Allen & Heath Qu-5D | TAG | RRP $4999
You’ll find Allen & Heath in venues all across the world, their products serving both to push the envelope of sound as well as providing products that’ll outlast many of the local bands whose sound they process.
The Qu-5D falls into the former category, the Qu-5 being part of next generation in the new Qu series mixers, while the addition of the ‘D’ in its name communicating that this mixer is equipped for Dante, allowing for expanded connectivity, flexible routing and above all, a future-proof design. It’s important to note that the Qu-5 can’t be equipped with Dante after the fact, and this is the only thing that differentiates the Qu-5 and the Qu-5D, as well as a slight increase in price for the Dante equipped model we’re reviewing here.
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Allen & Heath Qu-5D
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The Qu-5D is the smallest in the range of Qu mixers, at least in footprint. Featuring 17 motorised faders and four layers, the Qu-5D expands quickly from a tidy little mixer into something well and truly capable of mixing larger bands, groups and shows with ease. The 17th fader on the far right of the fader bank is intended for use as a master mix fader, while the remaining 16 faders can be used for separate tracks and signal.
While your workflow is entirely customisable, I quickly found the multiple layers and faders handy for keeping track of different areas of my mix; for example the first layer might be mic inputs, while the second layer is my sends to monitors, the third and fourth layers being the amount of send to effects, and the fourth being returns for those effects. If you like to use groups, you can assign groups to layers, or whatever workflow you like. This way I was able to quickly toggle between whatever the mix (or the artist!) might demand.
On the subject of sending and receiving effects, the Qu Series have an array of onboard effects like Delays and Reverbs, handy for creating space in a mix, as well as typical chorus and modulation effects, coupled with more specific sounds via Allen & Heath’s DEEP Plugins* like Gated Verb, ADT (Automatic Double Tracking), Symphonic Chorus and more!
Processing like Compression, Gating and EQ is available at the input stage, more like an insert effect, and again, the Qu-5D offering more utility options for compression, while also having some familiar compression options in the BUS compressor, the Optronik that offers optical-sounding compression, some classic FET sound in the ‘76 Classic Limiter, and more.
Effects and processing is handled by Allen & Heath’s XCVI DSP processing, keeping everything operating at its best without ever being at risk of overloading the system and also enabling high sample rate at low, low latency.
Physically, the Qu-5D features 16 combo XLR/¼” inputs, a talkback mic in and 12 outputs, with output 11-12 seemingly intended for master/mix out with the addition of “L” and “R” besides the channel numbers. There’s also balanced ¼” “Alt Out” options, with a pair of additional Stereo Ins accessible via ¼”.
Nestled in between the Network/Cat5 connection and the SLink port (to enable connection to external stage boxes and the like) sits the Dante port, all three of these connections having a status indicator light. The IEC cable input is paired with a small cable hook to prevent power being yanked around, and out of its socket.
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Turning on the Qu-5D, the Qu-5D is very intuitive, and while it has powerful customisation and routing capabilities under the hood, getting sound from a mic to the output was very simple. Plugging in a mix gives you access immediately to gain and gating controls, and intelligent LED signal indicators on the channels let you know that signal is coming in, as well as how hot it is at a glance, even if you’re using the overhauled touchscreen to display something else!
A few handy indicators and meters are always available. The Select/SEL button allows you to quickly and easily display and adjust channel gain and processing, all the while monitoring your main mix, and quickly using either the touchscreen or tactile knobs and controls to adjust gating, compression parameters, EQ frequency, band, bell shape and more.
If all of this sounds like too much, you can always use Allen & Heath’s Automatic Mic Mixer. Coupled with Allen & Heath’s Feedback Assistant, the Automatic Mixer allows the Qu-5D (and a range of other Allen & Heath products might we add!) to monitor the incoming signal and adjust gain for optimal sound, while the Feedback Assistant can identify problem areas of build up, with up to 16 bands per output, meaning you can focus on giving both artists and the audience optimal sound. While these obviously don’t replace a mixing engineer, they serve as a great way to get up and running quickly, giving you a great starting point for sending, receiving and routing audio.
The Qu-5D borrows from the entire history of audio, blending cutting-edge technology and some classic sounds, albeit via digital recreations of classic compressors and effects, and packaging it up into a practically laid out mixer that is compact enough to be racked if you wish!
The 5D is the smallest of the new Qu series of mixers, offering 16+1 faders to mix, and four layers to spread out auxiliary sends, groups, effects and more across those 16 faders. The larger siblings in this range are the Qu-6 and Qu-7, with 24+1 and 32+1 faders respectively, both of these also having the addition of a Dante connection available in the Qu-6D and Qu-7D.
Powerful processing is available via XCVI DSP processing, while their range of DEEP Processing plugins bring more to the table if you need a little flavour and colour across your mix. Clear metering is one of those additions that is there for you when you need it most, and handy automatic mixing and feedback prevention allows you to be up and running quickly, or easily able to tackle issues on the fly. Sometimes the gig of sound engineering is more about managing issues than it is mixing, but hey— the show must go on.
The Allen & Heath Qu-5D is the latest from a brand that’s been trusted for decades, and for good reason. Pushing boundaries while retaining the best of their own tried and true designs, the Qu-5D brings Dante to the fore, future proofing your venue, mixer, rig for years of technological advances to come, to be trusted gig after gig.
* DEEP Plugins available separately at additional cost.
For more information on the Allen & Heath Qu-5D, head here.
