Following the launch of v1.4 of the SQ firmware today, Keith at A&H all but confirmed that new updates for QU are not likely. I quote:
ALLEN & HEATH We don’t have plans for a firmware update on Qu at the moment, but that’s not to say we won’t in the future!
Thanks!
Won’t be long until QU is a legacy platform.
Yet it still works.
Its a stable ideal platform from Analouge transition through to digital arena.
I feel the QU will not be disappearing any time soon, when it does though it will be replaced with a new model something in the same price point.
When that happens I do hope my stage boxes will still work!
Mike C, I think Allen & Heath has been really reliable in cross-compatibility of gear over different models of digital mixers. A user can take an AB168, AR2412 or AR84 and use it with GLD, Qu and SQ lines. (Not sure about dLive though. Hopefully someone can chime in and let us know.)
Having said that, I think Qu owners should look at their consoles as complete consoles that work, not as computers that need to be updated every year or so. Given the build quality of my Qu16, I can imagine it working easily for the next 15 years without anymore updates. In fact, there is a high-profile busy theater in my city that still has a Yamaha DM2000 at FOH and it still works just fine.
In this age of digital consoles it is amazing that a company can give out updates to a console to improve functionality. I think that fact alone ramps up expectations from users of perpetual improvements on their consoles. That’s obviously not going to be the case. I think expectations need to be tempered with the realization that it’s still a tool to be used, and if it’s not broken there’s nothing to fix. If the console doesn’t do what one needs it to do then one should purchase a different console.
I think expectations need to be tempered with the realization that it’s still a tool to be used, and if it’s not broken there’s nothing to fix. If the console doesn’t do what one needs it to do then one should purchase a different console.
True, I find it amusing when people complain about what a $3000 mixer can not do when comparing it to a $30,000 mixer.
As for QU updates, I’m happy with what mine is doing for me at this time as is. Sure I’ll take what they give me, but my clients are happy, It’s a tool that’s making me money every time I use.
When I bought my analog boards I did not expect retro fit upgrade circuit boards to be sent to me to add features. I would say free updates are a bonus to living and working in the era of digital mixers.
In general you are right, a mixer is a tool which have to do the given job.
But some here want to have features you can find in a 600-1500€ Series but not in a 15000-30000€ Flagship series. Not to mention the 2000-4000€ Midrange series.
What I am also missing are statements of A&H about what features they think about to implement in the future and which of them never will come to live because they misses the philosophy of A&H.
Agreed with all the above.
Still, it would be nice if the iPad “offline” mode made it to the Qu series though 
It would also be nice if there were a fix for the USB 3 compatibility issue. The board may work for another 15 years but My PC surely won’t and USB 2 cards are getting harder to find.
There is a fix for that USB issue - get a laptop with an AMD processor, hook it up via USB-B port and record through that to an external hard drive.
If recording via the console is important to your work then that is the solution.
I use an old HP Windows 7 laptop with usb2 only. I attach a Seagate portable drive and record our church services using Tracks Live, with the project saving directly to the usb drive. I can record all 24 tracks of our Qu-24 if needed. For training we can play back the tracks directly to the board to the same channels they were recorded on. The great thing about Tracks Live is it creates the wav files while it’s recording. Some other programs I tried recorded to memory and disk cache, and after the 90 minute service it took another half hour to save the wav files to the usb drive.
I used to record to the Seagate drive using the Qu-drive port, but with only 18 tracks available I had to forfeit some channels and couldn’t direct all of them back to the original channels on playback.
So they don’t plan to fix the usb3 bugs that makes finding a usable memory stick difficult?
The product is not broken.
I use USB3 sticks and they work fine and I record perfectly onto them and also use USB B for recording 30 tracks. I do turn the latancy tothe slowest possible for capturing hour long sessions.
My USB stick are Sandisk Extreme PRO 3.1 128 gig
And very expensive. From memory $120 here in NZ
There is a fix for that USB issue – get a laptop with an AMD processor, hook it up via USB-B port and record through that to an external hard drive. If recording via the console is important to your work then that is the solution.
I would not call that a fix. I would call that a work around.
I have been thinking about an upgrade to a SQ board but I read they have the same problem. I have several Intel based PC laptops. The newer ones don’t work with my Qu-24 so I am left to use an old laptop for live recording. Which is fine, but it won’t last forever, and when that goes I’ll be faced with the decision to stay with A&H and select a laptop based on USB compatibility or switch to another brand that does not suffer compatibility issues. I have felt very good about my brand loyalty so far and honestly I don’t like the thought of looking at other brands.
The Qu-Drive works brilliantly though and I’m thankful for that. I like to record to both the Qu-Drive and a laptop for redundancy.
We buy what is available. So far none of the USB memory sticks we have bought will work.
The Qu does not recognize them. Even after reformatting them on a PC and retrying.
We should be able to use any reasonable memory stick eg USB 3 without wondering if it will work on the Qu.
I can buy any memory stick and it works on my PC. Why does the Qu need special ones?
AH should sell memory sticks or fix the bug in the mixer.
We buy what is available. So far none of the USB memory sticks we have bought will work. The Qu does not recognize them. Even after reformatting them on a PC and retrying.
The Kingston Data Traveler series and the Sansdisk Extreme USB3 series always work for me.
Take them out of the package, right to the mixer and format them, those have worked every time. Just last night I used a Sansdisk Extreme to do a live multi track recording for a band.
The original Post was
New Updates Not Likely
We have moved side-ways into Memory sticks.
However I have tried cheap USB sticks as well.
I have done years of moving data around PC to Mac andfrom this hard srive to that drive etc…
You really do get what you pay for!
The speed of ‘write-to’ memory sticks varies just so much.
I just stick to the very best for a long term scenario.
I dont want to be let down by an inferior memory stick.
Sandisk Extreme and Sandisk Extreme Pro never let me down.
As for updates to the QU:
Yes This is a very fast changing competitive arena.
The QU is a stable platform and gosh must be nearly 6 years old?
If there was a major issue I’m sure A & H would deal to a problem.
All opinions in this post are my personal comments and please no one take offence.