Whether you’re recording in the studio or mixing front-of-house, your mixer is the core of your operation. If it fights you, your work suffers. Many digital consoles are inscrutable on the surface, forcing you to descend into menu purgatory just to perform a simple function. The Allen & Heath Qu-32 is designed with a clean, logical layout, so you can get to what you need, fast. Featuring audiophile sound quality, touchscreen control, 32 AnalogiQ preamps integrated with DSP, instant recall, 33 motorized faders, high-efficiency ARM core processing, studio-grade effects, an integrated multitrack USB recorder, and truckloads more, the Allen & Heath Qu-32 will drastically improve both your workflow and your end product.

Intuitive – and very comfortable to work on

Having a mixer with massive processing power and sophisticated functionality is nice, but if you can’t get to the controls you need instantly, it’s all for naught. With the Qu-32, the digital console has evolved to the point where you forget that it’s digital, and just get on with your session, fluidly and efficiently. Without menu diving. Allen & Heath put years of research into ergonomics and the hands-on mixing experience, resulting in digital consoles that deliver a natural, logical layout and workflow. Your most-used processing tools are presented clearly on the SuperStrip, with one function per physical control. Whether you’re a digital novice or coming from years of analog mixing, you’ll find the Qu-32 intuitive – and very comfortable to work on.

Touchscreen control speeds up your workflow

The Allen & Heath Qu-32 rocks a 16-million-color, 800 x 480 touchscreen with an integrated data encoder – the core of a user interface that gives you quick and easy access to all your settings. Designed for clarity, the user-friendly interface has dedicated keys and screen tabs that let you quickly get to your meter and RTA views, effects racks, channel processing, USB audio control, setup menus, scenes, and much more.

AnalogiQ preamps and 24-bit conversion, for warm, musical sound

Allen & Heath fortified the Qu-32 with 32 of their superb AnalogiQ total-recall preamps. Featuring phantom power, zero crossing detection, and a unique padless 1dB-step gain stage, the preamps are married to the DSP for optimum transparency and gain accuracy. The analog signal is captured by high-quality, low-latency 24-bit A-D converters matched to high-grade 24-bit D-A converters. A&H has spent considerable time refining the AnalogiQ design so it gives you stellar transparency, with minimum distortion and a vanishingly low noise floor. But how do these preamps sound?

Total-recall moving-fader automation supercharges your mixing

We first saw moving faders on some of the high-end, large-format consoles of the late 1970s. With the advent of digital technology, “flying” faders later became fairly standard, albeit not on entry-level digital mixers. Fader automation is a must-have for efficient mixing, particularly when you’re dealing with multiple monitor mixes. Simply push a mix key and the faders immediately fly to the send levels for that mix. The Qu-32 sports 33 motorized ALPS faders. The 32 channel faders are arranged over two layers, giving you instant access to all your channels and masters in a compact space. There’s also a dedicated master fader which dynamically follows your mix selection. A third (custom) layer is available for the configurable user strip layout, where you can assign any combination of Inputs, FX Sends, FX Returns and Mix masters.

Features:

• 32 AnalogiQ total-recall preamps integrated with DSP for optimum transparency and gain accuracy
• Ergonomic layout and workflow is comfortable, fluid, and intuitive
• Color touchscreen and dedicated data encoder give you quick and easy access to all settings
• Key processing tools are presented clearly on the SuperStrip, with one function per physical control
• 33 automated, motorized ALPS faders (32 arranged over two layers) speed up and enhance your mixing
• Four groups give you subgrouping flexibility to LR for level masters and/or processing
• instant recall lets you save and recall scenes (snapshots) at the press of a button
• Onboard studio-grade dynamics and FX algorithms derived A&H’s iLive pro touring series
• Built-in interface streams multitrack audio to/from your Mac (OSX class-compliant)
• Plug-and-play with any DAW supporting Core Audio, including Logic, Cubase, Reaper, and Pro Tools
• Qu-Drive delivers 18 channels of 24-bit/48kHz recording/playback to/from your USB hard drive
• Five dedicated cores of high efficiency ARM processing provide state-of-the-art processing
• Optional Qu-Pad app frees you to tweak monitors and PA from your iPad, onstage or around the venue
• Fully compatible with A&H’s ME Personal Mixing System
• dSNAKE port lets you connect to a remote AR2412 or AR84 Stagebox via Cat 5e digital snake
• Matrix adds 2 further stereo outputs equipped with full processing to the console’s extensive I/O
• 18 gauge, cold-rolled Zintec steel frame delivers strength rigidity, and distinctive looks