Allen & Heath Qu-16 handles UK Christmas arena tour

Monitor engineer Ben Booker used an Allen & Heath Qu-16 digital mixer for a run of UK arena shows over Christmas featuring some of the biggest names in pop.

Robbie Williams, Union J, Pixie Lott, The Saturdays, Rizzle Kicks, Naughty Boy, Rudimental, McFly and John Newman were all included in the line-up.

Organised by EMO in partnership with local radio stations across the country, the tour visited Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Belfast, Liverpool, Manchester and the new Hydro arena in Glasgow.

The mixer handled all the playback content. Booker used the USB soundcard built into the console, via Qlab software on a Mac, to provide multitrack playback to the performers that required click and guide tracks. A pair of media players were also plugged into the Qu-16 for last minute track changes via USB sticks and SD cards.

“The Qu-16 is clean sounding and simple to operate," said Booker. "EQ changes and level changes can be recalled in scene changes making for a smooth running quick show, as normally there are only one or two-minute change overs. I also used the iPad app to walk out front and EQ tracks if needed before I sent them to the house system.”

Keep up to date with the latest developments from the world of pro audio by registering for our free daily newsletter.