Q-SYS Corner

[Steve Guttag]

Inputs

This is going to be a little tricky. We have existing buttons and text field from A1 in our A2 schematic. And, anything we drag over will be on the top layer so it will obstruct our buttons. Also, our Meter container still has A1 in its name. The container isn’t an active thing so its name can be identical, just like text in a box can be identical. The meters inside will be appropriately labeled…really…check it out. We’ll want to fix that too.

First, I’m going to drag the Digital Inputs from the inventory onto the schematic.

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Then, I’m going to select the buttons and stuff that I want on top of the “Digital In” component so they are all selected.

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Then, right-click on them and set them to the top layer.

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Now I can position the DCIO-H’s Digital Inputs where I want it.

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Or do I want to place it just yet? How about the wires to connect it up? It will be time consuming to wire it up one contact at a time. It will be pretty much impossible to select all of the pins at once…unless, we slide it over so our cursor can get all of them easily.

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Then, slide it into place. It just takes a little bit of planning.

Don’t forget the big “1” in the Screen number needs to become a big “2.”

There, I think “Inputs” are done (or are they?):

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Visually, yes. But those components on top of the Digital In need to be remapped. Open the “Digital In DCIO-A2” and start clicking/dragging. Remember what the Red LED is? That is the Status LED so we know if the DCIO has any issues while troubleshooting. Drag the LED out of the Digital In and up to the LED on the schematic component and when you get to it, it will ask if you want to press the Control key…do so as you release:

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You want to Remap Control. Repeat for the HDMI, DCP (aka AES 9-16) and the Audio Format box.

In prep for the Processing Section, we should expose the “HDMI Enable” and “AES 9-16 Enable” pins (only needed if you made the modifications I made).

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That wasn’t so bad. And, if you messed up, <CTL-Z> (undo) can be your friend to try again.

Processing

If you look around the “Processing” group, you’ll see that, for the most part, it is pretty much ready to go. We have two broken Signal Names down at the bottom for the ADA signals.

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Anyone remember where they go? Remember, you can always look back to Auditorium 1 and use…<CTL-F> to find where. It is the Analog Out of the DCIO-H. If you go over to the “Outputs” group, add the “Analog Out DCIO-A2” from the LSP. All that remains is the LED that I brought out to represent clipping. Remember though, that will be for A1 so it will need to be remapped. It will also need to be brought to the top (select, right-click and bring to the top). If not, it will be below the new DCIO-H component you are bringing in.

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You can either copy/paste the signal names or just click on the pin, press <spacebar> and start typing (HI or VI) and then select the right one. While I was there, I finished it off by also copy/pasting the Monitor Fader.:

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[Blog-18, Page 2 of 5]

[Steve Guttag]

Equalization and Amplification

Moving over to the “Equalization” section, we’re all good until we get to the outputs because the amplifiers are not there. Bring the amplifier “Amp Output” from each amp into the schematic. Reveal the “Power On” and “Status” pins.

Now a bunch of copy/pasting will be involved to get the Signal Names from the EQ section and Speakers connected up. You might find that going split-screen will make this easier so you can see how Auditorium 1 was connected. They are all the same names except for the “A2” suffix.

You will also need to configure the amplifiers with respect to bridge/parallel too. For both amplifiers, E and F are parallel with each other (for more current capability).

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Pro Tip: Now, do you want to know a shortcut? While you have it in split screen, copy the Signal Names from the Auditorium 1 (Right-to-Left drag over the wiretags themselves). Then open a text editor that has find/replace capabilities like Notepad++ or a spreadsheet program like Excel.

Paste your selections into your chosen program

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Then, perform a Find/Replace to change the “-A1” to a “-A2”. Then select all of them (typically <CTL-A>) and copy them. Then, back in QDS, select the pins on the amplifier in Auditorium 2. (make sure they are all selected and showing red). Paste.

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That took right about a minute. It will take longer on your first tries and mistakes might be made. But once you master this, you’ll find that doing bulk Signal Name changes will go MUCH faster. Clearly, it works best when all of the pins are nicely lined up and not scattered about.

We need to add in the Signal Names for “Power On” and “Status.” Select the Power On pin. Press <spacebar> and start typing PWR and you should quickly be offered the desired Signal Name (PWR-A2) to select. Do this for both amplifiers.

For the Status pins, you will need to do some typing (sorry). Using Auditorium 1 as the reference, you select the Status pin, press <spacebar> and start typing “AMP1-STAT-A2” for Amplifier 1 and similarly for Amplifier-2. Finish it off by setting the color to bright green.

They are broken Signal Names because we will need to add the other end of the Signal Name to the Status Combiner but we’ve, rather quickly (in my opinion), duplicated everything (including the modifications) on the top row (audio path) of the design for Auditorium 2. The control path will not be quite as easy since we’ll need to rebuild the various Snapshots and other control components.

Status

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Clearly, we have some work to do. The missing components are all LSP (of course) items like the DCIO-H, Touchscreen and Amplifiers. Remember, those red status LEDs that copy/pasted are still tied to Auditorium 1. So, either delete them and drag out new ones or remap them. It is probably easier to just drag out new ones. There won’t be another Core and its status component will remain in Auditorium 1. I, typically, create a separate schematic page for “Central Audio” for common items to avoid confusion.

Also, note that the Amp Status Combiner still has A1 status…they need to be deleted. You cannot rename those Signal Names because it will rename every instance of that Signal Name. We don’t want to do that or we would mess up Auditorium 1. The System Status Combiner-A1 needs to be renamed as well as delete off the TSC and DCIO status from A1. However, for the CORE-STAT, let’s rename it and remove the “A1” part since we do want that one not to be assigned to just Auditorium 1.

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We just need to set the colors and, as far as the schematic goes, the Status group is done.

Tip: You can select all four of the new status blocks and then use the eyedropper from the “Properties” (RSP) to set the color. Likewise for the Signal Names but often the eyedropper fights you on this one.

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Snapshot Duplication

Inputs

Okay, here comes the more-tricky part…we have to work with Snapshots. In fact, we glossed over the first Snapshot in the Inputs section (Snapshot Controller PINK-LEVEL-A2). This only applies if you modified your Sample 7.1 Design the same as I did. A stock design does not have that one.

It’s a single preset snapshot. The only thing in the Snapshot bank is the Pink Noise level.

To set the Snapshot, you have to go to Emulate mode <F6>. You will also need to remap the “Load 1” button from the Snapshot to the -20dB button in the schematic.

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And, of course, you’ll need to set the pink noise level to -20dB and then click on “Save 1” to set it.


[Blog-18, Page 3 of 5]

[Steve Guttag]

Manual Control

If you recall, the “Audio Presets” are Snapshot “Load” buttons. We need to recreate the FORMAT Snapshot. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to add a Snapshot Controller and then see what is in the A1 version:

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So, we need to put those same controls (the A2 versions, of course) into our new Snapshot bank. Since they are “All Controls,” you just have to grab the component from the schematic and drag it to the “FORMAT-A2” label you just created.

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The Volume Preselect will only be there if you modified your design as I showed in my blog. If you did, then the new Snapshot controller goes into the Container over in the GPIO section:

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If you open it up, you will find the Volume Preselect. That is the same container where the new Snapshot controller goes. Regardless, the Load and Match pins should be exposed. You will find it easier/faster to wire the pins if you, at first, leave it offset and away from the logic/trigger combiner:

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Then move it into position.

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If you didn’t modify yours, then you have less work. You just have to add the Snapshot Controller into the GPIO & Control section, as was done in the original Sample 7.1 Design.

