Compact 96kHz digital mixers built for small gigs, conference rooms, rehearsal spaces and rental fleets, headed by Allen & Heath’s CQ series: the CQ-12T and CQ-18T with built-in touchscreens, and the CQ-20B stage-box format mixer designed for app and remote control. The SQ-Rack also appears here, packing the 48-channel SQ engine into a 19 inch rack format for compact touring rigs.

The T versus B distinction in the CQ range is the practical fork in the road. Touchscreen models suit an operator standing at the mixer, while the CQ-20B assumes mixing from a phone, tablet or laptop over its built-in Wi-Fi, which makes it ideal tucked in a rack or sitting on stage as a connection hub. Channel counts are honest but finite, so count wireless receivers, playback and stereo sources before assuming the 12 or 18 frame fits the job. If the gig outgrows a CQ, the SQ-Rack takes you to full SQ processing and expander support without moving to a surface console. A rack kit for the CQ-20B sits in the Accessories sub-category.

These small desks have quietly replaced a lot of ageing analogue mixers in hire fleets, mostly because assisted gain setting and recallable scenes make them hard to mess up on a dry hire.