Allen & Heath ZED Mixers

Reviews | Allen & Heath ZED mixers
88
N
ot so long ago, if you wanted
an affordable low-noise,
durable mixer for small band
live performance and studio
recording your only sensible option was
the Mackie 1202VLZ (mk1). But now
there’s a huge range and Allen &
Heath’s ZEDs are a big part of that.
ZEDs cater for a variety of purposes,
from powered PA to 32 channel four
buss options. They’ve just updated the
diminutive but durable end of the range
with the ZED 6 and ZEDi 8 mixers, plus
a substantial update to their acclaimed
ZED 10. All come in regular and FX
fl avours and the 8 and 10 include a
built-in 24-bit 96kHz USB audio
interface (2 in, 2 out and 4 in, 4 out,
respectively). I’m testing the ZEDi-10FX
and ZED 6 options here but the major
components are the same throughout.
ZEDi-10FX offers up four mono mic/
line channels (with phantom power)
plus three stereo inputs plus those built-
in FX. The four mono channels feature
separate balanced/unbalanced TRS and
XLR inputs while stereo inputs come via
TRS jacks. The GSPre preamps have
bags of headroom and could go toe to
toe with a dropped pin in the silent
stakes. A&H say they are “developed
from the revered GS-R24” desk and
they sound nice on everything I tried
through them, even my own voice.
Ditching EMOs
The fi rst two channels feature a guitar
mode, engaging high impedance DI
inputs, which means less kit to worry
about on the road and less chance of
session guitarists/clients accidentally
wandering off with your precious EMO
520. The next two channels have a
Line/Pad button which drops the mic
input level 20dB. There’s also a low-cut
button (100Hz) for all four.
Most controls are knob-based and
the mono channels feature 5-60dB of
gain (more than enough for sensible
purposes), balance, mix level, FX-send,
auxiliary send and a three band EQ. The
swept-mid band of the original ZED 10
is now fi xed and the centre frequencies
(80Hz, 600Hz, 12kHz) are obviously
tailored for live mixing. Allen & Heath’s
MusiQ system for automatically
Allen & Heath ZED
Mixers | from £95
Alex Blanco goes on a journey with two new portable
mixers from Allen & Heath
WHAT IS IT?
Portable mixer suitable for
live and studio use with
built-in USB interface and
onboard FX
CONTACT
Who: Allen & Heath
Tel: [phone]
Web: allen-heath.com
HIGHLIGHTS
1 Affordable, portable and
well built
2 Built-in DI and USB
interface makes the mixers
very versatile
3 Excellent sounding effects
on the 10FX
PRICING
ZED6
£95
ZEDi 10FX
£239
FMU304.rev_allenheath.indd 88 3/21/16 12:41 PM