Category: Allen & Heath

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Allen & Heath

Lancaster Wedding Venue Simplifies with Allen & Heath AHM

The Leola Village Inn is a boutique hotel in a historic village near Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, that offers luxury accommodations, spa services, Italian dining, and a
sustainable lifestyle. The hotel is close to many attractions in Lancaster County, such as
theaters, shopping, antiques, and Amish culture.


The Inn recently decided to upgrade the audio system in their wedding venue, seeking
improved sound quality and simplified control for the staff. “The client expressed the
need for high levels of control at their fingertips, with the simplicity and consistency that
comes from a fully integrated, intentionally designed platform,” explained Herb Seureth,
Systems Integrator at STRAY Productions. “Naturally, we looked at Allen & Heath’s AHM
as an ideal solution. We are always aiming for the right overlap between capabilities and
cost with the solutions we provide, and the AHM platform fit those needs perfectly.”


The new AHM system feeds the primary wedding reception room, as well as the cocktail
hour space. Exterior porticos and kitchen zones were also brought under the
management of the AHM system, which allowed for granular routing of various sources
to specific locations around the facility.


STRAY also installed several Dante endpoints in the spaces to allow for mic and line
level connections wherever the DJ or musicians set up for a particular event. These
inputs, coupled with wireless microphone options and a house music server, give the
AHM plenty of sources to work with. The processor’s built-in GPIO functionality also
allows for on/off control of system amplification, by storing presets that will activate or
deactivate the relayed outlets installed in the rack.


An Allen & Heath IP8 8-fader controller is also stationed in the equipment rack, providing
simple adjustment of both inputs and outputs as they feed each zone. Wiring was
provided for deployment of future IP8s in additional locations, should the client’s needs
change over time.


“It was important to the client that they be friendly to the neighbors around the property
in how the SPL gets managed; particularly the low frequencies,” explained System
Designer Kurt Lesh. “To accomplish this, main PAs and subwoofers were fed to different
zones for both of the available reinforcement systems. This allows venue management
to stay in the driver’s seat when it comes to overall levels, rather than the DJ or the guest
band.”


Further control was added via a tailored app made with Allen & Heath’s Custom Control
platform, offering fader and mute control for various sources and zones.


This was STRAY’s first time installing AHM, and it exceeded the installers’ expectations.
“I’ve been really impressed with the robust routing options,” noted Lesh. “We have full
control in programming what goes where, making the day-to-day client experience as
simple as possible.


Lesh also appreciated the speed at which the AHM platform could be configured. “It’s
amazing how quickly we were able to go from unboxing, to integrating into our network,
then making it controllable by the included IP8 and, ultimately, ready for deployment on
site.”


The Leola Village Inn may be a historic venue with character and charm, but its audio
control system is anything but old-fashioned. The power of the AHM provides this venue
with simple, effective, and consistent sound reinforcement that further enhances the
guest experience in the venue.

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Allen & Heath

California Guitar Trio Upgrades Performances with Allen & Heath CQ

California Guitar Trio, a unique genre-bending group featuring three guitar virtuosos, has been performing internationally since 1991. “We have played over two thousand concerts in the past 32 years,” noted CGT member Paul Richards. “Each of us comes from a different musical background, including classical, surf, jazz, metal, classic rock, and blues – all of those influences have meshed into our performances. The Trio performs with a mix of original compositions and unique cover songs from bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, and the Beach Boys.

The group had been touring with their own mixing console for a while, but realized that they needed something better suited to their needs. “A house engineer at a recent gig told us that all our gear was top-of-the line, except our mixer,” explained Richards. “It was hurting both the sound of our live performances and our concert recordings.”

After some research, the band came across Allen & Heath and their new CQ series – which offered the processing, sound quality, and recording capabilities that they needed. “Allen & Heath stood out for a number of reasons, but the main draw was upgraded sound quality,” explained Richards. “Right when we first set it up, everything fell into place and we knew we made the right decision.”

The California Guitar Trio now tours with an Allen & Heath CQ-12T, which offers 12 channels of input processing and 8 outputs with an intuitive touchscreen interface. “The difference in ease of use and overall sound quality was clear right away,” said Richards. “The improved clarity was very much noticeable and everything worked flawlessly.”