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Now comes some more tricky Snapshot stuff. Since the Load buttons are renamed in the schematic to the format names, we have to make sure we know which is which. You can use <CTL-F> on the auditorium 1 schematic to see where they are mapped. Or, put your design into emulate mode and run through the snapshot bank Load buttons and see which formats light up (again, on A1).

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1. PRESHOW
2. TRAILER 5.1
3. FEATURE 5.1
4. FEATURE 7.1
5. NON-SYNC
6. MIC
7. HDMI 7.1
8. HDMI 5.1

Okay, remap the buttons in A2 so that A2’s Snapshot Load buttons are mapped to the red format buttons for A2. If you modified your schematic, you will need to do it twice. Once for the buttons in the container and the other time for the original buttons in the Manual Control schematic group. There shouldn’t be any grey dots on the buttons indicating that they are Named Controls (yet).

Pro Tips for Snapshot Copying

The best way I have found to copy Snapshot presets is to, first, on the source Snapshot, use its properties to put it into Write Protect mode. You don’t want to casually overwrite your source.

Enter emulation mode <F6>. Then use split-screen to put A1 on the left and A2 on the right. We’re going to preset by preset. Press the Load 1 button on the A1 auditorium (All of the Load buttons on A2 will be greyed out until we Save the Snapshots).

Okay, there are four things we need to copy for each preset (the four components that are in this particular snapshot bank). With Load 1 selected on the A1 bank, go to the A1 router and right-click on it in the schematic:

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The 3^rd icon is the “Copy All from Component.” Select that. Then, go over the A2 schematic and right-click on its “ROUTING” component:

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Select the 4^th choice (Paste All to Component). If you did it right, you should be able to double-click on both components to open them up and they should be identical:

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Remember, we have to repeat that procedure for the other three things in the Snapshot (SURR. OFFSET GAIN, Digital In DCIO, Volume Preselect). When you get all four copied, press “Save 1” on the A2 Snapshot.

Great now do the exact same thing for the other 7 presets! It sounds worse than it is. When you are done, run through them all to ensure that you copy/pasted them correctly and that the buttons got remapped correctly.

The next Snapshot Controller is the Pink Noise Generator. The method to copy it is the same as for the formats. There are three components in the Pink Noise bank.

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So, create the new Snapshot bank for A2 and put its ROUTING, SURR. OFFSET GAIN and Cinema Pink Noise Generator in the bank. Remember, it is those three components that need to have their settings copy/pasted this time (nearly the same as for the Formats). You’ll need to define it with 12 presets in its properties and don’t forget to remap its pink “Load” buttons to the PINK GEN buttons in A2 (or they will still be controlling A1’s pink noise!).

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Bypass Router Snapshot

The Last Snapshot bank is over in the GPIO section and it is for the Bypass system. The only thing in that bank is the Bypass mixer itself and it just has 3 presets. This is should be easy for you now that you are “seasoned-pro” with the previous two.

[Blog-18, Page 4 of 5]

[Steve Guttag]

GPIO & Control

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We’ve got some decisions to make. Do you want a single point of interaction between the Fire Alarm for the entire complex (which could be just 2-screens) or do you want to handle it on a screen-by-screen basis? There is no one correct answer as the fire codes in your area and what your fire inspector wants may determine what the best move will be.

You still have to drag in the GPIO for the “DCIO-A2” and, in properties turn off the GPIO pins.

Single Fire Alarm Connection

Clearly, a single fire alarm connection will be the easiest since you only have one connection and we’ve done it already in screen 1. But what do we do with these?

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Well, we don’t need the separate Custom Control and System Mute. If the system is muted, it is muted everywhere.

We will need to get the Signal Names fixed. Anything that has an “A1” in it should be deleted (not retyped or you will mess up Screen 1). Then add in the A2 Signal Names.

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GAIN A2 is a broken Signal Name. Do you remember where it goes? How can we find out where it goes? Go back to the A1 and use our best friend, <CTL-F> to find where it goes. It is up at the Gain component in the “Processing” group. You will need to delete off the “GAIN A1” first (not retype, delete). Then, you can copy/paste the signal name or add in the Signal Name and as you start to type, the “GAIN A2” should be presented to you as an option.

The “Classic Cinema Fader” (if you added in the linear fader) or the “Master Fader” (if you kept the original dB fader) should look something like this:

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Separate Fire Alarm Connections per Auditorium

If you are going to have separate fire alarm connection points for each auditorium. It is pretty much the same thing except the GPIO on the Core is of no use for the “other” auditorium(s).

Fortunately, GPIOs are on most Q-SYS peripherals. You could use the GPIO of the DCIO-H (there are 6 available). They are on an RJ45 connector so perhaps, they are not as convenient as a terminal block. But most installers are pretty comfortable with handling RJ45s and making up such cables.

However, the CX-Q amplifiers also offer GPIO and they are on terminal blocks already! Either are viable and are equally as good though the CX-Q amplifiers use “digital inputs” rather than contact closure. Depending on where your components physically are versus where the fire alarm company places their wires (and you want “dry-contact” relay contacts from the fire alarm company is which one is better to use.

The preference should be contact on fire. If the Fire Marshal wants open on Fire, then you will need to invert the logic with a Control Function “Logic Not.”

For this example, I’m going to use the DCIO’s GPIO. So, I need to expose those pins and wire it up similar to Screen 1.

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Yes, you can have two System Mutes. I’m not wild about that idea The System Mute component is going to respond to a logic transition. So, the two theatres could alternate the System Mute. I think it would be best to use a Logic-OR on the original System Mute. (Split Screen below)

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Either way, this isn’t too hard to overcome.

Relay Outs

The last little bit (in terms of wiring) is to get the Relays to be controlled from our “Relay Pulse Buttons.”

Open the Relay Pulse Buttons container.

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Select the found Signal Names (already correctly named). I would use a right-to-left selection to get all four of them at once. Then copy <CTL-C>. Then select the Relay Out pins (1-4) and paste <CTL-V>.

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Note, the “Period” Signal Names are updated to the names T5-T8, automatically, There is nothing wrong with that as they just need to be unique names. If it bothers you, you can always append “A2” to those names as well.

Automation Command List

Don’t forget to update the Automation Command List to switch all of the “A1” to “A2.” This won’t affect the operation of anything but it does provide accurate information to someone wanting to integrate the system with a server or automation system.

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What’s Next?

I think we’re done with the schematic and Snapshots. We have the Named Controls and the UCI to duplicate on the next blog.

Conclusions

There are a bunch of little steps in duplicating auditoriums. I’d say the trickiest part, particularly once you are familiar with the various techniques for the outright duplication, is to ensure that you don’t have your copy controlling the auditorium that you copied from!

If you’ve been good about your naming scheme, you should be able to spot the wrong Signal Name(s) in the schematic. The use of split screens can be very handy for not only duplicating but also ensuring that you haven’t forgotten anything.

If I were using a single Core for controlling multiple auditoriums, I would not be inclined to assign that Core to a particular auditorium, even if you physically locate the Core there. Note, if you are using redundant Cores, you could locate the Cores in different theatres so if something goes down in one theatre such that the Core and/or switches disappear, if the other Core is in a separate rack, with its own switches, you might keep the remaining theatres up.

What I did not discuss but is equally as viable is to use a separate Core for each theatre. However, if you did that you wouldn’t put both auditoriums in one design. You could merely save the design under a new name…give the Core a unique name and the rest of what I showed will still apply (with respect to naming). You just wouldn’t need to copy/paste anything because it will all be there already.

