ProAudio Review - February 2009 - (Page 26)

studio review by Mike Rivers Allen & Heath ZED-R16 The ZED-R16 is a high-quality analog recording mixer that combines traditional workflow design and philosophy with 18 channels of FireWire I/O, 16 channels of optical (ADAT) I/O, and comprehensive, DAW-friendly MIDI control. It’s about time: after being conspicuously absent from the studio recording console business for nearly 10 years, Allen & Heath has introduced the new ZED-R16. Clearly studio-oriented, the R16 combines a 16-channel analog mixer with discrete mic preamps, 4-band EQ (two mid-bands fully parametric), four auxiliary sends, control room outputs with alternate speakers outputs, two studio monitor feeds, 18 channels of 24-bit FireWire I/O up to 96 kHz sample rate, 16 channels of ADAT optical I/O, and comprehensive MIDI control for DAW integration. In addition, it can also serve as a versatile live sound mixer with the bonus of recording outputs. Features — Don’t Let The Buttons Fool Ya’ While mixers with digital I/O are no longer revolutionary, what sets the R16 apart from the pack is the routing flexibility to and from the computer controlled by the four buttons beside each fader where bus assigns usually reside. One selects whether the A/D converter is fed directly from the mic preamp or after the insert jack and channel EQ. Two other buttons route the D/A converter output either through the full channel path including the Insert and EQ, or direct to the fader. Even when mixing in the DAW, you can route a track out to a mixer channel and back, essentially turning the console channel into an analog plug-in. If you know studio mixing consoles, you’ll feel right at home here. When tracking, it works just like an inline console. The fourth button converts the fader to a MIDI controller. In MIDI mode, the channel still passes audio but the fader is bypassed, creating a unity gain analog summing bus for your inthe-box mix. By assigning the computer mix to the ZED’s L/R bus, you can compare the analog summed mix with the digital mix at the press of a button. Main Insert jacks provide one last chance to route a mix through your favorite bus compressor. The main L/R mix is available to the computer for live-to-stereo recording, but here’s one of the R16’s few “gotchas” — that stereo pair (as well as the digital input ahead of the master fader) is unavailable at 2x sample rates, so you can’t record an analog mix to the computer at 96 kHz. A&H is looking into this and will have a solution with a firmware update. [According to A&H, this firmware update will also remember the clock source once set by computer link — Ed.] The two line-level stereo Studio outputs are good candidates for headphone feeds, with their source derived from any combination of the L/R mix and Aux sends. Studio musicians can hear a custom headphone mix from an Aux bus, the control room stereo Mike Rivers has a long list of engineering credits with the Smithsonian and is the author of the last Mackie HDR manual. 26 ProAudioReview | February 2009 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - February 2009

ProAudio Review - February 2009 Contents From Razor Slice To Mouse Click Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Studio Prioritizing Good Acoustics In Tough Times Digidesign Pro Tools 8 Allen & Heath ZED-R16 Analog Mixing Console Mike Rivers Nevaton MC Series Studio Condenser Microphones FMR Audio Really Nice Series Pre-Amp and Dynamics Modules Mojave Audio MA-201 FET Condenser Microphone Genelec 6010A and 5040A Powered Loudspeaker and Subwoofer Massey Plug-Ins De:Esser Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Live White Space Regulation: What It Means To Us Recording Live Sound Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida Bag End P-Crystal R Loudspeaker Mark Olson & Gary Louris’ “Turn Your Pretty Name Around”

ProAudio Review - February 2009

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