Each guitarist in the trio has their own pedal board with a DI that interfaces directly with the mixer. During soundcheck, Richards now takes advantage of CQ’s Gain Assistant to speed up the process of setting the preamps. “We plug in and I have each of the guys play a little bit, and it just automatically sets the levels. We are then very quickly able to set up the mix. It’s so fast!”

The band records every performance directly to a USB drive on the mixer, which they then duplicate and distribute with other merchandise after the show. “With the CQ, the live recordings now sound like studio recordings,” remarked Richards. “We had people buy our USB drives and listen in their car, then return just to tell us how great it sounded. The quality is so far beyond what we had done previously.”

Richards set up one of the user-defined SoftKeys on his CQ to start and stop USB recording, so he has quick and easy control. “When I walk out on stage, I just hit that SoftKey and it turns red to indicate that the show is recording. It makes our lives much easier.” California Guitar Trio is currently on tour, with upcoming dates in the United States in January 2024.

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Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath to Show Off New Products and Offer Training at 2023 AES Show

Leading audio console manufacturer Allen & Heath is preparing for a large presence at the 2023 AES show in New York City, with an expanded booth and daily training sessions. The main booth (#625) on Level 3 of Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center will feature the full range of Allen & Heath products, including the newly released CQ series of compact digital mixers. Customers will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience with the new products, and receive advice from Allen & Heath’s expert staff.

Free training sessions will also be offered in room 1E05 of the convention center, with Allen & Heath Live Sound and Touring Manager Michael Bangs hosting official dLive Certification and Live Sound Training courses throughout the show.

This year’s Allen & Heath booth will also feature the AHM series of audio matrix processors, which provide solutions for commercial installations in schools, restaurants, houses of worship, and other similar environments. Along with the processors themselves, Allen & Heath will be demonstrating various hardware and software control interfaces, as well as the variety of expanders comprising the “Everything I/O” ecosystem.

“We are especially excited to return to AES this year and show off the new CQ Series digital mixer range,” notes Allen & Heath USA Director of Marketing Jeff Hawley. “The first large batch of CQ units have made their way out to engineers and the feedback from users and dealers has been very positive. This is a great opportunity for folks who haven’t yet had a chance to experience the CQ first-hand to give it a test drive. Of course our award-winning AHM, Avantis, dLive, SQ, and Qu range will also be on hand with networked interactive tracks ready for fans to play with. We’re also looking forward to presenting dLive Certification sessions alongside a selection of user-requested special training sessions at the show. We’ll see you there!”

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Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath Earns 2023 Commercial Integration Award for Cornerstone Tavern Project

Allen & Heath is the proud recipient of a 2023 Commercial Integration award for Best Bars and Restaurants Project. Presented by Commercial Integrator, the awards highlight standout projects from the last year, with consideration for the technology behind the installation itself, the customer reaction, and the creative solutions by the integrator.

The project behind this year’s award win was Cornerstone Tavern in Raleigh, North Carolina. The installation, carried out by local installers at Precision Audio, featured a main Allen & Heath AHM series processor with networked I/O distribution and a custom tailored mobile app for the end users, designed  with Allen & Heath’s Custom Control platform.

Designed for commercial audio distribution, Allen & Heath AHM series processors provide easy control and installation, scalable I/O and control, and powerful FPGA audio processing.

The new Cornerstone Tavern system solved several problems for the unique venue, including centralizing the audio distribution system for the tavern’s multiple buildings, and offering simplified control for employees. “We’re honored to work with great integrators like (Precision Audio’s) Scott Carneval who are able to design and implement creative solutions, and who genuinely care about the client and the end-user experience,” said Allen & Heath Commercial Audio Manager Samantha Potter. “This award is shared with him, and the terrific engineering team at Allen & Heath.”

