The Allen & Heath SQ+ Digital Mixer Series represents the next step in the evolution of the popular SQ platform, bringing powerful digital mixing, advanced processing, flexible routing and professional networking into a modern live-sound ecosystem. Designed for live sound engineers, churches, bands, theatres, corporate events, rental companies, schools and professional AV production, the SQ+ series is positioned to deliver the flexibility today’s audio professionals need without the complexity and footprint of larger touring consoles.

What Is the Allen & Heath SQ+ Series?

The SQ+ family builds on the established Allen & Heath SQ digital mixing platform while introducing a new generation of features and workflow improvements.

Allen & Heath’s SQ platform is built around its 96 kHz XCVI FPGA audio engine, providing high-resolution digital audio processing with extensive channel and bus capacity.

The result is a mixer platform designed to handle everything from a small worship service to a complex live production.

The SQ+ range is particularly interesting for users who want:

• Professional-quality live sound
• 96 kHz digital processing
• Flexible routing
• Powerful built-in effects
• Remote mixing
• Digital stagebox expansion
• Multitrack recording
• Dante and other networking options
• A compact professional control surface

Why the SQ+ Series Matters

The live-sound market has changed dramatically.

Today’s audio engineer may be expected to manage the FOH mix, monitors, livestream, broadcast feed, recording and remote production from the same system.

That requires much more than a traditional mixing console.

The SQ+ platform is designed around this reality.

Instead of treating the mixer as simply a collection of input channels and outputs, Allen & Heath has developed the SQ ecosystem as a complete digital audio production platform.

This makes it particularly attractive to organizations looking for a mixer that can remain useful as their production requirements grow.

96 kHz FPGA Processing

One of the defining technologies behind the SQ platform is Allen & Heath’s XCVI FPGA processing engine.

Running at 96 kHz, the architecture provides substantial processing power while maintaining low latency.

For professional applications, low latency is particularly important when multiple stages of processing, digital stageboxes, monitoring systems and external devices are involved.

The result is a responsive mixing environment suitable for demanding live productions.

Powerful Channel Processing

A modern digital mixer needs to provide more than basic EQ and compression.

The SQ platform provides extensive channel processing capabilities, allowing engineers to shape vocals, drums, guitars, keyboards, playback and other sources directly from the console.

Typical live-sound applications include:

Vocals:
High-pass filtering, parametric EQ, compression, de-essing and effects.

Drums:
Gate processing, EQ, compression and parallel processing.

Guitars:
Detailed EQ and dynamics control.

Keyboards:
Stereo channel processing and flexible routing.

Playback:
Stereo processing and dedicated routing for broadcast or livestream feeds.

The advantage is that much of the processing required for a professional production can remain inside the console.

A Mixer Designed for Modern Worship

The SQ platform is particularly well suited to churches and worship environments.

Modern worship productions can involve:

• Multiple vocalists
• Full drum kits
• Electric and acoustic guitars
• Bass
• Multiple keyboards
• Playback tracks
• Wireless microphones
• In-ear monitoring
• Stage monitors
• Livestream audio
• Recording
• Broadcast feeds

A digital mixer needs to manage all of these sources simultaneously.

The SQ ecosystem provides the routing and processing flexibility required to build sophisticated worship workflows.

For larger churches, the ability to expand the system with digital stageboxes and personal monitoring solutions can be particularly valuable.

SQ+ for Live Bands

For touring musicians and live bands, flexibility and portability are critical.

The SQ platform can be configured for both front-of-house and monitor applications, allowing engineers to build a show file around the band’s specific requirements.

Scenes and show configurations can be recalled quickly, reducing setup time between performances.

This becomes especially valuable for bands playing multiple venues where consistency is important.

Instead of rebuilding the mix from scratch at every performance, engineers can recall their established configuration and make adjustments for the venue.

Digital Stagebox Expansion

One of the biggest advantages of the Allen & Heath ecosystem is its ability to expand beyond the physical console.

SQ systems can connect to compatible Allen & Heath digital stageboxes using SLink, allowing audio connections to be positioned closer to the stage.

This can dramatically simplify cabling.

Instead of running dozens of analog cables from the stage to FOH, the system can transport digital audio between the stage and console.

For production companies and rental businesses, this creates a scalable architecture that can adapt to different event sizes.

Multitrack Recording and USB Connectivity

The SQ platform can also function as a powerful recording interface.

Multitrack recording allows engineers to capture live performances for:

• Post-production
• Training
• Content creation
• Archiving
• Studio production
• Virtual soundcheck
• Livestream production

This makes the SQ+ platform more than a live mixing console.

It can become part of a broader audio-production workflow.

Networking and Dante

Modern professional audio increasingly depends on networked audio.

The SQ ecosystem can be expanded with networking options such as Dante, allowing audio to move between compatible consoles, computers, stageboxes and other networked equipment.