Q-SYS has a lot of flexibility in how you choose to set up your system for reliability and/or redundancy.
©2025 by Steve Guttag

[Blog-18, Page 5 of 5, End of Blog]

[Steve Guttag]

Q-SYS For Cinema Blog-19, Copying Auditoriums Part-2 (Sample 7.1 Part-14)

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Current QDS Versions: 10.0.0 and 9.4.8 LTS.
Sample 7.1 design version: 4.3.0.0 Introduction

Okay. Here we are at the conclusion of the Sample 7.1 analysis. This blog will wrap it up by looking at copying/duplicating the Named Controls and the UCIs. This is a direct continuation from Blog 18. So, if you haven’t looked at that one, please look at it before going through this one.

Disclaimer

If any of the content in this blog happens to show up in a Q-SYS exam, it is not my intention to provide an answer-sheet beyond the discussion of good practice. I have not seen any form of the cinema final exam (my Level-1 was before there was a cinema version).

Disclosure

I do not, in any way, work for QSC/Q-SYS. These thoughts are my own based on my own interactions with the product(s) and implementing Q-SYS within actual cinema environments. I do work for a dealer that has sold QSC products since the 1980s, including Q-SYS and its predecessors. For the purposes of this blog, I represent only myself and not my employer(s) or any other company.

Named Controls

Presuming you are continuing from Blog-18, let’s start with getting the Named Controls (that which lets external devices, like the server or an automation like the Eprad eCNA or Integ’s JNIOR, communicate/control a Q-SYS system.

The first step is to select the “Named Controls” on the Left-Side Pane (LSP).

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These are the ones to replicate. There are 15, by my count. 8 of them are the “Audio Presets.” Let’s start by dragging the FEATURE 7.1 button over to the Named Controls.

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Snapshot_Controller_2Load4? What the heck is that? If you go to the actual Snapshot controller and select it so you can see the properties on the RSP, despite it being called FORMAT-A2, its “Code Name” is Snapshot_Controller_2. It might be less confusing if we change that and call it FORMAT-A2 [this theme will come up again].

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It won’t magically change the name in the Named Controls but we were going to rename it anyway to “F71-A2”. But the next format button we drag over will have a more reasonable name.

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FORMAT-A2Load3 makes a little more sense. We need to rename that one to F51-A2. Repeat for the remaining formats. Your Named Controls should start to look like this:

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While we’re here, we might as well drag those Relay buttons over too.

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And name them appropriately in the “Named Controls.”

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Okay, 12 down, 3 to go. Those are going to be the Fader and Mute ones. If we cruise up to the Processing section and open up the Classic Cinema Fader (or the MASTER FADER on an unmodified design), it has all of the controls we need.

How would you figure out where the GAIN, FADER and MUTE controls were? Using the “Find” command <CTL-F> on Screen-1’s Named Controls for those functions will send you to where they are sourced in Screen-1. You’ll want to use their counterparts in Screen-2.

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The “_1” in the name is due to Q-SYS preventing a duplicate name. Like with the Snapshots, we could change the name in the properties to be described better.

Tip: It is, in the long-run, going to be worth fixing the names of such components in the properties so that as QDS and Scripts interact with various components, their name makes sense too.

So, here is the full list. You should have an “A2” version for every “A1.”

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That takes care of the Named Controls. All 15 (of the A2 controls) are accounted for.

[Blog-19, Page 1 of 4]

[Steve Guttag]

Duplicating the UCIs

It’s time to switch to the User Control Interface section on the LSP.

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Now, you may not have added the Monitor Mixer and I left the original MONITOR page in there. So, your UCI page may look a little different. The techniques are going to be the same, regardless. I would not suggest leaving both Monitors in there…pick one.

There are two ways, that I know, to duplicate UCIs. There is the original method of recreating each page, one-by-one. There is a MUCH faster way by using the UCI export/input function. I’ll go over both.

Traditional Replication.

To begin, you add in auditorium 2 by clicking on that “+” icon at the top of the “User control Interfaces.”

Check the size of the touchscreen. Click on Auditorium 1 and look at the properties. It shows that it is a TSC-55-G2.

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Is that what you were “given” when you added Auditorium 2?

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Nope. We need to change that to match the touchscreen you are going to use.

Then, count the number of pages (just 4 since we aren’t doing two different monitor pages). Add that many pages to your new Auditorium 2 (down at the bottom of the Pages/Layers column there are + and – buttons).

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We need to rename them to HOME, MONITOR, METERS, CLEAN SCREEN. Also, since we are using “Navigation Buttons,” we don’t need the tabs.

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I would change the “Fill” of each page to the same color as on Auditorium 1 too. That could be key to some of the backgrounds, if the QSC image isn’t part of it. One-by-one, select the page on Auditorium 1, go to its properties, and copy its fill color. Paste that color code into the mating page on Auditorium 2.

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If you have any pages with more than 1-layer (if you copied my Monitor Mixer), then you need to add those layers to the MONITOR page (and name them) so you have parking spots for everything.

Copying

Okay…now we get to Copy and Paste. Go to Auditorium 1 HOME page, select all <CTL-A> and then copy <CTL-C>. Go over to the Auditorium 2 HOME page and make sure it is selected (little green vertical bar on the right of that page’s name).

When we paste, all of the items will not complete the paste until you click your mouse (left-button). However, you will want to hold the <shift> button so everything goes to the exact same places they were on the original page.

Okay…what happened?

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The background didn’t come over. Why? Since I’m presuming that this may be a “test question,” I’m going to leave it up to you to solve. My only suggestion is to carefully look at the Auditorium 1 page right after you select all <CTL-A> to see if you can see anything there that looks different than the rest.

Before doing that, use <CTL-Z> to undo the paste, since we do want the background.

Presuming you figured out the trick, your paste should look (somewhat) like this (it may be different if you didn’t make changes or made different changes to the stock design):

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Key Point: Keep in mind, the buttons, meters, and such are all (still) for Auditorium 1.

They are ALL going to need to be remapped!

I would go split-screen and adjust my window sizes to make this go faster:

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Drag the “AUDIO PRESETS” over to their respective buttons on the HOME page and use the <CTL> button to allow for “Remap Control”

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Work your way around the page and don’t forget the Status Popup (if you matched what I did…they will just be status LEDs in the original).

As you copy some things, their status/meter/levels will change to blanks…like the System Status or the main fader:

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The “CORE STATUS” doesn’t need to be copied since it is the same Core.

The “Navigation Buttons” only work on the UCI they are in so they don’t need to be “Remapped.” If you named your pages exactly as Auditorium 1, in ALL CAPS, then they should be good-to-go. If you went with the Monitor Mixer, you’ll likely find that the MONITOR button needs to be remapped. Regardless, it is good practice to check everything and make sure all buttons are mapped properly, including navigation buttons.

Okay, one page down, three pages (and possibly some layers) to go! The process is the same for each page and each item on the page. This is an area where, if you are not careful, you’ll have a touchscreen in A2 controlling things in A1 If you aren’t sure if you’ve (re-)mapped something, use <CTL-F> to see what things are mapped to.

If you are using the Monitor Mixer, be careful that you are on the right layer, when you paste:

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If you mess up. Don’t worry, just cut <CTL-X>/paste <CTL-V> them where you want them. Note, when you select objects on the UCI, their corresponding parts in your page/layer list are also selected:

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This works in reverse. You can select everything in the list, including shift-clicking to get an entire collection of items. You can then drag them to the layer you desire.

