shall i stay or shall I go soundcraft

Qu Qu General Discussions
1

Ok having owned soundcraft,desks allen and heath,behringer,mackie, yamaha and a multitude of other stuff from seck to studiomaster i really feel qualified to state to allen and heath…come on guys take this market by storm.

mackie…good if you don’t move them…soundcraft hmmmm nice yamaha loves em…behringer not touched the x32 yet until opportunity allows…allen and heath love the robust character the sound and functionality etc but get your pricing right and your frame size options. we need thirty two. twenty four is jack to us and many others too.

sub groups on separate faders not on a different level.

get this massive price differential sorted between the uk and us. ebay prices really get my goat .

ok its a moan but why after having allen and heath since system 8 days can you not stay ahead. just sold my ml 4000 will never possibly sell my little back up gl2200 but come on guys its all about bang for your buck take the x32 on and give us a real alternative price for price. with manufacturing credibly down around the world you can do it if ya wanted to.

maybe i will just have to a-b the x32 against the soundcraft digital 32 as 24 from you is missing many features. Two full bands with no messing is what its about digitally and 24 just does not cut the mustard. And its no consolation to double the price into a higher range either those days are limited and i may as well buy a second hand M7CL if that was an argument to bear.

of course you could not produce one for one user but there is plenty out there so come on give behmideknik some welly and get on their case.

ok moan over

2

I appreciate any experience with Qu-24 digital desk?
I want to buy it, but I have fear because I don´t know somebody using the digital desk live or for recording.
Somebody can help me, please?

3

I appreciate any experience with Qu-24 digital desk
I want to buy it, but I have fear because I don´t know somebody using the digital desk live or for recording.
Somebody can help me, please?

4

Oh Silly me…I was referring to the QU in my rant in the thread start.

Eistein…There appears many users here on this forum, I like you have not purchased yet because of elements still not to my liking. That’s not to say I won’t when I actually get the time to get one in front of me but my biggest requirement is inputs.

If they had a 32 (2x 16 fader setup) with 8 sub groups on the same layout as the X32 it would just fall into the requirement I have. That coupled with a keen price I would not even consider the Behringer x32. However, that said re Behringer, I have bought many behringer gear and it is still working fine…honest, never had a problem with them so either I’m lucky or just don’t throw stuff around like maybe others do.

Hope you find the info you are looking for.

5

In Colombia, some rental companies present troubles with Behringer X32 digital desk. Even, 4 desks were stolen in Bogota to a Distribution company.
I appreciate your info.
I though that Allen and Heath could be better than another brands that work in Far East!
Do you suggest me another desk?
Which?

Thanks,

6

I have owned a few Allen and Heath desks and they are superb. The reasons for my moaning is their 24 fader offer in the QU 24 series. I really thought they would have taken it a step further and gone 32. As I said, maybe 2 x 16 faders to reach the 32 inputs and an 8 fader sub group.

I suppose like any other desk Heat and humidity in countries you mention is a killer. It was with the time I spent in Asia. The UK is not so hot …we have more trouble with cold and wet.

My Theatre was a testing site for the Mackie tt24 which we ended up having four replacements in as little as 12 months until they finally got it right. Having said that I have had a mackie D8B since they first came out and only ever had a battery problem on the main processor so I have to be fair to Mackie.

After selling the Mackie tt24 because it was getting old…still in great condition but I thought time for a change I replaced it interim with two Yamaha O2R’s which I just love because I am a an ex Yamaha demonstrator.

With some of the latest desks now having ipad control I was looking at just upgrading to help my legs running from the stage to the FOH position.

As far as reliability you will find soundcraft and allen and Heath very reliable and as much as yamaha.

Frankly I have heard many stories about all desks but as long as your dealers have good back up you should not really have a problem.

It a personal choice really but for me it’s also pricerelated because of so many budgets I have to meet in my theatre.

Once I have got my hands around a QU24 I’ll decide between the sound probably doing an A/B comparison between the QU and a Soundcraft Expression. Althought the OSundcraft does not have a built in touchscreen, the interface is there and the small touch screens on most desks are not as tactile as a larger touch screen are they. On screens for me…Bigger is Better with my eyes.

One of my associates has a yamaha M7CL with a behringer dd3216 in tow as back up/Monitor desk Honestly. He throws the behringer around and has done for years…Loves it and wonders what everyones problems are so there is just no semblance to the arguments sometimes.

If I were in your shoes I’d get a dealer to bring one along to a job and ask them to prove it in a situation.

Start with the inputs you want that way it will guide your options.

