Allen & Heath CQ 18T

Allen & Heath has expanded its offer of digital mixers with a new CQ series - three compact digital mixers for musicians and bands, sound engineers, rental companies supporting small events and concerts, and finally for home producers, small venues and AV installers. The new series focuses on uncompromising 96 kHz processing quality, ease of use and speed of configuration.

MIX SMARTER ♦ WORK FASTER ♦ SOUND BETTER

The CQ series from Allen & Heath is built on an innovative new 96 kHz processing engine and includes three models: CQ-12T and CQ-18T - equipped with touch controls and a 7-inch multi-touch screen, and CQ-20B - stage box mixer, all controlled via the accompanying CQ apps.

“ CQ takes our famous processing and effects, adds exciting new tools to aid mixing, and packages it all in our smallest and most affordable range of digital mixers, ” says Keith Johnson, product manager at Allen & Heath. “ Typically, at this price point , users are forced to choose between a mid-range analog mixer lacking modern features or an entry-level digital mixer that has degraded quality. When it comes to CQ, there is no compromise. It is a full-featured 96 kHz mixer with stunning audio quality and intelligent tools that regardless of your experience, they allow you to mix smarter, sound better and work faster.”

The processing engine, powered by Allen & Heath FPGA technology, provides numerous time-saving tools to speed up and simplify common tasks for users of all abilities. Gain Assistant automatically sets the preamp gain to the optimal level and monitors and adjusts the level for any unexpected signal peaks. Feedback Assistant identifies and filters problem frequencies on all outputs with an easy-to-use, one-touch function, providing more detailed control for demanding acoustic environments.

Input channels can be switched between fast input or full input giving you full control over all channel processing parameters. Additionally, an automatic microphone mixer (AMM) is present on all input channels, which instantly improves signal clarity and reduces background noise in speech-based applications.

The CQ Series also introduces a new set of high-quality, user-friendly reverb, delay and modulation algorithms with instrument-specific presets for quick setup, while the FX Assist tool shapes FX, dynamically responding to the input signal for optimal clarity. The CQ-18T and CQ-20B offer 4 FX engines, while the CQ-12T offers two.

All three CQ mixers benefit from flexible recording and playback options, a multi-channel USB audio interface, multi-track playback and SD card recording, simple stereo recording and playback via an external USB drive, and convenient Bluetooth stereo playback.

The CQ series is supported by a pair of free cross-platform applications. The CQ-MixPad app enables remote control of the mixer from anywhere in the venue, while the CQ4You app allows performers to take control of their personal monitor mix via mobile devices.

The Allen & Heath CQ Series CQ-18T and CQ-20B also benefit from integrated, high-performance dual-band Wi-Fi, allowing you to quickly and easily connect control applications without additional networking hardware.

The Allen & Heath CQ-18T provides 16 mic/line inputs and 1 stereo line input, the smaller CQ-12T offers 10 mic/line inputs and 1 stereo line input, and the stage-friendly CQ-20B provides 16 mic/line inputs, of which two can be used as Hi-Z instrument inputs and 2 as stereo line inputs. All three models have 6 independent outputs that can be configured to support a maximum of 3 stereo outputs.

• Inputs: 8 XLR/ 8 XLR/TRS Combi/2 TRS (stereo )
• Outputs: 2 XLR (main)/6 TRS (monitors )
• USB-B interface 24×22 (48/96 kHz )
• SD recording/playback: 24x22 (48 kHz)/16x16 (96 kHz) USB stereo recording/playback with dedicated input channel Bluetooth stereo playback with dedicated input channel
• 4 FX engines ·
• 3 custom rotators ·
• 3 custom softkeys ·
• Double footswitch connection ·
• 7 inch capacitive touch screen with associated rotary control
• 2 assignable TRS headphone outputs
• Built-in dual-band 2.4G/5G AC Wi-Fi with automatic channel selection