Allen & Heath Zed-10FX Test

[dstole]

I had about an hour to play around with and test my iPad, Camera Connection Kit, and Zed 10fx this evening after work. There are a couple really cool functions that make this an interesting set-up that might open up possibilities for expanded use of the iPad with MT.

The routing is very flexible for a unit of this size. I started the test by simply plugging the USB into the iPad. I wanted to create some quick sounds, so pulled up the KORG iElectribe. No problems there.

Next I added my iphone 4 to the line inputs on channel 1 and 2. Panned them left and right and played with some ambient/random noise out of RjDj. I recorded this to Stereo Track 1 in MT.
I then sent Stereo Track 1 back to the mixer so I could monitor while making some more noise. I then recorded Mono Track 1. Next, I wanted to play with the FX unit. The idea was to record a stereo effects track of Stereo track 1. It worked fine.

This opens up this unit to work as an effects processor for adding delay and reverb effects to tracks that have been recorded into MT. This is a nice feature for drum samples and guitars, etc.

On each channel you have the option of sending the source to the master out, aux, and effects bus. Through a switch on each channel you can assign a Rec option. This sends the signal to the USB record bus. The bus that actually gets sent to the USB interface is selected again with a button. By default it takes the master bus, but you can also set it to the Rec bus, and maybe even the Aux bus. On the return, these options allow you to send the effects signal back to the USB bus.

So how could this be used in real life?
You have a Drummer, Guitarist, bassist, Keyboardist, and Vocalist.
You send a stereo channel from the drums to ins 1 and 2, then guitar on channel 3 via the hi-Z option. Bass goes into channel 4, also with a Hi-Z option. The keyboard player takes the stereo input of 5&6. The vocalist needs to hold tight for a bit.

- First pass everyone plays together for the sake of timing, but only the drums are routed to the "Rec" bus.
- Second pass the bassist lays down a track.
- Third pass the Guitarist does his/her thing.
- Fourth time around the keyboard player gets it done.
- Lastly, the vocalist lays down a take or two in mono, with reverb in their ear, but not recorded.

After the 5 passes, we decide to send each track back out for some effects.
We record a delay on the guitar, some chorus on the bass, a nice plate on the drums, the synth is fine, but we do two effects passes for the vocals, one reverb/delay and one chorus.

We now have
6 stereo tracks (drums, drum plate, keyboard, guitar delay, vocal reverb, vocal delay)
4 mono tracks (guitar, bass, vocal, bass chorus)
Mix to taste.

Might take a bit of time, but I think you could get some very good quality recordings out of this. You could also expand the unit by plugging in external effects processors via the Aux out and the inputs of channel 5&6. Of course this adds bulk, bit the Mixer needs a power supply anyway, so why not add one more little effects box to open up options even more

Hope this quick review is helpful for anyone thinking about picking up thsi unit to go with their iPad and MT DAW.

[beyond]

dstole, thanks for the detailed review, I'm now completely interested in getting a mixer like this.

I do have to ask anyone here that knows, is there a significant sound quality difference with the Allen & Heath stuff? I know I've already heard people say (I think dstole was one of them) that the alesis mixer didn't sound as good, but what about Behringer? I found this one on guitar center, and it's 18 tracks with effects (six additional tracks), for almost $200 less than the Allen & Heath 12 track:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-X ... er-reviews

Any thoughts?

[moogplayer]

Thanks so much for the detailed post on your experience. From what I have read, the ZED preamps are a step above stuff like Behringer or Alesis. This is the setup I am considering as well. $249 for a refurbished unit on eBay.

Questions:

1) did you ever get feedback from monitoring?

2) any latency issues?

3) how are the quality of effects built-in to the mixer?

[dstole]

@beyond
I have the Zed-16R for larger projects in the studio. I have had it for about 9 months now. I have gotten used to the sound of it. I bought the Alesis initially because the dealer at the shop said that the EQ didn't feed into the USB Rec bus. He told me that the USB took the signal right after the input. I thought, for the extra money, if I am not getting the EQ benefits, it's no use.

When I got the Alesis home I did two things;
- Discovered the salesman was wrong
- packed up the Alesis

In my mind the quality of the preamps and the EQ are what make this unit worth the money. I use ribbon mics and the Alesis pre-amps were noisy. The build of the Zed is solid, and the power is built in so there is no wall wart. If you have a chance, i would suggest you try and actually turn some dials on the different models you are considering. You will discover immediately what I am talking about.

Sadly (?) behringer is no longer available in Japan. I was never happy with the quality of behringer on anything that was in the recorded audio chain. I did purchase a headphone amp for the drum room though. If you don't need all those tracks, I wouldn't bother with it. The unused tracks are going to add to the noise floor, and there must be something that is being compromised for the difference in specs and price? If you need the track count (but with Ipads 2 track limit, I don't see how) or you are trying to save, then it may be worth it to you. For me, i want to get the best possible quality sound in, regardless of the interface and recording device.

