Allen & Heath QU-PAC 16-In/12-Out Ultra Compact Digital Mixer with Touchscreen Control

QU-Pac takes the power and legendary quality of the Qu family and shrinks it into an uber-compact desk or rack mount format. Qu-Pac frees you to mix from your iPad, but the full functions of the mixer can also be accessed from the front panel and touchscreen. With custom settings and Cat5 expansion up to 38 inputs, Qu-Pac provides a scalable, failsafe solution for hardworking bands, schools, hotels, corporate events, live music bars, conferences, personal mixing and many more scenarios requiring a pro mixing solution in a tiny footprint. User permissions and the customizable Qu-Control screen make Qu-Pac convenient and safe for day-to-day use by non-technical staff.

QU-Pad
Add the Qu-Pad iPad app to your Qu setup and you're free to adjust the monitors on stage, roam around the venue whilst tweaking the PA and then mix the show from the heart of the audience. Qu-Pad connects to the mixer over Wi-Fi and gives instant access to all live mixing parameters and settings.

Touch Control
Qu-Pac's 5", 800 x 480, sixteen million color Touchscreen and its dedicated data encoder form the heart of the Qu interface, providing super-fast, easy access to all settings. The user-friendly interface has been designed with clarity in mind. Dedicated keys and screen tabs quickly guide you to meter and RTA views, FX racks, channel processing, USB audio control, scenes, setup menus and much more. The Qu-Control key brings up a fully customizable screen which gives access to channels and settings tailored to the user and application. Several 'widgets' can be assigned to the page, these include channel levels, mutes and assignment on/off switches and are arranged to suit the user requirement, for example as a source selection and level control of background music to one or multiple zones.

Analogiq Preamps
Allen & Heath AnalogiQ total recall preamps feature zero crossing detection and an advanced padless 1dB step gain stage, closely allied to the DSP for optimal gain accuracy and audio transparency. The analogue signal is captured by high class, low latency 24bit analogue to digital converters matched to high quality 24bit digital to analogue converters to deliver the required outputs. The AnalogiQ design has been refined to offer superb transparency, minimal distortion and an ultra-low noise floor, with a warm, musical sound that is missing from some digital consoles.

Dsnake
Qu mixers are self-contained, so if you've already got the analogue cables you're good to go. If you're thinking of trading in the copper multicore for a Cat5 digital snake, Qu's dSNAKE port has you future-proofed, allowing connection to a combination of AR2412, AR84 or portable AB168 AudioRacks. dSNAKE is their proprietary networking solution, boasting a transport latency of only 105us over cable runs of up to 120m / 390'. So if you're mixing FoH you can place your I/O on the stage and run a single Cat5 cable back to the Qu mixer in the mix position.

Ilive FX
Qu's dynamics and FX algorithms are derived from the FX used in their iLive pro touring series. Some of the world's most respected audio engineers have chosen to use iLive's FX on tour in preference to top-end plug-ins and external FX units. All Qu models boast 4 stereo iLive FX engines, featuring lovingly crafted emulations of legendary classic reverbs, gated reverbs, delays, modulators, flangers and more. The FX library has the ability to grow with future firmware releases. FX are returned to the mix on dedicated return channels, so you're not tying up your mono and stereo input channels. Each Stereo FX Return has a dedicated 4 band PEQ.

USB Audio Streaming
Qu's built-in interface streams multitrack audio to your Mac or PC via a flexible patching system: all Input channels and the Main LR can be recorded at the same time or you may choose to record something different such as FX returns or a pair of mixes. The returns from the computer can be assigned to the Input channels. The interface is class-compliant on Mac OS X - and drivers are available for Windows systems. Either way, it will be recognized straightaway by any DAW supporting ASIO or Core Audio, including Logic, Cubase, Reaper and Pro Tools.

QU-Drive
Forget soundcard drivers and software setup, Qu has an integrated multitrack USB recorder, providing 18 channels of 48kHz, 24bit recording and playback straight to / from your USB hard drive. Capturing multitrack recordings of your shows has never been so easy. Mixes and FX returns can be recorded alongside channels and multitrack audio can be played back to the mixer for virtual sound-checks. An independent set of controls is provided for quick stereo recording of the main LR or other mix outputs and a 2-track USB return can be routed to ST3 for playback of stereo WAV files such as walk-in music.

Channel Ducker
An advanced yet easy to use Ducker is available on every channel. It can be inserted on the fly on any number of Inputs and Stereo Groups, providing auto signal attenuation and then gently restoring the level to aid the operator in endless applications: reduce the level of background music when a single microphone or mic mix is in use, for example during live announcements or give a chairman microphone priority over others. Setup is a breeze, with the option to share Ducker settings across multiple channels when in Gang mode.

Armed to the Hilt
Qu mixers are equipped with 5 cores of high efficiency ARM core processing, with dedicated ARM cores running the touchscreen display and surface, USB streaming, Qu-Drive multi-channel USB recording / playback and Ethernet. Between them the ARM cores provide state-of-the-art processing, working in parallel to deliver extensive control, instant-on operation and lightning-fast response. The mixer's DSP farm exploits next generation dual core DSPs. With plenty of DSP power under the hood the channel processing is only using a fraction of capacity, so Qu is future-proofed, with ample room for updates and extra functionality. The DSP architecture employs varied bit depths, tailored to specific algorithms, with 48 bits on critical EQ functions and a 56 bit accumulator on the mix bus where it really counts, allowing every nuance of the audio to be captured in the final mix.

ME Personal Mixing System
Qu mixers are fully compatible with Allen & Heath ME Personal Mixing System. Any number of ME-1 personal mixers can be chained from the dSNAKE port (or from an AR2412 / AB168 AudioRack if you've got one connected to the dSNAKE port). Each performer can be given tailored control over their own mix, leaving the engineer free to focus on the audience experience.