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Allen & Heath

Industry Veteran Tom Der Appointed to Director of Market Development, Allen & Heath USA 

Allen & Heath USA is proud to announce that Tom Der has been appointed to fill the Director of Market Development role. Along with market development activities, the Director of Market Development directs Allen & Heath USA product segment managers and provides guidance for company-wide product training programs, on-site training, and commissioning. Tom is a graduate of Memphis State University (Commercial Music with Emphasis in Recording Engineering) and in his formative years worked in Nashville as an assistant engineer on many major label records including REM’s ‘Document’ and Lyle Lovett’s first album. During this time he was also active in Nashville’s burgeoning underground rock scene as a recording and FOH engineer.

Since then, he has worked for mixing console manufacturers serving as Global Sales Director for the Neotek Corporation, and for the past 27 years as National Sales and Brand Manager for Soundcraft USA where he was involved in all aspects of the company’s business.

“Many of us have known Tom for years and he is a consummate professional with amazing industry connections, deep product and market knowledge, and a great track record of developing compelling professional audio products,” says American Music & Sound Vice President, Pro Audio Division, Rob Impala. “We know Tom will be a key part of our continued growth with the Allen & Heath brand and welcome him to the team.”

“I’m super stoked to be part of Allen and Heath’s future,” notes Der. “It’s a great brand that has been hitting on all cylinders yet still has a ton of room for growth. They share my passion for great mixing consoles and it’s an honor to join the brand and the US team. I look forward to helping increase the brand’s footprint in the states and being involved in the development of even more amazing A&H products in the future!”

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4U Recording Expands Possibilities with Allen & Heath SQ-6

4U Recording Atlanta, located in West Midtown Atlanta, GA, is a full service recording studio owned by Tony Alexander and renowned songwriter and producer David Porter. The facility holds two large rehearsal/event spaces, four recording studios, and a podcast room. The studio recently underwent a large renovation to improve communication and networking between their various studio spaces. “We wanted to make things more up to date, and incorporate Dante,” explained Studio Manager Vohn Keith Jr.

4U’s Studio A, a large rehearsal and performance space, was upgraded to an Allen & Heath SQ-6 console, which opened up the room to more possibilities. “We wanted something that would work for live performance, but also had recording and Dante capabilities,” recalled Facilities Manager Reo Harris. “We also liked that it had a small footprint, and we can easily expand our I/O using a digital stagebox.” The 4U team added a DX168 expander for I/O at the stage, which runs back to the SQ-6 via a CAT6 digital snake.

With the addition of an SQ, Studio A can now capture multitrack recordings of live performances and rehearsals via Dante. “It really opened up our possibilities,” noted Harris. “With all the individual tracks we can access and feed to our other studio spaces.” Harris also appreciated the price point of SQ. “For all the features available, there was nothing else on the market that really compared.”

Harris had never used an SQ before they purchased one for Studio A, but he was able to pick up on the workflow right away. “I love the touch screen capability, and being able to patch in local I/O or networked input sources quickly,” he explained. “I also really enjoy working with the reverb and delay plugins built-in, it’s so easy to route to them – the whole console is very intuitive.”

The event spaces at 4U are host to a diversity of performances “Sometimes it’s big artists preparing and rehearsing for tours,” explained Keith. “But we’re open to everyone that has that creative sense and is looking to find their sound. Our goal is to make our clients reassured and confident in all our studio spaces.”

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CJD Productions Tours with Custom dLive Build

When sound engineer Chris DiCorpo made the switch to Allen & Heath’s dLive platform, he already understood the concept of mixing without a full-fledged dLive control surface. “I had a CDM32 MixRack and an IP-8 controller for a while,” he explained. “I was mixing with just the IP-8 for faders, and a laptop running dLive Director to make deeper configuration changes.”

Compact dLive ‘Wings’ rigs like DiCorpo’s allow for lightweight systems that can easily be transported without sacrificing processing power – since all 128 channels and 64 busses of 96kHz FPGA processing are handled in the MixRack. “I actually did take that system out to the UK for a few shows, which was a cool experience,” he recalled. “I knew this compact setup was the way to go, but I wanted something more robust.”

With some inspiration from custom rigs he had seen on dLive forums, DiCorpo started to brainstorm a new setup that would incorporate a second IP-8 controller for more faders, as well as a Waves DSPRO 1000 he owned to handle audio monitoring. “The plan was to use the Waves card in my CDM32 MixRack to send audio to front of house,” he explained. “I also use a Waves server for some PA processing, but the DEEP plugins in the dLive mean that I generally don’t need to insert Waves on any of my channel strips.”

