Allen and Heath Option Cards: Which Card Fits Which Console

In this guide:Why a card · The families · What they do · Choosing · Picks · FAQ

Every Allen and Heath mixer above the entry tier has at least one card slot, and the cards are not interchangeable across the ranges. Buying the wrong one is an easy mistake because the names look similar and the marketing rarely spells out which console a given module belongs to.

The short version: SQ and AHM take one family of cards, dLive and Avantis take another, and the older iLive and GLD generation takes a third.

What a card slot is for

A card slot turns a mixing console into a node on somebody else’s network. Without one, your desk is an island: audio arrives on analogue inputs and leaves on analogue outputs.

With one, you can send and receive dozens of channels over a single cable to a recording rig, a broadcast truck, another console, or a building-wide audio system. On an install job it is often the difference between one cable and a wall of XLR.

The three card families

A card from one family will not fit another, and a card that physically fits an older slot may not be supported by current firmware. When in doubt, buy by the console name printed in the product title rather than by the protocol.

What each protocol actually gives you

Dante

Audio over standard Ethernet, and by far the most common choice. One Cat5e or Cat6 cable carries many channels in both directions, and any Dante device on the network can be patched to any other in software. It is the right answer for recording, for multi-room installs, and for anything involving another manufacturer’s kit.

Card channel counts matter: a 32×32 card carries 32 channels each way, a 64×64 card carries 64. Buy for the channel count you need in three years, because the card is not the part you want to replace twice.

MADI

A long-established point-to-point multichannel format on coax or optical fibre. It is simple, extremely reliable, and does not need a network switch or a network engineer. It suits fixed links, such as desk to stage rack or desk to broadcast truck, where the routing never changes.

Super MADI on dLive and Avantis raises the channel count substantially over plain MADI, which is why it appears on the larger systems.

Waves

A dedicated link to a computer running Waves SoundGrid, for plugin processing. It is a specialist choice, and it is worth being clear that it adds processing rather than connectivity.

SLink and DX Link

Allen and Heath’s own expansion protocols, used to connect their stage boxes and expanders rather than third-party equipment. This is how you add remote inputs and outputs to an SQ or a dLive without a full network. See dLive and Avantis I/O expansion.

Choosing the right card

• What are you connecting to? If it is another manufacturer’s equipment, or a computer, the answer is almost always Dante.
• Is the link fixed and simple? MADI is cheaper to run reliably than a managed network, and it needs no switch configuration.
• How many channels, both directions? Count what you actually need to send and receive, then buy the next size up.
• Is it a stage box rather than a network? Then you want SLink or DX Link, not Dante.
• Check the console name in the product title before ordering. That is the single most common cause of a return on these parts.

Frequently asked questions

Will an SQ Dante card fit a dLive?

No. SQ and AHM use one module format and dLive and Avantis use another. The protocol is the same, the physical card is not.

What is the difference between a 32×32 and a 64×64 Dante card?

The number of audio channels carried in each direction. A 64×64 card sends and receives 64 channels, a 32×32 card sends and receives 32. Nothing else changes.

Do I need a network switch for Dante?

For anything more than a single point-to-point link, yes, and it should be a switch that supports the required quality of service settings. A direct cable between two Dante devices works without one.

Is MADI better than Dante?

Neither is better in general. MADI is a fixed point-to-point link that needs no configuration and is very hard to break. Dante is flexible, routable and interoperable. Fixed installs often favour MADI, mixed-equipment jobs favour Dante.