Allen & Heath AB168 Stage Box
Allen & Heath·Model AB168·allen-heath-ab168
Photos
Manufacturer product photography — the drawn faceplate above stays true to panel layout; these show the hardware itself.
About the Allen & Heath AB168
The Allen & Heath AB168 puts sixteen preampsThe gain stage that lifts a mic’s tiny signal up to line level — the first thing a signal hits, and a big part of how a console sounds. and eight outs on a dSNAKE Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. run for Qu, SQ, and Avantis systems. Rugged enough to sit on stage without a rack, rack-eared for permanent installs, and the affordable expansion path A&H rigs reach for first. Chains through an expander port for higher counts.
The AB168 is Allen & Heath's primary stage-end solution for their dSNAKE ecosystem — the box that sits at the lip of the stage and turns a single Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. run back to your Qu, SQ, or Avantis console into 16 mic inputs and 8 analog outputs. That dSNAKE port carries up to 24 channels bidirectionally, so you're not leaving headroomThe margin between your normal level and where things clip — headroom is what absorbs the snare hit you didn’t see coming. on the table. The Expander port lets you daisy-chain a second AB168 or compatible expander when the input count grows, which makes it a genuinely scalable platform rather than a dead end. At 4 kg and 3UThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. with rack earsThe flanges that bolt gear to the rack rails. Desktop boxes without them need a shelf, tray, or drawer to live in the case. included, it lives happily either bolted into a portable stage rack or just sitting on the deck in a venue corner.
Thirty watts nominal, 45 maximum — this box will run comfortably off a single IECThe standard three-prong appliance power inlet on rack gear — the kettle lead. C13/C14 in spec-sheet speak. feed from whatever power strip or conditioner anchors your stage rack, with no surprises at the busiest moments of the show. The 16 XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. female inputs cover a typical band or IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. package without patching around anything, and the 8 XLR male outputs give you enough analog returns for a full complement of wedgeA floor monitor speaker angled up at the performer — the thing IEMs replace, and the thing you fall back on when they die. mixes or in-ear feeds without reaching for a secondary D/A box. One Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. to the console means one network cable to troubleshoot, which at a festival changeover where someone always yanks something is a meaningful operational advantage.
If your console is a Qu, SQ, or Avantis, this is the natural, lowest-friction stage boxThe I/O endpoint on stage: mics plug in there and one digital line (AES50, Dante) carries everything to the console. The snake, digitized. choice — the preampsThe gain stage that lifts a mic’s tiny signal up to line level — the first thing a signal hits, and a big part of how a console sounds. integrate cleanly, gainHow much the preamp amplifies the incoming signal. Too low and you’re hunting through hiss; too high and peaks clip. is adjustable from the surface, and phantom powerThe +48 V a console sends up the mic cable to power condenser mics and active DI boxes — invisible to gear that doesn’t need it. is per-channel from the console. If you're running a different brand of console, look elsewhere; dSNAKE is a proprietary protocol and the AB168 will not talk to a DiGiCo, Yamaha, or DanteThe most common audio-over-network standard: dozens of channels of uncompressed digital audio down one ordinary Ethernet cable between Dante boxes. network without a bridge that defeats the whole point. Also worth being honest about: if you need more than 32 inputs at stage, you'll want to look at a larger native solution like the DX168 or AB288 rather than chaining two AB168s and managing the complexity that introduces.
In the rack
- Run a pre-tested, labeled Cat5eStandard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. or Cat6 snakeA multicore cable bundling many channels into one stage-to-console run. A sub-snake collects one corner of the stage into a drop box. between the AB168 and your console — dSNAKE is tolerant but not magical, and a marginal cable that passes a laptop ping test can still cause audio dropoutsA brief audio gap when the radio link fails — the thing diversity, distros, and coordination all exist to prevent. under RFRadio Frequency — the wireless part of wireless. RF planning is why big rigs scan, coordinate, and combine antennas instead of hoping. or ground interference.
- Use the Expander port with intent: if you're chaining a second unit, lock in your input list before load-in so you're not re-patching console channels at show time when the second box arrives late in the truck.
- The 8 analog outputs are your monitor worldThe side-stage domain of the monitor engineer — console, IEM racks, and everything feeding the band’s ears instead of the audience. — map your IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. mixes to outputs 1–6 and reserve 7–8 as a wedgeA floor monitor speaker angled up at the performer — the thing IEMs replace, and the thing you fall back on when they die. or utility pair so your output assignment stays consistent across different venues using the same show file.
- Even though the AB168 is built to sit on the floor, rack it when the show has any real production value — a 3UThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. slot in a carpeted stage rack with a power conditionerFilters venue AC, clamps surges, and gives the rack one tidy inlet. Not a voltage regulator and not a battery — just cleaner power. underneath it protects the preampsThe gain stage that lifts a mic’s tiny signal up to line level — the first thing a signal hits, and a big part of how a console sounds. from phantom powerThe +48 V a console sends up the mic cable to power condenser mics and active DI boxes — invisible to gear that doesn’t need it. spikes when stagehands swap mics mid-show.
16x8 dSNAKE stage boxThe I/O endpoint on stage: mics plug in there and one digital line (AES50, Dante) carries everything to the console. The snake, digitized. for Qu / SQ / Avantis systems.
I/O Ports (5)
| Port | Connector | Direction | Signal | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mic In 1-16 | XLR FEMALE | input | analog audio | 16 |
| Out 1-8 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | 8 |
| dSNAKE | ETHERCON | bidirectional | digital audio | 24 |
| Expander | ETHERCON | bidirectional | digital audio | 24 |
- Power (IEC C14)
Deciding between two?
Rack space, watts, weight and every connector, side by side.
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