Allen & Heath Zed 10fx versus Zedi-10fx

[earri]

I like the interface ability of the Zedi, but not sure I'm willing to forgo the sweepable mids of the (older) Zed 10fx. Anyone have any insight into the pros/cons of these options?

[Cuki79]

other things to consider:

* The old zed 10 FX has standard IEC plug. Means if you forgot the power lead, you are sure to find one everywhere.
* The old zed 10FX is designed with one PCB board per channel. It's more servicable (in my opinion). I am not sure the new one is (probably not).

[earri]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

other things to consider:

* The old zed 10 FX has standard IEC plug. Means if you forgot the power lead, you are sure to find one everywhere.
* The old zed 10FX is designed with one PCB board per channel. It's more servicable (in my opinion). I am not sure the new one is (probably not).

The new zed(i) has discrete channel/board as well, and I'm pretty certain a standard IEC plug too. I just wonder if anyone who uses the (i) for live work misses the sweepable mids in lieu of the USB interface ability?

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by earri

The new zed(i) has discrete channel/board as well, and I'm pretty certain a standard IEC plug too. I just wonder if anyone who uses the (i) for live work misses the sweepable mids in lieu of the USB interface ability?

This is just a classic trade-off, so it has to come down to which of the two functions is more important to you (4 in 4 out USB or sweepable mids) and to how important it is for you to have one or both in a single, small unit. I know that's not all that helpful, but only you really know your priorities and your budget. Something might have to give way, though. If you value both abilities and want them in one unit, you may just need to use a larger multi-track USB capable mixer with sweepable mids like a Soundcraft Signature 12 MTK. Or, to keep to compact size, one of the small digital mixers with multi-track recording capability. If you need a single live/recording unit, and you need to keep it small without going full digital, you'll have to choose sweepable mids or multi-track capture.

Louis

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by earri

The new zed(i) has discrete channel/board as well, and I'm pretty certain a standard IEC plug too. I just wonder if anyone who uses the (i) for live work misses the sweepable mids in lieu of the USB interface ability?

Good,

in Europe this plug is not standard:


The standard look like a PC plug.

This is the one you can find everywhere.

I agree with lschwart. The only thing that would have turned me to the ZEDi instead of the ZED if it would have the ability to track and play on a USB key.
Then I would be able to record a bit and leave the stage to check what the audience is hearing. The reason is that I already have an audio interface for recording at home.

[martingitdave]

Or, you can get a TouchMix 8/16 and have it all. Except your life savings, that is. :-)

[Puerto Player]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Or, you can get a TouchMix 8/16 and have it all. Except your life savings, that is. :-)

I just spent the last hours watching and reading about the Touchmix's. I'm getting one of them! Everything you ever wanted and more and easy too.

[gfa]

I just read that QSC is releasing an update for the TM that will add a bunch of features. From memory (I can't remember where I read about it), they are giving the TM8 and TM16 some of the features that were only on the TM30, including anti-feedback and room-tuning features, plus a few completely new ones. Also from memory, release date was sometime in June.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by gfa

I just read that QSC is releasing an update for the TM that will add a bunch of features. From memory (I can't remember where I read about it), they are giving the TM8 and TM16 some of the features that were only on the TM30, including anti-feedback and room-tuning features, plus a few completely new ones. Also from memory, release date was sometime in June.

From Ray van Straten, SR Director of Marketing at QSC, on Facebook QSCTouchMix group page, May 11th

Breaking News for TouchMix User Group Members
Announcing TouchMix Version 3.0

On June 6, we will be introducing TouchMix V3.0 for TouchMix-8/16. Version 3.0 includes twenty significant enhancements, making these models far and away the most powerful and comprehensive, yet easy-to-use compact mixers available. Many features previously available exclusively on the TouchMix-30 Pro are now implemented, including:

• Anti-Feedback Wizard
• Room-Tuning Wizard
• Real-Time Analyzer (RTA)
• Copy-and-Paste
• Playback of MP3 files on a USB drive
• Input Delay
• Output PEQ
• 15 dB Digital Gain
• Channel Overview
• USB Drive Formatting
• Improved graphics and screen layout (similar to TM-30 Pro)

A number of additional, all-new features in Version 3.0 are also provided including:

• Channel Safe
• Tap Tempo
• Tablet Follows Mixer
• Four additional User Buttons (on connected tablet)
• Ability to configure Aux 7/8 and Aux 9/10 as balanced, mono outputs (TouchMix-16)
• K.2 Series Preset simulation
• System check, offering direct download of updates when the mixer is connected to the Internet.
• More…

TouchMix-30 Pro users will also get an upgrade with new Version 1.2 firmware. It includes the all-new features found in Version 3.0 for TouchMix-8/16 as well as additional system enhancements.

These firmware upgrades will be available as a free download at QSC.com beginning June 6. New, enhanced versions of TouchMix Control for iOS and Android will also be available at their respective app stores. QSC.com will not be updated with new TouchMix content until June 6.

