AudioMedia - October 2008 - (Page 46)

Allen & Heath | ZED R 16 If you need to add any external stereo sources to your analogue stereo output bus, or just to be used as analogue fx returns, then the ZED Rprovides four stereo channels to allow for this. The first pair, stereo and , can accept input sources through either unbalanced TS jack or RCA phono sockets. You have control over the input gain from - to + dB. High and low frequency shelving equalisation with the same specification as those on the ZED R- channel strips as well as auxiliary sends and , again set pre as with those on the main strips. Rotary controls for both stereo balance and level follow with the latter having the range to + dB. PFL and L-R routing buttons complete the feature set for the first two stereo channels. Stereo and are much more limited. Unbalanced input is accessed via TS jacks only, and your only controls for this pair of stereo channels is a rotary level control, PFL, and L-R routing buttons. Stereo Chann els/R eturns Two studio/artist monitor feeds are catered for with the ZED R- . Both are identical and independently controlled. You can choose either the main L-R stereo bus, or any of the four auxiliary sends as your source. Selecting more than one source results in them getting mixed together. A master rotary level control and AFL button complete this section. Output to your studio/artists is through TRS jack sockets. Studio/Ar tist M onitors The four master auxiliary sends with AFL buttons control the signal leaving the ZED R- through the balanced TRS jack sockets for each. Up to two pairs of control room monitor speakers can be connected via balanced TRS output sockets. Selection between them, volume, and mono summing into the monitors are controlled alongside an associated headphone socket and volume control. The source feeding both your control room monitors and headphones are controlled with three buttons. The default selection is the main analogue L-R output bus, but this can be overridden to monitor one of two -track external sources plugged into the unbalanced TS or RCA phono sockets, or -channel DAW digital feed. There is a built in talkback microphone, with level control and momentary routing switches for both artist headphone or artist stage monitors if the ZED R- is used in a live scenario. Twelve-segment LED peak response meters follow the control room monitor selection switches (showing output pre level control) unless a PFL or AFL switch is depressed elsewhere. This selection will override the control room setting. The main L-R output bus feeds both balanced XLR and TRS sockets. These can also be utilised to copy between the two -track sources connected to your ZED R- by buttons located next to your meters. A quick and easy way to copy things between external machines without any fiddly re-patching. There are also unbalanced TRS insert point jacks for both the left and right main output buses. Control R oom/M aster S ec tion There are four ADAT optical connectors to cover the inputs and outputs, two Firewire sockets, and a single MIDI output. Two switches next to the Firewire ports determine which digital interface is principally used, and in the case of that being the ADAT option, provide a sample rate of either . or kHz. With either of those two rates the Firewire connection can run input/output feeds, as well as eight ADAT input/outputs, giving a total of possible simultaneous inputs and outputs. The A&H ZED R- provides a MIDI control section that feeds both the MIDI output and Firewire connections. Transport controls, along with four linear, rotary, and switches, can be mapped as required with your preferred system setup. D igital/MIDI Connec tion At this point the only DAW system that the Allen & Heath ZED R- has a set-up template for is Sonar, and as it is the supplied DAW system, I used this for the basis of my testing. A&H says it will be providing more templates for other applications very soon, and these will be available for download from its website. Installation of both the Sonar LE application and drivers for the ZED R- are explained with some detail in the well written accompanying manual, and all went exactly as described. Getting Sonar to recognise the ZED R- Input/ output and MIDI systems was straightforward. I was expecting this to be a little trickier than it I n Use 46 AUDIO MEDIA OCTOBER 2008 http://www.berlinerusa.com http://www.berlinerusa.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - October 2008

Audio Media - October 2008 Content Recording Post Broadcast Geofocus:�Portugal &�Spain What's Up UK IBC Report Microtech Geffel UM 930 Steinberg Cubase 4.5 ADK�Hamburg &�Vienna Final Cut: House of Fallen Lexicon PCM96 Review The Conch Awards Feature Sound Devices 788T Review Lexicon PCM96 Allen &�Heath Zed R16 Power: Fact & Fiction, PT.2 Product Sampler Plug-ins Video Guide AMSR Plasa Report Audio Technica IEM�M3 Rushes Live Mixing Techniques:�Bruce Johnston Drawmer 4x4 Kickbox

AudioMedia - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.