Really useful review, one of the few to show some of the screen transitions in detail e.g. faders to sends, ch inserts to fx config etc. Had to pause and rewind to get a few details. Thanks for producing this, and great to have Enrico interviewing with solid applied mixing knowledge, helps ask relevant detailed questions.
At 25m14s, he starts talking about how the feedback assistant "looks after" those feedback frequencies, that is it keeps watching them and automatically keeps reducing the gain and widening the Q as it sees fit. I've noticed, in the several gigs I've used the CQ18T for, that it can go WAY overboard with this and end up pulling down those frequencies too far and widening their Qs far too much, so that it ends up cutting out huge swaths of frequencies to the point that it starts to sound terrible. He even says, "you don't want to destroy the signal", but that's exactly what it has done to me on two separate gigs (one a 5-part a cappella group, the other a guitar, piano, and vocalist). I consider this a shortcoming of the code. It really needs to have serious limits put onto how deep and wide it can adjust these frequency notches. The whole point is to have SMALL notches rather than the kind of big notches we used to get with (yes, "old school") GEQ.
It sounds like you might be leaving the FBA switched in and adding fixed filters through the show. I’d suggest checking through the ‘How to use the Feedback Assistant’ section of the user guide here - www.allen-heath.com/content/uploads/2023/09/CQ_User_Guide_V1_1_0_iss1.pdf#page=42&zoom=auto,-361,555 Hopefully this will help you figure out what is happening and why, but also give you some ideas on how to get the best out of the Feedback Assistant. The main things I would suggest alongside that are - Do most of the ringing out at setup with fixed filters. Only leave FBA hold off and applying live filters if you know what’s going to happen. If using live filters, set a recovery time that works for the situation. Leave FBA hold on if the microphones or speakers aren’t moving around and there is no feedback (as otherwise false positives will add filters unnecessarily).
I would love a 24 and 32 channel version but they wil not do it to protect their higher lines. Now that CQ has DCA, mute group, custom layers, midi control...it is a surprisingly great value.
Great point. For future reference, @JBA, we don't need to be watching the people talking about things on the screen, we need to see the screen while they're talking about it. You should only switch to the side camera when the people are talking about something in general and not talking specifically about things on the screen.
Thank you for the suggestions and constructive criticism. While we agree with you, in this instance we did the best we could with the footage that was shot.
Can i get some serious answers about FBA. As i know its impossible to not hear feedback in order to FBA do his job. Any opinion what is better to use for live performance Fixed or Live mode? It make some sense for me for "fixed mode" because in live mode limits are removing automatically to old state.
There’s 16 bands of FBA available per output. You can use a combination of fixed and as well. What’s best will depend on the situation but when using both, you can have 4 live and 12 fixed per output. Which one is best will depend on what is causing the feedback. If it’s feedback from a mic picking up a stage monitor/wedge, fixed will likely do the job. That screen also has an rta. I would reference this to see if the feedback is moving or a static frequency(s).
Yes, the CQ essentially is an audio interface. You would need an adapter for your iphone/ipad to receive the signal from the CQ's USB-Type-B port. www.apple.com/shop/product/MX5J3AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter?afid=p238%7Csq4ew1VFw-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_699117475408_pgrid_162077588373_pntwk_g_pchan_online_pexid__ptid_pla-2270036488055_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-pla-btb--slid---product-MX5J3AM/A
❤❤ thx 100 thank you Gents
Really useful review, one of the few to show some of the screen transitions in detail e.g. faders to sends, ch inserts to fx config etc. Had to pause and rewind to get a few details. Thanks for producing this, and great to have Enrico interviewing with solid applied mixing knowledge, helps ask relevant detailed questions.
Thanks for Vid. u asked right questions, im lucky to find 1 last A&H CQ12T in stock in my small country and comming tomorow.