[Blog-19, Page 2 of 4]

[Steve Guttag]

Export/Import

While the traditional method is fine for doing a handful of things. I’ve found it faster/easier to use some relatively newer tools. One can export a UCI. Then import the UCI (as many times as you want) and you’ll get an exact duplicate. You still have to remap things but there is a tool for that as well (still listed as Beta).

Okay…I’ve undone everything so we are starting fresh.

Select the Auditorium 1 UCI. You can either right-click on the Auditorium 1 UCI:

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Or go up to the Tools menu. Look down to the UCI Operations and then to Export UCI.

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Export the UCI to a place you can easily find and give it a name you will recognize and makes sense.

Then, go back to the Tools menu and this time go to UCI operations and select Import UCI and choose the file you just saved.

And just like that, you have an Auditorium 2 UCI! Seriously, QDS increments the number and everything.

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That is so much easier, I think. However, it is still all mapped to Auditorium 1. So, we still have to remap everything.

UCI Remap Tool [Beta]

The Remap Tool can be a time-saver…IF, you have done diligence in your component naming. To use it, select the page/layer you want to remap. I’m going to start with the HOME page. Then go up to Tools, UCI Operations and finally Remap UCI Controls [BETA]. Note the handy <CTL+M> hotkey for next time.

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Upon selecting the Remap tool, we get this:

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Let’s start with an easy one. The Classic Cinema Fader (which will only be there if you put in the Linear Fader, like I did on a previous blog). If you click on its far-left arrow, it will open up and show the 4 things that may need remapping:

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Honestly, I rarely open the left arrows up. I click on the down-arrow to go about remapping. But you may find it informative to know that we need to map the levels, and mute. The three Dolby Levels are the Up, down and the meter itself. Note the icons and colors.

So, if we click its down arrow, we are presented with options:

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We want Auditorium 2 so click on its arrow. We get a decent sized list of things but the most likely is often at the top:

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We do want the ClassicCinemaFader_1 but it would be much less confusing if we renamed all of the components with their A2 names. So, if we fix its Code Name, it will appear easier to understand:

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Select it and click on “OK” at the bottom of the remap tool.

Key Point: If you don’t click on “Ok” you haven’t remapped anything.

Now all four items for the fader are remapped:

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[Blog-19, Page 3 of 4]

[Steve Guttag]

You can use <CTL-F> to verify (and that is a good idea when you’ve done remapping. It is super easy to overlook something. Renaming your Code Names with the auditorium number will go a long way to making it easy to spot on the Remap tool too.

So, look over the Remap list and go to the schematic and start the naming process before proceeding. A big chunk of them are the speakers and they are all lined up on the schematic. I normally just copy/paste the Label to the Code Name (providing that I’ve got the theatre number in that).

Most of them are straight forward, in my opinion (as to what they are). The ones that just end in a number, like “Custom_Controls_12” will take a little investigation. If you sort the controls by Page and Layer:

Blog19Image36.png

It might make things more clear:

Blog19Image37.png

That is the Booth Monitor fader. It would probably be best if it was better labeled altogether. That Router 8x8 isn’t even an 8x8 router! It is a 2x1 router but during the copy/paste process when it was created, many blogs ago, it got the original router configuration in its Code Name.

After taking the time to do proper names on the components, then the Remap tool can be a handy way to know you’ve likely remapped all of your controls:

Blog19Image38.png

Note, all of the “A2” suffixes there. One should still go through and <CTL-F> to ensure that things are mapped right. Alternately, you can put QDS into emulation mode <F6> and set up a split screen so you can see if the controls on the UCI operate the items on the schematic as you think they should.

When I checked mine, I found that I had not assigned an actual UCI to the TSC-55-A2!

Blog19Image39.png

It shouldn’t be blank. A couple of clicks and it is assigned to Auditorium 2.

So, in addition to the touchscreen. My list of things that I needed to fix included:

• Navigation Buttons. They all had to be set (for EACH PAGE).
• For the Monitor Mixer, I had to point the Layer Controller in the Schematic to Auditorium 2 (choose what it is controlling).

So, just three things (after doing the Code Name changes and using the Remapping tool). That’s not too bad, in my opinion.

Note, the Remapping tool works if you did the traditional Copy/Paste of each page/layer too. It is a good way of checking yourself, regardless.

If you really can’t decipher what the Remap Tool is trying to work with, then you can still drag and remap anything you find isn’t working correctly during your testing.

Conclusions

Well, here we are. We’re at the end of the Sample 7.1 Design analysis. By my count, I’ve done 14-blogs relating to the Sample 7.1 Design and I’ve provided links (earlier in the series) to the videos by Q-SYS in the “Level-1” course.

I hope what I have shown/discussed has helped/been informative in your Q-SYS journey, particularly as it pertains to cinema integration. What we’ve gone over is pretty typical for most any cinema design. Sure, you will have different components and layouts but the processes required are going to be pretty much the same.

None of this stuff is hard, in my opinion. What is different is that you are now in control of your sound and control system, not some engineer’s (or group of engineers) thinking what you may want. On the flips side, that now means that you have to think about all aspects of what it takes to make both a sound processor and its control system. However, you get the benefit that you can change yours, as you see fit, even after deployment. And, you get to do so without having to go back through the entire production process.

While we’re done with the Sample 7.1 Design, it may show up again, from time-to-time (and in whatever manner it may evolve), if it helps show something. It remains a design that is accessible for anyone that is using Q-SYS.

©2025 by Steve Guttag

[Blog-19, Page 4 of 4, End of Blog]

[Leo Enticknap]

For those of you using Visionary Solutions HDMI over IP endpoints in your Q-Sys installations, an updated version of the plugin is just out:

image.png

[Steve Guttag]

The new Visionary Solutions plugin is not an updated version of the ones already in circulation. They are new, ground-up, plugins where (one configures 4000/5000 via the properties). There is a 26-page manual associated with the new plugin.

You must be using QDS 9.10.x or later...which, if you putting in a new system, is not going to be a new tune as all new Cores (except maybe the NV32H), DCIO require 9.10 or later. So, if you happen to want to use Visionary Solutions in a system with legacy hardware (older Cores like the Core 250i or TSC-3 touchscreens or even the I/O Frame 8S (8-slot I/O frame), then you have some decisions to make).

Confusingly, they don't show up in the normal "Enterprise Manager" folder of Asset Manager (plugins with Q-SYS involvement and supporting Reflect normally ar ein the Enterprise Manager. They are in the "User" folder (and then "Visionary")

image.png
(The PacketAV" folder is where the original plugins are living).

If you are presently using the 4000 or 5000 series plugins, you will need to delete them off and place the new one in your design, configure it appropriately and migrate your Signal Names (wiretags) as well as remap all of your thumbnail displays. Whereas on one site, I have something like 25 or 30 displays, there will be some drag/remapping to do...on top of changing all of the encoder/decoders.

My point is, unlike most plugin updates, which don't require changing the design other than to allow the updated plugin, this one will feel more like changing a user component where you DO have to remove and reinstall the component. Going forward, hopefully, it should be like other plugins where as they update it, you just have to install the update in your QDS and when you open your design next, it should give you the option of keeping the existing version or adopting the new version.

On the upside, aside from, presumably, better functionality, this plugin also works with Q-SYS Reflect for those utilizing that service. Though I have not discussed Q-SYS Reflect yet, one can use Reflect in a NOC like fashion to get an Enterprise level overview of your equipment.

Internally, there is more similar than different (they're not connected to a live system, hence all of the red and non-populated boxes):

image.png

Note, the new one give yous an Event Log tab.

