Allan and Heath Zed-12FX versus Sound craft EPM or EFX 12

Lisa Lane-Collins

Sophomore
Dec 9, 2012
270
0
16
Adelaide, Australia
Have a shortage of mixing consoles. Needs include a once a week acoustic thing (requires 3 preamps) and occasional hire for small live shows (minimum 8 channels for these)

So, torn between buying a cheap 12 channel console or the (comparatively expensive) secondhand A n H

Things to consider - a 6 channel console probably won't be useful for anything much other than this specific gig (will it?)

A console that is of (presumably) better quality (is it? Dunno what it is but I've never enjoyed using the zed series) might be the better choice for something that is being hired out...
 
Re: Allan and Heath Zed-12FX versus Sound craft EPM or EFX 12

Have a shortage of mixing consoles. Needs include a once a week acoustic thing (requires 3 preamps) and occasional hire for small live shows (minimum 8 channels for these)

So, torn between buying a cheap 12 channel console or the (comparatively expensive) secondhand A n H

Small consoles are great for hires where "we need two microphones and an ipod connection", if you do many of those. I believe the cheaper soundcrafts used under rated components at one point which were more prone to failure, but I'm not sure if they still do.

*Found it, here, of all places.

http://soundforums.net/basement/1372-good-use-soundcraft-epm6.html

How much do you care about onboard FX quality?

Chris
 
Re: Allan and Heath Zed-12FX versus Sound craft EPM or EFX 12

I have owned several of the mid line A&H analog desks over the years and was never thrilled with the anything about them other than the feature set. Having said that, we own a couple of the ZED mixers that we use just for the type of thing you are talking about. They have been rock solid money makers. i would recommend them.
 
Re: Allan and Heath Zed-12FX versus Sound craft EPM or EFX 12

Did end up going with a zed. Thought about how even though bringing in this extra desk, whatever brand it was, wasn't going to make me any extra money in the short term, the hire job in itself is acting a bit like a business card for me and I'd rather potential clients be under the impression I supply quality gear :-D

Still thinking I should get a cheapy 12 channel for those triple booked nights where I'm running a rig somewhere though, not glamorous but certainly functional. (And they So cheap I can probably afford to do this).