thinking about buying qu24 or 32, but have some questions first

Qu Qu General Discussions
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New to the forum, used a GL for years and loved it. Own the original Studio Live 16, but looking to move up.

I’m considering buying a 24 or 32 qu console, but there are a few things I would like to know.

The Qu drive, says there is 18 tracks, 16 bit, at 48khz. Now, it seems that the last two, 17/18 are dedicated to LR…correct? Also, and the bigger question, can I reduce my sample to 44.1 / 24bit and squeeze 24 xlr plus LR out of the qu drive? If the usb port in the back can do 30 or whatever, what is the limitation for the qu drive?

Also, those using the 16 or 24 version, are the screens too small? I haven’t seen one in person, but 5" for the 24 seems very tiny. Opinions?

What are the major complaints of the QU, if any (obviously opinions here)?

Any chance of Qu mimicking the FAT channel A/B option?

Can I change the sequence of my processing?

Confirmation that I still have a (digital) metering bridge?

Can I return aux’s for every aux, say if I want to split drums and route then to an aux to apply heavy compression and then return to a bus or LR?

Lastly, does anyone own the Sl 24.4.2 AI or 32.4.2 AI. How do you compare the SL AI and Qu?

Sorry to come out firing, but just somethings I’ve noticed from using an SL the last five years. Really intrigued by this console.

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17/18 are dedicated to LR…correct?
Nope, you can assign all 18 channels freely when recording
can I reduce my sample to 44.1 / 24bit
Nope, system is locked to 48KHz.
Can I change the sequence of my processing?
Nope
Confirmation that I still have a (digital) metering bridge?
You have signal, 0dB and Peak metering for every channel on the visible layer on the surface.
Can I return aux’s for every aux, say if I want to split drums and route then to an aux to apply heavy compression and then return to a bus or LR?
The Qu24/32 have groups and matrices. You will need those. Alternatively for groups, you can patch an aux out back into a stereo channel input if you need them on a Qu16.
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Re Qu:Drive:
That was the case earlier. Now all 18 tracks are freely assignable: you can record whatever you want: mono and st ins, fx returns, mixes, groups, mains, mtxs, but up to a max of 18x tracks. Sample rate is fixed @ 48kHz. AFAIK the limitation is to do with buffering and the (potentially limited) write speed of the HDD. When using a computer via the USB-B socket on the rear of the machine, the computer can take its own CPU and RAM into account and be configured with whatever buffer is required such that no data is dropped for 32 tracks. When recording direct to HDD, you don’t have that luxury of the extra CPU and RAM to play with, so they limited it to 18 tracks. It may also have had something to do with the Qu16 coming out first and only having 16 inputs, so an 18-track Qu-Drive made sense. When the 24/32 came out A&H may not have wanted to re-write the whole Qu-Drive code to cope with extra inputs for the other consoles. Just my speculation.

RE Screen size:
Yes, 5" is small, but not such that it’s un-usable. Also bear in mind that you’ve got your physical sends on faders to dial in your mixes, and dedicated controls on the superstrip for your processing, and GEQ on faders too. You can also mix from an ipad with a 10" screen. You’ve also got your softkeys for tap tempos and scene recall too. All these add up such that you’ll probably find you’re not relying on the screen as much as you thought you would. It’s just dialling in the various parameters of the dynamics processors (attack, release etc, remember you’ve got dedicated threshold controls on the SuperStrip) and configuring the FX parameters that you really need the screen for. Screen on Qu32 is 7".

Re issues:
Have a look in the toubleshooting section and feature suggestions section of the forums to get ideas of what some people see as shortcomings. Personally I think it’s great for the price. One major-ish issues seem to be that sometimes the Qu-Drive recordings would skip. A lot of these instances seem to be the result of vibrations caused by subs in a loud room affecting mechanical HDDs. People using flash storage/some sort of dampening around the HDD seem to have less issues. A&H did increase a buffer size in a pervious firmware update which also seems to have helped. A&H seem to listen to people on the forums though re bugs and requests, to a degree. They implemented channel naming and multiple iOS device control through firmware updates.

Re Channel A/B
Not ATM (though obviously I can’t comment on what A&H have planned for future firmware, if anything.) ATM all you can do is create scenes with the appropriate recall filters and assign the recall to softkeys.

Processing switch:
No. Fixed as per block diagram: input channels are polarity inversion>insert point>hpf>gate>peq>comp>delay. Be aware FX returns only have peq, no comp. Mixes/groups/mains/mtxs are insert point>peq>geq>comp>delay. You can switch different blocks in and out though.

Meterbridge.
Yep. Homescreen, press the meters tab. You’ve also got the main meter and LEDs above every fader too.

