CQ-12 Stereo channels not in stereo

[FrankieJL]

So I have a CQ-12T and I went to use it for DJing and the stereo channels were not in stereo. I plugged my laptop in with an 8th inch to quarter inch stereo chord (double ring before you ask, lol) and was not in stereo. Tried both the L and R and both were not in stereo. Is there a routing issue I need to fix? My last mixer had 2 stereo outputs and I’d plug my DJ controller into one of them and it worked fine. I’m assuming I need to assign it as stereo?

[BigMerv]

Just to clarify:
You have a single minijack lead from the laptop feeding two 1/4 jacks you plug into the ST1 inputs on the CQ12T?

[KeithJ A&H]

@FrankieJL

The stereo analogue input on the CQ-12T is one stereo input with 2x balanced mono sockets.
You would need to use a 3.5mm (1/8″) to 2x 6.35mm (1/4″) cable to take the stereo signal from your laptop and split into left and right for the L/R inputs of the CQ.

It can be confusing because both stereo and balanced connections use TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) connections, but for different reasons.

Stereo input/output on TRS is
Tip – Left
Ring – Right
Sleeve – Ground

Balanced input/output on TRS is
Tip – Positive (normal)
Ring – Negative (inverted)
Sleeve – Ground

(note that you can connect an unbalanced signal to a balanced socket too)

All this said, you could just use a USB connection from your laptop to the CQ and there is a dedicated USB input channel available.
If you want to do this and need more details, please contact us directly using support.allen-heath.com

Cheers!
Keith.

[FrankieJL]

Thanks Keith! I was assuming one of the inputs was in stereo. My last mixer had dedicated stereo outs. I could plug my quarter inch into either one and it would come out stereo. No biggie. I’ll just to dig up my old quarter inch splitter, lol. Otherwise these mixers are amazing!! Bought the CQ 18 and liked it so much I immediately bought the CQ 12 for smaller gigs, lol.

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