On behalf of all of us at QSC, thank you for your passionate support. We truly value your feedback and the sharing of your collective TouchMix experiences. Together, we are empowering audio enthusiasts throughout the world with the ability to sound great – easily and anywhere. If you’re a current TouchMix user, we sincerely hope that you will enjoy the new capabilities of your mixer. If you’re not yet a TouchMix user, please feel free to engage our community of users with your questions and comments. We’re confident that the collective wisdom of this group can help you solve your most pressing audio challenges. In either regard, we’re glad to be able to share this news with you first. Enjoy!

Did you see that MartinGitDave!!! That's luck!!

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

From Ray van Straten, SR Director of Marketing at QSC, on Facebook QSCTouchMix group page, May 11th

Did you see that MartinGitDave!!! That's luck!!

See!!! I knew they were going to release something soon! If I buy it, it's because it's finally cheap enough. (I got it at 40% off) Once it's cheap enough, they replace it!

EXCEPT!!!

I finally bought something that has an upgrade path! Now I know that they were just trying to move the old firmware inventory to make room for new firmware updated inventory units. Mine was the 2.0 firmware retail box, which was already 1 revision old. I easily updated to the latest v2.1. In this case, I just need to update the firmware and I've got all I need.

Yeah!!! Anti feedback control!!!

This made my day.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

This made my day.

Think about all the AGF members who have walked away from this sale offer relying on MartinGitDave's infamous curse...

You've just lost at least 10 followers.

Cuki

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Think about all the AGF members who have walked away from this sale offer relying on MartinGitDave's infamous curse...



You've just lost at least 10 followers.



Cuki

You're not kidding. The price is back up on the current firmware inventory. You snooze, you loose. Or in this case, my curse became a double curse.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[IndianaGeo]

Sorry to resurrect this otherwise dormant thread, but I'm still a bit confused on the benefits of the sweepable mids of the ZED10FX vs the Multi Track capability of the ZEDi10FX. Is this to say that the ZED10FX would not serve very well the function of acting as an interface into, say, a MacBook Pro and Garageband? And are the sweepable mids of the ZED10FX entirely necessary in a live setting? I mean, can those results be obtained by some other, albeit slightly more labor or equipment intensive, method? Apologies for the newb questions. Thanks.

IG

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by IndianaGeo

Sorry to resurrect this otherwise dormant thread, but I'm still a bit confused on the benefits of the sweepable mids of the ZED10FX vs the Multi Track capability of the ZEDi10FX. Is this to say that the ZED10FX would not serve very well the function of acting as an interface into, say, a MacBook Pro and Garageband? And are the sweepable mids of the ZED10FX entirely necessary in a live setting? I mean, can those results be obtained by some other, albeit slightly more labor or equipment intensive, method? Apologies for the newb questions. Thanks.

IG

The ZED10FX will serve as an interface perfectly well. It will just only allow you to transfer a two-track stereo version of the final mix. The ZEDi10FX will let you send signals for each of the four main channels of the mixer separately as four independent tracks that you can mix how you please in your DAW. That's a great thing for recording live. It means you can do whatever you need to do for sound at the gig--for example, some effects that work for that room, a mix that has only a little of the drum because it was loud enough at the gig to not need much in the PA--but still have the raw recorded tracks to mix in very different ways to make a nice sounding recording. It also means that the tracks will be isolated enough that you can cut a mistake or even overdub a correction on just one track without messing with the others.

Sweepable mids are a very nice thing to have for live work, especially for acoustic guitars and voices because it allows you to find the right frequencies in the midrange to either boost or cut. When you have a fixed midrange control with a single center frequency, you're stuck with that, whether or not it's best for whatever voice or pickup/mic signal you're dealing with. Sometimes it's just fine, sometimes it's not all that helpful. It's hard to predict.

If you want to use the same mixer to record your live gigs and to run sound at them, you'd do best to either get a digital mixer with multi-track USB capability (that will give you the recording functions you need, plus even better EQ than just sweepable mids) or an analog mixer with multi-track USB and at least sweepable mids--although that will mean something larger than the ZEDi10FX. For example, the Soundcraft Signature 12 MTK. That might be bigger than you want and more channels than you need, but if having USB and good, flexible EQ is important to you, that might be a compromise worth making. And it's always better to have more channels than not enough. OF course, there are other ways of capturing a live recording, so if you don't need or want multitrack USB, and just want the best very small analog mixer you can get for small live gigs, get the ZED10FX and record, when you do, some other way.

And there are other ways of enhancing the EQ with a mixer like the ZEDi10FX. One thing you could use are preamp/effects/DI units like the L.R. Baggs Venue for guitar or any one of the various pedals out there for voice. These will give you more control over the EQ for whichever signals you apply them to. On the other hand, you'll have to live with what the pedals do on your multitrack recordings--there will be no way to get rid of that EQ or those effects etc.

These little units are nice and they're inexpensive, but each one presents compromises.

Louis

[IndianaGeo]

Many thanks Louis. You've explained it very well. I get it now.

Cheers,
IG