DiCorpo chose a Mac Mini for his new front of house rig, which runs dLive Director, manages the Waves SoundGrid network, and allows multitrack recording and virtual soundcheck with his DAW. “I just started building from there,” he recalled. “I found a company in Canada that allows you to easily design and order one-off custom aluminum enclosures, so I added the connectors I needed, vents and cooling fans, and two spaces at the top where my IP-8 controllers would sit.”

The two IP-8 controllers are powered using a PoE switch, which also acts as a network interface with the dLive MixRack, computer, and Waves server. A wireless router is also connected to the MixRack, which sits at the stage for performers to control their monitor mixes using mobile devices.

For screens, DiCorpo mounted two 12″ touchscreen monitors on arms that can be removed when the rig is transported. “When I want to disassemble, I just remove the threaded thumb screws and I can lay the monitors on top of the IP-8s,” he explained. “When everything is folded up inside the Pelican case, it weighs about 56 pounds.”

Since IP-8 controllers don’t have as many buttons as a full dLive surface, DiCorpo uses scene changes to alter the functions of the buttons. “The channel buttons default to PAFL and Mute,” he explained. “I reconfigured the buttons in two scenes. In one, they are Select and Mute, in the other they are PAFL and Mix Select. Those two scenes are filtered so they don’t impact any of the other settings on the console, and I can easily flip back and forth with a single button.”

A common question DiCorpo hears when it comes to the IP-8 is how to achieve “sends on faders” for monitor mixes. “Many people assume it’s not possible, but it is,” he confirmed. “You can create a scene for each monitor mix, and assign the faders as Aux sends, rather than Main bus faders. In my layer containing the Aux masters, the 8 buttons across the top select my monitor mix scenes.”

DiCorpo affectionately refers to his custom rig as the “CJD Al2000,” combining his initials, the chemical symbol for Aluminum, and “2000” – to maintain consistency with the official Allen & Heath dLive product naming scheme. “I figured it’s kind of halfway between a dLive C1500 and a C2500,” he clarified. He even added a custom decal for the side of the enclosure.

The completed CJD Al2000 is now getting some mileage, as DiCorpo tours with Boston-based pop-funk band Couch. “Engineers who are familiar with dLive see the IP-8 controllers and can figure out what I’m mixing on,” said DiCorpo, “but still a lot of people ask questions about it and give compliments. It’s a great conversation piece.”

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs Tour Internationally with Dual dLive S5000s

New York indie rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back on tour, with show dates in the US and internationally following the release of their 2022 album, Cool it Down.

Handling mixing duties for the tour are Daniel Good and Nahuel Gutierrez, who started working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O following her Danger Mouse collaboration Lux Prima in 2019. “We did two shows at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles and the band performed one more show in New York,” explained Good. “At that point we weren’t sure if Yeah Yeah Yeahs would ever be performing again, so it was cool to get contacted again after their album came out.”

Good and Gutierrez are each mixing on Allen & Heath dLive S5000 surfaces, along with DM0 MixRacks handling 128 channels of 96kHz input processing. For I/O, various DX168 expanders are distributed on the stage. A SuperMADI card was also included, which allows for a simplified multichannel broadcast feed when needed, as well as a 128-channel Waves card for multitrack recording and playback.

The tour package was provided by Worley Sound, a boutique rental company out of Nashville, TN. “We specialize in custom control packages for our clients,” explained founder Tom Worley. “I think the Allen & Heath price point really speaks to a lot of mid-sized tours that want a compact footprint, and flexibility of I/O expansion through cards and stageboxes.”

Good had limited experience on Allen & Heath’s dLive platform prior to this tour (mixing Todd Terje & the Olsons), but the console had left a good impression on him. “I just remembered that it sounded great, and five or six years later it kicked into my mind again.” Good explained that the production team wanted to use the same gear throughout the tour to minimize prep time locating rental equipment at each stop. “The way you can lay out Allen & Heath consoles and configure the hardware any way you want – we knew that it could accomplish what we needed quickly and easily.” Good also appreciates the flexible workflow within the dLive’s software interface. “Some people can get stuck to certain ways of working, but you can do everything ten different ways with this console.”

