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QSC TouchMix Series / Reliability Issues?

Zooberwerx

Zooberwerx

Gold Supporting Member
Dec 21, 2002
23,299
28,066
68
Virginia Beach, VA
#1
Sweetwater is blowing these out at $899 (16 channel) and may be a nice upgrade to our dwindling pile of analog mixers. Simplicity is paramount as this will be used in a single band scenario with a bunch of tech-challenged individuals, myself included. I've seen a handful of reviews addressing frustration with equipment failures so I'm a little wary.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...VbGtHAR1lmS1SEAQYASABEgLy2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Is this the way to go or should I be considering other alternatives? For the record: this is going to be a hands-on console as we don't have people running around with pads / smart devices. This post / thread is also a thinly-veiled "WTB" addy.

Thanks! / Riis
 
#2
Riis,

I've used the 16-ch a few times, but mostly the TM30. Only issue I had with the 16 was the tiny (band supplied) Wifi dongle - like the one used with as wireless mouse/keyboard - being used. After about 20 feet the connection would drop. Not helpful when running FOH from out front.
Great presets..
My only COMPLAINT about the whole series is that gain/trim controls are manual.
This isn't an issue if it's used with the same band all the time.
For me - running multiple bands and saving scenes for each - the gain controls have to set/reset for each band.
Never had any issue with it other than than.
 
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#3
s0c9 said:
Riis,

I've used the 16-ch a few times, but mostly the TM30. Only issue I had with the 16 was the tiny (band supplied) Wifi dongle - like the one used with as wireless mouse/keyboard - being used. After about 20 feet the connection would drop. Not helpful when running FOH from out front.
Great presets..
My only COMPLAINT about the whole series is that gain/trim controls are manual.
This isn't an issue if it's used with the same band all the time.
For me - running multiple bands and saving scenes for each - the gain controls have to set/reset for each band.
Never had any issue with it other than than.
Click to expand...

That's what I was looking for...thanks. The gain re-set is a minor niggle in the larger scheme of things. Prolonged storage (moisture?) took-out something in our primary Soundcraft analog board.

Riis
 
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#4
I've used a Touchmix 16 for 10+ years. It's been rock solid. Never failed once. That being said, for more complex setups, the interface is limiting. We currently use an Allen & Heath mixer which is a lot easier to use live (for more complex mixes) because it's laid out like an analog board and it has better quality mic preamps. That being said, if you're looking at a Touchmix, my experience is that they are 100% reliable.
 

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#5
tshapiro said:
I've used a Touchmix 16 for 10+ years. It's been rock solid. Never failed once. That being said, for more complex setups, the interface is limiting. We currently use an Allen & Heath mixer which is a lot easier to use live (for more complex mixes) because it's laid out like an analog board and it has better quality mic preamps. That being said, if you're looking at a Touchmix, my experience is that they are 100% reliable.
Click to expand...

The A&H crossed my radar but more than I can spend at the moment. Fairly simple mix for a 5 piece garage band. At the moment, we're stringing together our cast-offs as a band-aid but...man...that gets old really quickly! Greatly appreciated!

Riis
 
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#7
Mike Caldwell said:
The non recallable gain would not be such an issue with the same band all the time, non recallable and not controlled with the APP would be a non starter for me.
You can use a USB to ethernet dongle to connect to an external WIFI router.
Click to expand...
As I stated above - that is my only issue with the TM series. Other than that, rock solid.
Run them plenty of times.
 
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#8
tshapiro said:
I've used a Touchmix 16 for 10+ years. It's been rock solid. Never failed once. That being said, for more complex setups, the interface is limiting. We currently use an Allen & Heath mixer which is a lot easier to use live (for more complex mixes) because it's laid out like an analog board and it has better quality mic preamps. That being said, if you're looking at a Touchmix, my experience is that they are 100% reliable.
Click to expand...

No Scribble strips on those?
 
#11
I had a couple of TM16s that I sold because I hated the manual trim knobs (easy to accidentally bump and change the gain), the built-in wifi dongle was useless beyond 20 feet, plus there is no built-in Bluetooth which I need for break music.

I eventually landed on the A&H CQ-18T which addressed all of my issues. Been super reliable for the past year and a half (150+ gigs) and I would not hesitate to buy another. Great form factor and well worth the $300 price difference IMO.
 
