Allen and Heath needs more love...an awesome company. As a weekend warrior, Allen and Heath has been by my side for many decades in the studio and on the road!
I had a System 8 for awhile that's featured in several videos. I thought it sounded really good but it was starting to need serious maintenance. It went to a friend of mine in Nashville who may have restored it. The Zed is a lot cleaner sounding than my old System 8 but it still has a nice warm sound with more detail and headroom. The System 8 had subgroups but that's the only feature I would miss with this one. I agree that A&H gear is better than most people expect. Both that I've owned have sounded great!
I have had one of these for ten years and its was such an affordable and unique desk. There is nothing on the market that can do this at the price. Why A&H went the other direction I have no idea. The GS24 track version is also very loved. The Zed R16 is like having a 16 track in / out sound card and mixer in one. I run an analogue synth studio, recording my nob tweaking to audio tracks while performing live, which I then edit in Ableton. Its so powerful with very low latency.
These sound very good too! I eventually sold mine mainly because of the firewire drivers. I don't understand why they stopped making consoles like this. The newer USB mixers like Soundcraft Signature don't have inserts on the channels. Only the really expensive SSL has those kind of features and they are fairly limited in other ways compared the R16.
Nice video, man. I’ve been looking for a used ZED-R16 since it’s got 2 pairs of ADAT built in. I use an Alesis HD24 as a “tape deck,” and this mixer would be ideal track with and not have the signal go through multiple conversations. Also, the MIDI transport controls would be great. The EQ and sends would also be ideal for summing. Thanks for the review and cross your fingers that I’ll find one under $1k
It should work really well for you. I got this one for around $600 so you should be able to find one too. The sound is really good and the EQ seems great so far.
That was my main complaint with it. It really sounded better than most modern consoles I've heard. Very impressive for summing and would have been the best if it has subgroups with inserts. At least the channels have inserts though.
@@TwinCreekAudio yeah, as a workaround i send my buses from reaper to individual channels panned left and right, i keep some mono channels for drums, bass and main vocals
@@cryptonios that similar to how I would have done it. Most of the time parallel compression on drums can be mono and that is possible with an Aux send. I really hope they release an updated version of some kind in the future.
This mixer for me is perfect, i've been looking for this particular mixer since high school, 2012, but here in Colombia, latin america this mixer never showed up.
They are very good sounding mixers. The drivers won't work currently like Windows 11 or macOS Monterey which is a few versions behind. That is why I didn't keep it. They will still work well if you use older PC or Mac with older operating system.
It's an awesome sounding board. I was able to get the MIDI section to work with Reaper mostly by using the learn function. I mostly didn't use it for those functions though since I primarily work with organic instruments and don't has as much use for the MIDI control stuff other than the faders for automation. Still a great board that sounds fantastic.
I'm not sure whatever these instructions work anymore but they have a PDF file that includes Pro Tools at this link: www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.allen-heath.com/media/ZED-R16-DAW-Control-Setup-notes-V1.10.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiizN7OvZyCAxU9nWoFHawXBooQFnoECBkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0pu0ppAfUdMaWBXfBD4iIk
@@TwinCreekAudio yeah! the main inserts are really useful too! i only miss a few group mixes to use with my 8 track recorder... but for this price range its very complete
Thank you! I am really impressed with it honestly. The sound especially. I usually sell some of the gear from my videos and once I finish the series with it, it will likely be for sale on my Reverb store pretty cheap. Thanks again!
It really sounds very good too. It has a few limitations and mine has one flaky routing switch on a channel but it otherwise seems to be high quality. I bought this used of course since they haven't been made in close to 10 years now. They're selling for much more reasonable prices now which makes them a good buy for recording and especially simplifying hybrid mixing.
