Eanna yes , it’s the same principle of operation except Alan heath operates in higher quality sample rate and has built in screen for control.
I am thinking of buying the CQ18T and have done some research I also use XR 18 .
Disadvantage is you don’t get cannon connectors on auxiliary outs and a few other things which is not a deal breaker.
With CQ12T you get less knobs to tweak instantly and less channels , costs a bit less , size is similar I don’t need more channels but the extra physical knobs is why I am going for the 18T.
Cheers Damir