Allen & Heath Announces ZED-12FX & ZED-22FX – USB Mixers With Effects
Allen & Heath has announced two new additions to the ZED range of small format USB mixers, the ZED-12FX (6 mono + 3 dual stereo channels) and ZED-22FX (16 mono + 3 dual stereo channels). A&H basically just added some basic meat ‘n’ potatoes effects to their lineup to address some features currently available from competitors.
ZED’s effects are divided into 4 types: tap tempo delays, short reverbs, long reverbs and modulation. They are controlled by three buttons for navigation and editing. The new ZED FX mixers have a 3-band swept-mid EQ on the mono channels, with a 2-band EQ on the stereo channels, 100mm faders, 4 aux sends (2 pre, 2 post fade), a USB send and return (for PC or Mac recording or playback), a dual stereo input capability, and monitoring facilities.
The connectors are placed on the top surface for easy plug-in and patching, and the construction, with individual circuit boards nutted to the top panel, is identical to Allen & Heath’s professional touring mixers. The ZED FX also feature the new DuoPre padless pre-amps, which use a two stage design with controlled amounts of gain in each stage, offering headroom and a lower noise signal path.
ZED’s USB output can be configured to allow different signals to be sent to USB, from the LR master or the aux busses, with the USB return signal available as a stereo return. Cakewalk’s SONAR LE music production software is bundled with the mixers, to enable the user to perform many different tasks, for live performance, live recording, studio recording, or studio mixing.
Allen & Heath’s ZED FX models will be shipping next month: ZED-12FX will cost £369 and ZED-22FX drops your bank account £535. More information on the Allen & Heath ZED-12FX and ZED-22FX.