@@Tonytotalify I haven't used the R16 enough yet to be certain but so far it seems a little bit cleaner than the Soundcraft but has a little less depth and width. The analog sections headroom is not as good as the Sapphyre either. I had to run the master down a lot lower than I would with the Soundcraft in order to avoid overloading the LR input to the built-in interface. I've only mixed two songs so far and have recorded very little so I'll know more when I finish the series of videos with the R16 that I'm working on. I was lucky to find one of these for a good price that was in good condition. I see a lot of these priced twice what I paid for this one.
These are pretty cool for a small hybrid studio or a home studio. It has enough features to record a full band live or do hybrid mixing without nearly as much cabling if you're using the FireWire. I have more videos coming they will have more details on hybrid mixing and recoding with the Zed R16.
My ZedR16 has been in use since 2008. I had a problem with the power supply that took some sorting out, some of the switches are a bit iffy, some of the pots are a bit scratchy and every now and then it has a problem communicating with the DAW - nothing a cycling of the power switch or a shot of Pot cleaner doesn't fix. I have made many tracks on this old girl and currently she is set up to mix down a 42 piece ladies chorus recording a song and video for International Women's Day. My wife says I need to buy something a bit more modern, but I'm used to my Zed. Maybe one day.
I didn't use my Zed R16 much beyond the videos but it really sounded great! I'm not sure what else there is available that sounds that good unless you go vintage and certainly nothing with a built in interface. I sold my Zed mainly because I have a big analog console with more IO for all my outboard gear. I really really liked it a lot.
I don't think the new Zed series are really meant for multitrack recording. I hear they sound good though. It's unfortunate that most of the newer mixers with USB interfaces are not multichannel so they really are only good for recording the mix to a computer and not multitrack. The new SSL Big Six looks promising but it's more limited than the R16 and costs a lot
Thanks for doing the demo...question...I bought my ZED R16 used, and I'm not sure if the headphone output is broken or not, as I can only hear out of the headphones when the PFL button is lit for a channel. Even if I press the Main Mix LR button near the headphone gain, or leave it up, I still hear nothing. Is this the expected behaviour ?
nice vid about a small console that I've liked for years. well done! would you care to comment about what you think about the ART MP20 and the TPS/DPS series of mic preamps? I have 4 of the little MP studio tube preamps...and 2 of the DPS II series preamps. Have not actually gotten around to using them...but don't have anything higher class to compare against. Basically trying to use them to reduce phantom power overhead on my vintage soundcraft console(mine's older than your Sapphyre I'm pretty sure.)
I generally like the ART preamps but I especially like their compressors. The TCS and Pro VLAs are really good for the money. I used to own a TPS original but have never used the DPS or TPSII. I would think they would be perfectly good for adding extra preamps. Soundcraft preamps are usually very good too. Which model are you running? My Sapphyre is from the 1990s but has the mic transformer option on some of the channels. I have several really nice outboard preamps but the Sapphyre preamps are just as good as my most expensive preamps, just different. The Sapphyre pres have fantastic transient response which is excellent for getting detail and body from drums. I could track everything with the console preamps without any issue but I do like having the other preamps for different tonal colors etc.
@@TwinCreekAudio mine is the old ('92?) spirit studio 24 (48 inputs total inline and also 8 subs, 6 sends, split eq. There are some mods that can be done(board is modular but from the back, not front) and add transformers. Have thot about doing it to 2 channels just to A/B them. I think my dream rig would be an SSL Origin but my next level up would be the sapphyre(if i can find/afford one) or maybe a used 2400 or 1600.
@@ruby2thursday I think the Spirit console are supposed to sound really good. I texted a Spirit Live in some videos and it sounded great! I think it has Mic Pre + pres or something but they sounded good. I'm not sure why the Sapphyre is hard to find. They made smaller frames for them as well so there should be a lot of variations. I don't think they made them for as many years as some of the other consoles and maybe they did not make as many as something like a spirit or a ghost.
