Connecting Qu-32 to Qu-SB / Qu-5 to a second mixer?

Qu Qu General Discussions
1

I’ve been considering buying a new mixer for a while now. With the release of the new QU Series, the classic QU mixers are getting much more affordable.

I found a Qu-32 available for 500€ less than a new Qu-5. My main priority is mono mix outputs. Both mixers are similar in this regard:

  • Qu-32 has 11 mix outputs: 4 mono + 7 stereo
  • Qu-5 (with a stagebox) has 12 mix outputs: 6 mono + 6 stereo

Either would be enough for my current needs, but I’m concerned I may need more in the future. At the same time, I want to spend as little as possible right now.

I came across this, which seems like a perfect solution:
Buy the Qu-32 now, and if I ever need more mixes, get a used Qu-SB. Then I’d use the Qu-32 for inputs, split the signals via dSnake to the Qu-SB, and gain an additional 8 mixes (4 mono, 3 stereo + LR).

However, this raises a few questions:

  1. Can I connect a Qu-32 to a Qu-SB directly?
    Is that even possible? Can either the Qu-32 or Qu-SB be set as the audio clock source?

  2. dSnake Limitations?
    I understand dSnake can be used with standard Ethernet cables, but only allows direct connections, meaning I can’t add a stagebox to the Qu-SB (to get even more outputs) since it only has one dSnake port. Is there any workaround?

  3. Is that approach stupid?

  4. Are there more cost-effective ways to expand/get the number of mix outputs?

An alternative would be to go with the Qu-5, but it would require a stagebox to get all the I/O. Then I’d still need to daisy-chain another mixer for more mixes. So the same questions apply: does that setup work, and does it make sense?

Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated!

2

You can’t connect qu to qu because each has it’s own clock which must be Master.

3

I own a qu-16 and qu-sb, They can’t be connected.

4

Thank you very much.
If one needs to be at least a SQ what are my options in this scenario?
Could I use a SQ-5 with a AR2412 and use the Expander Port to connect a second QU Mixer or do I have to choose between connecting two mixers to each other or connecting a mixer with a stagebox?

5

I thinking that you have to chose between Ar2412 or Qu. Or buy an extension card for à second S Link port on SQ.

6

Sorry maybe I was wrong in my previous post. Some say that the new Qu can be connected to Qu.

7

From what I understand, the new QU 5/6/7 can be linked to other consoles (new QU, SQ, Avantis, DLive), but the QU Classic console can’t be connected ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶o̶l̶e̶ to another QU Classic console.

S̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶O̶P̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶Q̶U̶ ̶5̶/̶6̶/̶7̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶t̶u̶r̶e̶.̶ ̶ ̶O̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶S̶Q̶,̶ ̶A̶v̶a̶n̶t̶i̶s̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶D̶L̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶r̶e̶t̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶l̶l̶.̶

EDIT - as Timon noted below, I was wrong about the QU Classic connecting to other consoles. It just can’t connect to another QU Classic console.

8

My understanding is, that the classic Qu can be connected to other mixers where the audio clock source can be set, like shown in the link in my first question (classic Qu to SQ).
That would mean that you could connect a classic Qu to a new Qu, but you would still have the problem of only having one Slink Port. One would have to use Dante to get a stagebox and mixer connect.

Is there another way to get more mixes cheaply other than buying a bigger mixer?

9

Thanks for the correction! I have amended my post to strike out the incorrect information.