Allen & Heath Qu-3 — a compact digital mixing console

Allen & Heath is expanding its Qu series with a compact desktop console for live sound, broadcasting, fixed installations and home recording. The mixer uses the company's XCVI processing core. It offers 32 mono channels that can be linked into stereo pairs, plus two additional stereo channels.

Photo: official website allen-heath

The console has nine motorised 100 mm faders, individual channel displays and colour signal-level indicators. Controls include a 7-inch touchscreen, six configurable fader layers and eight assignable SoftKeys. Remote control is available through the company's apps. An optional mounting kit allows installation in a standard 19-inch rack.

Photo: official website allen-heath

The mixer has 12 buses for auxiliary mixes or groups: six linkable mono buses and six stereo buses. It also has four matrices and a main LR stereo bus. Six effects processors have dedicated stereo returns. Additional DEEP Processing and RackExtra FX algorithms are available separately. Other features include a 32-channel automatic microphone mixer, Gain Assistant for setting input gain, and Feedback Assistant, which uses up to 16 filters per output to reduce feedback.

Photo: official website allen-heath

Connections include 16 XLR/TRS combo microphone/line inputs, an additional TRS stereo input, eight analogue XLR outputs, an AES3 digital stereo output and a headphone output. The SLink port connects compatible stageboxes and supports up to 128 × 128 channels with other Allen & Heath systems. The built-in USB-C audio interface supports 32 × 32 channels of recording and playback. The SD slot supports standalone recording with 16 channels at 96 kHz or 32 channels at 48 kHz. A separate USB-A port handles stereo recording, playback and data transfer.

Photo: official website allen-heath

The Allen & Heath Qu-3 will be available for $1,800.