Is the new Qu-5 comparable to the Sq-5 from 7 years ago? the feedback assistant is a major selling point, not sure if it is available on the Sq-5 but if you have a choice between new Qu-5 and used Sq-5 which one would you choose ?
I’d see as more useful on the QU are its 12 dedicated EQ controls (and I’ll never understand why they reduced them on the SQ).
But for me, that’s immediately diminished by the fact that it’s another left-handed model.
Otherwise, in my opinion, the SQ has only advantages, which is why I would choose it (again).
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A&H is very methodical about the feature set of every console line they offer. Obviously the number of input/output, busses, FX etc grow as you move up in the console lineup. However it goes MUCH deeper than that. Long story short, the higher up in the console lineup you go, the more granular control you will have of the console as a whole.
Take FX for example, even if the available FX plugins/racks are the same between two consoles, the higher end option likely allows you more settings/control over the specific FX plugin/rack than the low console does. In other words, the low end might just offer “basic” controls while the higher end consoles offer more “advanced” controls over the plugin/rack.
Recall filters are a big one where it is easy to see the difference. The higher up the console lineup you go, the more granularity the system allows with the scene recall/global recall filters. For example, a lower end console might only allow you to recall safe your processing channels with “All” or “None“ while a higher end console will list every processing channel and allow you to recall safe each one individually.
These are the types of “granularity” differences that really make each console offering different and this difference in “granularity” is seen throughout the console (not just FX and recall filters). Unfortunately, far too many people only look at I/O and buss count and assume the rest of the features/functionality is the same between console models. I would argue that the differences in “granularity” are far more important considerations when choosing a console system. If you pick a system based on I/O & buss counts alone, you will likely be disappointed in your selection.
Now realistically it is hard to research all of these little differences because the marketing material obviously doesn’t get that far “into the weeds”. Even the firmware reference guides don’t go into some of these details. I’ll use the recall filter system again as an example… All the firmware reference guide does is talk about how to use it. It doesn’t actually list the set of filters that are available so there is no way to compare the QU to the SQ in this manner without downloading the offline software and playing with it.
So where does this leave you? How can you realistically study/research the differences between to consoles? I have two recommendations……
First, carefully study the “Requested Feature” forums for the consoles you are considering. Check to see what has been requested because those are obviously features that the console is lacking. If you can’t live without a requested feature (that hasn’t been subsequently added in a firmware update), then you probably don’t want to purchase that console. Just be careful reading the QU Suggested Feature forum and make sure the posts are still applicable to the new QU5/6/7 and not something that only relates to the QU classic models.
Second, I would highly suggest downloading the offline software for each console (Mixpad app, Director software, etc) and comparing the different options side by side. This will likely be a very eye opening experience. Pull up a channel and go through each processing “step” (preamp, gate, eq, insert, compressor, delay, etc). Look for differences between the consoles. What settings/features are available on one but not the other? Do those differences matter to you and your expected use case? Do the same for the buss processing, FX racks that you know you will use often, the show/scene manager, the mixer config screen, USB interface, routing screens, etc, etc. Seeing the differences first hand, prior to purchase, is the best way to ensure the system you pick will suit your needs.
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I had this very same dilemma only up to a week ago when I finally pressed the button on my QU-5. I am mostly using SQ5/6 when out freelancing with Production Houses. Main things that swayed me to the QU-5 decision…….1) Budget (half the price of the SQ5 new), 2) Warranty (buying new gained me 3 years warranty versus little to no warranty in the used market, 3) for gigs that I engage directly with a client on (not through a Production House) most of those, at least for now, won’t need the 48 input channel count, 8 FX racks etc…. and if a specific gig does, then I will just dry hire the SQ and bill it through to the client (just as I would if I was using my own desk). Hope this helps.
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I expect A&H to get their engineers to make a comprehensive list of differences between the models! They are the ones who can give us the answers that would take us untold hours to come up with, and we still might miss something.