SQ Rack vs CQ20b

SQ SQ General Discussions
1

Over the past 20 years I have owned and operated, in both my project studio and live SR gigs, a long list of A&H consoles. A wonderful 24 channel analog desk that I gave to a church near me then a QU16 and later a QUsb that I wound up giving to my grandsons for their garage band. The SQ5, that replaced the QU16, was the best of the bunch: however I discovered very little sonic quality difference between the newly acquired CQ20b and my SQ5. For my solo acoustic guitar/vocal &/or Bluegrass gigs the CQ20b is a “set up and leave it” no brainer.
Given the fact that over the past 10 years all of my studio recording and live post production work has been with my Waves Digigrid LV1 system. So when the new LV1 classic console with their newly developed 32 bit pres, that replaced the Digico D pres in my IOX, was clearly much better for my work flow.

I bought a DX168 along with my SQ5 4 years ago and was impressed with the improvement the DX168 D-Live pres made in sonic quality over the internal SQ Pres. My KV2 FOH & wedge monitors provide a clear comparison for detailed transparency and initially the DX168 was the big time winner. However the 32 bit primes offered world class clarity that I had never before experienced with the acoustic music I have produced over the past 50 years. I had to putchase a high priced Digico DX32 housing to deploy the prized new Prime I/Os. When coupled with my Flea 47 tube mic the magic happened. The new Waves Classic desk offers 32 bit programable pres that match if not surpass the A&H primes so I have sold my SQ5 and hope to find a buyer for the DX32 to finish the crossover to the LV1 clasic.

THe CQ20b is a plug up and play desk for novice dunmmies and old timers, like me, that are only interested in summing a few mics with high quality SR output with out a bunch of FX embellishment. There is no difference between the CQ and the SQ in this regard. The waves plug-ins are much much better in use for SR problem solving than the current A&H alternatives. This is why a Waves card is an automatic addition to most all large format applications. Given my history and use pattern what would make the SQ Rack a better option for me than my CQ20b?
Hugh

2

Nothing.

3

I mean A&H is very methodical about their product lineups. The differences between the different console systems goes much deeper than just the number of inputs and outputs. The higher up the lineup you go, the more features and flexibility you will have.

Most of the feature requests being made by users of the CQ series will never be seriously considered by A&H for this reason. Those features are reserved for “higher” end consoles in the A&H ecosystem.

So only you can answer your own question. If the CQ currently meets all of your needs and you aren’t looking for more advanced features or flexibility, then it is a fine choice that will work very well. But if you are looking for features that aren’t available on the CQ, but are available on a different A&H system, then you probably need to setup to a higher level console even if you only need a couple inputs and outputs and don’t need the “extra I/O” that usually comes with a higher end system.

Long story short, the SQ series has a ton of extra features and flexibility that the CQ series is never going to have. Buy the system that meets your needs.