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Carlos Henard
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27th July 2008
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#63 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,613
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how it sounds is most important thing to me. i could care less about controller options or motorized faders, etc. if the sound is right, it will be a hit.
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27th July 2008
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#64 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jul 2005 Location: STL
Posts: 18
| Quote:
Originally Posted by tsvisser  Oh I definitely look at the ZED as a "mixer with more", so my critique is coming from the perspective that there could be a true all-in-one product and how it falls short from that, but despite the negative sounding tone of that criticism, I do think that this product is exciting and surely head and shoulder above previous analog mixers with firewire interface. | I hear ya! 
Last edited by SidGuatama; 27th July 2008 at 03:35 PM..
Reason: everyone likes the thumbs up
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27th July 2008
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#65 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2005 Location: Huntsville AL
Posts: 837
| Quote:
Originally Posted by SidGuatama I have been patiently saving for a Toft ATB. Combine that with the cost of 16 channels of AD/DA conversion, and I was looking at roughly $5,500 to $6,000. For me, the ZED would be a perfect alternative for (what I'm assuming will be) a lot less money. | I'm guestimating the US cost will be somewhere around $3500. I sure hope they start showing up by August.
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27th July 2008
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#66 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jul 2005 Location: STL
Posts: 18
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That's about what I'm anticipating. $2k is a nice chunk of leftover cheddar for other gear.
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28th July 2008
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#67 | | Gear addict
Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 395
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So it's not the same as this, but just Firewire? Allen & Heath ZED420 | Sweetwater.com
Either way this looks promising. I was just getting ready to go "Hybrid" with a summing buss, new converter for that analog summing, but this seems to be the route I'll be going hands down.
Now, what's up with the price. The USB version cost $1499 so how much more will this be?
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28th July 2008
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#68 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Salt Lake City
Posts: 564
| Quote:
Originally Posted by UnMix Studio So it's not the same as this, but just Firewire? Allen & Heath ZED420 | Sweetwater.com
Either way this looks promising. I was just getting ready to go "Hybrid" with a summing buss, new converter for that analog summing, but this seems to be the route I'll be going hands down.
Now, what's up with the price. The USB version cost $1499 so how much more will this be? | $2,000?
That USB unit looks like it has 100mm faders. Why did they put 60mm faders on the firewire unit?
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28th July 2008
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#69 | | Gear addict
Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 395
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yeah the faders are bigger.
well, its 1500 Uk so that's $2353 U.S guess they'll probably round the price at $2500 or $2000 if they nice to us. Would mind the same price as the USB if it's the same features except for the Firewire. Either way it's nice and I'll be getting one.
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28th July 2008
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#70 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 254
| Quote:
Originally Posted by UnMix Studio | Look closer at the mixers. There are links to their page in this thread if you need it. The ZED 420 is very different from the ZED R16. The USB functionality doesn't behave the way they claim the FW will.
I'm guessing this is going to come in over $3K. I wish it were more around $2K.
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28th July 2008
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#71 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2004 Location: Birthplace of the Soundblaster
Posts: 647
Thread Starter |
hey tsvisser...mayb if you're leanng more towards a ctrl surface/interface hybrid and less to having hardware analog/digital pathways at mixdown, and at a lower price,...you should check out the soon to be released Alesis MasterControl  .
I like it that it has built in talkback which is an often neglected feature...but its looks are just...well.....too kiddish for me  | |
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29th July 2008
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#72 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jul 2005 Location: STL
Posts: 18
| Quote:
Originally Posted by UnMix Studio | The USB connection on the ZED420 only has 2 channels I/O as opposed to 18 channels with the firewire on the R16.
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2nd August 2008
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#73 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 169
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Anybody have any new info on the r16 yet? I'm dying to hear something...anything...  | |
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5th August 2008
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#75 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Salt Lake City
Posts: 564
| Quote:
Originally Posted by androne | Interesting....
Doesn't that come out to be $3500 US?
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8th August 2008
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#76 | | Gear maniac
Joined: May 2008 Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 244
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What happened to the A&H guys?
If y'all are still lurking around, do you still have the same routing flexibility using the digital I/O as you would with FW? I have an audio interface and I like the flexibility of this thing, but would rather just hook it to my existing harware, especially with the lack of direct outs.
So can you work with this thing inline style with ADAT like you would withe FW. I.E. pipeing audio back in for use with inserts and eq.
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8th August 2008
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#77 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jul 2005 Location: STL
Posts: 18
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I'm kind of in the same boat in this respect. After reading the manual, what I understand is that the only real difference is that the stereo main mix is not accessible via ADAT. Other than that, the individual channels function the same way they would in Firewire mode.
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13th August 2008
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#78 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Jun 2008 Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 249
| Hi all,
Mike here from A&H. Yes you are correct in thinking that the ADAT inputs and outputs can be used by the channels in the same way as the FireWire interface. There is a switch on the back that sets it to FireWire or ADAT mode. If set to ADAT then the digital converters on the channels 1 to 16 are routed to the ADAT I/O optical connectors 1 to 16. The ADAT I/O can then be routed in the channel strip as required – the send can be pre insert or post EQ and the return can be pre insert or pre-fader, allowing a number of different ways of working.
If the switch is set to FireWire, then the converters on channels 1 to 16 are routed to the FireWire bus channels 1 to 16, you get the additional 17 & 18 master stereo channels (2 track 1 send and digital master return), plus you get 8 ADAT inputs and outputs available for routing to & from in the DAW.
We supply a control panel application which sets the ZED-R16 sample rate, buffer size, and clock source via the FireWire connection, but if ADAT is used without the FireWire connected then a switch on the back sets the sample rate to either 44.1 or 48kHz. At the moment there is no clock source hardware switch, so the ZED-R16 will be the master clock source unless changed using the FireWire connection from a computer, so you can either sync from the ADAT out on ZED-R or tell it to sync from ADAT in using the FireWire connection.
