New CQ-18T user here. I use my CQ mainly in my home studio.
I come from a simple setup with a small Mackie VLZ which i like due to it’s simplicity and smart routing options. Together with a iConnectiy 4in 4out soundcard or Tascam fieldrecorder this was long my setup. But with some new gear and a longtime wish for more inputs/outputs and a simple build in recording option (multitrack) together with connection to a DAW, i was looking for something else.
Settled a few months with a Tascam Model 12 and a patchbay. But disliked the big format and need of cables to reroute things for my different projects. I don’t need all the pots that take so much space, for me they are mostly set and forget (gain, eq). Also recording means allways the need for a ‘song’. So everytime i wanted to record i needed to create a song first.
So was looking for a second hand QuPac, but then stumbled on a second hand CQ-18T for a good price.
Although a bit of getting used to faderless setup with screen and knobs, i’m very happy whith it! What i do like is the (small) form factor, the flexible routing, the sound quality, scenes, nice to have some build in FX and processing. And the easy recording to USB or SD card. Just a push on a button and recording starts! There are some small things that could be improved to make it a bit more usefull in a studio though. Most of which are allready suggested in the features (so i voted for them). Such as pre fader headphone out, timestamp or renaming recordings, some filtering with scene recall. Etc. What would also be very nice, next to the custom layers, would be a screen with some extra ‘soft’ buttons for fast recalling scenes, record/play buttons or mutes.