Allen & Heath Qu Series: audio into DMXDesktop

Models covered

• Qu-16, Qu-24 and Qu-32 (classic)
• Qu-Pac
• Qu-SB

USB channel counts differ by model:

• Qu-16: 24 channels to the computer, 22 back from it
• Qu-24: 32 to the computer, 30 back
• Qu-32, Qu-Pac and Qu-SB: 32 to the computer, 32 back

Qu-SB has no screen, so do the patching below in the Qu-Pad app.

What you need

• A USB cable to the rear USB-B streaming port.
• On Windows, the Allen & Heath Qu USB driver. The Qu is not class compliant on Windows, so the driver is needed even for ordinary stereo capture.
• On macOS, nothing. The interface is class compliant.

Connect the console

1. Connect the rear USB-B streaming port to the computer.
2. On Windows, install the Qu driver.
3. In DMXDesktop, open Settings → Audio and select the Qu.

Fastest setup: the default LR on 17 and 18

Out of the box, the Main LR mix is already sitting on USB sends 17 and 18, on every Qu model. If nobody has changed the patch, there is nothing to do on the console at all.

1. Open Setup → I/O Patch → USB Audio.
2. Confirm USB 17 is LR L and USB 18 is LR R.
3. In DMXDesktop, select the Qu. On macOS, or on Windows with the Qu ASIO device, select channels 17 and 18. On Windows with the ordinary Qu stereo input there is no channel choice to make, because that input already carries USB 17 and 18.

Windows without ASIO: the stereo input

The Qu driver gives Windows one ordinary stereo recording input, and it is always fed from USB sends 17 and 18, the same pair Qu-Drive uses for stereo recording. On that input, whatever you patch to 17 and 18 is what DMXDesktop hears.

Recommended setup: a music-only bus

1. Pick a stereo Mix you are not using for monitors, name it DMXDesktop, unmute its master and set it to 0 dB.
2. Send each music channel to it at 0 dB, and choose pre-fader or post-fader sends. Keep the sends fully down on speech microphones and talkback.
3. Open Setup → I/O Patch → USB Audio.
4. On Windows with the ordinary Qu stereo input, assign the Mix's left and right to USB 17 and 18. That is the only pair this input hears.
5. On macOS, or on Windows with ASIO, you can instead use any USB pair nobody is recording on, and select the same two numbers in DMXDesktop.

Troubleshooting

The level ignores the channel fader

By default the input channels feed USB from their insert send point, which is before the processing and the fader. On the USB Audio screen, set the CH/ST/Grp source to Direct Outs, so the USB sends follow each channel's direct output settings, which follow the fader by default. Or feed USB from a Mix, which is post-fader.

Channels 17 and 18 carry the wrong thing

Somebody has changed the patch. Do not assume the factory mapping. Open the USB Audio patch and look.

Windows offers no channel choice

You are on the ordinary Qu stereo input, which always carries USB 17 and 18. Patch the mix you want to 17 and 18, or select the Qu ASIO device to choose other channels.

Still not working

Work through the shared checks in Connecting a Sound Mixer to DMXDesktop, which covers the faults that are not specific to one console. If you need to contact support, have these five things ready, because they resolve most cases immediately:

1. The exact mixer model.
2. Your Windows or macOS version.
3. How the mixer is connected, and which USB port you used.
4. Which device you picked in Settings → Audio.
5. Which left and right channel numbers you selected.

For a console with a multichannel USB interface, a screenshot of the mixer's USB output patch is worth more than any log file.