You get a Save button for the log as well as a reboot! I could see them has being handy:

image.png

The serial and IR implementation is vastly improved/less cumbersome. You now get normal pins (if you enable them in the properties). So, you can issue serial commands and it will send them right out of its serial port. The IR pin does require their IR Driver, which if you are familiar with Global Cache's Control Tower, is pretty much same-same, right down to using the Control Tower to load the IR set.

[Steve Guttag]

QDS 9.13.1 LTS is (almost) here! While not showing on the download site just yet (QSC tends to post their software on Tuesday/Wednesday), the release notes are now posted for the new LTS (Long Term Support) version of QDS: 9.13.1. This one is massive (see below, and below and below).

Of note, 9.13 will be the end of the line for a lot of "legacy" systems. Some older legacy systems were dropped after QDS 9.5 (e.g. I/O Frame 8S), 9.13 will be the last version the supports the I/O Frame...a very popular piece for those using DCA amplifiers with Dataport cables. Another "gotcha" on later QDS versions is the dropping of the TSC-7 touchscreen, which was very popular and either the last or the only touchscreen that supported network redundancy. So, if you find yourself wanting/needing to update your system to QDS 10 and beyond, be mindful that some of your system cannot make that journey.

I plan to discuss it more in a future blog but one solution may be to keep your older Cores that support obsoleted I/O and peripherals and use QLAN transmitter/receivers to move the audio between the new and old and Control Links for any status/interaction between the environments, like meters, that are of value. It certainly isn't ideal but that is where we are.


Resolved Known Issues

• Audio: The issue where the QIO-FLEX4A Amp Out component controls failed to disable (orange out) when powered via standard PoE instead of PoE+ has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue where a QIO, NL, or NM series peripheral could erroneously enter recovery mode due to a large amount of high-bandwidth UDP network traffic has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue where the QIO-ML4i failed to report clipping on any channel during signal input and gain adjustment has been resolved.
• Audio: Resolved an issue causing hardware to report as compromised when 15V or 48V power supplies failed on QIO ML2x2, M4i, and Flex4A devices, ensuring accurate status reporting in Q-SYS Designer.
• Audio: The issue with QIO, NL, and NM Series devices intermittently displaying the wrong grandmaster, despite functioning correctly, has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue where QIO, NL, and NM Series devices generated excessive “Ignored followup” PTP log messages in certain environments has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue that caused QIO devices to duplicate port information in discovery packets due to repeated LLDP data has been resolved.
• Audio: Resolved an issue that would cause excessive log messages when reconnecting LAN A to the Core in systems with QIO, NL, and NM Series devices peripherals, even though functionality was unaffected.
• Audio: Resolved an issue that would cause NL-C4 and NL-P4 ceiling speakers to intermittently report clock sync and internal audio stream errors.
• Audio: The issue causing QIO-FLEX4A units to reject all HTTPS transactions and remain inaccessible due to corrupted self-signed certificates has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue causing the IR Receiver component to be inaccessible in QAT due to missing XML metadata has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue causing QIO, NL, and NM Series devices properties like “Amplifier Disabled” and “Channel Index” to appear under the GPIO Pin header in the QDS Properties panel has been resolved.
• Audio: Resolved an issue that caused QIO devices to send incorrect timing information in network synchronization messages.
• Audio: The issue that caused packet missing errors on the QIO-FLEX4A has been resolved.
• Video: The issue that caused NV-21-HU devices to go missing and enter a streaming error state when HDMI was disabled with an Elo display has been resolved.
• Video: The issue that caused HDCP encryption failures with Elo 1502L displays has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue causing a random number of NL-C4 and NL-P4 devices to remain stuck in the "Initializing" state after firmware updates or design pushes has been resolved.
• Audio: The issue causing NM-T1 devices to randomly report “in use in another design” when the Core name exceeded 53 characters has been resolved.
• Audio: Resolved an issue causing QIO-FLEX4A peripherals to report PTP Grandmaster Mismatch and Internal Audio Stream Error after redundant core failover, resulting in RTSP stream timeouts and audio loss.
• Audio: Resolved an issue causing the timer queue to intermittently exceed its limit on audio input devices, which could lead to unpredictable behavior.
• Audio: Resolved an issue where dragging the NM-T1 status component triggered error dialogs.
• Amplifiers: An issue causing the inversion of polarity in the PL-SUB15 has been found and resolved.
• Amplifiers: Resolved an issue where array correction for high frequencies did not apply when PL-LA8 or PL-LA12 speakers were set to Flat contour.
• Amplifiers: The issue that caused the high-pass filter to be missing in biamp mode at 125Hz for the PL-DC8 Lua file has been resolved.
• Amplifiers: Resolved an issue where the PL-LA block displayed the property as “Splay” instead of “Total Splay Angle.”
• Video: The issue with video flickering when using the Logitech Rally Bar with the NV-32-H has been resolved.
• Video: The issue with camera previews getting stuck when while switching between different cameras in a dividable room setup has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing the mediacast router to forget the previously selected input for output 1 after redeployment has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing USB Bridging and USB HID Routing to fail on NV-21-HU devices when reconnecting via USB-C to certain MacBook Pro models has been resolved.
• Video: The issue with NV-21-HU video bridge distortion when Camera Traffic Shaping was enabled has been resolved.
• Video: Resolved an issue where NV-21-HU device would not present video or detect peripherals via USB-C.
• Video: The issue of no video output when using a display with NV-21-HU HDMI output has been resolved.
• Video: Resolved the issue that caused inconsistent power delivery from NV-21-HU to HP EliteBook G8, G9, and G10 laptops over USB-C.
• Video: Resolved the issue where the HP Zbook G7 laptop intermittently failed to present video or detect USB bridging when connected via USB-C to the NV-21-HU.
• Video: The issue causing USB-C power delivery to fail when charging Lenovo ThinkPad P14s laptops with NV-21-HU has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing dropped video frames when switching AV streams on NV-32-H and NV-21-HU devices has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing NV-21-HU devices to lose their HDCP status setting after a USB reset has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing the NV-32-H to lose its HDCP setting after a USB reset, resulting in unexpected changes to video security settings, has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing inconsistent USB-C connectivity between NV-21-HU devices and HP Elite x360 laptops has been resolved.
• Video: The issue causing NV-21-HU devices to enter a compromised state and disable charging when connected to Dell XPS laptops due to excessive power draw has been resolved.

[Steve Guttag]

