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Allen & Heath WZ3 16:2 DX
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Allen & Heath WZ3 16:2 DX

Analog Mixer from Allen & Heath belonging to the Wizard series

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« Amazing sounding Mixer with more options that I have ever seen »

Published on 03/06/12 at 10:19
Yes, you can rack the MixWizard with the optional rack ears. The connections on this mixer include XLR, TRS, Midi and a link port that works with other A&H gear. This mixer does not offer any digital connections. As for channels, you get 16 mono fader channels, two stereo input/return channels, two identical separate ouputs (one includes a mono summed ouput), one stereo alternate ouput, and six aux sends. On the EQ, the lows are shelves but there are two parametric style EQ functions that hover in the low mid to mid high range. The only automation that can be achieved is by the digital onboard effects. Everything else is manual. The only type of synchronization can be achieved with the midi based, digital onboard effects.

UTILIZATION

The typical functions are very easy to access as you can see in any picture of this mixer, there are a lot of knobs and faders. There are in fact a lot of options that are not easy accessible. Those options reside on the inside of the mixer. Most of the options include how certain channels react to the input, i.e. does the A/B output receive signal pre or post fader. There are quite a few options that can be changed from under the hood. I highly recommend the manual for learning all those as well as many other great options that this mixer offers. The manual is very well written, not too long and extremely helpful. However, it is a manual that covers this model and the very similar 12 channel model. It can be a little confusing as the two mixers are dealt with simultaneously and you have to make sure you are reading the correct info for the right mixer.

SOUNDS

Allen and Heath are known for there preamps, with that said, these are the quietest, most natural sounding preamps I have ever used on a mixer. I am replacing a Mackie VLZ3 board with this allen and heath and I am very happy with the sound quality improvement. The eq is excellent. Having the ability to select the frequency of the cut/boost for the top two eq parameters is excellent and opens up some serious room for perfecting your live sound.

OVERALL OPINION

There are so many things to like about this mixer including the excellent preamps, the host of inputs/outputs, the digital effects, the ability to make a lot of changes via the jumpers under the hood and so on. But, my favorite thing about this board is the fact that every fader channel is a separate "board" in itself. That means that years down the road, when say a channel goes dead or has an issue, I don't have to replace/work on the whole mixer's board. I can just remove the individual fader board and replace/fix on an individual basis. This is amazing and really adds to the longterm value of this board. I couldn't be happier about the price. I bought it from a friend who takes care of his gear and I got it for $250 less than new. This board gets a 10 out of 10 for performance and sound quality. My live performance sound quality is vastly better after switching to this mixer. I have used mainly mackie boards with a few yamaha boards in my time, and the Mixwizard blows them away. Yes, I would definitely buy this board again.