Allen & Heath ZED-22FX

The Zed 22 FX is a 22 channel mixer that has 16 mic inputs/channels, and 3 stereo channels. It comes loaded with 16 awesome and high quality on board effects. In case you need a DAW, it comes with Sonar LE software for you to do all of your work in if you want to use it. The price of the Zed 22 is a little more expensive than the previous versions of the mixers from Allen and Heath but it is worth it.

UTILIZATION

With no talkback function on the Zed 22 FX pretty much rules it out for DJ use but for a band needing a mixer this is the one you should invest in. This is a great mixer for practice use, or live applications. The musical 3 band EQ on the main channels is great. On the stereo channels is where the 2 band EQ is. Some of my favorite effects on the Zed 22 are the reverbs, delays, flange and chorus effects.

SOUNDS

This mixer does connect to your computer through USB which is a plus for some and a negative for others. To me the fact that it is USB makes it compatible with any system that is out, if it was a FireWire connection I think the audio would be a little cleaner and better but a lot of computers and laptops don’t have FireWire so that would limit you a lot with the Zed 22.

OVERALL OPINION

This unit is very quiet (preamps) and all of the sliders and knobs are well made and smooth to slide and turn. The unit is pretty solid and made out of heavy materials. I would not trust dropping it though because I don’t see it being able to take that much abuse, so if you are using it for road gear make sure you purchase a good carrying case or gig bag for it to protect it from harmful damage.