Allen and Heath ZED-10FX 10-Channel Mixer with USB Interface

Get A&H quality in a small-format mixer with the ZED-10FX. Sweeten your live sound with the onboard effects, then capture the show to your computer via USB.

Mix up your mix with an array of awesome effects built in to the Allen and Heath ZED-10FX analog mixer, and then send your music straight to a computer for final touch-ups within your DAW. Ideal for gigging musicians and bands on the rise, this USB-enabled, 10-channel mixer provides loads of mixing, monitoring, and recording features in a small-format, portable unit that integrates seamlessly with stage and studio gear.

Do It All from the ZED-10FX

Whether you mix live or from within the confines of your personal studio, you'll find something to like about the ZED-10FX. Don't be fooled by its small size -- the compact ZED-10FX mixer is a connection powerhouse equipped with Class-A discrete FET high-impedance inputs for plugging in guitars directly, two stereo inputs for hooking up audio players or keyboards, XLR main stereo outs, a flexible monitoring section with headphone and speaker feed outputs, a USB digital audio interface for routing audio to and from a computer, and much more.

Watch Hart Sawyer recording vocals, keyboard, acoustic and electric guitars directly into her A&H ZED series mixer:


Get Connected with 4 Mic Preamps + 3 Stereo Line Inputs

Four mic/line channels and 48V phantom power handle your microphones and DI boxes. Three dual-stereo channels, each with gain control and 2-band EQ, have your back for everything else. Each channel offers a main stereo input on jack sockets with additional inputs from phono sockets or from the USB audio input. You read more can select the USB return to one of the extra inputs so that it feeds either the main LR bus or the stereo channel.

Work with Built-In FX or Add Your Own Via USB

What sets the ZED-10FX apart from other mixers in its class is its impressive FX section. The mixer sports 16 choice effects ranging from delays and reverbs to flanger and chorus. You can dial in your sound by adjusting dedicated parameters on each effect. Sweeten your sound even more with the ZED-10FX's musical 3-band EQ with MusiQ on the first 4 channels, and 2-band EQ on the stereo inputs.

Plug Into Your Computer with USB I/O

Connect the mixer to a PC or Mac via USB and you have a simple way to get 44.1/48 kHz, 16-bit audio to and from your computer for recording, playback, and mixing with external FX.

Weighing in at about 7 pounds, the Allen & Heath ZED-10FX is ultra-portable and easy to integrate into any setup.

Get an overview of the Allen and Heath ZED-10FX 10-Channel Mixer in this video demo:


Features:

- 10-channel mixer with USB
- 4 mic/line inputs, 2 with Class-A FET high-impedance inputs
- Neutrik mic XLR
- Neutrik 1/4" jacks
- 1 pre-fade Aux send
- 1 FX send
- Sound image pan
- Illuminated PFL indicator
- Stereo returns and playback
- All inputs with level control
- 12-bar meters
- Responsive 3-band, swept mid EQ with MusiQ
- 2 stereo sources with MP3 player compatibility
- Separate 2-track record outputs
- Stereo playback input for 2-track replay
- XLR main stereo outputs with inserts
- Comprehensive monitoring
- Configurable USB stereo audio in/out
- Stereo monitor outs
- 48V microphone phantom power
- DI level switching for sub mixing
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Input
Mono channel:
XLR Input: -10 to -60dBu for nominal (+11dBu in max)

Line Input (Jack socket): +10 to -40dBu (+31dBu maximum)

Stereo Input: Jack or phono sockets

0dBu nominal (control = Off to +15dB)

Output
L/R Outputs: XLR

Normal/DI out 0dBu/-30dBu +21dBu/-9dBu maximum.

Aux and FX Outputs: Jack sockets

0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.

Record and Monitor Outputs: phono sockets

0dBu nominal. +21dBu maximum.

Frequency Response
Mic in to Mix L/R Out: 30dB gain:
+0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 30kHz.

Line in to Mix L/R out: 0dB gain

+0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 25kHz

Stereo in to Mix L/R out: +0.5/-1dB 10Hz to 30kHz

THD+n
Mic in to Mix L/R Out:
10dB gain, 1kHz: +10dBu out 0.002%

30dB gain, 1kHz: 0.01%

Line in to Mix L/R out: 0dB gain

0dBu 1kHz 0.003%

Stereo in to Mix L/R out: 0dB gain

+10dBu 1kHz 0.002%

Guitar Input to Mix L/R Out: 0dBu

Boost OUT: 0.015%

Boost IN: 2% Second Harmonic

Headroom
Analog Headroom from nominal (0Vu): 21dB

USB in & out headroom from nominal (0Vu): 14dB

Noise
Mic Pre EIN @ max gain 150R input Z 22-22kHz: -127dBu

Mix L/R out, L/R faders = 0, Levels min, 22-22kHz: -96dBu

Mix L/R out, L/R faders = 0, Levels min, 22-22kHz: -96dBu

USB Audio CODEC (Coder/Decoder)
USB Audio In/Out: USB 1.1 compliant 16bit.

