The Allen & Heath ZED-16FX is ideal for groups who need to travel light. It gives musicians, venues and hire companies access to 10 full mono channels, 3 stereo channels and a high quality FX unit in a compact, rack mountable format. Configurable USB audio in/out makes it easy to capture stereo recordings.

Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way this has been implemented on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that's it! CD quality audio to and from your PC or Mac.ZED-16FX features a responsive 3-band, swept mid frequency EQ design which utilises MusiQ – with optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments.

Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, ZED-16FX has DuoPre pre-amps, which use a two stage design, with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. When amplifying the signal from the XLR input, the gain range is huge - 69dB of range to be exact - and is very evenly distributed around the gain control, meaning better control of signal level. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, so unwanted noise is kept to a minimum. Line level signals are simply plugged into the second stage of the pre-amp by using the line input jack socket, which has the great advantage of less noise when using the line input and also matching to a higher input impedance.

The ZED-16FX has an essential selection of 16 time-delay effects, designed for small groups who don’t want to carry around an effects unit with their gear but who still want great quality FX at their gigs and on their recordings. Our DSP engineers worked hard, crafting and refining beautiful reverb algorithms to enhance every performance. These effects are available nowhere else at this price point – this quality and integration is only available from the ZED-FX. ZED effects are easily controlled using 3 buttons with 9 display LEDs. For example, the ideal delay time can be quickly tapped-in, or the perfect amount of reverb on the lead vocal can be dialled-in. There is one-stop navigation and editing – in fact, it’s just as easy as using effects pedals. To alter effects parameters, the TAP button is held down and the up/down buttons pressed to adjust the specific parameter for that effect, for example, the decay length on PLATE, or the depth on CHORUS.

Zed 16FX Features

• 10 mono mic/line  inputs
• 3 stereo channels with 2-band EQ
• 16 internal time-delay effects
• Neutrik mic XLRs
• Neutrik 1/4 inch jacks
• Channel insert
• Super wide gain DuoPreTM mic line input
• 3 band EQ with MusiQ
• 4 auxes
• Illuminated mute
• Sound image pan
• Illuminated PFL & peak warning indicator
• ALPS 100mm faders
• Stereo returns & playback
• All inputs with level control
• 12 bar meters
• Mono/stereo function on auxes 1&2
• Monitor output section
• Alt stereo output source
• Configurable USB stereo audio in/out
• Cakewalk SONAR X1 LE bundled with mixer
• Rack ears available
• ​USB audio flexibility

SONAR X1 LE – Provided Free!

Allen & Heath have included Cakewalk SONAR X1 LE with ZED-16FX so you can immediately start to use it to create your own music – just add a PC and it couldn’t be easier to get going. You’ll be able to record from your ZED mixer, create tracks and arrange songs, then play back to ZED via the USB port. You can use SONAR X1 LE and your ZED mixer together in many ways – e.g. straightforward recording of a stereo mix, recording tracks individually to build up a song, or using the USB port and software as an effects loop.

Key Sonar Features

• Powered by SONAR X1
• 32 audio tracks
• 64 MIDI tracks
• 8 simultaneous inputs and outputs
• 24-bit/96 kHz audio quality
• 24 simultaneous effects
• 8 simultaneous virtual instruments