Firmware Update 2024

[Peter la Haye]

Im Back to my SQ5 🙂 why I can’t explain 🙂 its the sound, now waiting for a nice update 🙂

[nottooloud]

Yamaha really missed the boat with not offering on-board multi-track recording capability.

I disagree. Both USB and Dante available. When I track straight into my DAW, I can add channel names and song titles on the fly, and when it comes to mixdown there’s zero transfer time. Open the file and start mixing.

[Nemydom]

This:
“To clarify – although there is nothing planned for imminent release, there will be more feature updates for the SQ in the future. Promise.” Keith Johnson, July 2023

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[Peter la Haye]

I don’t think there will be a nice update for the SQ 🙂 I’ll just bring this to your attention again 🙂 maybe news can now be reported that something will happen after all, or not 🙂 I’m very curious, but it will take some time now very very long

[Dean]

Looking forward to whatever comes…being optimistic.

[MiG Eater]

Anyone (Keith) fancy jumping into the conversation?

Like others, I’m on the cusp of buying two more desks, but if SQ isn’t going to be updated again, I’ll look elsewhere.

[tourtelot]

Non-snarky question. Curious to why the posters are looking for an update to the SQ. Are there things you’d like to see new that an update might address or are you looking for “good faith” from A&H that they will continue to support this product? Both good reasons by the way, but to have a sense might elicit a certain response from Keith if he cares to jump in.

D.

[MiG Eater]

No snarks taken! It’s a very valid question and it made me stop and think.

From my perspective, I’m looking to invest in the churches I have oversight of. The SQ5 in one venue has been amazing, absolutely game-changing for my team there. There is, however, a growing list on the suggestions page. A&H keep hinting at a update, but are we hoping in vain and wasting our time adding to that list?

I love the SQ5 and I think the refinements will make me love it more. I often scan the suggestions page and, more often than not, agree with what people post there. It’s things like scribble strip colours, shortcuts, and making the blue keys momentary that mean alot to my team. My job is to be good with my purchases and make my team’s job easier and more enjoyable.

As a potential buyer, do I get more units hoping there are improvements, or do I look elsewhere – either within A&H or another company? I’m wanting a product that has a future with continued development. Don’t misunderstand me, the SQ5 is great, but don’t lead me on with false hope of making it even better.

[Brian]

First, at nearly 6 years old, the SQ is a pretty “mature” system now. At this point A&H probably isn’t looking to add a lot of new features to the system. Perhaps some bug fixes, necessary changes when some new hardware requires it, and maybe even a new plugin or two, but that is about it. Second, you should never buy a system based on what you hope/think will be added in the future.

So no, I don’t think you should expect the SQ to change much from where it is today. While the “suggestion list” may be growing, that’s because 99.999% of the suggestions that are still on the list are never going to happen, but they never “fall off” the list either.

[Hugh]

I am in total aggrement with Brian: The SQ5 is what it is and major changes are highly unlikely.
Meanwhile, as expected, while A&H is sitting tight with the SQ and Avantis a new console from Waves will probably become a major player with their LV1 Classic desk.
Over the past 4 years I have been very pleased with my recording protocol: SQ5 with a Waves card delivering tie line post-pre input capture, from nmy DX32 loaded with 8 Prime I/Os and 16 D-Live pres to my Studio One DAW. In post production my Digigrid/Waves LV1 system has provided everything I need to produce high quality, mastered two mixes. Over the past 10 years I have had a near perfect experience with the Waves support system and when their Ace man out of the Knoxville office tells me the new LV1 Clasic console has equal, if not better, I/Os than the A&H Primes: I need to check it out in my studio, with my tube mics and KV2 speaker system. Jeremiah Cleaver offered to bring the new 16 fader console to ny studio here in Boone for me to see and hear for my self everything the the new desk is prommising. If it is the real deal I will be spending the APX 10K for desk and 16/8 stage box amd putting on the secondary market my loaded SQ5 and DX32 with a new replacement value of APX 16K.

Checkout the features that make the LV1 clasic an Avantis competitor with an SQ5
form factor. Folks, they have done their homework and the huge movement to waves processing that has become a dominate factor in large scale productions will now be available available in a self contained, affordable, sturdy road ready enclosure.

I am very pleased with my CQ20b for small change Solo and Bluegrass gigs however the new Waves desk is a comprehensive breakthrough that will mark a serious departure from component assemblies. Given the fact that there is an 8 month LV1C waiting list, making the potential changes I have alluded to will afford ample time to arrange intelligent marketing of my highly prized A&H gear!
Hugh

[MiG Eater]

Brian and Hugh, that’s totally correct and I take onboard your advice and thoughts, for which I’m grateful. I’m relatively new to digital consoles and very new to overseeing multiple sites.

My main thrust is that A&H keep saying an update is afoot, yet nothing comes. I’m not meaning this negatively, rather, I’d rather they didn’t suggest something was in the works. Having a thread for suggestions also leads to the belief that change might happen.