• Control: The issue causing copied layers to lose their CSS styling, where the style was not applied even though the class name remained, has been resolved.
• Control: The issue preventing the tilde character (~) from being used in component labels has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved the issue where Lua debug output displayed incorrect characters for values over 0x7F.
• Control: Resolved the issue where the GetControls() function returned control names with periods (.) instead of underscores (_), causing incorrect layer name extraction in UCI scripting.
• Control: The issue where the Astronomical Clock module failed to update the “Is Daytime” status, requiring users to manually press the GET button, has been resolved.
• Control: The issue where the “Default Panel” property in the Text Controller lost its selection after renaming a tab has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved an issue that could cause QDS to unexpectedly close when selecting the first UCI in a design.
• Control: The issue involving the NV-32-H Core, NC-110 camera, and TSC-70-G3, where the video preview displayed a gray box with a JSON error overlay, has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved the issue where the bold version of the font Open Sans did not work when specified through CSS styling.
• Control: Resolved an issue that would cause the UCI viewer to fail to fall back to JPEG preview when multicast video preview was unavailable, resulting in a black screen instead of a 1 FPS JPEG stream.
• Control: Resolved an issue that would cause one camera preview to appear as a gray square when multiple previews were used in the same UCI page, even though the design and camera feeds were valid.
• Control: Resolved an issue that would prevent color changes made through UCI variables from dynamically updating on the interface, even though the variable values were correctly modified.
• Control: The issue causing controls to disappear when dragged from a regular layer onto the area beneath a shared layer on a UCI page has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing HTML5 UCIs to fail when multiple .String properties were updated simultaneously to display custom images after design reload has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved an issue where Designer could become unresponsive when attempting to wire inputs on a Status Combiner component with a high input count (≥ 50).
• Control: The issue causing QIO-S4 serial connections to remain open when the device went offline has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing USB Bridge camera previews to not update on HTML5 UCIs when switching sources through the Media Cast Router has been resolved.
• Control: The issue that caused icon pixelation in the Windows UCI Viewer and TSC G3 platforms when using QDS 9.12 has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing scripts to start slowly when IR Drivers were included in a design has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved the issue where TSC panels took a long time to load the UCI.
• Control: Resolved the issue that caused UCI layer controllers to fail to respond correctly to selector changes when IR drivers were present in the design during emulation.
• Control: Resolved the issue that caused Designer to crash without error when a Boolean was passed instead of a string to the SNMP Lua setRequest function.
• Control: Resolved the issue that allowed components to be moved off-screen using CTRL + arrow keys, causing them to disappear from the schematic view.
• Control: The issue causing bulk moving controls in the UCI tree to reverse their order has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing polygons used as navigation buttons to immediately switch pages while in design mode has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing controls and graphics in WebUI to appear missing until the UCI is refreshed after a system restart has been resolved.
• Control: The issue causing word wrap in text boxes to behave inconsistently between Q-SYS Designer and UCI Viewer or UCIs has been resolved.
• Control: The issue that caused the media display camera feed to not update after switching cameras when using a Video Bridge in a UCI connected to a Mediacast Router has been resolved.
• Control: The issue that caused the MTR app to crash unpredictably when handling large UCIs has been resolved.
• Control: Resolved an issue where Q-SYS Designer performance degraded over time due to the Lua Editor’s Debug Output buffer filling up when running scripts with frequent print statements.

[Steve Guttag]

• Platform: The issue preventing remote destinations in the PA Router from appearing as selectable zones in the Virtual Page Station has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue where the PA Router displayed an incorrect source during core-to-core paging has been resolved.
• Platform: Resolved the issue where Q-SYS peripherals like the TSC-G3 incorrectly appeared connected when plugged into LAN B.
• Platform: Resolved the issue where unterminated signal names were not listed in the Inspector pane after saving and reopening a design.
• Platform: Resolved the issue where the Selector component’s combo box failed to populate when placed inside a Channel Group.
• Platform: Resolved an issue that could cause a Core or PA Router to hang during certain PA Remote API (PARAPI) call sequences.
• Platform: A security vulnerability related to the SSH service has been addressed.
• Platform: Resolved an issue that would cause design lockups and performance issues with larger designs.
• Platform: When pushing a large design to a Core that has insufficient storage, an "Insufficient storage" message now appears in status window instead of a "500 Internal Server Error".
• Platform: Combo boxes now work as expected when dragged into the schematic and grouped with other controls.
• Platform: The issue where the Core Nano required two deployments to successfully upgrade from version 9.9.1 to a develop build has been resolved.
• Platform: Resolved the issue where pen testing caused high CPU usage on the Core, leading to system lockups and unresponsiveness.
• Platform: Resolved the issue where the PTPv2 announcement packet message length field did not account for the length of TLVs (Type-Length-Value elements), causing PTP4l machines to fail in decoding the announcement message.
• Platform: In Peripheral Manager, text can now be selected and copied from the Status tab - for example, a peripheral's MAC address.
• Platform: Updated Audinate libraries to resolve potential crashes while using SW Dante blocks in a design.
• Platform: Resolved an issue that would cause the Core 8 Flex to unexpectedly reboot during high-load streaming scenarios, incorrectly reporting the restart as user initiated despite no manual action or power disruption.
• Platform: The issue causing Core 610 to display invalid clocking properties, including unsupported options like sample rate and clock source, has been resolved.
• Platform: An issue that could cause Core processing overruns and peripherals to go offline (for example, due to attempting to play a corrupted audio file) has been resolved.
• Platform: When using the POTS Controller DTMF RX control pin, the last five digits in buffer are now properly cleared after call disconnect.
• Platform: The issue causing a runtime crash when re-deploying a Design using the Call Sync component has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing Dolby Atmos Receiver and AES67 RX components to report incorrect status in Q-SYS Designer has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing the audio file player to crash when playing MP3 files containing ID3 cover art tags has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing NC-110 cameras to become stuck in a loop of initializing and going missing during firmware updates, rendering them unreachable even after downgrading, has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing NV-32-H devices to bypass licensing checks, allowing unlicensed units to operate as if licensed, has been resolved.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that caused a payload error when setting date and time, which prevented license application and full QSD deployment.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that caused persistent stream dropouts during redundant core swaps in heavily loaded Core-110f environments.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that caused USB video delays when using six NM-T1 microphones in a design.
• Platform: Resolved an issue that could cause QDS to unexpectedly close when opening a UCI containing an orphaned control with a very narrow width (6)
• Platform: Resolved an issue where Software Dante components in busy Q-SYS designs occasionally failed to initialize on the first attempt.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that caused audio peripherals to take several minutes to initialize when IR components were present in the design.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that caused firmware updates to fail and trigger continuous reboots on Core-110f V2 devices.
• Platform: Resolved the issue that prevented firmware updates over the network for QIO, NL, and NM Series devices, requiring recovery mode as a workaround.
• Platform: Resolved an issue that could cause CX-Q amplifiers to become unresponsive after many months due to increasing RAM usage.
• Platform: The issue causing memory usage of the runtime_engine to grow steadily, potentially leading to a memory leak, has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing certain web page URLs to bypass authentication and potentially expose secure endpoints has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing vCore Control licenses with version 3 to deactivate after reboot has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing PS-TSCG3 devices to appear incorrectly labeled and not be re-nameable in the Administrator interface has been resolved.
• Platform: The issue causing the AES67 block status to inconsistently blink between "Compromised" and "Not Present" when no AES67 stream is active has been resolved.
• Platform: Resolved an issue causing Core 610 to crash when receiving Dante audio from a Dante Virtual Soundcard NIC experiencing high bandwidth usage, resulting in LAN A communication loss and requiring a reboot to recover.
• Platform: Resolved an issue causing LAN B receivers to fault when LAN A was disconnected on a Core during redundant Q-LAN streaming, instead of maintaining expected LAN B operation.
• Platform: Resolved an issue causing peripheral firmware updates to stall and restart when performed over very slow network connections.
• Platform: Resolved an issue causing cores to fault when a LAN cable was unplugged while the Seervision plugin was active in the design, triggered by communication loss with Seervision hardware.
• Platform: The issue that caused Core devices to crash every few hours has been resolved.
• Management: The issue where the Core Manager’s packet capture tool accepted unsupported input formats, leading to unexpected behavior when generating capture files, has been resolved.
• Management: The issue causing vControl cores to become inaccessible after a firmware upgrade due to licensing errors has been resolved.
• Management: Resolved the issue that caused a node memory leak after losing Reflect registration while inventory statuses were actively changing, leading to core crashes.

