Allen Heath SQ Groups Explained and FX Bussing

SQ SQ General Discussions
1

I wanted to leave this out there to be searchable. Groups are difficult to sort out when first working with this board, and there’s little to no full explanation on their usesage and their limitations

GROUPS are like Auxs, but Sends on Faders is NOT possible. All channels Sending to a Group are forced to be Post Fader, and can only be Assigned via the Processing Menu, or with the Assign button on the left side of the board while the Group’s Mix button is selected, so the channel sends are On or Off only. This means that the channel levels going to Groups are dependent on the Fader level being sent to the Master LR and cannot be independently adjusted like an Aux.

Groups are useful for creating an FX Bus that needs more processing than the FX 1-4 busses, which currently only have a post FX Eq available. A Group as an FX Bus has no FX Send on Faders like the FX 1-4, but can be Routed to the FX Slot via the Back Panel on any FX Engine. Typically you’d use FX Slots 5-8 for this function. When the FX Slots 5-8 are initiated, FX Returns 5-8 will become available, and these Returns are used to adjust the volume of that FX to the Master LR, or an Aux. This is very useful for creating a Reverb bus that needs some post Verb compression.

Assign the Group to the FX Mix->Return in the FX Engine Back Panel to Send the Group to the FX Unit. Again, use this FX Return to adjust the Volume of the FX. The way I find this ‘Group as FX Bus’ most useful is to leave the Assigned channels On in the Master LR Assignment, while also turning them on in the Group. This way the channel Fader is the “Dry” signal still, and the FX Return Fader is the “Wet” signal.

Groups are also useful for “group” processing where you could Eq or Compress all the Vocals, or Drums, etc, together. I would turn Off the Master LR Assignment when using a Group in this fashion so you don’t have a double fed signal to the Master LR. If you want Parallel processing, simply leave On the Master LR Assignment when sending to a Group, but I find this less ideal because A&H have provided a “parallel” processing function for every group, but you may do it either way.

Feel free to add additional details that help explain different uses that you use for groups.

Hope this helps. Groups are very confusing when starting out with this board and it took me a few days longer than I’d hoped to get it sorted, so hope this saves some new owners some trouble, especially considering there are no videos or written explanations on this topic that describes Groups and their usefulness in full detail. I’ll post a video in the next week or so and add the link to this post for reference.

2 Likes
2

Groups are per definition routing targets. Simple buses. Routing on or off, that’s it.

One can use groups to combine signals just for having them on one fader, like choir, and you are able to send the combined signals to aux mixes all together.
On events with a lot of headset mics, I often use a group to add another EQ to all headsets to have them not feedback.

4 Likes
3

Thanks for adding more clarity to this post.

So that headphone group is assigned to the Main LR or is it just sending to the monitors?

4
So that headphone group is assigned to the Main LR or is it just sending to the monitors?

What you mean with headphone group?

5

I actually run my effects through a group and insert Waves plugins on the group for alternative effects.
The dry / wet channels or groups really works well.

6

@Jephsound
Could you expand on what you do with the Groups and FX please? That sounds interesting.

7

Could you please describe the steps to send IP 14 (a headset mic) to a group (to add additional EQ to prevent feedback) and then send it to the LR output. Thank you. (Using SQ5)

8

The question makes me think that you didn’t read the manual. It is there for a reason. Normally, such a simple task would not need any extra explanation.

It is covered in the getting started guide, and I can’t describe it any better.

grafik
grafik831×541 65.1 KB

And you can use the routing screen for a routing overview for every channel or bus.

1 Like
9

Assuming Input 14 is routed to channel 14, and you are going to be using GRP 1…

Disconnect channel 14 from main L/R (otherwise this will negate what you are trying to do)

Route channel 14 to GRP 1 (post fade).

Route GRP 1 to main L/R.

I assume you are doing this to gain a GEQ block in the group?

You need to have a mental model of how the routing is performed on the desk. Get to know the block diagram, and how to access the various screens. There are multiple ways to access the various screens. In my training courses (for our Church A/V team) I teach them one way. They only need to understand how to operate the desk not reconfigure it. However, some screens are much easier to reconfigure the desk from.

The biggest ‘gotcha’ with using groups is that the signal can end up being routed twice (or more) times to the mains, and this causes major headaches…

Dave

1 Like
10

Yes, I am trying to gain a GEQ block in the group for a headset microphone. Thank you for your steps. Much appreciated.

11

No problem helping out.

Dave

1 Like