Allen & Heath - Xone:PX5

  • Published
    Sep 28, 2016
  • Released
    September 2016
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  • Allen & Heath build one of the industry standards of DJ mixers. Consequently, each time they announce a new product, their fan base engages in another round of wish-listing and debating. Some websites speculated that the new Xone:PX5 was a successor of the much-loved Xone:92, which generated much dismay. However, the 92 isn't being discontinued and, in fact, the PX5 is much more similar to other Allen & Heath products, like the Xone:43C. Regarding the 92, Allen & Heath may well follow the same path lead by the Xone:22 and 42 and introduce a version with better digital capabilities, as with the 23C and 43C. With this in mind, the PX5 was intended to have its own place in the Allen & Heath range. The PX5 has a straightforward, utilitarian feel, and support for a variety of setups via back-panel connectivity. In addition, there's a single filter and an effects section on the right-hand side, making the overall layout closer to Pioneer's range than any of the other Xones. Each channel has a three-band EQ and a switch by the gain knob for selecting line, phono or USB inputs. The latter is a channel for your laptop, where the PX5 will appear as a sound card with five stereo ins and five stereo outs, adding up to 20 channels in total. Above the input switch is an FX send knob, which can control the send level to either the effects section to the right, the external send bus or both simultaneously. The headphone section accepts jack or minijack, and allows you to either blend between cue and monitor or split them between your ears. Unlike the other channels, the fifth aux channel over to the left doesn't have a fader and isn't crossfader assignable but otherwise contains all the controls of the other channels. At the top of the effects section, you can choose whether you'd like the individual channel sends, one of the four central channels or the master to feed the effects, and they can be set pre- or post-fader. The external effects return can be routed through the filter and USB connectivity can be used to route audio to a laptop and back, allowing you to manipulate the signal with software. There's MIDI DIN for syncing along with MIDI transport and a BPM counter in the effects section. If you want to connect something like a limiter to the PX5, there's an insert available on the master channel and X:LINK for connecting Allen & Heath's digital controllers. So the PX5 can be used in a variety of ways, from all-vinyl to different flavours of hybrid live and DJ setups, belying its straightforward layout. The filter can be set to low-, high- or band pass, and can be assigned to one or multiple channels. There's the usual mild-to-wild control for dialling in resonance. Whether a single filter is a restriction obviously depends on your personal workflow. Allen & Heath informed us that the idea was to keep the layout to a specific format that allowed for a certain spacing of the controls.
    The effects section is perhaps the most unique feature of the mixer, which builds on experience gained from the DB series. Rather than, say, reverbs that wash over the tracks in a cursory fashion, the effects allow for genuinely creative compositional touches. You can build up the tracks in a more interesting, subtle way, augment them with added weight or lend them a different groove. A couple of my favourite effects were the attack gate and reso gate, the first of which gives you a pumping, breathing effect to sit behind the track, while the latter adds a resonant melodic line with a similar rhythmic style. There are also plenty of delays and reverbs of different flavours, a flanger, a "time warp" and distortion. They are controlled by a handful of parameters that give command over not only the time period but also the alignment of the effect in relation to the playing track. Mixer effects can sometimes come off as rather ostentatious but the subtlety of the PX5 effects give them a much more serious feel.
    The signal path of the mixer is analogue and it sounds weighty and formidable, like the build and feel in general. Allen & Heath redesigned the EQ profiles, reportedly to better handle the demands of various genres. They are very musical although I felt that the slope on the bass EQ was somewhat more gradual than I'd have liked, with too much mid and treble coming through with that band in isolation. Allen & Heath told us that the choice of a three- rather than a four-band EQ was for ease of use and to reduce the learning curve. Allen & Heath has three club-ready mixers in the 92, DB4 and now the PX5. The aim of the latter seems to be to supply a common denominator option. With the company's sound and build quality intact, the PX5 might have some people at Pioneer HQ a little nervous. The new design may turn off die-hard fans who love the company's trademark features, but equally, it may well become a common installation in clubs aiming to cater for a wider range of DJs. Overall, the PX5 is a solid, eminently usable mixer with a great sound, which only adds to the company's existing product line. Ratings: Cost: 3.7 Versatility: 4.4 Sound: 4.5 Ease of use: 4.6
RA