Recommended digital mixer

CQ CQ General Discussions
1

Hi, I currently use the CQ-18T for our rock band, and very happy with it. I’ve been doing a little research about maybe upgrading, and a little research has turned into a head mashing exercise :frowning:

We have kick drum, snare drum, bass DI, 2x lead guitars DI and a vocalist, 2 wedge monitors and 2 IEM’s. The PA is a pair of Yamaha DXS15XLF 15’’ Active PA Subwoofers with Yamaha DZR15 15’’ Active PA Speakers.

My little bit of research has steered me towards the new QU-5 and the SQ-5.

I bought the CQ as my first digital mixer, and we like it, but we want to know if it’s possible to get a better mix and ultimate sound from another mixer. Looking at clarity and an all round better if possible mix.

Please be kind to a newbie in this field. These mixers have enough in them to keep me busy, without feeling stupid for not knowing what I’m doing.

Can anybody please help and advise me on which, if any, I should consider upgrading to.

Many Thanks in advance…

2

upgrading to qu, sq, avantis or dlive will not improve anything soundwise. its just about more practical features for those who actually need it. from more i/o to simply just having redundancy built in.

based on your pa and lineup i would say the cq-18t will already offer everything you need to bring up excellent sound.

3

So upgrading won’t offer any advantages ? So why would anyone spend an extra £2000 on an SQ, when the CQ does the job ?

Totally baffled by the response.

Naturally, knowing how to use the equipment correctly will always make a big difference, but are you saying using the SQ to its maximum, will sound the same as the CQ at its’ maximum ?

4

basically yes. and from a certain level of consoles you won’t even get “better” sound. some have better built in fx than others but otherwise everything else is already maxed out. a good band, good pa and someone who knows what to do on the console is much more important than the console itself.

like i said, more features. in this example the switch to sq will give you:

  • faders
  • 8 dedicated fx slots with the same fx you’ll get on ilive/dlive (vs 4 own fx, but they are not worse)
  • 3 Stereo / 6 Mono Matrices (vs none)
  • 12 Stereo / 12 Mono Aux / Groups (vs 6 Mono Aux)
  • 1 AES Out
  • More Softkeys/Rotaries
  • SLink Port for Stageboxes
  • I/O Slot for an additional Dante/Waves/SLink -Card
  • Tie Line for easy signal distribution if you have multiple consoles on the job

avantis:

  • more of above
  • bnc-wordclock

dlive c-class:

  • more of above

dlive s-class:

  • identical to c-class plus more i/o card-slots and redundant power supplys

Its just about what you need on the venue/production. like if you’re touring for two months with gigs every day its not bad to have redundant power supplys so if something happen you won’t have to stress out to get a working console. or with more channels/io you will be able to prepare more channels on festivals. or you can double every input to have seperate channels for foh and mons and seperate fx units for mons.

its just about more features and bigger quality of life on the big consoles.

6

A&H is very specific about the “feature lineup” that each console line receives. The higher up the lineup, the more control, features, and settings you are going to have. Things like the scene manager is one clear example - the higher up the lineup you go, the more granular control you have of the scene manager system. Another clear difference between consoles are the available FX and the granularity of the settings of those FX. However this concept applies to nearly every part of the console. The CQ may not sound different than a SQ console, but the SQ console is more flexible and offers more control of the console. An Avantis offers even more control, and the top tier DLive offers the most control.

The CQ is designed to be a very simple console without a lot of options/settings. IMHO, it is suppose to be easy for an relatively inexperienced person to get comfortable on without overwhelming them with a bunch of settings and options. I’m not saying that experienced people can’t use the CQ console, but often times they are going to be looking for features/settings that simply are not available on the CQ console (but are available on other consoles in the A&H lineup).

So it really comes down to what features/settings you want/need on your console. The CQ “feature request” portion of this website is full of requests to do things that are not currently possible on the CQ console, but are possible on other consoles in the A&H lineup. Honestly most of those requests are going to be ignored and those people should have considered purchasing the console that offered the desired functionality “out of the box” instead of buying a less expensive model and then hoping that A&H adds the functionality they desire.

In fact, reading the “feature request” section of each potential console you are considering purchasing is probably the easiest way to learn about what features are NOT available on a particular console. If those are features/settings that you want on your console, then you need to consider something else.

2 Likes
7

I have a setup very similar to yours. I’m the guitar player in two bands and just bought a CQ18T. I’ve used it for 3 or 4 gigs already and couldn’t be happier. My PA in one band is all QSC but in the other band it’s Yamaha DXS subs and DXR mains. In my larger band I have lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drums (drummer has his own snake and feeds the board Kick, Snare, Toms, Floor Tom, Snare), 4 vocals, keyboard. 4 monitor wedges, 1 monitor IEM, one aux-fed center fill.

As for sound quality, the channels and preamps on the CQ18T are just as good as any other A&H. If you’re wanting to improve your band’s sound, become more familiar with the various sound shaping features available to you. The more expensive mixers will give you more features like busses, matrixes, more routing options, more interface options, and a bunch of other stuff, but not better sound quality. Sound quality will be 100% dependent on the signals you put into the mixer and your own skills in getting the best sound out of those inputs.

As for why someone would need mixers with more features, well…the CQ18T is great for small to mid-sized bands playing small to mid-sized venues that don’t have a lot of complex stuff going on. But now try to imagine mixing The Eagles in Madison Square Garden with a CQ18T. 16 channels? The drums alone will probably use more than that. 6 aux outs? lol.. not even close. And a whole bunch more stuff that will require gear with a lot more features.

Now imagine gigs that fall inbetween a bar band and an Eagles stadium tour. Maybe a theater that puts on plays. Small outdoor music festival, etc.. They will have needs that fall between the bar band and the Eagles. That’s why there are so many mixers and other gear on the market.

TL;DR - if the CQ18T meets your needs as far as features, inputs, outputs, etc, and all you’re looking to do is improve your sound, focus on what each instrument is feeding your mixer and improve your mixing skills. I’m just a guitar player who has been running sound only for my own bands going on 30+ years now and compared to “real” sound engineers, I’m a complete noob, but I’m always learning and trying to improve things, much to the dismay of my bandmates who have to put up with my constant “hey, next gig let’s try this setup, or that setup…or …I need an extra 15 minutes for soundcheck to try something…”

What I do know is that for my needs the CQ18T is pretty much perfect without being so complicated that I have option overload or lose my way around the various screens. And anything that doesn’t sound good in my mix is 100% my fault.

1 Like
8

Once you have learned how to use and maximize every function on the CQ mixer and if then you want to do something that the CQ just can not do and or your input or outputs needs have expanded then maybe start looking at other mixer options.

That said you do not need to use every function, everything processing option and every FX processor to get a good mix on any mixer, many times doing that will suck the life out of a mix.