ZED-14 is a fantastic entry-level mixer for small bands, solo performers or AV applications. Its comprehensive feature set, compact size and fine lines combine to make it one of the best small mixers around. Provided with configurable USB audio in/out makes it easy to capture stereo recordings, 6 mic or line inputs, 4 stereo inputs with EQ, there are an incredible 157 controls on the front panel of the ZED-14. This is a mixer for anyone, from entry-level to professionals, who appreciates fantastic sound, rugged build quality and imaginative feature sets. It’ll be equally happy running your gig on stage, recording live or mixing down in your studio at home. Allen & Heath have teamed up with major software supplier, Cakewalk, to bundle its SONAR X1 LE music creation and audio production software with ZED, giving you a fantastic, high spec digital audio workstation. Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way this has been implemented on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just plug in a USB lead to your ZED, select the USB routing on the mixer and the device on your computer and that’s it! CD quality audio to and from your PC or Mac. Switches and connection through jack socket terminals provide different send/return connections. ZED-10 features a responsive 3-band, swept mid frequency EQ design which utilises MusiQ – with optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual instruments. Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, ZED-14 has DuoPre pre-amps, which use a two stage design, with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. When amplifying the signal from the XLR input, the gain range is huge – 69dB of range to be exact – and is very evenly distributed around the gain control, meaning better control of signal level. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, so unwanted noise is kept to a minimum. Line level signals are simply plugged into the second stage of the pre-amp by using the line input jack socket, which has the great advantage of less noise when using the line input and also matching to a higher input impedance. Allen & Heath have included Cakewalk SONAR LE with this ZED mixer so you can start recording your own music today with the most complete introductory music production software for Windows PC. Based on Cakewalk’s award-winning SONAR X3 digital audio workstation, SONAR LE has been enhanced with cutting-edge instruments, effects, and creative tools to make creating your own music as simple and intuitive as possible, no matter what your experience level. You can use SONAR LE and your ZED mixer together in many ways – e.g. straightforward recording of a stereo mix, recording tracks individually to build up a song, or using the USB port and software as an effects loop. Features 6 mono channels Neutrik mic XLR Neutrik 1/4 inch jacks Channel insert Super wide gain ‘DuoPre’ mic line input 3 band EQ with MusiQ 4 auxes Illuminated mute Sound image pan Illuminated PFL & peak warning indicator ALPS 100mm faders 4 stereo channels with 2-band EQ and inputs for extra sources Stereo returns & playback All inputs with level control 12 bar meters Mono/stereo function on auxes 1&2 Monitor output section Alt stereo output source Configurable USB stereo audio in/out Cakewalk SONAR LE bundled with mixer Rack ears available