@ Moogplayer
1. There is the potential to create feedback loops through the USB in/out, but I didn't get any while I was testing. With the monitoring options available, it seems you can send signals to a few different paths to avoid loops.

2. I wasn't trying to record anything in real time. i was just making noise, so i didn't notice anything. I will drop a drum sample in tomorrow and record a live bass track to it to see how monitoring and latency go.

3. The effects aren't stellar, but they are better than the Alesis I tried. the fact that you can tap tempo and set some limited params is nice. I think that the reverbs would be sufficient, but you could always use a small outboard unit as well if needed.

Speaking of latency, did you know that there is a Buffer length setting for MultiTrack Daw in the system preferences of the iPhone and ipad? I discovered it today by accident. It looks like it is set to 512 (iPod 2G. iPhone 3G) by default buy will go as low as 64 (iPad, iPhone 4). I wonder if that will affect latency?

Will get back about latency in the next few days.

[moogplayer]

OK, I now have a Zed-10FX in my possession to make some tests. Look for some results by tomorrow, hopefully. I am excited about this!

[moogplayer]

Well my initial tests with the Zed-10FX and MT in general is fairly positive.

Still wrestling with monitoring issues. Can't seem to find a happy medium with input/playback mix in the cans. May be the mixer, as I need to understand the workflow on it a little more.

[dstole]

I spent a day in the studio with a guitarist and vocalist today.
Would you like me to go through my set-up on how I set up their headphones vs mine, etc.

I will post some audio files in the next little while (tomorrow maybe).

[moogplayer]

totally -- post your setup with the Zed-10FX. So far, I love the preamps

[dstole]

Sorry for the delay getting back to you moogplayer,

I had a guitarist and vocalist in on Sunday to help me test the iPad, MT, and Zed set-up.
They wanted to record an acoustic guitar and a vocal track. We decided to do each part one separately because of the input limitations of only two tracks.

Some of the issues we needed look at, and how we solved them.

1. The guitarist was in the booth, so we needed to send him a click track and a monitor of what was already recorded.
2. I needed a way to monitor the sounds and communicate with him while he was in the booth.
3. The guitarist wanted the vocalist to be singing while he played to help him keep his place in the song.

To do this I set up two microphones in the booth on the acoustic guitar. I wanted to record both at once, so I plugged the mics into channels 1 and 2. I plugged a dynamic mic into channel 3 for the vocalist and another one for me on channel 4 as a talk back mic to communicate with the guitarist.

I set the recorded source to be the REC bus, so that only the channels that had the record button pressed would actually be recorded onto the iPad. These were channels 1 and 2.

Now for monitoring. I am not sure if I can explain this well, so please hold on.

I sent a signal from the monitor out sends at the top of the ZedFX to a Headphone amp in the booth with the guitarist. I set the monitor source button to Mix, and set the monitor level at around 2 o'clock. This sends anything that is coming into the ZedFX to the monitor output and is controlled by the gain and level of each channel plus the Main mix level. The only problem with this is that if your talent wants more of a certain sound in his headphone mix then you will have some issues as adding more gain or level to a particular channel will change the level that is being recorded

For my headphone mix I used the Aux send for individual control of the different elements. By pushing the Phones select button to Aux and adjusting the Aux mix level I was able to send an Aux mix to my headphones. This is in mono though, and won't playback your Pan settings.

Now you might be asking, why not do it the reverse, so that the artist can set a second set of levels for the monitor mix. If you are the only one recording, then that is no problem, but if you want to create two somewhat different mixes in the headphones than this seems to be the way that worked for me. Of course you can always just swap headphones around

I will keep playing with this and see if I can discover some other tricks, but for now, thsi is what I have discovered in my testing.

I hope it helps.

ps. This is all assuming that you are working with headphones. If you are monitoring with speakers then you can use them as well as they are always the master mix, and can be set differently from the headphone and monitor mix.

If you are a single artists recording yourself then I would suggest setting your phones setting to Aux. Begin by setting your recording levels. Disengage the Aux buttons so that you are hearing what you are playing in your headphones. Then hit the record button for the sources you want to record. Engage the Aux button for headphones and set your desired levels with your AUX dial on each channel. When monitoring back things you have already recorded, do this with channel ST2 as well, and you should be able to have a monitoring headphone mix that is different than the levels you are recording.

OK, almost 2:00 am. I think I must be rambling

[moogplayer]

This is awesome info - thanks so much dstole. I have been playing around with this setup more and more, and have jotted a few suggestions down. Very impressed so far. Will conduct more tests this weekend - cheers!!!!!!!!