Flight simulator design and manufacturing company Pacific Simulators has adopted Allen & Heath’s compact Zed-series analogue mixers as standard in its systems.

The company’s training simulators are certified as official flight crew training machines in many countries – simulators are currently being built for China, Indonesia and the US, with orders pending for Australia and Thailand. Part of the New Zealand company’s ongoing research and development programme, a recent audio design upgrade saw the Zed-10 and Zed-14 become part of the installation.

The training systems use Zed-14 mixers, where two auxiliary sends are required to facilitate authentic flight crew training. Meanwhile Zed-10 mixers are now installed in the company’s commercial Flight Experience simulators, which aim to provide a realistic experience of flying a passenger jet.

‘Prior to working at Pacific Simulators, I was a sound and recording engineer for 30-plus years, and my first suggestion when I joined the company was that we include A&H mixers as the foundation of our audio upgrade,’ says Simulator Assembly Technician, Andy Gilmour. ‘The results with the Zeds have been amazing – the mic preamps deliver a full and realistic sound, and the result is a passenger jet simulator that sounds like the real McCoy while allowing us full control of sounds such as aircraft operating and warning systems and Air Traffic Control commands. The sweepable mid-range controls allow us to engineer a sound experience that is far and beyond what we have had in the past. The Zed range is extremely affordable and without a doubt the best value for money we have come across.’

More: www.allen-heath.com