By Paul White
A&H’s newest live sound consoles combine powerful 96kHz digital processing with user?friendly features.
Compact digital live sound mixers are increasingly popular with amateur and semi?pro performers, as they offer the prospect of remote control, built?in effects and ease of setting up. The latest model to join the Allen & Heath stable is the CQ?18T, an 18:8 digital mixer that can be controlled either remotely, via its built?in Wi?Fi or an Ethernet connection, or locally from its colour touchscreen interface. A free iOS app is available that closely replicates what is seen on the touchscreen, with some small layout changes to exploit the larger screen size. An Android app will also be available soon, as well as macOS and Windows control software.
Housed in a sturdy metal case, the mixer is surprisingly compact and has a couple of raised side wings that protect the controls. Power comes from an external brick, which I’m not normally keen on for live use, but as long as the mixer is housed in a suitable case, that shouldn’t be a problem, and there is a clip to hold the power cable firmly in place.
Other than the power inlet and switch, all the controls and (almost) all the I/O connections are on the top panel in clear view, and the large colour touchscreen occupies the centre of the panel. Only the two headphone outs are located on the front edge of the case. Buttons below the screen navigate directly to the main pages: Config, Processing, Fader, FX and Home. To the left of the screen are three encoders with integral status LEDs, while to the right there’s a larger value encoder and three ‘soft’ buttons. These soft controls can be configured as required from the Config page. A fold?up Wi?Fi antenna is built in, and a small fan in the base of the unit keeps the circuitry cool, though this is inaudible in normal use.
Read the full review at Sound On Sound
