User guide

GL2800 User Guide 9
Here are just a few key points we considered when specifying the GL2800:
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 wide viewing angle meter design, the
exceptional feature set, or the ‘under the bonnet’ engineering such as the solid copper
grounding strip, 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 GL2800 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
smooth travel faders with protective dust covers, 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 external linear power supply has plenty of overhead. You can even
plug in a second supply as a backup for added security.
Performance The GL2800 benefits from our latest circuit developments which have
improved the sound and responsiveness of the mic preamp 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 new 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
+26dBu 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 GL2800 takes this an important stage
further with its new multiple stereo mix capability. Tamperproof recessed switches
configure the console safely for optimum FOH or stage monitor operation, or for mixing
monitors from FOH. In FOH mode you get 3 main mix buses L, R and M. You can use M to
feed the C in an LCR system, to create a mono fill by summing L and R, or even drive a
sub-bass speaker system. 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 8 subgroups to LRM,
and the groups/LRM feeding the matrix for yet more mixes. The fully featured 12x4 matrix is
a valuable addition. For example, in FOH mode you can create independent fill speaker
and acoustics compensated recording feeds, even capturing the atmosphere by cross
patching the stereo channel mic preamps into the matrix to add individual or common
mono or stereo ambience signals. In MONITOR mode the matrix gives you more monitor
outputs easily created from the groups and LR with added ‘more me’ and ambience for the
in-ear application. This compact console can feed up to 14 independent mixes, for
example 8 wedges and 3 true stereo IEM. We have also considered the RECORDING
application with direct outputs on all mono channels, 8 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, the built-in tone/pink
noise generator for system checking, full channel and main output metering, the multi-
functional stereo channel and return strips, Sys-Link V2 console expansion… and much
more. We hope you enjoy being as creative using the GL2800 as our team enjoyed
creating it.
Carey Davies, Head of Design, and sound guy too…