Allen & Heath ZED-428
The ZED-428 has a fantastic pedigree which comes from nearly 40 years of making mixing
desks for the professional sound community. The audio circuitry is based on years
of continual development and refinement and the performance of all the elements within
the mixer has been perfected to ensure the very best sound quality possible.
This is a mixer for anyone, from entry-level to professionals, who appreciate 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 has teamed up with major software supplier Cakewalk to bundle its SONAR
LE music creation and audio production software with ZED, giving you a fantastic,
high spec digital audio workstation.
The ZED 4-Bus series takes inspiration from different product lines within the A&H
range, combining them with fresh new ideas to give stunning results in a neat and
easy to use package.
The padless DuoPre mic/line pre-amplifier is the new design first implemented on
the ZED-14 and delivers a high-headroom, low-noise signal. The 4 band, 2 sweep EQ,
along with the low noise summing amps, is borrowed from the acclaimed GL2400, while
the bus architecture is a simplified but equally comprehensive version of that employed
in the successful GL series.
The USB audio interface, with its uniquely flexible capability, allows different
signals to be sent to USB, from LR or from selected aux buses. The USB return signal
can be routed straight to the LR mix or to a stereo channel. The connectors are placed
on the top surface for easy plugging & patching, and the construction, with individual
circuit boards firmly nutted to the top panel, is as rock solid as Allen & Heath's
top of the range ML series mixers.
The USB audio interface, with its uniquely flexible capability, is the same as on
the new ZED-14 2-bus mixer and allows different signals to be sent to USB, from LR
or from the aux busses, with the USB return signal available as a stereo return.
The connectors are placed on the top surface for easy plugging & patching, and the
construction, with individual circuit boards firmly nutted to the top panel, is as
rock solid as Allen & Heath's top of the range ML Series mixers.
Also included with ZED 4-Bus is the excellent SONAR LE digital audio workstation
software for Windows, with audio and MIDI multi-track recording and mixing capability,
effects plug-ins and editing features, enabling the ZED 4-Bus mixer to become a live
recording or home recording mixer.
Features
- Inputs
One of the great things about the ZED series is the number and variety of things
you can plug in. In addition to the sixteen mono channels there are two dual stereo
channels, each with a main stereo input on jack sockets and with additional inputs
on phono sockets. the USB return can be selected to one of the additional inputs
so that it feeds either the main LR bus or the stereo channel. - DuoPre
Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, the ZED
series has new DuoPreTM 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. - EQ section
ZED-420 features a responsive 4-band EQtaken from the acclaimed GL2400
mixer.
The design utilises MusiQ - optimised slope (or Q factor) for equalising individual
instruments. - Auxiliary sends
6 aux sends are provided, of which 1&2 are prefade for foldback monitoring,
and 3 & 4 are switched pre or post-fade for effects sends. and 5&6 are post-fade.
Auxes 1&2 can be sent to the USB bus for recording pre-fade signals independently
to the main mix. Auxes 5&6 can also be sent to the USB bus for use as effects sends.
- USB audio flexibility
Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common
requirement for live sound and music production. The way we have implemented this
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! Quality audio to and
from your PC or Mac. Three switches provide different send/return configurations
for recording, playback and utilising external FX. - Build
The ZED-420 has been designed using individual vertically mounted circuit boards
with each rotary control fixed with a metal nut to the front panel - making a much
more robust product that will resist damage and give years of reliable use. ZED also
has professional 100mm faders for ultimate control over your levels. - SONAR LE - provided Free!
We have teamed up withCakewalk to bundle SONAR LE with this
ZED mixer. The two team up together inmany ways - for example straightforward recording
of a stereo mix, recordingtracks individually to build up a song, or for inserting
a SONAR LE effectsplug-in.
Other features:
- 4-band EQ with 2 swept mids and in/out switch
- 6 auxiliary sends (2 pre, 2 post, 2 pre/post)
- 4 sub groups fed from each channel
- L, R and M main mix outputs
- Individual channel 48V phantom power
- Direct output on every mono channel
- 2 dual stereo inputs with 4-band EQ
- Peak and signal indication on every channel
- 2 matrix sections available; can send output to USB
- Configurable USB stereo audio in/out
- Master level controls on all outputs
- Easy to use layout – all connections and controls on top surface
- Cakewalk SONAR LE bundled with mixer
Specifications
- Inputs
Mono channel (XLR) Input +6 to -63dBu for nominal (+17dBu inmax)
Mono channel
Line Input (Jack socket) +10 to -26dBu (+30dBumaximum)
Insert point (TRS Jack socket)
0dBu nominal +21dBumaximum)
Stereo Input (Jack sockets) 0dBu nominal (control = Off
to+10dB)
Stereo Input (phono sockets) 0dBu nominal (control = Off to+10dB)
2 Track
Input (phono sockets) 0dBu nominal +21dBu maximum - Outputs
L, R & Mono Outputs (XLR) +4dBu nominal. +27dBumaximum
L, R & M Insert (TRS
Jack socket) -2dBu nominal +21dBumaximum
Group Outputs (Jack sockets) +4dBu nominal.
+27dBu maximum
GroupInsert (TRS Jack socket) -2dBu nominal +21dBu maximum
Aux Outputs
(Jacksockets) -2dBu nominal +21dBu maximum (Bal Option +4)
Matrix Outputs (TRSJack
socket) -2dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum. (Bal Option +4)
2 Track Output(phono sockets)
0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
Direct Out (TRS Jack socket) 0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.
- Frequency Response
Mic in to Mix L/R Out, 30dB gain +0.5/-1dB 20Hz to20kHz
Line in
to Mix L/R Out 0dB gain +0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 30kHz
Stereo in to Mix L/R Out +0.5/-1dB
10Hz to 30kHz - THD+N
Mic in to Mix L/R Out, 0dB gain 1kHz +10dBu out 0.004%
Mic into Mix L/R Out,
30dB gain 1kHz 0.014%
Line in to Mix L/R Out 0dB gain 0dBu1kHz 0.005%
Stereo in to
Mix L/R Out 0dB gain +10dBu 1kHz 0.003% - Headroom
Analogue Headroom from nominal (0Vu) 21dB
USB in & outheadroom from nominal
(0Vu) 14dB
USB Audio CODEC (Coder/Decoder)
USBAudio In/Out USB 1.1 compliant 16 bit
Sample
Rate 32, 44.1 or 48kHz - Noise
Mix Noise, LR out, 16 channels routed, Ref +4dBu, 22-22kHz -90dB(-86dBu)
Mix
Noise, LR out, 24 channels routed, Ref +4dBu, 22-22kHz -89dB(-85dBu)
Mix Noise, LR
out, 32 channels routed, Ref +4dBu, 22-22kHz -88dB(-84dBu)
Mic Pre EIN @ max gain
150R input Z 22-22kHz -127dBu - Dimensions (H x W x D): 5.08" x 36.6" x 22.1"
- Weight: 40 lbs