This can be particularly valuable for:

• Corporate AV
• Large churches
• Broadcast facilities
• Theatres
• Universities
• Conference centres
• Touring productions

Networked audio also makes it easier to design distributed systems where the physical location of equipment is less restrictive.

Built-In Effects

Professional productions frequently require multiple reverbs, delays, modulation effects and other processors.

The SQ platform includes a collection of built-in effects designed for live production.

Engineers can therefore build complete vocal, instrument and effects chains without requiring large amounts of external hardware.

This reduces rack space and simplifies setup.

For mobile production companies, that can translate into less equipment to transport and configure.

The Allen & Heath Ecosystem

One of the strongest reasons to consider SQ+ is that the console doesn’t operate in isolation.

It can become the centre of a broader Allen & Heath ecosystem involving:

• Digital stageboxes
• Personal monitoring
• Networked audio
• Remote control
• Recording
• Expansion cards
• Software control

This ecosystem approach can be particularly important for organizations purchasing equipment with a long-term view.

A church or production company may start with a relatively compact setup and gradually expand its stage I/O, monitoring and networking requirements.

SQ+ vs Traditional Analog Mixing

For anyone still using an analog mixer, moving to an SQ+ system represents a major workflow change.

An analog console requires separate hardware for many functions:

• Compressors
• Gates
• Effects
• Equalizers
• Routing
• Recording interfaces
• Signal distribution

A modern digital console integrates many of these functions into one system.

This can dramatically reduce the amount of equipment required.

Instead of carrying multiple racks of processors, a production company can achieve much of the same functionality inside the console.

SQ+ vs Larger Allen & Heath Consoles

The SQ platform sits in an interesting position within the Allen & Heath ecosystem.

It offers professional processing and networking capabilities while maintaining a more compact footprint than larger touring-oriented systems.

That makes it attractive for organizations that need serious digital mixing capability but don’t necessarily require a large-format touring console.

SQ+ makes sense when you need:

• Professional digital mixing
• A compact control surface
• 96 kHz processing
• Digital stagebox expansion
• Advanced routing
• Multitrack recording
• Networked audio
• Remote control
• Professional effects

A larger Allen & Heath system may make more sense for productions where a greater number of physical controls and extensive large-format mixing workflows are priorities.

Who Should Consider the Allen & Heath SQ+?

Churches

SQ+ is an excellent candidate for modern worship environments requiring FOH, monitors, livestream and recording from one platform.

Live Sound Companies

Production companies can benefit from its combination of portability, processing and expandable I/O.

Touring Bands

The ability to save and recall show configurations makes the system useful for repeatable touring workflows.

Corporate AV

The combination of flexible routing and networking makes it suitable for conferences and corporate productions.

Theatres

The extensive routing possibilities make digital mixing particularly useful for theatre productions involving multiple microphones and playback sources.

Educational Institutions

Schools, colleges and universities can use SQ+ for auditoriums, theatres, worship spaces and multimedia production.

Is the SQ+ Series a Good Investment?

For organizations purchasing a mixer for several years of professional use, the most important consideration isn’t simply the number of channels.

It is the overall ecosystem.

A good digital mixer should be capable of expanding as your requirements change.

The SQ+ platform offers a strong foundation because it combines:

96 kHz processing + digital stagebox expansion + networking + recording + remote control + professional effects.

That combination makes it suitable for a wide range of applications.

Allen & Heath SQ+ for the Kenyan Market

The SQ+ platform is particularly relevant to Kenya’s growing professional AV market.

Demand for high-quality sound continues to increase across:

• Churches
• Hotels
• Conference centres
• Concert venues
• Wedding production
• Corporate events
• Schools and universities
• Recording studios
• Livestreaming
• Rental companies

For Kenyan production companies, investing in a professional digital ecosystem can provide an advantage over basic standalone mixing systems.

A scalable digital console can serve multiple types of events while reducing the need for extensive external processing hardware.

Final Verdict

The Allen & Heath SQ+ Digital Mixer Series is an exciting option for audio professionals looking for a modern, expandable and high-performance digital mixing platform.

Its combination of 96 kHz FPGA processing, professional channel processing, flexible routing, digital stagebox expansion, multitrack recording, networking and remote-control capabilities makes it suitable for everything from churches and live bands to corporate AV and professional production companies.

For buyers who want a digital mixer that can grow with their production rather than becoming obsolete as their requirements increase, the SQ+ ecosystem deserves serious consideration.

Looking for an Allen & Heath SQ+ Mixer in Kenya?

Whether you’re upgrading a church sound system, equipping a recording facility, building a professional event-production company or upgrading your live band’s FOH system, choosing the right SQ+ configuration will depend on your channel count, stage I/O, monitor requirements, networking and budget.