Thanks for all the comments on ZED-R16. In answer to some of the general questions about the concept:
ZED-R16 was conceived as a compact but pro quality recording mixer. The main aim was to provide the quietest, most linear and beautiful sounding pre-amps along with a very powerful wide ranging equaliser with parametric mid sections on 16 channels hooked up to a high quality 18x18 converter card. Everything else was designed around these priorities – I thought that if we are to provide an analogue interface to digital recording systems, then the analogue bit needs to be pretty amazing. This then dictated the number of auxes, the use of 60mm faders (which are actually very smooth and useable), and the lack of on board automation such as motor faders and automated mutes etc. The MIDI controller concept is really an additional feature on the ZED-R, similar in concept to our pro-DJ desks with MIDI control for live DJ software applications, or keyboard synths with MIDI knobs & sliders – so in addition to the MMC transport buttons we have 20 faders, 12 rotary knobs and 12 switches that can be mapped to provide tactile control over DAW functions rather than “mousing” everything. I can see the limitations if an automated mix is required, but it’s still possible to run repeated passes using controller “pick-up” to tweak the position on each mix pass. So the design cost was spent mainly on the pre-amps, EQ, converters and the routing flexibility which harks back to the old days of in-line recording studio mixers – still familiar to so many users. Also it’s built like a tank and will last for years!
__________________ ALLEN&HEATH | |
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13th August 2008
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#79 | | Gear Head
Joined: May 2006 Location: Perth, Australia
Posts: 72
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Hi AlienHeath,
Thanks for the continued updates on the Zed R16. This looks to be my dream desk to be honest, I think the features this has are quite unique so I'm very keen for these to arrive in Australia (mid September apparently).
In the manual thats online for the Zed R16, there are no pics of what the software control panel looks like. Is there any chance you could post some screenshots?
Alan
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13th August 2008
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#80 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Jun 2008 Location: Cornwall, UK
Posts: 249
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There is a bit in the user guide about this subject, it's on page 38. However, we haven't gone into lots of detail in the user guide, because the control panel application allows the user to set the sample rate, buffer size and sync source for the audio streaming controller inside ZED-R16, but this setup depends largely on the spec of the computer being used.
We will go into more detail about the control panel settings soon, with more application information, and info on matching the settings to different computer systems' performance, which we'll put on the website.
Cheers,
Mike
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15th August 2008
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#81 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Feb 2006 Location: Tenerife, SPain
Posts: 178
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I'm excited! But where are our beta testers ....the only question that matters now is..... How does it sound?. Over on the N series thread they just keep on going on about how great it sounds and how great the workflow is. I think the workflow should be superior on the ZED, like a proper inline desk, but we need some unbiased user reports?
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15th August 2008
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#82 | | Gear addict
Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 395
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Ok, why are we still talking about this if there's no sign of price or U.S release date? Is this suppose to tease the U.S people. tutt
Come on Allen & Heath, is there any plan for U.S release or this is a UK exclusive product?
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19th August 2008
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#83 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 169
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Testing 1...2...3...
Is this thing on?
Can I get more info on this Zed R16 thingy in my headphone mix?
Our last close encounter with an Alien proved helpful. We have much to learn...
Sound?
Cash?
When?
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19th August 2008
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#84 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,449
| How much better than the Mix Wizzard?
I'm wondering how much better these pres and eq would be compared to the Mix Wizzard.
Would it be worth the upgrade?
At this point the MW pres and eqs are passable if I need extra tracks.
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26th August 2008
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#85 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2004 Location: Birthplace of the Soundblaster
Posts: 647
Thread Starter | | |
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30th August 2008
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#86 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 169
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Alien heath...any other A & H rep...
No new info? I'd love to hear about the:
driver stability.
driver configuration (stand alone app?)
dice II firewire chipset compatibility
(does it need a TI chipset on my DAW?)
(does it have the same issues as some of the other early Dice II FW devices?)
preamp sound quality?
availability?
Come on... give us some info... you're killing me...  | |
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30th August 2008
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#87 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2002 Location: London
Posts: 2,056
 | Quote:
Originally Posted by tubeydude Alien heath...any other A & H rep...
No new info? I'd love to hear about the:
preamp sound quality? | My guess, but remember it's only a guess, I may be totally wrong but I suppose he's gonna say the pre-amps are great?
R.
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The Speaker Snuggy is specifically designed to compensate for the additive effect of using plugins which literally remove the blanket from your speakers. These plugins can sound good when solo'd, but when used across dozens of tracks they can leave your speakers sounding cold and insecure. (Casey / Bricasti)
When I haven't any blue I use red. (Pablo Picasso)
Ol' Betsey Satan - The Original Flower
Shop 8 track - "She fought long and
she fought hard..."
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1st September 2008
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#88 | | Gear maniac
Joined: May 2008 Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 244
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Still waiting to hear more myself.
I would love to be convinced from a mixwizard 16:2's to a zed. Any reps have more to say?
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1st September 2008
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#89 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Switzerland
Posts: 2,448
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a bit off topic but I mixed a jazz festival this weekend on a A&H GL2400 while it wasn't the best of all console ever made it was a joy to use. The mic pre is pretty neutral and the EQ works. I had to crank it up at some sources pretty hard and the artifacts were tolerable. I think it's a great piece of audio equipement for a very reasonable price. I still prefer this stuff for live applications to the digital solutions.
Jo
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1st September 2008
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#90 | | Gear addict
Joined: Aug 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 395
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This is suppose to be on sale today. Any beta testers?
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