Portable Mixers

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.

Portable Mixer FAQs

CQ-12T, CQ-18T or CQ-20B? Touchscreen desks at 12 and 18 inputs for hands-on mixing; the CQ-20B stage-box format runs from an app for rack and rental fleets. All 96 kHz, all fast to learn, the entry decision is mapped in CQ vs Qu.

Are they enough for a band? For small gigs and rehearsal, comfortably, when monitor mixes multiply, step up per Qu vs SQ vs Avantis.