Allen&Heath Zed Series

[tbag]

Not that I know of. Sending multiple signals into a computer while retaining reasonable quality takes a lot of bandwidth. Usb 3.0 is supposed to surpass firewire, but if you're talking about just a regular old USB port you plug your mice and keyboards into, then I don't think there's much available that's worth your while.

Are you using a desktop, or a laptop? If you have a desktop you can easily upgrade to Firewire by getting a PCI card with a firewire port (these are readily available). Otherwise, it's probably time to upgrade. Used macbooks with firewire go for about $700 last i looked, and perhaps even less now.

So with the Zed22FX you need to have firewire to send the audio to your DAW? Thats the mixer ive been looking at but i have a newer mac and they discontinued the Firewire connection.

The Zed 16 is lovely but i couldnt afford it at the moment plus i have a few bits of hardware including a drum machine so i would like to have about 15/16 channels.

[upekah]

Well I've also looked at the Zed 24, but bear in mind that you'll need some kind of interface with 20 analog outputs in order to put a zed 24 to full use. I use a Macbook with firewire and I cannot find any audio interface that has this many outputs (I don't think a firewire interface with that many outputs exists).

Something like a MOTU 24i/o + a zed 24 would be a great combination, and would cost less than a r16. But you need a desktop with a PCI slot to utilize the 24 i/o. For me, the r16 is the best option.

so I have to buy a decent audio interface as well or would I be able to plug the mixer directly into my mac again after sending from my DAW into the mixer? wouldn't make any sense eeeh? I am confused.
Whatcha really need now to plug these things together to enhace your sound quality?

[nrjizer]

Not that I know of. Sending multiple signals into a computer while retaining reasonable quality takes a lot of bandwidth. Usb 3.0 is supposed to surpass firewire, but if you're talking about just a regular old USB port you plug your mice and keyboards into, then I don't think there's much available that's worth your while.

Are you using a desktop, or a laptop? If you have a desktop you can easily upgrade to Firewire by getting a PCI card with a firewire port (these are readily available). Otherwise, it's probably time to upgrade. Used macbooks with firewire go for about $700 last i looked, and perhaps even less now.

So with the Zed22FX you need to have firewire to send the audio to your DAW? Thats the mixer ive been looking at but i have a newer mac and they discontinued the Firewire connection.

The Zed 16 is lovely but i couldnt afford it at the moment plus i have a few bits of hardware including a drum machine so i would like to have about 15/16 channels.

From what I can gather, all of the regular Zeds (including the 22FX) have a basic USB interface that can send a limited amount of audio to/from the computer. Specifically I think it's limited to some of the aux sends, and a record out feature.

What's special about the r16 is that every single channel fader has a dedicated send and return. Which means on any given channel, you could plug in a hardware synth, send its signal to the computer for delay/reverb/etc, return it back into that very same channel on the r16 and mix it. Or, you can pipe a softsynth coming out of your daw straight into the r16.

If you had a basic analog mixer, you'd need a separate audio interface with at least 16 analog i/o to do what the r16 does, and as far as I know there are no firewire interfaces that have more than 10 analog i/o. The specialty of the zed is that it basically combines mixer with interface.

[nrjizer]

Well I've also looked at the Zed 24, but bear in mind that you'll need some kind of interface with 20 analog outputs in order to put a zed 24 to full use. I use a Macbook with firewire and I cannot find any audio interface that has this many outputs (I don't think a firewire interface with that many outputs exists).

Something like a MOTU 24i/o + a zed 24 would be a great combination, and would cost less than a r16. But you need a desktop with a PCI slot to utilize the 24 i/o. For me, the r16 is the best option.

so I have to buy a decent audio interface as well or would I be able to plug the mixer directly into my mac again after sending from my DAW into the mixer? wouldn't make any sense eeeh? I am confused.
Whatcha really need now to plug these things together to enhace your sound quality?

A regular analog mixer like a Zed 24 does nothing but mix audio signals piped into it. It's no different than a DJ mixer, really, except it's configured for mixing all the components of an entire track. If you want to use an analog mixer to mix sounds being generated in your computer, you have to have an audio interface (which is basically a sound card) which has many outputs that you can plug into the mixer (i.e. one output for the kick, one for the snare, one for the bass, and so on.... however many you need and can get).

If you have all hardware instruments, you can simply plug them right into the mixer, but if you want to do any delays/reverbs/etc on the synth sounds with computer plugins, you'll need an audio interface with analog inputs to receive the signal, and then to send it back out via the outputs.

[nrjizer]

Alright guys help me out because I'm a bit torn here.

I currently produce primarily ITB in Logic. I'm using a MacBook laptop, which is limiting in that I have a Firewire port, and that's it. No room for PCI expansions or anything like that.

The r16 would do two things for me: first, it would give me a good interface for integrating my Nord Lead and future hardsynths (I currently have an M-Audio POS with 1 analog input). Second, it would give me the analog, hands on mixing that I desire.

But for the same price ($3k~) of the r16, I could get a nice G5 desktop off craigslist ($700~ from what I'm seeing), an interface like the motu 24i/o ($1500) and a Zed 24 ($700). Having a desktop with additional FW ports and PCI expansions would give me a lot more flexibility for future additions. I'm torn at this point.

[upekah]

Well I've also looked at the Zed 24, but bear in mind that you'll need some kind of interface with 20 analog outputs in order to put a zed 24 to full use. I use a Macbook with firewire and I cannot find any audio interface that has this many outputs (I don't think a firewire interface with that many outputs exists).

Something like a MOTU 24i/o + a zed 24 would be a great combination, and would cost less than a r16. But you need a desktop with a PCI slot to utilize the 24 i/o. For me, the r16 is the best option.

so I have to buy a decent audio interface as well or would I be able to plug the mixer directly into my mac again after sending from my DAW into the mixer? wouldn't make any sense eeeh? I am confused.
Whatcha really need now to plug these things together to enhace your sound quality?

A regular analog mixer like a Zed 24 does nothing but mix audio signals piped into it. It's no different than a DJ mixer, really, except it's configured for mixing all the components of an entire track. If you want to use an analog mixer to mix sounds being generated in your computer, you have to have an audio interface (which is basically a sound card) which has many outputs that you can plug into the mixer (i.e. one output for the kick, one for the snare, one for the bass, and so on.... however many you need and can get).

If you have all hardware instruments, you can simply plug them right into the mixer, but if you want to do any delays/reverbs/etc on the synth sounds with computer plugins, you'll need an audio interface with analog inputs to receive the signal, and then to send it back out via the outputs.

So buying a Zed-Series Mixer and going from DAW -> Mixer -> Soundcard -> DAW , improves my sound then? Sorry but just that I am checking the signal flow you are talking about

But e.g. Fireface 400 & that Zed Series Mixer wouldn't work that much because the Fireface for example doesn't have that much outputs?
But depends on how much I wanna record to my DAW at once right?

P.S: sorry I am just not getting it atm

[miro pajic]

why an external extra soundcard with the zeds???
am i getting it wrong or isn't the soundcard built in there?
(what's the usb/fw port for then?). just checked their site and as far as i can read it you DON'T need an extra interface. what for? makes no sense otherwise
or i could just get any other type of mixer instead.

[upekah]

why an external extra soundcard with the zeds???
am i getting it wrong or isn't the soundcard built in there?
(what's the usb/fw port for then?). just checked their site and as far as i can read it you DON'T need an extra interface. what for? makes no sense otherwise
or i could just get any other type of mixer instead.

that's what I misread then!