Qu-16 Chrome -> which firmware was rolled out?

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This topic contains 7 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Profile photo of 1000Keys 1000Keys 8 years, 1 month ago.

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  • #53743
    Profile photo of 1000Keys
    1000Keys
    Participant

    I recently bought a Qu-16 Chrome from a huge reseller in Germany (Thomann.de). When I turned it on, the firmware version was shown as 1.63 (which is dating from 2014 afaik). Seems a bit dated, you know?
    I think Qu-16 Chrome was rolled out in 09/2015, when firmware version 1.8x was available already. I’d think this version would have been rolled out with the device. Am I wrong?

    Are there any tricks (e.g. via diagnostics screen infos) to find out whether this is a new device (produced as Chrome version) or an device from 2014 with new faders / knobs attached?

    Thanks
    Lars

    #53744
    Profile photo of [XAP]Bob
    [XAP]Bob
    Participant

    Since the knobs are the only difference it doesn’t really matter…

    Also it might just be an early one, they wouldn’t have burnt 1.8 onto the first chrome mixers, since they were in shops before the firmware was out…

    #53745
    Profile photo of 1000Keys
    1000Keys
    Participant

    But would they really burn V1.63 onto new mixers launched in 09/2015? All mobile apps would feature a higher Version by then and be incompatible without firmware update on the mixer.
    v1.60 was released 10/2014
    v1.70 was released 03/2015

    A&H quoted from September 30, 2015
    “Allen & Heath has launched new Chrome Editions of its Qu series compact digital mixers to mark the launch of Qu v1.8 Chrome firmware in mid-October”

    To me this sounds like quite a strong relationship between Chrome and v1.8. And I would have expected to find at least v1.7x on the mixer.

    I still wonder if A&H took devices which they produced in early 2014 or even earlier from stock and refurbished them with new knobs in Q4/2015? Hardware would then be 2 years older by now compared to a freshly produced device, this feels not so nice in terms of product life cycle (early failure after warranty period more probable?). I mean come on, it costs 200 bucks more compared to a “normal” Qu-16, anyway…

    Cheers
    Lars

    PS: I don’t mean to discredit A&H nor Thomann.de! The mixer works fine by now and from what I experienced by now, it’s a really great product. I’m just interested…

    #53746
    Profile photo of [XAP]Bob
    [XAP]Bob
    Participant

    I doubt inactive period significantly affects usable life.

    But it’s also possible that the flash chips were factory burned, and not assembled into cases for a while? All sorts of things like that…

    #53750
    Profile photo of Andreas
    Andreas
    Moderator

    Hmm, could this be a B-stock item where the previous owner did a firmware downgrade? Is the quickstart guide V1.6 as well? Does the package state “chrome” somewhere?
    Even if components are pre-programmed, I doubt that A&H won’t update to a more current version when assembling (or refurbishing) a device.

    #53763
    Profile photo of 1000Keys
    1000Keys
    Participant

    The User Guide that came with the device says “For firmware V1.6”. The box, on the other hand, has “Chrome” printed on it.
    There is a serial number on the back, starting with QU16X…, but that is (only) a sticker.

    Where can I find out what the information in the diagnostics screen mean?

    #53767
    Profile photo of Andreas
    Andreas
    Moderator

    That indeed sounds odd to me as well.
    I guess the board versions displayed in the diagnostics screen could help to determine more precisely what you have.
    Anyway, I wouldn’t be worried. Not sure if there were any hardware changes on Qu16 boards since 2014.

    #53807
    Profile photo of 1000Keys
    1000Keys
    Participant

    Sorry, had a typo in my post above. The serial starts with QU16C… obviously, not with QU16X…

    OK, I won’t worry anymore now 🙂
    The mixer seems to work properly. I updated the firmware to 1.82 in the meantime, set up WLAN, had session with my band and was doing some mixing at home, all fine.

    Thanks for your opinions, anyhow!

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