Mix routing:
ATM You can’t route mix1-10 to LR (unless you go via analogue.) You can route groups1-4 (which are really 2 stereo groups, you can’t split them to 4 mono groups) to LR. You can route mix1-10, gr1-4, and LR to a matrix, so if you were running your mains off a matrix, you could in effect use mix-10 as (4x mono and 3x stereo) extra subgroups if gr1-4 wasn’t enough.

HTH

Edit: beaten. Sorry.

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Being able to digitally route a mix back into a channel would be nice - beware potential feedback loops, but otherwise a nice idea. Potential to use FX returns for this (with a blank FX rack?)

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How about the soft keys? I see the AH description as being able to use the soft keys as mute groups, yet the description says 4 mute groups. Are they 4 additional mute groups that don’t count toward 4 of 10 soft keys, or do they count and I would be left with 6 soft keys if I used 4 mute groups?

Also, the 32 channel version still only has 4 groups (2 stereo), correct?

If I record all my tracks into my pc, and then play back those tracks routed back into each channel, will I have eq, comp, etc on my source tracks, or is this switchable like the Presonus? Or does my interface apply any processing to my tracks when going into the computer and I cannot change that operation?

Lastly, the DCA groups are 4 actual groups, not stereo pairs or anything misleading, correct?

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How about the soft keys? I see the AH description as being able to use the soft keys as mute groups, yet the description says 4 mute groups. Are they 4 additional mute groups that don’t count toward 4 of 10 soft keys, or do they count and I would be left with 6 soft keys if I used 4 mute groups?
You have 4 mute groups. They can be controlled via softkeys and/or using the touchscreen. If you were to use four softkeys to control 4 mute groups then that would leave you with 6 soft keys for other purposes. You could use 2 softkeys for two mute groups and 8 for something else. You could control the 4 mutegroups exclusively with the touch screen, and have 10x softkeys available for whatever else you want. You could also set up your DCAs as additional mutegroups (assign channels, set the DCA fader to 0dB and leave it there,) and mute them via softkeys and/or the mute buttons above the relevant fader.
Also, the 32 channel version still only has 4 groups (2 stereo), correct?
Incorrect. The Qu32 has 4x stereo groups (8x buses with 8x outputs, but permanently linked and panned as 4x stereo.) This is in addition to the 10x mixes, 4x dedicated FX sends, LR and 2x stereo mtxs. Total of 22x buses, + PAFL + alt-out.
If I record all my tracks into my pc, and then play back those tracks routed back into each channel, will I have eq, comp, etc on my source tracks, or is this switchable like the Presonus? Or does my interface apply any processing to my tracks when going into the computer and I cannot change that operation?
By default your source tracks won't have Qu-processing sent to the DAW. The default is to have your tracks feed your DAW at their insert point (post pol inversion, pre everything else,) and what most people use to record thier mics dry. The tracks can then be sent back to the QU and have Qu processing applied, or you can mixdown in the DAW (using DAW processing but controlling the DAW with the Qu over MIDI, if you've got the right setup.) The only Qu-Processing that will affect the signal being sent to the DAW is the gain/trim and the polarity inversion, which is pretty much standard for any console feeding a DAW.

If you do want to have the Qu-processing included in what’s sent to your DAW, you set up the Qu to tap the channels at the Direct Out point and feed your DAW from there. You can move the Direct Out point to where ever you want in the signal chain (eg make it post-comp so that it DOES include the Qu-processing.) Be aware that this setting is global though. The position of the DO in the signal chain is global, and whether you’re tapping from insert point or DO is also a global setting that effects all channels. If you want to get more complicated (eg send some tracks to your DAW at the insert point, some pre-eq and some post fader,) you need to get creative with routing to your buses and then recording the buses.

Lastly, the DCA groups are 4 actual groups, not stereo pairs or anything misleading, correct?
There are 4 DCAs. You can use them to control mono and/or stereo channels and fx returns. They are not audio groups, in that they don't actually sum anything and you can't apply processing to them. Think of them as remote fader controls, that affect the level of a channel going to LR and, as they affect the level of the channel fader, they will also affect any post fader mixes that channel is routed to. They won't affect your panning: you can use a single DCA to control a stereo drum kit: the DCA will give you level control and your panning stays in tact, unlike summing a stereo kit to a mono group, getting your level control but losing your stereo image. I have read of some users having issues with not being a able to control mix1-10 with a DCA properly though. I've not heard of anyone having issues controlling channels with a DCA. The biggest problem you'll run into is if you forget you've got a channel routed to a DCA that's set at -inf: no LR/post-fader sound for that channel.

HTH

Edit: typos.