[Steve Guttag]

Q-SYS For Cinema Blog-20 Cores Pt 2 and QDS 10.0

_7/27/25

Current QDS Versions: 10.0.0 and 9.4.8 LTS Introduction

Wow. This is first of my blogs to get an update. Then again, it was expected as new products are going to be continually developed. That said, if you have not read Blog-3, then please do so as I don’t plan on merely duplicating it but with the new Cores. Instead, I plan to (primarily) discuss the new Cores.

Link to Blog-3

Disclosure

I do not, in any way, work for QSC/Q-SYS. These thoughts are my own based on my own interactions with the product(s) and implementing Q-SYS within actual cinema environments. I do work for a dealer that has sold QSC products since the 1980s, including Q-SYS and its predecessors. For the purposes of this blog, I represent only myself and not my employer(s) or any other company.

What Cores Are Available?

The list at the time of this writing is (and this list will change over time):

Virtual	VCore (You provide suitable hardware to run the Q-SYS software).
Small	NV32H (Core Enabled) Core Nano Core 8-Flex Core 110f V2 (EOL but may be available until the end of 2025) Core 24f (effectively replaces the Core 110 in all its versions)
Medium	Core 510i (EOL and limited to quantities on hand). Core 610 (EOL but should be available until the end of 2025) Core X10 (more or less the replacement to the Core 510 processing) Core X20r (more or less the replacement to the Core 610)
Large	Core 5200

You may have noticed that I didn’t remove any Cores from the original list. That is because, as of this writing, they are all still available (except maybe, the Core 510i). I’d say that the Core 510i, which is the last of the card based I/O within the Q-SYS ecosystem is going to be the first to lose availability. Over time, the EOL items will drop off the list too, particularly by 2026. So, plan accordingly.

What is the right Core now?

One of the shifts is that fewer Cores have analog I/O in them. The Core 24f and the Core 8-Flex. That’s it. The NV32H, if used as a Core, does have some limited analog I/O (mini-phone).

How many of your cinema installations are really needing much analog audio inputs/outputs? If you are using CX-Q amplifiers, you will likely have an abundance of analog inputs.

Where you may need analog outputs is if you are retaining existing amplifiers that have analog inputs, including the QSC DCA amplifiers (more on that later). If you need analog outputs, and are okay with single-network, there are QIO peripherals with up to 4 analog outputs each such that in 1U of rack space, you can get 16-channels. And, if you are only going to use a typical 7.1 system of 11 channels (presuming bi-amplified screen channels), then three QIO-L4o has you covered. If you want network redundancy, then using Core 8-flex in peripheral mode is an option. You can even repurpose a Core 110 into an analog I/O box in peripheral mode to get a network redundant analog I/O.

The other obvious choice is the Core 24f since it can be configured with up to 16-outputs as either your primary core or as a (somewhat pricey) peripheral.

Let’s look at the new cores:

Core 24f

Blog20Image1.png

The Core 24f is going to be a drop-in replacement (feature wise) for anyone that would have used a Core 110 (f, c or v2). It has all of the features of the original 110 and then some. Here are the highlights:

• 160 x 160 channels of Network I/O (the 110 had 128 x 128).
• 8 analog mic/line inputs.
• 8 analog flex inputs/outputs.
• 8 analog line outputs.
• 8x8 Software Dante channels, licensable up to 36x36 (the 110 only could scale up to 24x24).
• 16 channels multitrack playback scalable to 64-channels (for when you store audio on the Core).
• 4 NICs. 2-QLAN and 2-AUX (at least for now). The 110 only has 2 NICs. So, you can have redundant QLAN network AND put the Core on your normal booth control network.
• 2 RS232 ports.
• 2 USB-A.
• 1 USB-C with integrated A/V bridging.
• 8x8 GPIO ports.

So, you may have noticed that its channel count went up (compared to the 110). Its DSP power went up too…like nearly double!

I’m going to use one of my Atmos systems that is using a pair of Core 110f. Here are the Check Design numbers using QDS 9.13:

Blog20Image2.png

Now, let’s see what happens if we switch the same design to a Core 24f running QDS 10.0

Blog20Image3.png

So, a Core 24f can support 6-7 normal screens (5.1 or 7.1 audio), in my opinion (I haven’t tried it yet…they’re brand new) and may even handle 8-screens, if you are careful about your input counts.

This puts it notably above a Core Nano (or 8-flex), processing wise, even with the Core Nano using a scaling license. So, regardless if you plan on using its analog capabilities, it could be a best-fit Core to fill that space that was missing between the Nano and the 510.

The Core 24f, with its 4-NICs allow for network redundancy while still having a NIC to reside on your normal booth control network at a fraction of the cost of the Core X10 or Core 510i even.

Also notice all of the UCI and Scripting license nonsense has been removed (yay!). QDS 10 returns us back to pre-QDS 7.x with respect to UCI and Scripting in that they are included. There is a provision for obtaining “free” licenses for QDS 9.x (and earlier) as well.

Link for QDS 9.x UCI and Scripting licenses

Q-SYS Core Model	Scripting/UCI Entitlement ID
Core Nano / Core 8 Flex / NV-32-H (Core Capable)	95571811-1af6-48ea-a658-c8737b10737f
Core 110f / Core 110c	d6053d03-b13c-4827-8336-f0dc2b69c06c
Core 510i / Core 510c	940770c3-fbad-4c0a-8be8-3c280d245a67
Core 610	bfdc4894-7c94-4605-be0c-3089b824a40b
Other Q-SYS Cores	No license required

Server Core X10

Blog20Image4.png

If you take away the card slots (and GPIO), the Server Core X10 is going to be a good replacement to the Core 510, in terms of channel count. It has the same 256x256 channel count maximum. Like the 24f, it too has 4 NICs. Though it does have USB ports (both A and C), it does NOT support audio through them. Its RS232 port is functional for control, however.

Let’s look at its DSP capabilities. I have a 9-screen system on a pair of Core 510s. Here is its Check Design running 9.13.0:

Blog20Image5.png

Note, the mere 18% DSP on a Core 510 running 9-screens.

Okay, here is the same design running on a Server Core X10 with QDS 10.0.0:

Blog20Image6.png

So, processing wise, the X10 is not quite as powerful as the 510. But in the cinema environment, we’re still only at 33%. The limiting factor will be the input channel count. Additionally, with later QDS versions, we get to cut up the CAT 1 and CAT 2 type DSP so that, as in this case, the CAT 2 DSP can consume just 1/3 of DSP resources instead of 1/2, as in older QDS versions.

And, before you get too upset about the reduction in processing, the cost of the Server Core X10 is only about 84% of the Core 510i. So, for cinemas, in particular, this is a price drop!

[Blog-20, Page 1 of 2]

[Steve Guttag]

Server Core X20r

Blog20Image7.png

The Server Core X20r is closest in processing power to the Core 610, if the 610 was scaled out to 384x384 channels. This is going to cover just about any cinema in operation. The X20r has two power supplies (the “r” stands for redundant power supplies).

Despite it having, seemingly, a lot of NICs and ports. Like the Server Core X10, it has 4 functional NICs in the same allotment of 2 QLAN and 2-Aux.

Channel count is 384x384 and software Dante can go up to 256x256.

Let’s take my same 9-theatre 510 design and put it in a Core 610 on QDS 9.13

Blog20Image8.png

Interestingly, it uses 2% more resources than the 510i. And note, based on how Q-SYS allocates resources, you could move 2-5% by adding or removing just one item. It allocates by chucks, not by component.