“I liked that the console was really easy to understand,” noted Gutierrez, who handles Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ monitor mixing. “It fit the budget, and it was great to have the shared stageboxes for [Good] and myself. It saved us a lot of space and weight in the touring package. The more we used the consoles, the more we liked them.”

Gutierrez notes that the suite of processing plugins built-in to dLive also make mixing shows more convenient. “We basically mix everything in the box, the DYN8 dynamic EQ is fantastic, as well as all the onboard FX and parallel compression options.” After the second day of rehearsals, the band already remarked to Gutierrez that the audio sounded better. “Dan [Good] has also been getting amazing reviews because the shows have been sounding fantastic.” Good shares enthusiasm for the DYN8 dynamic EQ and multiband compressor plugin. “I use that mostly on keyboards, stuff that really resonates in the room.”

The dLive’s new Source Expander plugin comes in handy as well for the duo. “That’s becoming a really good tool to clean mixes,” noted Gutierrez. “I have it inserted on cymbals, vocals, and a couple of the open mics that are not used frequently to eliminate background noise.”

For creating distorted vocals on certain songs, Gutierrez employs the Dual Stage Valve preamp emulation. “It’s probably one of the best vocal distortions I’ve heard,” he remarked. “We’ve tried pedals and a few other solutions, but nothing sounded right until we found this emulation.” Good also uses the various preamp models at front of house to add more color to his mix. “I was blown away when I first discovered those,” he recalled. “They’re so versatile, you can pretty much get anything you want out of a channel.”

Both engineers rely on dLive’s Scenes feature to recall preset mixes for each song in the band’s set. “At first I just started by muting or pulling faders for channels I knew weren’t used on that song,” explained Good. “As the tour progressed, I picked up on little things I wanted to tweak – adding in EQ changes, fader movements, and panning. It’s pretty awesome that dLive allows you to scope the dynamic EQ separately from the rest of the channel processing, that’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Deviating from most modern performances, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ shows do not rely heavily on backing tracks. “The guitarist has a loop pedal with some pre-recorded loops,” explained Gutierrez. “But he has to trigger them in time, there is no computer running a click track or keeping things in sync.”

For on-stage monitoring, Yeah Yeah Yeahs rely almost entirely on IEMs for their current tour. “Everyone uses in-ears except for the drummer, who receives stems into a small mixer and does his own headphone mix,” explained Gutierrez. “It’s the first full tour for the band on in-ears – but once they got used to them, they were really happy with it.”

At front of house, Good uses dLive’s display output to set up a live RTA on an external monitor. “It’s cool to have that without having SMAART, to see how things are translating.” He also makes use of the console’s ABCD input feature, which allows a user to quickly swap the input source of a mic channel using a user-defined SoftKey. “There are so many SoftKeys that I was almost looking for reasons to use them,” he joked. “Karen will jump mics sometimes – I need to be ready to swap from wired mics to wireless instantly and in pitch black, so I can do that now with a single button push.”

“The engineers seem to really be enjoying the consoles and having great results,” said Tom Worley. “Even the band was telling me how the sound is improved and how happy they are.”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ tour is ongoing, with two shows in Brazil this September.

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Allen & Heath’s New CQ Series Speeds Up the Mix for Musicians and Engineers

Allen & Heath has unveiled its new CQ series, a trio of compact digital mixers for musicians and bands, audio engineers, home producers, small venues, and AV installers, that places ease of use and speed of setup firmly at the heart of the user experience.

“CQ takes our renowned processing and effects, adds exciting new assistive mixing tools, and packages it all up into our smallest, and most affordable, digital mixer series yet,” says Keith Johnson, Product Manager at Allen & Heath. “Usually at this price point, users are forced to choose between a mid-range analogue mixer, lacking in modern features, or an entry-level digital mixer, where corners have inevitably been cut. With CQ there are no compromises. It’s a fully featured 96kHz mixer with stunning audio quality and intelligent tools that, regardless of your experience, lets you mix smarter, sound better and work faster. Just add sound!” 

