The ideal mixer for a lightweight live rig, the Allen & Heath ZED-18 is just as at home in your studio. It houses enough connectivity for your whole band, thanks to 10 mic/line channels (the preamps sound great, by the way). Four stereo channel are also onboard. The ZED-18's responsive 3-band EQ design features A & H's MusiQ — a variable Q that makes optimizing each instrument's tone settings a breeze. You also get stereo USB audio connectivity for capturing quick recordings. Complete with solid-feeling ALPS 100mm faders and effective metering, you can't go wrong with the ZED-18.

Derived from Allen & Heath's popular PA series, DuoPre preamps employ a two-stage design with carefully controlled amounts of gain in each stage. An impressive 69dB is evenly distributed around the gain control. Most of the gain comes from the first stage, minimizing noise. Line level signals are plugged directly into the second stage using the line input jack socket. This results in less noise when using the line input, while also matching to a higher input impedance.

Dialing in each instrument's tone settings is easy with the ZED-18. Its responsive three-band, swept mid-frequency EQ design employs Allen & Heath's innovative MusiQ, which is essentially a variable Q that automatically optimizes your EQ settings. Thanks to MusiQ, beginners can achieve musically pleasant EQ settings with the ZED-18 with little effort.

Getting audio in and out of your computer with the ZED-18 is a simple plug-and-play operation. Just plug in, select the USB routing on the mixer and your computer, and you're ready to pipe CD-quality audio into and out of your Mac or PC. The ZED-18 allows different signals to be sent to USB, from LR or from selected aux buses. The USB return signal can be routed straight to the LR mix or to a stereo channel.

• Type: Analog Mixer with USB

• Channels: 18-channel (10 x mono, 4 x stereo)

• Computer Connectivity: USB (2 x 2)

• A/D Resolution: 16-bit/48kHz

• Faders: 16 x ALPS 100mm

• Inputs - Mic Preamps: 10 x XLR

• Phantom Power: Global

• Inputs - Line: 10 x 1/4" TRS, 8 x 1/4" (4 x stereo channels)

• Inputs - Other: 2 x Dual RCA Stereo (stereo, 2 track)

• Outputs - Main: 2 x XLR (main), 1 x 1/4" (mono)

• Outputs - Other: 2 x Dual RCA Stereo (rec out, alt out)

• Aux Sends: 2 x Pre, 2 x Post

• Send/Return I/O: 4 x 1/4" (aux send)

• Channel Inserts: 10 x 1/4"

• Inserts: 2 x 1/4" (stereo main)

• Headphones: 1 x 1/4", 1 x 1/8"

• USB: 1 x Type B

• EQ Bands: 3-band EQ with MusiQ

• Software: Cakewalk Sonar LE

• Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable

• Height: 3.85"

• Width: 18.3"

• Depth: 18.3"

• Weight:18.7 lbs.

• Manufacturer Part Number: AH-ZED18