Reply To: thinking about buying qu24 or 32, but have some questions first

[cornelius78]

How about the soft keys? I see the AH description as being able to use the soft keys as mute groups, yet the description says 4 mute groups. Are they 4 additional mute groups that don’t count toward 4 of 10 soft keys, or do they count and I would be left with 6 soft keys if I used 4 mute groups?

You have 4 mute groups. They can be controlled via softkeys and/or using the touchscreen. If you were to use four softkeys to control 4 mute groups then that would leave you with 6 soft keys for other purposes. You could use 2 softkeys for two mute groups and 8 for something else. You could control the 4 mutegroups exclusively with the touch screen, and have 10x softkeys available for whatever else you want. You could also set up your DCAs as additional mutegroups (assign channels, set the DCA fader to 0dB and leave it there,) and mute them via softkeys and/or the mute buttons above the relevant fader.

Also, the 32 channel version still only has 4 groups (2 stereo), correct?

Incorrect. The Qu32 has 4x stereo groups (8x buses with 8x outputs, but permanently linked and panned as 4x stereo.) This is in addition to the 10x mixes, 4x dedicated FX sends, LR and 2x stereo mtxs. Total of 22x buses, + PAFL + alt-out.

If I record all my tracks into my pc, and then play back those tracks routed back into each channel, will I have eq, comp, etc on my source tracks, or is this switchable like the Presonus? Or does my interface apply any processing to my tracks when going into the computer and I cannot change that operation?

By default your source tracks won’t have Qu-processing sent to the DAW. The default is to have your tracks feed your DAW at their insert point (post pol inversion, pre everything else,) and what most people use to record thier mics dry. The tracks can then be sent back to the QU and have Qu processing applied, or you can mixdown in the DAW (using DAW processing but controlling the DAW with the Qu over MIDI, if you’ve got the right setup.) The only Qu-Processing that will affect the signal being sent to the DAW is the gain/trim and the polarity inversion, which is pretty much standard for any console feeding a DAW.

If you do want to have the Qu-processing included in what’s sent to your DAW, you set up the Qu to tap the channels at the Direct Out point and feed your DAW from there. You can move the Direct Out point to where ever you want in the signal chain (eg make it post-comp so that it DOES include the Qu-processing.) Be aware that this setting is global though. The position of the DO in the signal chain is global, and whether you’re tapping from insert point or DO is also a global setting that effects all channels. If you want to get more complicated (eg send some tracks to your DAW at the insert point, some pre-eq and some post fader,) you need to get creative with routing to your buses and then recording the buses.

Lastly, the DCA groups are 4 actual groups, not stereo pairs or anything misleading, correct?

There are 4 DCAs. You can use them to control mono and/or stereo channels and fx returns. They are not audio groups, in that they don’t actually sum anything and you can’t apply processing to them. Think of them as remote fader controls, that affect the level of a channel going to LR and, as they affect the level of the channel fader, they will also affect any post fader mixes that channel is routed to. They won’t affect your panning: you can use a single DCA to control a stereo drum kit: the DCA will give you level control and your panning stays in tact, unlike summing a stereo kit to a mono group, getting your level control but losing your stereo image. I have read of some users having issues with not being a able to control mix1-10 with a DCA properly though. I’ve not heard of anyone having issues controlling channels with a DCA. The biggest problem you’ll run into is if you forget you’ve got a channel routed to a DCA that’s set at -inf: no LR/post-fader sound for that channel.

HTH

Edit: typos.