The rear panel of the ZED10 FX hosts the IEC mains power inlet, as well as a recessed switch to alter the output level. It was refreshing to find that power is delivered via a standard IEC inlet on the rear panel, because it means that there are no wall‑warts, and I could power it from my rackmounted power supply without the need for yet another extension socket! The only other features on the back of the mixer are an off and on switch, and a recessed button (accessible by pencil or screwdriver) to switch the output level between 0dBU and ‑30dBU. The Aux doesn't have any dedicated outputs other than the headphones socket, so while it could, in practice, be used to feed external effects units via the headphone socket, it's really intended for creating a second mix for artist monitoring.
The one remaining output is the headphones socket, which is presented as a quarter‑inch TRS jack. Of course, most recording is likely to be done via the USB output, which is located beneath the monitor outs. A monitor output, for feeding your amp or speakers, is presented on a pair of RCA phono sockets, as is the 'Record Out', should you need to record externally. Beneath these are quarter‑inch TRS jack sockets for the left and right mix-insert points, and another pair for the FX and Aux outputs. The main stereo mix output comes courtesy of a pair of balanced XLRs at the top right‑hand corner.
Like the inputs, the outputs are all presented on the top face of the mixer.
Finally, there's one more pair of jacks labelled 'Playback In', which I'll discuss later. In fact, the legending as a whole on this mixer is very clear in comparison with that on much of the competition. The four mono and first two stereo channels include gain pots, and on the mono channels these are clearly labelled for both mic and line gain. The remaining two channels are another stereo pair that double up as the Aux/FX and USB returns. The next two input channels offer stereo line/instrument inputs, presented on dual mono jacks, and duplicated on two phono sockets for the first pair. The first four channels include mic preamps (the same as those that feature on Allen & Heath's Mix Wizard range), and these all offer 48V phantom power, which is switched globally. Also bundled with the mixer is a free version of IK Multimedia's X‑Gear amp and cabinet modelling software, which offers a few very good-quality models, and is arguably a more useful addition than the usual cut‑down DAW software. Ins & OutsĪs the name suggests, the ZED10 FX is a 10‑channel mixer with onboard effects, but it also includes a stereo USB audio interface, capable of 24‑bit, 48kHz conversion, along with some useful routing options, which I'll discuss later. Their acclaimed ZED range of mixers offers plenty of choice, the latest addition being the ZED10 FX. The quality and quantity of the audio conversion has varied too, with some designs offering up to 16 channels of I/O, and others only offering stereo and some offering 24‑bit conversion and up to 96kHz sample rate, but more budget models only up to 16‑bit, 48kHz.īritish company Allen & Heath are one of a handful of mixer manufacturers who have been consistently among the front-runners in designing small‑format mixers to fit the project-studio budget - Mackie and Soundcraft being the two closest competitors that spring to mind. That leaves you needing only a microphone and a set of monitors or decent headphones to complete a basic hardware setup.Īs with any mixers, the quality and functionality varies from one manufacturer to another and from model to model. Gone are the days when, to get started with audio recording, you needed to carefully select each and every component in the recording chain: yes, there are still plenty of options if you want to do that, but in recent years we've seen a glut of well‑specified analogue mixers with on‑board A‑D and D‑A conversion, and either Firewire or USB connectivity - so that they can be plugged straight into your computer without the need for a third‑party audio interface.
Just how much does this compact mixer with a built‑in audio interface and effects offer the home recordist?
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