The Allen and Heath Avantis is the best digital console value for the price point for Church, Event Spaces, Theaters and Schools. The Penn Group resells the Avantis and the Allen and Heath Lineup. For more information, email sales@thepenn.group.
Updated in March 2024.
Overview
The Allen & Heath Avantis stands as a formidable digital mixing console and the best digial console for 2024, widely lauded in the professional audio industry. Renowned for its exceptional sound quality, intuitive touchscreen interface, 96kHz audio processing capabilities, and expandability, this console has garnered considerable attention. In this comprehensive review, we’ll delve into the defining features that set the Avantis apart and explore how it excels in various audio production scenarios.
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Design and Build Quality:
The Avantis captivates with its sleek, contemporary design. It marries a compact, logically arranged layout with an array of hardware elements, including a responsive touchscreen interface, numerous rotary encoders, and motorized faders. Its robust chassis and high-quality materials ensure durability, catering to the demands of both touring and studio environments.
Audio Quality:
The Avantis truly shines in its exceptional audio quality. It boasts high-grade preamps and converters that deliver pristine sound with minimal noise and distortion. What sets it apart is its support for 96kHz audio processing, enabling high-resolution audio capture and reproduction. Engineers can trust the Avantis to faithfully preserve the nuances of their sound sources.
Channel Count and Connectivity:
The Avantis impresses with its expansive channel capacity, accommodating up to 64 input channels and 42 mix buses at 96khz. This ample channel count is a boon for complex live productions and extensive recording sessions. Furthermore, its connectivity options are extensive, encompassing analog and digital inputs and outputs, including AES/EBU, Dante, and IO expansion to a wide range of expansion options. The Avantis is powerful:
- 96kHz / 64 CHANNEL / 42 BUS DIGITAL MIXER
- FULLY CONFIGURABLE MIX ARCHITECTURE
- XCVI CORE – 0.7MS LATENCY / PHASE COHERENT
- DUAL FULL HD TOUCHSCREENS WITH CONTINUITY UI
- EVERYTHING I/O – HUGE RANGE OF REMOTE EXPANDERS
- dPACK UPGRADE FOR ADDITIONAL dLIVE PROCESSING
User Interface and Workflow:
One of the Avantis’ standout features is its intuitive touchscreen interface. The touchscreen offers seamless responsiveness to gestures, and its user-friendly layout simplifies navigation. Complemented by tactile physical encoders and faders, this console provides engineers with precise control and an efficient workflow. Signal routing and patching are made effortlessly accessible through drag-and-drop functionality. The touchscreens can at times be buggy, with user interface glitches occurring when a user tries to open the same window on both screens. We found particular difficulty with the effects units causing graphical glitches between the two screens. Thankfully, this will likely get better with time via software updates.
Effects and Processing:
The Avantis is equipped with a comprehensive library of top-tier effects and processing plugins. From EQs to compressors and reverbs, these onboard effects are meticulously modeled after classic analog hardware. Engineers have the flexibility to apply these effects to individual channels or mix buses, granting them creative latitude for sound sculpting and enhancement. In addition to the standard effects units, the optional dPACK upgrade is a must, bringing extensive processing capabilities, specialty compressors, and additional effects to the console. While lacking Yamaha’s Neve processing, the optionality the dPACK brings is more than enough to satisfy most engineers. The system is also capable of Waves processing, via an external expansion card.
Scene Management and Automation:
The console’s scene management and automation capabilities are robust, streamlining the process of recalling and storing settings for different segments of a live performance or recording session. The Avantis facilitates seamless transitions between scenes, automating adjustments in levels, EQ settings, and effect parameters. This functionality enables the end user to quickly recall settings, and is Church/event venue friendly with the capability of quickly recalling specific pre-sets.
Remote Control and Integration:
The Avantis offers extensive remote control options, empowering engineers to manipulate the console remotely using an iPad App. This feature proves invaluable for real-time adjustments during live events or studio recording sessions.
Price and Value:
While the Allen & Heath Avantis represents a premium investment, its price is warranted by its stellar performance, uncompromising audio quality, and feature-rich architecture. The system is cheaper than rivals such as the Yamaha DM7, QL series, and CL series. The Avantis is expensive, ranging between $13,000-$20,000 depending on features, configuration and upgrades. However, the flexibility, expandability, and usability more than makeup for the investment up front.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the Allen & Heath Avantis is an audio production powerhouse, excelling across all facets of audio engineering. Its exceptional audio quality, touchscreen usability, support for 96kHz audio processing, and expandability make it an exceptional choice for professionals in the music, live sound, and broadcast sectors. Although it represents a substantial investment, the Avantis fulfills its promise of providing precise sound control and adaptability, making it an indispensable addition to any audio engineer’s toolkit. Whether orchestrating a live concert, orchestrating a recording session, or steering a broadcast production, the Avantis consistently delivers superior performance, raising the bar for audio production excellence.
The Penn Group resells the Avantis and the Allen and Heath Lineup. For more information, email sales@thepenn.group.