@@TwinCreekAudio - my understanding is that in the late 80's phil and graham sold SC to Harman Int. and then Phil cashed out totally(later buying focusrite) and Graham stuck around and developed the pre and eq section and some other really decent circuits....which made their way into the current MTK series years later...also used in the spirit, ghost, and some later boards like the GB series. Some of those had enhancements that the spirit does not...yet...supposedly....was based on same/similar circuit design. which is why the mods are popular and easy to implement. all modular...all thru hole components. good designs. I was aiming at getting an old SC 1600 (Producer) that I remembered seeing in the 80's. Except...I think a lot of that gen of h/w is prone to failure and needing reworks...just to get to own/use one. When I saw your sapphyre it triggered a memory from long ago in the back of some magazine and i had to research it....lovely board. nice step up from the 1600, not to mention from my board. but, I'm not pro. I got my board in PERFECT condition for $250 from an electronics recycler. I'm content for now except that I often wonder whether or not i "need' to get a set of external pre's. I am convinced the only truly bad part of the spirit line is the power supply design and reliability as it really was never meant to handle a dozen +48v mics at the same time. there is a guy works under the name of bluedog p/s that makes better power supplies for a variety of consoles. worth looking up. i might find/post a link to him for you if interested.
Hello, Just for clarification, on this mixer post eq means that the eq is in the circuit with the button(s) depressed. With the buttons not depressed the signal comes just after the insert. I hope this helps.
@@TwinCreekAudio No problem... Looking forward to the videos. The R16 even now has been under appreciated for what it can do. It is really a nice piece of equipment to this day. For what they are going for now it is quite the steal.
I used it with an older Mac Pro that has thunderbolt and then used a FireWire to Thunderbolt adapter. The only way to use the built in interface without FireWire is through the ADAT ports and you need another interface that has the proper connection to get ADAT to the DAW host computer. RME Digiface will work for that but has twice as many ADAT connections as you need. Any other USB interface with ADAT optical should also work.
@@TwinCreekAudio Thank you for your reply. I've really thought hard about what I should do.Will a Audient id22 do the job? . will it work? and how many tracks out and in will I get out from the mixer to the daw?🙂 hope you can help
Yes, it has a FireWire interface built in. You should be able to use it with newer versions of Pro Tools but you still need hardware and an OS that supports FireWire. This model will not work with Windows 11, can be flaky with 10 and only works on Mac OS up to Monterey.
@@vincentrizzo1877 You can still use these with their ADAT connections and a newer interface. Monterey is current enough to run most things and Windows is flaky anyway. lol
Great video. I have just upgraded my laptop to an m2 and am unable to get this to work with firewire anymore sadly. Has anyone found a workaround that doesn't involve buying a new interface and running the 16 channels from this via ADAT to the interface?
Thank you! I have read something about it working on M2 Macs but with glitches and you have to re enable FireWire if running anything above Monterey as Apple completely removed FireWire support. I'm more of an analog guy so I'm not sure sure beyond what.I found from a Google search. I don't own the Zed anymore so testing further won't be possible unfortunately. I was able to get mine to work with Windows 10 and Monterey though.
@@TwinCreekAudioThanks for your reply. Think I'm going to have to find a more long term/reliable workaround for this - perhaps using ADAT outs. Appreciate the video and reply!
There are jumpers on the channel cards to rearrange some of the sends this way. I couldn't tell you about any mods but I would check the manual to see if the jumpers will change that option.
It will control the DAW faders so you can use it as a controller for automation in the DAW but the DAW cannot control the analog mute functions or any other analog functions. It is basically an analog mixer with a FireWire audio interface and a MIDI controller built in. It only has MIDI Out and does not receive any MIDI or at least I can't find any information that is does receive MIDI at all.
It sounds really really good and the drivers did work for me on Mac with Sierra and Monterey but I could not get them to work on any version of Windows I tried. I tried 8, 10 and 11 with no success. It does have the ADAT ports so I guess it could still be used with another interface with ADAT connections. Windows issues could be due to the Firewire chipset or card I suppose but it worked fine with my Mac Pro and Macbook Pro with Sierra and Monterey with no issue. I hear macOS is losing firewire support after Monterey but there is a workaround I'm pretty sure.