Sample Rate: 32, 44.1, or 48kHz

Physical
Dimensions (LxHxD): 13.2 x 3.7 x 10.8 inches (336 x 95 x 275 mm)

Weight: 7.3 lbs (3.3 kg)
Dimensions and Weight in Packaging
Base Item
Shipping Weight: 10.5 lbs
Shipping Dimensions: 16 x 13 x 6 in
Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): ALL ZED10FX

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-431-2609
Web: https://www.allen-heath.com/support/

Allen and Heath ZED-10FX Mixer with USB

ZED-10 and ZED-10FX are amazing little desks for small band mixing. They are extremely portable for carrying to the gig, and can be used for recording live or in the studio. Guitars can be plugged in directly to the mixer using the specially designed high-impedance inputs, while the mixer has two stereo inputs for MP3/CD players or keyboards. Equipped with professional XLR main stereo outputs and a flexible monitoring section with headphone and speaker feed outputs. In the FX version, A&H has added a set of fabulous effects to give shimmering reverbs and enhance your sound.

ZEDs are great for live mixing. Their layout makes them very easy to use and easy to achieve a great sound. They are also perfect for recording, either a live show or an audio project at home can be built up track by track using the USB digital audio interface.

The flexibility and quality of these mixers make them stand out from the crowd. You can plug your guitars or instruments straight into the class A discrete FET high impedance inputs, cater for up to four microphones, two stereo sources with MP3 player compatibility, separate 2-track record outputs and a stereo playback input for 2-track replay or perhaps interval music from a CD player, XLR main stereo outputs with inserts, comprehensive monitoring with headphones and separate monitor speaker outputs, 48V microphone phantom power, DI level switching for sub mixing, and not least of all, the same digital effects algorithms as those used on A&H's flagship digital consoles costing 150 times as much.

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 sixteen mono channels there are two dual stereo channels, each with a main stereo input on jack sockets and with additional inputs on phono sockets. The USB return can be selected to one of the additional inputs so that it feeds either the main LR bus or the stereo channel.

Guitar DI

In place of the DuoPre, the ZED-10 &10FX have preamps similar in design to A&H's MixWizard range of mixers, but with a twist! Inputs 3 & 4 have a high impedance jack input capable of taking either a normal line level or a low level input from a guitar pickup.

These inputs have been crafted with the aim of replicating the sound of a classic guitar or instrument tube pre-amp in a combo or head amp. An extremely high input impedance ensures loading on pick-ups is minimal and a Class A FET (field effect transistor) circuit powered from 48V is employed to give the valve-like gain stage. There is a gain "Boost" switch associated with the guitar inputs which boosts gain by 26dB to cater for instruments with very low level outputs and the overdrive characteristics of the guitar inputs are very similar to a valve (tube) circuit, being asymmetric and soft. All this makes for a wonderfully natural sound to be reproduced from the instrument, full of warmth and character.

EQ section

ZED-10FX is equipped with a responsive 3-band EQ with MusiQ, an optimized slope (or Q factor) for equalizing individual instruments.

Auxiliary sends

6 aux sends are provided, of which 1&2 are prefade for foldback monitoring, and 3 & 4 are switched pre or post-fade for effects sends. and 5&6 are post-fade. Auxes 1&2 can be sent to the USB bus for recording pre-fade signals independently to the main mix. Auxes 5&6 can also be sent to the USB bus for use as effects sends.

USB audio flexibility

Getting audio to and from a computer easily is now a common requirement for live sound and music production. The way A&H have implemented this on ZED is super-flexible and super-easy! No longer do you need to fiddle around the back of your PC to get to the soundcard inputs, only to find that the levels are all wrong and noisy. Just 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

The ZED-10FX has been designed using individual vertically mounted circuit boards with each rotary control fixed with a metal nut to the front panel - making a much more robust product that will resist damage and give years of reliable use.

AmpliTube X-GEAR Software

Allen & Heath is pleased to announce a partnership with leading music software company, IK Multimedia, to bundle its pioneering AmpliTube X-GEAR Visit their site for more information.

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (18 ratings)
Submitted June 5, 2011 by a customer from richlamphear.com

"Great mixer value"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Easily the best under $300 mixer I've owned. If sound quality is the most important consideration to you, don't hesitate, get this one.

Sound
At this price point, sound is a definite 10. I had a mackie 1202-vlz3 and was happy with it, replaced it with the ZED mostly because I wanted the integrated effects unit. I was shocked however, by the improvement in sound of the preamps, mix engine and overall quality of the ZED compared to the Mackie. My live sound really took a step forward by comparison. The effects too are excellent quality themselves. I think this mixer is just an amazing bargain.

Features
The main omission is channel mutes - really miss these compared to the mackie. It's nice to have USB computer interface included but keep in mind it's just 16-bit. If only it was 24-bit, combined with the high quality mic preamps the ZED could be a very credible studio interface in addition to live mixer. As it is, the USB recording capability is a nice-to-have add-on for recording performances and rehearsals, but not much more.

Ease of Use
About as easy to use as you can expect for a small mixer with effects and USB recording built in. Go through the manual and work with it for a few sessions and you'll have it down.

Quality
Similar to Mackie quality. Metal parts and switches might be a tad 'lighter' and it does use plastic end panels. To the good is an internal read more power supply and the knobs and connectors all feel solid. No worries, but if you're gigging with it much I'd get some kind of case or at least a gig bag.

Value
Unless you really must have channel mutes this is the only thing I'd consider in the price range. The sound quality is simply miles ahead of the competition in the range.

Manufacturer Support
Haven't needed support. The manual is good and I've noticed the designer from A&H hangs out on Gearslutz from time to time..

The Wow Factor
Not a terribly pretty thing. More geek appeal than sex appeal. I could see having some wooden end caps made to replace the plastic though. That would be hot.

Musical Background:
Active Musician

Musical Style:
Rock Alternative Folk Country
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