In order to stay competitive in an ever-evolving market, console manufacturers must offer a digital mixer, even if they have established their claim to fame in the analog domain. Allen & Heath is long known for delivering great analog live mixers, and has also presented the world with its iLive series of digital live mixers in more recent years. The company's most recent offering is the T sub-series of the iLive line, which is intended to be more attractive in terms of pricing for the sub-$30K market. I evaluated a iLive T-112 system, and I did not engage in a comparison between the distinct iLive lines, but rather assessed the system on its own merits.
The concept behind the iLive system is, in a phrase, distributed audio. The idea is that a familiar control surface is used to manage a mix core that lives on stage. Within the T sub-series, there are three control surfaces available - the T112, the T80, and the R72, and there are four mix cores (or MixRacks in Allen & Heath's parlance) - the iDR-64 (64 mic preamps and 32 outputs), the iDR-48 (48 mic preamps and 24 outputs,) the iDR-32 (32 mic preamps and 16 outputs,) and the iDR-16 (16 mic preamps and eight outputs,) all with balanced XLR I/O. The T80 has 20 faders, and the T112 has 28. There are four layers available (hence the T-80 can control 80 channels, and the T-112 can control 112.) The faders can be assigned to control mono or stereo inputs, group, auxiliary, main, matrix, DCA, and either IEM or floor wedge monitor levels. Each fader has a corresponding select, PAFL, mute, and mix button, the latter of which grants access to routing and levels to each of the various mixes created by the console. Each fader also has an associated rotary encoder, 12-segment LED meter, and one of my absolute favorite features in the console, an LCD display. There's nothing particularly special about the information displayed by the LCD; it's basically a scribble strip that offers panning, level, and status information about the channel. But the cool thing is the background coloration. The color changes to one of six available hues contingent upon the type of signal path being represented by the channel strip. This kind of thing is really good for my brain. It allows me to quickly assess what's happening from a visual standpoint. Color coding has been a standard on audio consoles for eons, but I just like the notion of channels capable of altering the color coding in real time - particularly because it's done with hardware.
Above the faders are found encoders and LED displays that correspond with typical console processing - channel input controls, gate, four-band parametric EQ, compressor, and a limiter/de-esser. These controls apply to whichever channel strip is currently selected, as one would expect in a digital control surface. To the right of these controls is a touch screen that facilitates detailed control over parameters, along with signal routing, effects, scenes, and set-up, among other things. The touch screen also displays high-resolution metering of numerous gain stages. I generally really like the touch screen, but this one has some smallish buttons that I found myself fat-fingering on occasion. It's just the price paid for keeping the control surface within a manageable footprint.
One other result of this small footprint mindset, however, I find quite a bit more troubling - the lack of a "send" encoder. Upon my initial venture into the features of the console, I deliberately avoided the documentation to see how far I could get without cracking a manual. I was joined by Douglas Robertson II, mixer at Mountain Valley Church in Scottsdale, Ariz. and a business associate of mine. We plowed headlong into the console, and had no difficulty setting up and getting signal equalized, compressed, and routed to the mains. We had a little trouble locating the effects sends, however. This is the only part of Allen & Heath's control surface design that is not intuitive or similar to an analog mixer. In my perfect world, there would be a designated send encoder of some kind. To be fair, Allen & Heath recommends that the user recall a standard template before commencing the mixing process, and this would have largely clarified the issue for us. I had deliberately decided to proceed without the template in order to determine if signal flow was, indeed, intuitive. The good news here is that aside from the available templates, users also receive assistance from Allen & Heath upon initial setup of the console, and there is 24/7 telephone support as well. Additionally, there are help menus built right into the console. We did not get permanently stuck with the effect send issue.
Otherwise, the control surface really is quite intuitive, and with scene snapshots available, friendly to untrained volunteers. I was pleased with the inclusion of analog I/O at the control surface - handy for outboard signal processing or monitoring, among other things. I have two other minor quibbles. It would be nice to have a USB port somewhere on the front panel - the T-series' ports are on the rear of the console, complicating matters if it's installed into custom furniture. Also, the mixer's headphone jacks are located in the middle of the right side of the desk, creating the potential for a headphone cable moving faders (stereo mains, in particular) if the engineer has to stretch over to the left end of the mixer for any reason. I prefer headphone jacks on the front of the mixer for this reason.
From a sonic standpoint, the mixer sounds excellent. The converters are very good, and the DSP is also exceptional. The EQs are very natural (and I really like the "width" LED displays they have.) The onboard dynamics sound very nice, and the internal effects are among the best I've heard in a digital console of any kind, particularly the reverbs. There are some truly excellent knockoffs of some commonly-used processors. The notion of placing all DSP in the same stage box with the I/O is very clever, and in portable applications, running a Cat 5 snake is vastly preferable over analog. Allen & Heath's iLive Editor software facilitates remote control over all console parameters from a computer --- even via WiFi. Very nice. Allen & Heath also included a PL-10 controller, an eight-channel control surface the size of a palm-top computer. I really loved this. As the drummer and audio mixer in my small church, I need the capacity to tweak the mix from behind the kit. These units have selector buttons, rotary encoders, and LED indicators that can be configured to any parameter, facilitating "more-me" monitor mixing, among other things. Very powerful.
Bottom line: Aside from my minor complaints about effects sends, USB ports, and headphone jack placement, I found the Allen & Heath iLive T-series mixing system to be a powerful, high-quality product that I would specify as a consultant, and would also use personally. The cost/performance ratio is very good, so the console is a great value. This console is a strong competitor in its price range, and I can recommend taking a look.
John McJunkin is CEO of Avalon Podcasting located in Chandler, Ariz., The company offers high-quality pod production and consultation services to a broad range of clients. He's also the host of the Podcast Pro Tech and Tips Podcast at www.avalonpodcasting.com.
Pro'sLCD display for each fader
Great sounding effects and dynamics
Con'sNo USB port on the front panel
Small buttons on touch screen
Company: Allen&Heath, distributed by American Music and SoundProduct: iLive T-112 digital mixing consolePhone: (800) 994-4984Website: www.ilive-digital.comSuggested Retail Price: Starting at $14,999
