Video Transcript
Amplifiers and Loudspeakers
10m 7s
00:08
At the end of your audio signal path in the Schematic,
00:11
you need to send your audio channels out of the Q-SYS environment to be delivered to a loudspeaker,
00:17
so that you can, you know, hear it.
00:20
There are a number of ways to accomplish this,
00:22
and certain options definitely have their advantages over others.
00:26
One of the best methods is to use a native Q-SYS network amplifier,
00:30
which you can add to your design just like any other Q-SYS peripheral.
00:33
These native amplifiers have been specifically designed
00:36
to work with the Q-SYS ecosystem so you can benefit from easy plug-and-play integration
00:41
and you can sleep well knowing they have been thoroughly vetted and tested to deliver power,
00:46
telemetry and remote control monitoring FOR ALL Q-SYS SYSTEMS.
00:51
You can add one from the Inventory panel, in the Amplifier category.
00:55
At the time of this video, you can see the CXD-Q and CX-Q series of amplifiers,
01:01
which have a network port to receive your audio channels.
01:05
Like any Q-SYS peripheral, it has a Status component that lets you monitor the device’s health,
01:10
but this also has an Amp Out component that represents its physical outputs.
01:15
Certain models might even have an input component as well,
01:18
for amplifiers that offer local inputs to get a couple more channels into your Q-SYS environment
01:24
and distribute them anywhere in your system.
01:26
Regardless of which model you use,
01:28
sending audio to that amplifier is as easy as populating the audio pins of its Amp Output component.
01:35
However, don’t forget to tell the amplifier what kind of loudspeakers you’re using, too.
01:40
This left-facing triangle pin can only be wired to a matching pin found on a loudspeaker component.
01:45
In your Inventory panel, you can select from a wide range of QSC loudspeakers to add to your design.
01:51
Just keep in mind that these loudspeakers aren’t networked devices,
01:55
so you have to actually physically wire the cables from the amplifier to the loudspeaker in the real world, too.
02:01
So if that’s the case, you may be wondering … why do I have to virtually wire them in the software?
02:08
Well, doing this tells the amplifier everything it needs to know about the loudspeaker it’s driving.
02:13
In particular,
02:14
if you are using a QSC loudspeaker, you’ll take advantage of QSC’s Intrinsic Correction technology,
02:19
which automatically voices your QSC loudspeaker to the best sonic performance
02:24
and takes advantage of 1000s of different measurements and countless hours of QSC testing.
02:29
If you’re not using QSC loudspeakers, you could instead add a “Generic Speaker” component.
02:35
We’ll look at that scenario a little later in this video.
02:37
An alternative to using networked QSC amplifiers would be to use a legacy DataPort-enabled QSC amplifier,
02:44
which can be connected to your Q-SYS system through a DataPort IO Card installed in select Core models.
02:51
In this setup, you would use a QSC DataPort cable to connect your IO Card to the amplifier in the real world,
02:58
and then make that same connection in the software using these right-facing DataPort pins.
03:04
You’ll notice that DataPort-enabled amplifiers can only receive audio via these DataPort pins,
03:11
unlike the standard audio pin available on a networked amplifier.
03:16
Do note that a single DataPort connection actually carries two audio channels.
03:21
If you hover your mouse over the first pin you’ll notice that it carries input channels 1 and 2,
03:27
and the second carries input channels 3 and 4.
03:31
The connections even look different:
03:32
it has two lines to remind you that it has two channels
03:36
so be sure to wire two audio channels into the DataPort IO Card for each DataPort connection to your amplifier.
03:43
It’s quite possible, however, to use a QSC amplifier that is neither networked nor DataPort-enabled.
03:50
For instance, the SPA Series and the MPA Series are amplifiers with analog-only inputs.
03:56
For devices like these, Q-SYS can't monitor the amplifier or the audio signal once it leaves the analog output.
04:03
So as far as your design is concerned, this Line Out component is the end of the line.
04:08
In the real world,
04:10
you’d obviously wire your Line Out channels to the amplifier, and then your amplifier to the loudspeaker.
04:16
However, what if you don’t want to miss out on all that great Intrinsic Correction
04:21
that you get by using a QSC loudspeaker?
04:23
You clearly can’t wire this loudspeaker,
04:25
with the left-facing triangle pins, to an output that doesn’t have that same connection, can you?
04:31
The solution is to go to your loudspeaker’s properties and change the Inline Processing field to Yes.
04:38
This converts your loudspeakers components to a passthrough object with both a standard audio input pin and output pin.
04:46
You can then wire your audio through this component just before your Line Out channel,
04:51
which will apply all of the appropriate tuning for your QSC loudspeaker.
04:55
It may seem counter-intuitive that the loudspeaker is placed before the output channel inside Q-SYS,
05:01
but keep in mind that this component doesn’t actually represent the physical loudspeaker itself,
05:06
it simply represents the custom voicing you want to apply to your signal that is tailored for that loudspeaker.
