BRIEFLY

Allen & Heath ZED-12FX is a Multipurpose mixer with USB for live sound, recording and production with essential on-board FX.

Complementing the existing ZED series, the ZED FX has been developed around an FX chipset purely for the new model. Their DSP engineers have been working hard, crafting and refining beautiful reverb algorithms. The effects are available nowhere else - this quality and integration is only available from the ZED FX.

In addition to the DuoPreTM mic pre-amps, 100mm faders and MusiQ EQ section which are shared with the whole ZED range, the ZED FX has 16 essential time-delay effects, designed by A&H DSP team in Cornwall (UK). The mixer is ideal for small groups who don’t want to carry around an effects unit with their gear but who still want great quality FX at their gigs and on their recordings.

ZED FX is easily controlled using 3 buttons and 9 LEDs. The layout and features have been arranged to be logical and instantly recognisable. The USB audio interface, with its uniquely flexible capability, allows different signals to be sent to USB, from LR or from selected aux buses. The USB return signal can be routed straight to the LR mix or to a stereo channel.  The connectors are placed on the top surface for easy plugging & patching, and the construction, with individual circuit boards firmly nutted to the top panel, is as rock solid as Allen & Heath’s top of the range ML Series mixers.

FEATURES

Internal FX
16 separate effects have been crafted into the ZED-FX range. These include Delay and Reverb, Ping-Pong delay, a selection of reverbs with different room/hall/arena properties, a flanger and a chorus. All have been designed to complement the material the engineer is working with. Each of the effects has a parameter which can be altered: pre-delay can be adjusted, room sizes tweaked, and flanger speed dialled-in. Five of the effects can have their tempo tapped in, and the output auditioned by the FX PFL.

Inputs

One of the great things about the ZED series is the number and variety of things you can plug in. In addition to the 16 mono channels there are three dual stereo channels, each with a main stereo input on jack sockets, and with the ability to take additional stereo inputs from phono sockets or from the USB audio input, flexibility gives you control. 16 mic/line channels are provided on ZED-22FX - plenty for mics or DI boxes for a small band, duo or solo performer 4 stereo line inputs - dual inputs, both with gain and 2-band EQ.

DuoPreTM
Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, the ZED series has new DuoPreTM pre-amps, which use a two stage design, with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. When amplifying the signal from the XLR input, the gain range is huge - 69dB of range to be exact - and is very evenly distributed around the gain control, meaning better control of signal level. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, so unwanted noise is kept to a minimum. Line level signals are simply plugged into the second stage of the pre-amp by using the line input jack socket, which has the great advantage of less noise when using the line input.

EQ section
ZED-22FX features a musical 3-band EQ descended from the acclaimed GL2400 mixer.
The design utilises MusiQ - optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments.

Auxiliary sends
4 aux sends are provided, of which 1&2 are prefade for foldback monitoring, and 3 & 4 post-fade for effects sends. A stereo signal can be sent from auxes via USB to computer to create 2 separate record feeds independent of the main LR mix (1&2) and or used as FX sends (3&4).

USB audio flexibility
Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way we have implemented this on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it! Quality audio to and from your PC or Mac. Three switches provide different send/return configurations for recording, playback and utilising external FX.

Build
The ZED-22FX has been designed using individual vertically mounted circuit boards with each rotary control fixed with a metal nut to the front panel - making a much more robust product that will resist damage and give years of reliable use. ZED also has professional 100mm faders for ultimate control over your levels

SONAR LE - provided Free!
Allan & Heath have teamed up with Cakewalk to bundle SONAR LE with this ZED mixer. The two team up together in many ways - for example straightforward recording of a stereo mix, recording tracks individually to build up a song, or for inserting a SONAR LE effects plug-in.