Allen & Heath ZED-14 Multipurpose Mixer

Allen & Heath’s ZED-14 Multipurpose Mixer is a compact, versatile mixer that’s easy to fit into any audio setup. Whether you’re a touring professional or experimenting in a home studio, this mixer’s rugged portability and feature-packed controls make it the ideal choice for small bands, solo artists, or other AV applications that need quality sound on the go. With optimized connectivity, swept semi-parametric EQ, Duopre amps, and 157 controls on the front panel, the ZED-14 delivers the tools you need to ensure you sound your best.

The ZED-14 comes with DuoPre pre-amplifiers that use a 2-stage design and carefully controlled gain in each stage. These preamps boast a gain range of 69dB and reliably-even gain control when amplifying a signal from the mixer’s XLR input. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, which keeps unwanted noise to a minimum. Plug line level signals into the preamp’s second stage using the line input jack socket, which results in less noise when using line input or when matching a higher input impedance.

Built into the ZED-14 is a responsive 3-band, swept mid-frequency EQ design at uses MusiQ. Its optimized slope (Q factor) allows you to precision-equalize individual instruments in your band.

The ZED-14 comes with configurable USB audio inputs and outputs. No need to install external soundcards—just plug in a USB lead and select “USB routing” on the mixer to get started right away at your recording. This feature gives you CD-quality audio to and from your Mac or PC, while switches and connections via the mixer’s jack socket terminals offer a variety of send/return options.

Rounding out the ZED-14’s connectivity options are 6 mic or line inputs, 4 stereo inputs with EQ for MP3/CD players or keyboards, as well as professional XLR stereo outputs and a versatile monitoring section that lets you plug in headphones and/or speakers.