Allen & Heath ZED Series
Models 14 and 24

The Allen Heath ZED-14 and ZED-24 are small format, USB-equipped stereo mixers for live and recording. These are mixers for anyone, from entry-level to professionals. It’ll be equally happy running your gig on stage, recording live or mixing down in your studio at home. Bundled with these models are Cakewalk's SONAR LE music creation and audio production software, giving you a fantastic, high spec digital audio workstation.

The feature-set is incredibly advanced for a mixer at this level –

• The ZED-14 has 13 independent sources to the mix
• The ZED-24 has 23 independent sources to the mix.
• 10 independent outputs
• 4 aux sends
• a USB send and return for PC or Mac recording, playback and effects
• a unique dual stereo input capability
• some very advanced monitoring facilities.

It can be used for many different tasks, whether in live performance, utilizing plug-in effects via USB, live recording via USB and Cakewalk, studio recording or mixing down to produce your own 2-track recordings.

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 six mono channels there are four stereo channels, each with a main stereo input on jack sockets, and with the ability to take additional stereo inputs from phono sockets or from the USB audio input, flexibility gives you control.

ZED-14 boasts

• 99 different controls on its front panel.
• 6 mic/line channels are provided on ZED-14 - plenty for mics or DI boxes for a small band, duo or solo performer
• 4 stereo line inputs - dual inputs, both with gain and 2-band EQ.

ZED-24 boasts

• 129 different controls on its front panel - way more than any of the competition!
• 16 mic/line channels are provided on ZED-24 - plenty for mics or DI boxes for larger bands or demanding applications requiring more inputs than the ZED-14.
• 4 stereo line inputs, 3 with dual inputs. All inputs have independent gain control.

DuoPre
Based on the proven pre-amps from the hugely successful PA series, the ZED series has new 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.

EQ section
ZED-14 features a responsive 3-band, swept mid frequency design with MusiQ - optimized slope (or Q factor) for equalizing individual instruments. HF and LF also boast Xtra Boost, to make these frequencies more responsive.

Auxiliary sends
4 aux sends are provided, of which 1 & 2 are prefade for foldback monitoring, and 3 & 4 post-fade for effects sends. A stereo signal can be sent from auxes via USB to computer to create 2 separate record feeds independent of the main LR mix (1&2) and or used as FX sends (3&4).

USB audio flexibility
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 utilizing external FX.

Build
At this level, most mixers are built using a single, flat PCB with all the pots and switches attached at right angles. ZED-14/24 utilizes individual vertically mounted channel circuit boards with each rotary control fixed with a metal nut to the front panel. ZED also has professional 100mm faders for ultimate control over your levels.

SONAR LE - provided Free!
Allen Heath teamed up with Cakewalk to bundle SONAR LE with this ZED mixer. The two team up together in many ways - for example straightforward recording of a stereo mix, recording tracks individually to build up a song, or for inserting a SONAR LE effects plug-in.

Features