Allen & Heath

Allen & Heath (also known as AH or A&H) is a company based in Penryn, Cornwall, England, specialising in the manufacture of audio mixing consoles. Allen & Heath also makes sound management systems for industrial installations and DJ mixers for nightclubs. Allen & Heath is now part of Audiotonix.

Allen & Heath
Subsidiary
IndustryElectronics
HeadquartersPenryn, Cornwall, England
ProductsHeadphones
Mixing consoles
ParentAudiotonix
Websitewww.allen-heath.com
Allen & Heath GS3000 in the control room

History

Founded in 1969,[1] the company became more widely known after involvement by Andy Bereza, Ivor Taylor, and Andrew Stirling.[2]

In the early 1970s Allen & Heath built a custom quadraphonic mixing console for the band Pink Floyd, the MOD1, which was used by Alan Parsons to mix their live performances. The MOD1 can be seen in their movie "Live at Pompeii".[3]

Allen & Heath was acquired by Harman International in 1991. By 2001 the manufacturer's turnover has increased tenfold.[4]

In July 2001 there was a management buyout of the company with investment coming from 3i and Bank of Scotland. The board consisted of the four then current directors, plus two non-executive directors from its investment partners.[4]

In March 2006 Close Growth Capital brought 3i's share for £9m in a secondary buyout. The company then employed 180 people with a turnover of £15 million.[5]

In April 2008, A&H was sold to D&M Holdings Inc.[6]

In June 2013, D&M Holdings sold Allen & Heath to private equity firm, Electra Partners. £43 million of equity and debt was provided by Electra Private Equity PLC and Allen & Heath's management.

Innovations

Allen & Heath was the first manufacture to mount pots and switches on the input channel circuit board. These were the first modular mixers where sub-systems could be replaced as a unit. Allen & Heath was the first company to make a small mixer, a 6 channel, 2 output transistorised mixer called the MiniMixer. The Allen & Heath Syncron A mixer was the first to use op-amps. The Allen & Heath CMC console was the first console to use a microprocessor to integrate MIDI capabilities with a mixer. The GL2 console combined Front of House (FOH) and stage monitor functionality into a single mixer, what is called a "dual function" mixer.[7]

Product lineup

dLive

The dLive series of consoles are designed for professional touring and broadcast uses. They are used by many engineers in the industry due to its high expandability and features. There are two classes of dLive: C class, and S Class. Every console supports Allen & Heath's proprietary MixRack digital snake system, providing high quality audio signal over cat5 ethernet.

SQ

The SQ line is a step up from the previous (Qu) generation of mixers. It supports Allen & Heath MixRacks for remote audio and wireless control with the SQ MixPad app.

Qu

The Qu series is a digital mixing system for recording and sound reinforcement.[8] It is designed to be a convenient and intuitive system for engineers already familiar with analog equipment, making the introduction to digital mixing relatively easy. It supports wireless control and monitoring via several apps for iOS and Android.[9] The consoles are also compatible with Allen & Heath's dSNAKE for digital audio over ethernet.

References
  1. D&M Holdings Acquires Allen & Heath
  2. THE UK HOME RECORDING INDUSTRY
  3. Welcome to the Machine' The story of Pink Floyd's live sound: PART 1 Archived 24 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Sound on Stage, March 1997
  4. "Allen & Heath in £9m Management Buy-Out". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  5. "CLOSE GROWTH CAPITAL BACKS £9M MBO OF ALLEN & HEATH". Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  6. "Allen & Heath profile (Growth Capital)". Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  7. "A Path Of Perseverance, Allen & Heath celebrates 35 years" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  8. "Qu Series". Allen & Heath. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  9. "Remote Control Apps for Qu". Allen & Heath. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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