Okay, let’s look at the X20r running QDS 10.0.0:

Blog20Image9.png

So, DSP resource wise, it is between the 510i and the 610. But now, we have plenty of room for more input channels to add additional screens. Also note, the CAT1/CAT2 resources can be divided up into 5ths!

Based on this, I think a fair assessment of the Cores are:

• NV32H (in Core mode): 1-2 screens.
• Core Nano (or 8-Flex): 1-4 screens or 1 Atmos. You can get out to 6-screens, if you limit your inputs. You will need a scaling license as you go above 2 to 3-screens or Atmos.
• Core 24f: 1-7 screens (or 1 Atmos, particularly if you are going to have some PA functionality) and maybe 8-screens, depending on your input channel count.
• Server Core X10: 1-10 screens, Atmos with more extensive PA capabilities or other heavy DSP demands/channel counts. Possibly up to 12-screens, if input channel count is limited.
• Server Core X20r: 1-17 screens and possibly up to 20+, depending on input channel count.

Additionally, the new cores, due to their 4-NICs are more suited to network-redundant systems than the Nano, 8-Flex or the 110 (any version).

I think, for my future designs, the Core Nano will remain the primary go-to. It has a nice price and feature set and mostly lacks an AUX NIC to allow the existing NICs to be just network redundant QLANs. However, the Core 24f is now clearly situated both price and processing wise between the Nano and the X10. Even if you don’t plan on using its analog I/O, processing wise, it could be a much more cost-effective Core for the 5-7 (or possibly 8) screen count cinema than the Core X10. It is nice that we can better “right-size” the Core to the needs of the venue.

QDS 10.x
In tandem with the release of the new cores, Q-SYS has released the latest QDS, 10.0.0. While this blog will not be a review of QDS 10, I’m including it because the new Cores will only run on QDS 10 and newer. It is not uncommon for new hardware to require new and the latest QDS version. Setting aside any software API compatibility issues, existing QDS versions would not be aware of newer Cores and peripherals to allow you to add them in from inventory.

If you are interested in the new features of QDS 10, here is a video:
QDS 10.0.0 Overview Video

QDS 10 is a massive departure version as it cuts the ties with a bunch of legacy equipment (equipment, if already in your system, you may need to reconsider updating to QDS 10 or budget changing working equipment out to be compatible, or have a work-around).

For Cinema, the big ones are:

• I/O Frames. The I/O-Frame was the means of adding forms of analog and even digital audio inputs/outputs (on-ramps/off-ramps). Of note, this means that any system that has QSC DCA amplifiers using Dataports via I/O frames, you won’t be able to use them in QDS 10 and later. There is to be a new LTS branch form of QDS… 9.13.1. It will support the I/O frame but it won’t support the new Cores.
• TSC-7(t and w). This is the Touchscreen that came before the G2 or G3 touchscreens and was probably the most popular of the regular sized touchscreens. It also was the touchscreen that supported network redundancy.
• Of other notable pieces that I’ve seen in cinemas:
  • I/O 8-Flex (also was a network redundant Analog input/output with GPIO).
  • I/O-22 (was much more popular before the DCIO).

Technically, the Core 110f made before April 2017, that only had 2GB of RAM (not storage) won’t work with QDS 10 and above. However, it has been reported that merely upgrading the RAM on the older 110f will allow it to update to QDS 10 as well.

RAM kits have been reported to work (by users, this is not a QSC sanctioned upgrade). You upgrade the RAM to 4GB or 8GB DDR3L. For example, the Crucial CT2K51264BF160B DDR3L 1600 SODIMM 1.35V 8GB kit has been reported to work and is available at the usual computer supply outlets.

Also note, if your older Core 110 has been sent to QSC for repairs, then, likely, it got a RAM upgrade too.

The Core 510i (and Core 510c) is QDS 10 compatible and it can still utilize its cards, including the CODP4 (Dataport) but the Core 510i has been discontinued. So, it is of limited supply. But, with it, you can have a mixed vintage system utilizing the latest QDS (providing your Dataport amps are using cards mounted in the Core 510).

Going Forward

What are we in the cinema industry to do, going forward?

If you have an existing system, really, there is no reason to update anyway, unless there is some new feature you want/need or you need to replace a failed piece that is no longer repairable. For instance, if you have a failed TSC-7 touchscreen, you’d have to replace it with a TSC-70-G3 (nearest similar size) which is compatible with QDS 9.13.

However, if your site has the older TSC-3. That starts to look like wholesale changeout, if you have one TSC for each screen. The nearest modern touchscreen is the TSC-50-G3. It requires QDS 9.4 and above but TSC-3s were dropped in QDS 8.4. So, this isn’t a new problem with mixed vintages.

In the case of touchscreens, there could be a plan of using iPads instead of dedicated touchscreens. There is a free Q-SYS app for iOS. So, the lifespan is going to be closer to the supported nature of the iOS device (which also isn’t forever, but likely cheaper to keep up with). Or plan on changing out the TSCs over time or, perhaps, just moving your UCI to browser based, just like all servers now.

DCA Amplifiers

I think the bigger concern for cinemas are the prevalence of QSC’s DCA amplifiers. Heck, they are probably the reason you know about QSC/Q-SYS in the first place. There are a LOT of them out there and they last a long time. We have quite a few that have gone over 20-years. Many have outlived the venues they were originally installed in!

Naturally, they can always be used as straight-up analog amplifiers using their analog inputs via a QIO-L4o or another analog output peripheral or Core. But if you are using Q-SYS, why would you want to do that? Using the Dataport and CODP4 cards allow for all of the benefits of DPA-Q/CX-Q amplifiers (voicing, limiting, monitoring, control…etc.)

I’ll probably explore this a bit more in a future blog. But, for now, if you are using I/O-frames, QDS 9.13 will support both the Core Nano/8-flex as well as I/O frames. So, anyone doing 1-core/screen, there are no real restrictions, in terms of making a system. At least not at this time.

If you are using a pair of Cores for a complex or a group of screens, the Core 610 remains available for 2025. It will work with your I/O frames in QDS 9.13.x. With the typical lifetime of a Dell server, you could be set for the life of those amplifiers.

However, moving into 2026, some decisions will need to be made. One of which, that could prove to be quite economical, is to utilize obsolete Cores, which likely can be had for a fraction of what they once were valued to just drive the I/O frames. Then use QLAN Transmitters/Receivers to move the audio between the main Core(s) and the legacy equipment. You can also use Control Links to move the meters/indicators/Status or whatever you want on your UCIs on the main system. And remember, you don’t need a massive Core for this. You just one big enough to cover your stream count…which if you are using Dataport cards, are going to be less than your channel count since the Dataport cards are carrying the DSP load of voicing and crossovers. A pair of Nanos could handle most any complex of I/O frames and DCA amplifiers. It handles 64/64 out of the box and 128x128 with a scaling license. That’s a lot of 7.1 theatres (16). If you have a pair of Core 250i available, it handles 32-theatres of Dataport amps via I/O frames. Park them on QDS 9.4.8 LTS and create a bridge to the past. Just make sure you are running redundant Core (and, in my opinion, redundant network).

Summary

So, going forward will present challenges for legacy equipment but, at this time, it is not an insurmountable task.

In fact, if they had just continued support for the I/O Frames, most (not all…depending on your legacy system’s component makeup) systems could move forward with QDS 10 and the new Cores.

New systems continue to look bright with more granularity of Cores to better right-size your Core capabilities to your needs.

The new Cores have nice feature sets, including more NICs for those of us that have redundant networks as well as wanting to have separate networks for things like Dante.

©2025 by Steve Guttag

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