Allen&Heath GL4800 USER GUIDE - Manual (Page 9)

GL4800 User Guide 9
Here are just a few key points we considered when specifying the GL4800:
Affordability We understand your need to work within a realistic budget and know you
want to get the very best return for your investment. We know too that even the lowest
budget shows put the same tough demands on the operator who wants the reassurance of
continued reliability and intuitive control, the satisfaction of achieving that special sound,
and the functionality to deal with the trickiest situations. We have avoided the temptation of
designing in costly plastic trims and needless external add-ons for styling only. Instead we
have invested every penny of our budget into parts that make a real difference in improving
performance, durability and flexibility of use, whether the comfortable soft feel armrest, the
practically shaped space saving steel chassis, the exceptional feature set, or the ‘under the
bonnet’ engineering such as the solid grounding, individual cards, circuit enhancements
and more. The result is a no-nonsense, durable mixing tool right for its application… a
sensible investment.
Reliability Without doubt, the most important quality for any equipment intended for the
professional application. The GL4800 uses the well proven and long term serviceable
Allen & Heath method of individual channel card construction with every potentiometer
nutted to the front panel, a solid steel chassis with rigid beam front extrusion, 100mm
premium grade dual rail faders, metal bodied jacks and gold-plated Neutrik XLRs, and
sealed Alps pots and switches to ensure you can mix with confidence show after show.
The well proven RPS11 power supply has plenty of overhead and, for peace of mind, the
console includes a second DC input socket for plugging in a second supply for backup.
Performance The GL4800 benefits from our latest circuit developments which have
improved the sound and responsiveness of the signal path and EQ, and achieved
astonishingly low residual noise from the mix head amp and output stages, crucial when
mixing into modern high powered speaker systems. The mic preamp maintains ultra low
distortion and can accept as much as+34dBu to deal with the hottest signal you are ever
likely to plug in. The XLR outputs provide proper differential drive up to a massive +27dBu
to work with the longest and most hostile cable environments. Extensive listening
evaluation, together with solid engineering practice, have ensured the console achieves
accurate sound reproduction under all conditions.
Capability We know a thing or two about ‘Dual Functionality’ having pioneered this
innovative feature back in the early 90’s. The GL4800 takes this an important stage
further. Tamperproof recessed switches configure the console safely for optimum FOH or
stage monitor operation, or for mixing monitors from FOH. In MONITOR mode the ‘M’ fader
becomes the engineer’s monitor wedge control, you get all 10 aux masters available on
faders with mutes, inserts, meters and electronically balanced XLR drive, and you still get
the 4 subgroups to LR, and the groups/LR feeding the matrix. The matrix provides further
mixes ideal for in-ear monitoring, or can even be linked to the auxes to create mixes from all
channels, groups, LR and M. This console can feed up to 14 independent mixes, for
example 10 wedges and 4 mono or 2 stereo IEM. We have also considered the
RECORDING application with direct outputs on all mono channels, 4 groups, matrix and not
least the studio quality analogue mic preamps and EQ. Whatever your application you get
full control with nothing wasted.
Attention to detail In true Allen & Heath form, every detail has been meticulously
thought through. Take for example, the compact, no frills chassis that gives you a seat
saving, flight case convenient footprint, the provision of individual channel rather than
restrictive global pre/post aux switching, comprehensive talkback, full channel, mix bus and
main output metering, the multi-functional stereo strips with patchable mic pre’s and
assignable stereo inputs, the host of internal jumper options, Sys-Link V2 console input
expansion… and much more. We hope you enjoy being as creative using the GL4800
as our team enjoyed creating it.
Carey Davies, Head of Design, and sound guy too…