[Brian]

I think you are reading WAY too much into what Keith said. He said that the SQ will still receive feature updates…. sometime in the future….. but also that nothing was planned when he made that comment. He said nothing of the timing of the update, nor did he make any promises to the size/features that would eventually be released. His comment was simply to reassure people that development on the SQ hasn’t come to a complete stop, but he doesn’t allude to how much it is actually being developed. Saying that development is “greater than zero” isn’t really saying that much…..

[Peter la Haye]

I don’t believe in a reel update anymore and yet many people don’t believe in it… kind of the end of the sq5 story, besides the fact that it’s still great! This one will be a bit of a dying thing just like the Qu16, but that’s my thought and that of many others

[tourtelot]

Yes, all true. My SQ still works fine and does pretty much what I need it to do.

I think that A&H’s commitment to keeping gear current isn’t awful. Somewhere between Presonus, who ELOs gear a year and a half after it comes on-line and Sound Devices, who will still support my 788T recorder 16 years after I bought it in 2008.

All that said, I’d be happy to install a 1.6 in my SQ any day.

Stay tuned.

D.

[Dilettant]

The SQ Engine is a great Package in its price Segment.

First of all, there are all really needed features for a live or recording Console, it works really stable and mainly does what such a device is intended for. There are Concurrenting Products that have even flaws on this level.

The SQ has also some really important things “done right” in Design which many competitors have not. For example things that are important for me: Channel Delays _after_ the Aux sends – stage monitor signals normally should not be delayed since they are for musicians to control their timing -, On Board Multitrack Recording Capabilities without need of cabling a Notebook or other complex device, the best remote control App in this price Segment capable of controlling the whole console, plenty of connectivity and Stage Box Options, reasonable MIDI Control, and many other nice things like a fairly working enlightenment which can be really usable in dark theaters.

There are also some outstanding more special features which are not needed by all SQ users (for example, I do not need them), but are a unique selling point in the price segment, like the 96 kHz Engine with phase coherent processing that allows an outstanding sound quality even in edging cases and very low latencies. There are users that need such things and those do still not have much choices in the Market if they also need more than 32 Inputs, have less than 6000€ Budget for the Console and a Stage Box and want to do Multitracking.

Of Course, there are some minor flaws even in the SQ Design, too:

For Live Mixing a Limit of 3 Matrix Mixes is a little low, the pickyness of SQ Drive on USB Storage Devices is still an offense but cannot be easily fixed due to Hardware design decisions (whole USB Stack implemented on FPGA due to the Discussion in the Forum), it is impossible to cascade Busses or route them back to inputs (which would break phase coherency and may leads to a latency hell but nevertheless sometimes may be a wanted option). There could be a little more Scribbles with a little more characters and a bit more Colors, but that’s complaining on a high level – as ist is, it’s far away from unusable.

In the past, there were many Firmware Bugs to be fixed, too. But some Months after the first SQ Release many of them have been fixed and the number of relevant Problems has gone down significantly. And A&H still sells the consoles and i think it will support it and deliver Bugfixes for at least some more years.

Nevertheless, the overall Pakage is still one of the best you can get for that amount of money. This is simply a professional, stable and affordable Mixing Console for a wide range of Tasks with good usability. The Number of Channels and Busses is capable even for not-so-small Gigs like low End Musical or Theater Productions or a field Recording Session with a mid-range Brass Band or a smaller symphonic Orchestra. If you need more Inputs, more Busses or more Flexibility, you will have to pay more money – With dLive and Avantis A&H has (more expensive) Options for such customers, too.

In Fact, I do not see many SQ Users that really consider a need of replacing it with a Product in the same Price Range at the Moment. Most replacements are due to need of a bigger System (which tend to buying dLive or Avantis). And new-Buyers tend to be content of what they get. I saw some Replacements of Soundcraft Si Consoles by SQs, the main arguments for that were the better remote Control App and Usability. The Si can deliver more Inputs (up to 80) but the control surface of A&H seems to be much easier to learn and the 48 Channels of the SQ are more than enough for most smaller music halls, theaters or music schools.

So SQ is still a good Competitor in the Market. Of Course, A&H surely already works on a future successor (or maybe if the Solo gets lower pricing after some time it could be an alternative Option for some SQ Buyers) but at the moment this Console can still be a Cash Cow and it would be really a dumb move to offend fresh Buyers by cutting off firmware upgrades. Some Feature Improvements would be appreciated, but only if they don’t break things. I would say, we surely will see some more Firmware Upgrades since A&H is still interested in earning money by selling many SQ Mixers.

Maybe in some future days we will see a bigger successor with a similar concept on a more powerful FPGA Core and including a general purpose embedded Computer Board for functionality outside the Audio Core. Some things could be easier implemented that way, for example the USB Protocol Stack, many Automation Features, File Handling, MIDI Processing and Routing, many parts of the Controlling surface, a sophisticated integrated Audio Player, some IP audio Streaming Functionalities and similar things. But it takes years to develop such a thing and there is no need to go to market with it for A&H as long as the existing SQ is a solid part of the leading Market Edge in its Price Segment and generating Cash.

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