Allen & Heath ZED10FX review

[geokie8]

Yeah, the A&H + QSC combo is pretty lethal for a singer/songwriter or small group.

Good luck!

geokie8

[BoB/335]

I have the ZED 12FX and use the mutes at every break. I went for the extra channels assuming I would be a duo act plus a possible conga and vocals at some point. Been doing mostly solo and this board is quite large for that so I'm always reading through threads on smaller boards.
I think I would really miss the mute buttons but it wouldn't be the end of the world. The QSC speakers sound really good. I still have one of the K8's for several reasons and use it on occassion. (Sold off one of them) I bought a pair of 12's and the sound and "throw" into the room is quite impressive in comparison to the K8. I never listened to the K12's but I would imagine similar results to my 12's.

I agree that a ZED board and a quality speaker is a great combo!

[SimplyLuo]

Do you use your ZED for USB recording at all?
I've been trying to record with it (into the Hi-Z input on channel 3, into a windows laptop), but there's a hum that I can't figure out how to get rid of.
We recorded a school music show (mics into the XLR inputs, into a macbook) and it sounded great. So I'm a bit confused

[kevinksu]

Thanks Geokie8 for great review.

I'm into live singing (karaoke) and my current setup:

Lexicon MX200
Mackie VLZ3 802
Sennheiser e935

Do you think the Zed10FX would be an upgrade over MX200 + Mackie ?
Aslo how does soundcraft MFX8 vs Zed10FX ? (i know the MFX8 is more expensive)

thanks

[alohachris]

Aloha,

Both the A&H ZED FX's & Soundcraft FX's beat the heck out of all other small live mixers, IMO, including the decent Mackie's. It's in the quality of the EQ (sweepable mid-range dialing-in is highly desirable for live gigging in a variety of rooms, especially bad ones. But the mic preamps are also so much better on those than all the others. Mackie mic-pre's are very suspect by comparison, IMO.

For those two very good reasons, I'll never use another Mackie for live. I own a Soundcraft EFX-8 but rarely use it, despite its excellence. I only keep it around in case other players need to plug in. The ZED's are great ) more so the larger 12's than the 10's as Bob said). The SPS-1 is the best preamp for a soloist like me.

alohachris

[geokie8]

What he said.

geokie8

[chinmusic]

Originally Posted by geokie8

Yeah, the A&H + QSC combo is pretty lethal for a singer/songwriter or small group.

This has certainly been my experience. Simple setup, phenomenal sound.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by kevinksu

....
Aslo how does soundcraft MFX8 vs Zed10FX ? (i know the MFX8 is more expensive)

thanks

These are comparable in terms of quality, but they're really different animals. The ZED is small and designed for small live and recording applications. It works beautifully for what it is (I use one at small gigs to send vocals to a powered speaker), but to make it small and still pack in the features that give it its flexibility for both live and recording functions (for example, the USB connection), they've had to make some design compromises--especially when it comes to some of the things it's handy to have for live mixing with a band larger than say an acoustic trio (even a few things it's handy to have with a trio). The MFXi8, on the other hand, is designed exactly for mixing a band. While A&H call the ZED10 a 10 input mixer, for live applications and for practical purposes it's really only a 6 input mixer (4 mono mic/line inputs and 2 stereo line inputs). The MFXi8 actually has 8 mono/line inputs, plus 2 more stereo line inputs (not to mention 2 auxilliary busses, mute buttons, insert points on all the mono channels, and all sorts of routing options, etc.).

I don't know what's involved in your Karaoke set-up, but I imagine that something like an MFXi8 might be overkill, but you would know better if you can use all of its functions. FWIW, if I were shopping for a mixer for my band right now, I would be buying an MFXi8 or MFXi12. I've used the MFXi12 twice (once when my band plugged into one at a venue, and again helping a friend's band with their mix at the same place), and it struck me as a very nice piece of equipment--especially for the price.

Louis

[kevinksu]

you guys rockz.

I have very basic setup, just for singing live and record with cool edit from headset and e935 mic.

Right now I not very happy with Lexi MX200, it effects are not great. The Mackie vlz3 802 is decent (since i have not touched better gears so hard to compare) for someone coming from 3.5mm microphone .
the reason I added in the SoundCraft MFX8 because it packs with Lexi MX400/500 effects. I heard those effects are awesome. And that is critical for live singing / karaoke.

It seems like we have a winner here : Zed10fx.

[mutantrock]

If effects are really important for your vocals I suggest that you keep your mixer and look at vocal processors. For example, a TC Helicon VoiceTone Create XT along with your Mackie would make more of a difference than a new mixer with weak built in effects

[kevinksu]

I read many reviews and most recommended Lexicon effect processors over TC.
They agreed Lexicon for vocal due to warm/smoothness and TG for instruments.

Perhaps my setup or not fine tune, i'm not impressed with Lexicon MX200 + Mackie VLZ3 802. So, i want to try different route to achieve better singing results.

considering Zed 10FX + some decent Compressor

what do you all think ?

[mutantrock]

I would really be surprised if you like the ZED 10FX effects any better than your Lexicon. The ZED 10FX has really good EQ section with sweep mids that everyone seems to love. I haven't heard raves on the effects.
You could get the ZED-10 ( comes without effects) and a seperate vocal effects unit . A good vocal effects box will have the stuff you need ( Compression, Effects, Des-sing, ) They usually will let you program multiple presets for your own voice. The effects in a basic mixer are very generic and subpar.

[kevinksu]

@mutantrock

For $200-400 budget what would your recommendation for effect processors?
(just for singing, no instrument)

thanks

[mutantrock]

Go and listen for yourself at the store . The TC-Helicon stuff is of the chart amazing for vocals. I use the TC Helicon Harmony G XT with my Sennheiser e935 and get excellent results. The processor I mentioned to you a few days ago the TC Helicon Create doesn't have harmony but adds more vocal presets and configuration. The reverb is excellent and much better than a mixers built in effects.

[kevinksu]

*sorry to the OP for thread crapping*

Unfortunately they dont have guitar center around here .

I use the TC Helicon Harmony G XT with my Sennheiser e935 and get excellent results.

what is your entire setup; Harmony G XT + Mixer + e935 ?

So basically the Harmony G XT = Create XT + Harmony