At 25m14s, he starts talking about how the feedback assistant "looks after" those feedback frequencies, that is it keeps watching them and automatically keeps reducing the gain and widening the Q as it sees fit. I've noticed, in the several gigs I've used the CQ18T for, that it can go WAY overboard with this and end up pulling down those frequencies too far and widening their Qs far too much, so that it ends up cutting out huge swaths of frequencies to the point that it starts to sound terrible. He even says, "you don't want to destroy the signal", but that's exactly what it has done to me on two separate gigs (one a 5-part a cappella group, the other a guitar, piano, and vocalist). I consider this a shortcoming of the code. It really needs to have serious limits put onto how deep and wide it can adjust these frequency notches. The whole point is to have SMALL notches rather than the kind of big notches we used to get with (yes, "old school") GEQ.
(That shortcoming aside, this really is an awesome mixer! Thank you all for giving us such a great tool.)
It sounds like you might be leaving the FBA switched in and adding fixed filters through the show.
I’d suggest checking through the ‘How to use the Feedback Assistant’ section of the user guide here - www.allen-heath.com/content/uploads/2023/09/CQ_User_Guide_V1_1_0_iss1.pdf#page=42&zoom=auto,-361,555
Hopefully this will help you figure out what is happening and why, but also give you some ideas on how to get the best out of the Feedback Assistant.
The main things I would suggest alongside that are -
Do most of the ringing out at setup with fixed filters.
Only leave FBA hold off and applying live filters if you know what’s going to happen.
If using live filters, set a recovery time that works for the situation.
Leave FBA hold on if the microphones or speakers aren’t moving around and there is no feedback (as otherwise false positives will add filters unnecessarily).
I love to see 32ch of version of CQ series very important please release 😢
We are not Allen & Heath direct but will pass along the suggestion.
I would love a 24 and 32 channel version but they wil not do it to protect their higher lines. Now that CQ has DCA, mute group, custom layers, midi control...it is a surprisingly great value.
YUou should have been focusing on the screens instead of all these side views.
Great point. For future reference, @JBA, we don't need to be watching the people talking about things on the screen, we need to see the screen while they're talking about it. You should only switch to the side camera when the people are talking about something in general and not talking specifically about things on the screen.
Thank you for the suggestions and constructive criticism. While we agree with you, in this instance we did the best we could with the footage that was shot.
I’d love to hear both Engineering and Sales’ justifications for using USB-A/B in 2023
We'd recommend posting this question to the Allen & Heath message board as their engineers frequently answer questions like. this.
I’m trying to buy a 12 in Europe but they’re not available anywhere 😢
Perhaps try a vendor in the USA that ships internationally such as B&H Photo.
Can i get some serious answers about FBA.
As i know its impossible to not hear feedback in order to FBA do his job. Any opinion what is better to use for live performance Fixed or Live mode?
It make some sense for me for "fixed mode" because in live mode limits are removing automatically to old state.
There’s 16 bands of FBA available per output. You can use a combination of fixed and as well. What’s best will depend on the situation but when using both, you can have 4 live and 12 fixed per output. Which one is best will depend on what is causing the feedback. If it’s feedback from a mic picking up a stage monitor/wedge, fixed will likely do the job. That screen also has an rta. I would reference this to see if the feedback is moving or a static frequency(s).
Is there a way to use Dante with this mixer?
The CQ mixers are all self-contained so they can not connect to a dante network.
Keith can you do my unit next buddy 😊
36:58 how? I can use the USB and do this?
Yes, the CQ essentially is an audio interface. You would need an adapter for your iphone/ipad to receive the signal from the CQ's USB-Type-B port. www.apple.com/shop/product/MX5J3AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter?afid=p238%7Csq4ew1VFw-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_699117475408_pgrid_162077588373_pntwk_g_pchan_online_pexid__ptid_pla-2270036488055_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-pla-btb--slid---product-MX5J3AM/A
@@Johnbanthony thank you!
@@Johnbanthony you use a standard iPhone USB charging cable for this?
@@dustinadair7893 No, see the link in our response.
@@Johnbanthony ok thank you