Allen & Heath Unveils ML5000 Live Console

October 2, 1999 -- The ML5000, Allen & Heath’s new flagship live console, made its U.S debut at the 107th AES Convention in New York City, further boosting the company’s profile in the touring, theatre and installation industries.

The ML5000 is a VCA-equipped 16 aux, 8 audio group mixer with 8 mute groups, matrix and enhanced LCR and IEM facilities, providing big-league sound reinforcement capability in a compact package. Allen & Heath has designed the console to reflect the needs of users who require sophisticated control on a realistic budget.

Furthering Allen & Heath’s ‘dual functionality’ concept, the ML5000 has a uniquely flexible group/aux structure allowing engineers to quickly configure the mixer for FOH, monitor and combined roles. In FOH mode, the ML5000 provides 8 audio groups, 8 VCA groups with scene automation, 16 auxes, 8-way matrix and left, right and center outputs. In dedicated monitor mode, the console offers 16 aux mixes plus the left and right outputs, all with faders, inserts, talkback and metering, while the center output becomes an engineer’s wedge monitor feed.

All mono inputs have 4-band parametric EQ with sweepable ‘Q’ on the mids and in/out switching. Auxes 9-16 can be paired to create up to 4 stereo auxes with pan control, providing ideal facilities for IEM users. The ML5000’s unique two-pot ‘LCRplus’ panning system enables full speaker balancing and positioning from each channel or group. Four dual input stereo channels are featured in addition to the 32 and 48 mono inputs provided on the two ML5000 variants. Consoles can be expanded with up to two 24-channel sidecars, providing a maximum of 96 mono inputs.

The desk boasts a 128-patch memory system for storage of mute snapshots and VCA group assignments. Patches can be linked to external sequencers and effects units via MIDI or RS-232, giving the ML5000 truly sophisticated show control and archiving capabilities.

The new top-of-the-range Allen & Heath console is also a significant departure in terms of styling, with a central, low profile meterpod for intuitive visual checking, flat fader bay and sculpted side cheeks.

Following further road tests, Allen & Heath will begin full production of the ML5000 in the new year. Allen & Heath have also created a special web site just for the ML5000, which is located at www.ML5000.com.

Visit Allen & Heath on the web at www.allen-heath.com.