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#12
Some of the older TM16 models had some issues with a proprietary power supply plug, but I think that got sorted. I ran a couple TM30s for years with good results. QSC sort of messed things up a few years ago trying to keep their firmware/software in order - at one point they nearly bricked the remote control functions of the TM30 (which were critical for us) and it took a surprisingly long time for them to fix it. That happened at a time that our band was getting quite busy and I ultimately had to move on. All that noted, the TM30 always sounded great. There’s a few TM user groups out there - might want to scan them and see how the software/firmware situation is going.
 
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#13
Bonecat said:
Some of the older TM16 models had some issues with a proprietary power supply plug, but I think that got sorted. I ran a couple TM30s for years with good results. QSC sort of messed things up a few years ago trying to keep their firmware/software in order - at one point they nearly bricked the remote control functions of the TM30 (which were critical for us) and it took a surprisingly long time for them to fix it. That happened at a time that our band was getting quite busy and I ultimately had to move on. All that noted, the TM30 always sounded great. There’s a few TM user groups out there - might want to scan them and see how the software/firmware situation is going.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we had to back down the v3 firmware to V2 (on the TM30) to remote lockup.. which a you say, took forever for them to fix.
 
#14
alembicf1x said:
I had a couple of TM16s that I sold because I hated the manual trim knobs (easy to accidentally bump and change the gain), the built-in wifi dongle was useless beyond 20 feet, plus there is no built-in Bluetooth which I need for break music.

I eventually landed on the A&H CQ-18T which addressed all of my issues. Been super reliable for the past year and a half (150+ gigs) and I would not hesitate to buy another. Great form factor and well worth the $300 price difference IMO.
Click to expand...

Ahhh...this may be a deal-breaker. Even our $100 Depusheng has BlueTooth connectivity.

I'm starting to second-think the TM16 as the primary contender.

Riis
 
#15
I’ve had the 16 for years. For portability and features it was hard to beat and I really like it had a built in interface. But it was feeling a little long in the tooth when I bought it. The touch screen is usable but not good. I have to put my finger a little above what I actually have to press. It works much better from an iPad on the hotspot, which is good but does have limited range and also has quit working when I use a particular line 6 guitar wireless.

If I were buying now I’d look at that A&H CQ-18T. I used an sq5 for a while and it was nice. But the manual sucked. I bought a $25 video course. Well worth it.
 
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#16
It’s probably obvious, but the Midas MR-18 is still a pretty decent value. Add a good external router, learn Mixing Station, and you’re good to go…. Not without its risks and compromises, but there’s a reason you see them everywhere…

I tried the A&H CA20B and loved it. But it didn’t get along with our IEM system very well (probably something we could’ve worked out eventually, but a busy gig schedule made that difficult). It sounded great…
 
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#17
Bonecat said:
It’s probably obvious, but the Midas MR-18 is still a pretty decent value. Add a good external router, learn Mixing Station, and you’re good to go…. Not without its risks and compromises, but there’s a reason you see them everywhere…

I tried the A&H CA20B and loved it. But it didn’t get along with our IEM system very well (probably something we could’ve worked out eventually, but a busy gig schedule made that difficult). It sounded great…
Click to expand...
Curious as to what issues there were with the CQ and your IEM system.
 
#18
Mike Caldwell said:
Curious as to what issues there were with the CQ and your IEM system.
Click to expand...
It was strange. We run a Sennheiser wireless IEM system with three transmitters sending mono signals to 6 receivers through an antenna combiner to a large paddle antenna. This system worked well with the QSC and X32 mixers. When we used it with the CQ, my bandmates reported their mix was changing when one channel or another got loud, such as during solos, etc., but also when the our drummer became, um, enthusiastic. It sounded as though there was some automix leveling happening. I’m less sensitive to this stuff than they are but I could confirm what they were experiencing. I spoke with A/H and verified that the automix functions were disabled. Sennheiser folks gave me some pointers about gain setting in the wireless system, but the problem persisted. It drove our two primary singers crazy and negatively affected their performances. We were very busy at the time and didn’t really have the time to get into the weeds with it, so I sent it back to Sweetwater. A shame, really, because I really liked everything else about it. I’m sure someone smarter/more experienced than I could’ve worked it out…
 
#19
I would triple check that auto gain was off, I've put two into installations and made sure it was off and told them not to use it, yes I did experiment with
it for a little while.

The auto mix function could have been doing that as well as compression applied to the overall mix outputs.

The mix sends should be / have been prefade with the channel pick off set to pre processing so any channel processing is not sent to the monitor mix.
 
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