GEAR REVIEW
ALLEN & HEATH CQ SERIES AUDIO CONSOLES | Kent Morris
To say Allen & Heath ( A & H ) is firing on all cylinders is a bit of an understatement . The company , part of the Audiotonix family which includes DiGiCo SSL , Slate and Calrec , fits perfectly in a Goldilocks zone within the live audio console pecking order . Customers have flocked to A & H due to several factors , including logical operation and flow , superb sound quality regardless of price point , and an extensive accessory line designed for expansion and network adaptation . Add in world class customer support and training via some of the best minds in the industry , such as Samantha Potter and Jeff Hawley , and it ’ s easy to see why A & H is riding high .
With offerings such as the introductory SQ5 / 6 / 7 with its intuitive interface and excellent sound quality on through the mid-range Avantis with its cool exoskeleton form factor and versatile configuration up to the premier D-Live S-class large format series that competes directly with platforms twice its price , A & H is on a roll . It ’ s little surprise then A & H shows up now with the CQ Series , a line of ultra-compact mixers slotted below the SQ line but sporting entirely new features and innovations in a sleek body designed to be the centerpiece tech of gigging bands , content creators and home studios .
CQ comes in three flavors : the very compact CQ12T , the expanded CQ18T and the rack mounted CQ20B . All three models share the same architecture and software suites , the differences lie in I / O and interface . The CQ12T ’ s ten XLR and stereo line pair combine to become the dozen noted in the name while the CQ18T adds six additional XLR to reach eighteen and the CQ20B adds a second pair of stereo line inputs to make twenty . The CQ12T and CQ18T have built-in touchscreens in contrast to the CQ20B ’ s rack mount execution that precludes the incorporation of the touchscreen since it is destined to live its life in obscurity inside a dark rack on the upstage corner of the deck .
Aside from its small size and distinctive shape , what sets the CQ apart is the software . In a similar vein to what Yamaha did several years ago with the TF series of compact consoles , the CQ has two operating modes : simple and advanced . While the TF was innovative for its time , the CQ brings a new generation of functionality to bear with an entire suite of assistants and options focused on bridging the gap between what is and what can be sonically . If the TF was the Word paperclip , CQ is Alexa , a
118 October 2023 Subscribe for Free ...