QU-16 In The Studio

[Alrod]

Just out of curiosity, are any of you using the QU-16 in the studio as your main console? If so, what are the Pros/Cons?

[dickiefunk]

I’ve used the QU16 in the studio and really loved it. My only wish was there was midi i/o and maybe either spdif or adat i/o.

[ljefe]

I’m using the QU-16 every day in our studio. My only complaint is I wish I’d gotten the QU-24 for more in/outs. But I don’t have room and that would have stretched my budget a bit.

Pros-
With Logic it’s been completely painless to set up and record. It just works.
I like the preamps, I love the converters. Excellent sound. The mixer itself is silent in use, the preamps are quiet.
Great workflow. There are a few menus hidden in strange places, but mostly it is very easy to use.
Great build quality.
Great service from A & H, constant updates.
Lots of inputs and outputs.

Cons-
The power switch is difficult to reach.
Like most audio products, the headphone output is on the right side even though almost all headphones input at the left ear.
I wish the compressor had a sidechain function.

I think that’s it. Not many cons, it’s a wonderful mixer for a small studio.

[rjeynes]

We’re using a Qu-24 as our main studio console. It’s superb: the flexibility of routing, large number of monitor sends (plus the matrix), on-board fx, the d-snake to avoid using all our old multicores, the Qu-You apps (the iPad one is awesome for for remote setup helping musicians with their monitor mixes), no latency issues using Sonar and Windows 8, ….

We’ve only exceeded 16 channels for tracking once, but it’s great to have the extra ones to keep things permanently attached to fixed channels (like the DAW, some resident keys, PC sound). So I recommend the Qu-24 over the Qu-16 if you can stretch that far. If you are going to use d-snake (which is terrific) note the very high cost of the breakout box(es). Plumbing in some ethernet points around the studio is so simple compared with laying the old multicores and wall boxes.

Just a few niggles:
The location of the power switch (as mentioned above)
The difficulty of using it as a control surface for the DAW if you are committed to PC rather than Mac (basically, build it yourself).
The Pre-fade/After fade listen (PAFL) routing and options take some understanding, and seems to be limited to using headphones (unless I’ve missed a menu).
Even after several months, we still find it hard to find some functions in the menu hierarchy: if there is logic to where things are, we haven’t worked it out yet!

(On the compressor sidechain point mentioned above, the last firmware update introduced a channel ducking function)

[Alrod]

Thanks for the responses thus far. I actually purchased the QU-16 a couple of months ago strictly for live use. I was just wondering if it is worthwhile to use as a studio console. My main concern is the preamps. I use BAE 1072 and similar Neve type preamps as well as LA2A and 1176 compressors, along with Lexicon PCM 90/91 reverbs (and various plugins). I would like to bypass the QU preamps if/when needed. What is the best routing for that? Also, I like how clean the QU preamps are. How do they compare to the Grace Design preamps (which I consider clean)? If not, what external preamps can they be compared to?

I typically record singer/songwriter sessions. So basically two tracks at a time through my Lynx Hilo is sufficient. I am finding that there are more acts wanting to record more than two tracks at a time. This is where I would like to use the QU-16. I would rather not have to purchase an additional mixer if the general consensus is that the QU-16 is up to the task.

[Anonymous]

PAFL can be routed to the alt out TRS jacks as well – beware the surface volume control…

[rjeynes]

Many thanks, Bob – what would we do without you on the forum??

[Anonymous]

Find some other sucker 😉

[pat]

Can anyone tell me how to use feed two different monitor systems from the QU 16? I want to feed the audio to one speaker system via the main outs and the other speaker system via_______? Do I use the mix outputs?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Do they want the same audio?

If so then use the TRS Alt-Outs – beware the physical volume control on the surface
If not then mix outputs.

[Mbirame]

I use have used it in the studio, but I found the audio quality of the DA to not be as good to my ears as the Apogee. So I use it as a controller mainly. Dickiefunk-you mentioned wanting midi i/o. We use the midi i/o from usb regularly. I love the board-I hope the converters get better as they upgrade them. I’m sure they will.

[Mikey B]

I use the QU32 in my studio regularly … The ease of a digital desk in the studio is awesome… I have a scene set up as the basic start point for the studio and a template in my DAW to match it and it’s as easy as a couple button presses and your back to square one… Or save your settings as a scene for a particular song in your DAW and then come and go from it with ease… Tons of different mix sends, more than enough inputs…

iPad control for musicians monitors and even control room is sent from the gods…

Having your rig tied to a sequential power conditioner is essential anyways… Invest in that and the button being on back doesn’t matter anymore…

I love it …

[JD]

… just USB’ng out of the QU’s back into the ‘puter??

[Mikey B]

Yes, multitrack streaming the audio into Sonar via USB…. WINDOWS 8 system… Setting it up to know the QU was tedious, but you do it once and save it and it controls many functions you need in your DAW… every fader, every mute, arm, solo… Etc…

[rjeynes]

Mikey B – are you able to share the detail of the Sonar control surface definition you’ve built? (or how you did things like Pan, Mute, or control channels above 8 etc. Using ACT Learn in Sonar I managed to get the first 8 channel faders in the assignable layer on the QU-24 to control Sonar, but no reverse direction control.) I can’t see anything on the Sonar forum.

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