If the QU hits me like my trusty gl2200, my previous ML4000 etc I might even look at two QU16’s which will make my job easier by far. That way I get the inputs, and functionality I want in quite a small footprint as well.

Some bands who I meet swear by their presonus desks give them some research, they might fit your bill.

Regards

Kaibrad.

7

Well, I guess you should go.
Are you really complaining because the Qu-24 doesn’t have thirty-two channels? That doesn’t make much sense to me. Mixers, like automobiles and trucks, have different markets. Allen & Heath already have the larger format market pretty well in hand. This is their attempt to break into the smaller ones.

You don’t buy a compact car and then moan when you cannot fit six adults comfortably. Maybe you should buy a thirty-two channel board from Soundcraft and then bitch because it doesn’t have forty-eight.

8

One last thing.
My Qu-16 has a label on it that says: “Designed in England” “Made in England”. That is why they are so reliable. I bought the Qu series to replace my Presonus boards (a 16.4.2 and a 24.4.2). Even though I loved using them, I was on my third 24 channel mixer. Twice it died in the middle of a show and it didn’t go quietly. I would be willing to bet that most of their reliability issues can be traced directly back to the manufacturing process. When you do live sound, your reputation is on the line. My money is on Allen & Heath. I, for one, was pretty excited when I saw the new Qu-24 with all its new features. I plan on buying one as soon as I can.

9

Now that I won’t be the first to say it, I’ll stop biting my lip and concur with mamerica. It does what it says on the tin. I gather you don’t like that, but you’d make less of an ass of yourself asking for a Qu32 than moaning that the Qu24 isn’t one.

10

I agree. I wish my QU16 was a 24 but it is not. Or my GLD 48 was a 56 or 64 but it is not. I fully think AH will build a QU 32. But there is a schedule in marketing and R&D, manufacturing process. Can’t do too much too quickly.

11

Personally I was thrilled they came out with the QU24. I have several jobs I am bidding that it is perfect for. Actually 30 inputs total. If they do a 32 that will be fantastic. But then we start getting closer to GLD. Don’t want to upset that product line since it is so great. Most people in rural America just won’t go iLive.

12

Hi guys,
This is my first post here. I’ve had quite a few A&H desks over the years and they’ve been rock solid for me. I’ve a QU-24 on it’s way to me from Andertons and look forward to getting my paws on it ASAP!
Before buying I weighed up the alternatives and was about to buy a QU-16 when I saw the 24 announcement. I’ve had two Presonus desks and still have a little Mackie DL1608, but this desk is what I’ve been waiting for:)

13

I’m sure you’ll like the qu24.
I sold a presonus 16.4 and bought the qu16 - much more confidence in it.

14

My Presonus 16.4.2 had an unresolved problem where it would blow the trip in my garage and give random shocks when hooking up leads. It never did it out at a gig but I always kept a spare mixer handy! At the time it was £2k, look what that buys you nowadays!!

15

I had the smaller presonus (can’t remember it’s name) which had major issues recording to my MacBook. They sorted it eventually.
Then I px’d it for the 16.4.2, which died at a gig - had to reboot it.
Sold that and bought a QU16.

In fairness the presonus desks are easy to use, but it got to the point where I didn’t trust them.

16

That’s the two I had. The 16.4.2 would lose FireWire sync and go silent for a few seconds when recording to the laptop. It happened twice then never used it for recording again out at a gig. The qu drive is probably the deciding factor for the desk over the Soundcraft Expression, I never really considered a Behringer no matter how good it seems:/

17

I was on my third Presonus SL24.4.2 when the Qu-16 came out. They had gone down twice in the middle of a show. It’s a great board and I like the workflow better but I wish they had better quality control. In all fairness to them, they are easy to use and their customer relations are excellent. They also have a great support community. I had a 16.4.2 that worked flawlessly.

I had sold my A&H GL series when I went to the Presonus. I was happy to see the new Qu line. I hope they keep their production in the UK and don’t farm it out to some electronics mill in China. If they focus on quality, they’ll win the customer loyalty game.

18

I was talking to one of the reps from Audio Technica in January prior to buying my QU-16, he said eventually A&H will move production over to the Far East, but, said quality control would not suffer. Designed and manufactured in England was a big plus for me in buying the desk, especially if you decide to sell on later down the line.

Lee

19

I had a 16.0.2 then a 16.4.2. Interesting that your experience is similar to mine.

I used to have an AH mix wizard - terrific desk and that was made in China.

Just like the uk, there are good and bad Chinese factories. Most pc’s are made in China, as are apple products.

The key is picking a good factory and keeping in top of quality control - I’m certain AH know how to do that.

20

My qu16 is made in China. I didn’t know that they were making the qu’s in the uk?