Built around an innovative new 96kHz processing engine, the series comprises the CQ-12T and CQ-18T desktop mixers featuring tactile controls and a 7” multi-touch screen, and the portable CQ-20B stage box mixer, all controllable via the companion CQ apps. 

The processing engine, utilizing Allen & Heath’s acclaimed FPGA technology, brings numerous time-saving tools to the CQ to speed up and simplify common tasks for users of all abilities. Gain Assistant automatically sets preamp gain to the optimal level and monitors and adjusts for any unexpected peaks in the signal. Feedback Assistant identifies and filters out problem frequencies across all outputs via simple one-button operation, with more in-depth control available for challenging acoustical environments.  

Input channels can be switched between a Quick Input, giving users a source-specific set of controls with single knob control of channel processing, or a Complete Input for full control of all channel processing parameters. Additionally, an Automatic Mic Mixer (AMM) is present on all input channels, instantly improving clarity and reducing background noise in speech-based applications. 

The CQ range also introduces a new suite of high-quality, user-friendly reverb, delay and modulation algorithms with instrument-specific presets for speedy setup, while the FX Assist tool shapes the FX by dynamically responding to the input signal for optimal clarity. The CQ-18T and CQ-20B offer 4 FX engines and the CQ-12T features 2 FX engines. 

All three CQ mixers benefit from flexible recording and playback options including a multichannel USB audio interface, multitrack SD card playback and recording, simple stereo recording and playback via an external USB drive, plus convenient stereo Bluetooth playback. 

The CQ series is supported by a pair of free multi-platform apps. The CQ-MixPad app enables remote control of the mixer from anywhere in the venue, while the CQ4You app empowers performers to take control of their personal monitor mix via their mobile devices.  The CQ-18T and CQ-20B also benefit from integrated high-performance dual-band Wi-Fi for quick and easy connection of control apps without any additional network equipment. 

The CQ-18T provides 16 mic/line inputs and 1 stereo input, the smaller CQ-12T includes 10 mic/line inputs and 1 stereo input, and the stage-friendly CQ-20B offers 16 mic/line inputs, two of which can be used as Hi-Z instrument inputs, and 2 stereo inputs. All three models feature 6 independent outputs which can be configured to run up to 3 stereo outputs. 

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Allen & Heath AHM Makes Things Easy for Cornerstone Tavern

Cornerstone Tavern in Raleigh, North Carolina is a unique bar and music venue, made up of three separate houses connected by a large shared patio. The communal patio space can be separated or combined using a central bar area.

In the years before their recent audio upgrade, Cornerstone was utilizing separate analog processors for audio distribution at each of the three respective houses. “The system got complicated and overwhelming,” noted Scott Carneval, integrator and designer with Precision Audio in Raleigh. “There was buzz, among other issues. One ofthe old processors died and couldn’t be replaced. Allen & Heath’s AHM platform was the perfect replacement.”

All houses are now networked together, each controlling their own front patio, a side patio, and the indoor sound, in addition to the back patio. Up to five DJs can perform simultaneously on the property, with each zone choosing which DJ they’d like to listen to. A standard music streaming device is also an available option for listening, along with one of eight television feeds.

A 64×64 Allen & Heath AHM-64 processor is at the heart of the upgraded audio system, with an AR2412 I/O expander in one house, and an AR84 in another, allowing for plug-and-play distributed inputs and outputs for DJs and TV feeds.

The team at Precision Audio also built a custom application for the end users to control and manage their audio system using Allen & Heath’s free Custom Control platform. Custom Control allows for installers to design tailored applications using an intuitive drag-and-drop editing software. The custom application can then easily be loaded up on any Android, iOS, Windows, or MacOS device – as well as pre-configured Allen & Heath
CC touch panels.

Precision Audio built Cornerstone Tavern a simple layout: source selectors for each zone to choose which DJ, music server, or local TV they’d like to listen to – along with respective volume control. The staff can quickly log in, choose the house they’re wanting to make an adjustment to, pick the patio or area, and make the change.

“Building out the iPad and iPhone apps was straightforward and easy, it just works,” noted Carneval. “We were hesitant to pass digital audio from one building to another, but the system is rock solid. They’ve had no issues and no support calls since the integration.”