05:12
Alright, now let's talk about the dreaded final scenario.
05:16
Whether you’re using a QSC native amplifier, DataPort-enabled amplifier, or analog output channels
05:23
t’s possible that you might be using a non-QSC loudspeaker.
05:28
Personally, I can’t think of a single situation where that would be advisable.
05:33
Nope, not one.
05:35
But let’s walk through that process anyway, just in case you’ve been forced to do something like this.
05:40
As I showed you earlier, you can add a “Generic Speaker” component to your design
05:45
to represent this speaker in any of the three methods that we talked about,
05:49
since it also has the option to use “Inline Processing” for the analog output.
05:53
You’ll also want to add a “Custom Voicing” component which you’ll find in your Inventory,
05:59
which is where you’ll add all the tuning data for that loudspeaker.
06:03
Be sure to direct your Generic Loudspeaker to use this Custom Voicing in its properties.
06:08
This is done to make it easier on you: you can input your loudspeaker data in one single place,
06:14
and then direct multiple Generic Speaker components to use that same data with a single click.
06:21
In fact, if you need to make an adjustment later on,
06:23
that single change will automatically be applied to every Generic Speaker
06:28
that is assigned to reference that Custom Voicing block.
06:31
But as far as “making things easy on you”,
06:34
that’s kind of where it ends. Because now comes the hard part of finding that tuning data.
06:40
You’ll need to consult your loudspeaker’s spec sheet, or their website,
06:43
or sometimes hound the manufacturer directly to get that tuning information.
06:47
Unfortunately, every manufacturer is going to list this information in a different way,
06:52
and frankly you may not find it at all.
06:55
Once you have all that data,
06:57
you’ll want to use it to populate all the properties in your Generic Speaker component.
07:02
For a loudspeaker with multiple bands, be sure to adjust the band count
07:06
and then input the required information for each of these bands.
07:10
You’ll want to make the same band count adjustment on the Custom Voicing,
07:13
and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to name the component too just so you know what it’s referring to.
07:19
Let’s open up the Custom Voicing control panel and walk you through an example of inputting some of this data.
07:25
Here's some information that we found on "Speaker X" from "Manufacturer Y".
07:33
We can’t see this in Design Mode, so let’s go ahead and enter Emulation Mode.
07:37
Each Band has a lot of different information to fill out,
07:40
you just need to be patient and find the right information.
07:44
The first band is our LF, which we can see in our first column.
07:48
We don’t need to change the gain from 0, we set the Delay to 0.18 ms, and we keep the polarity at normal.
07:58
On the High-Pass, the frequency is 62.5Hz, with a Butterworth slope of 18,
08:07
and the Low-pass, the frequency is 1.0kHz with a Butterworth Frequency of 18 as well.
08:16
Now pay close attention to this – this is really important. These pink bypass buttons are active,
08:22
which means that all of the information you just entered is being completely ignored.
08:27
By default, everything in the Custom Voicing block is inactive,
08:32
so you have to choose which elements you want to use.
08:35
So I will deactivate the bypass buttons, which makes our Crossover data now active.
08:40
The same is true in our Voicing Filters. These buttons on the left are Bypass buttons,
08:45
and once again every filter defaults to being bypassed.
08:49
The first thing you have to do is de-activate the bypass so that your voicing filter data will be used.
08:55
I know it sort of looks like you’re turning a filter off by turning off a button,
09:00
but just remember that you’re turning off the bypass which means you’re making the filter active.
09:06
Alright, let’s add this data. The first filter has a gain of -2.4 dB, a frequency of 421 Hz, and a width of … uh oh
09:19
now look at what we have here. You have to input the frequency range width as an octave ratio,
09:25
but sometimes you may receive that information in iterations of Q rather than octave-width.
09:30
But don’t fret, you can easily search for a Q converter online
09:34
and input the Q number to receive your octave equivalent.
09:38
Now our low frequency band is complete. You would repeat this process for a high frequency band,
09:44
and you’ll notice that this one uses two parametric EQs so you would have to activate a second
09:50
parametric curve on that band and input the info for both of them.
09:54
Yes, it takes a while and it's kind of frustrating.
09:57
Kinda feels like a good reason to stay within the native Q-SYS Ecosystem,
10:01
I'm just saying. We'll see you next time.
Lesson Description
Amplifiers and Loudspeakers
10m 7s
We'll be setting up voicing blocks in your design to accommodate non-QSC loudspeakers.
Tips and Definitions
Amplifiers and Loudspeakers
10m 7s
- When using non-QSC loudspeakers within Q-SYS, you need to add both the Custom Voicing component and Generic Speaker component into your inventory.
- If you complete one Custom Voicing component, you can apply it to as many Generic Speaker components as you want.
- You can avoid having to input voicing information by using QSC loudspeakers and amplifiers with DataPort.
- Here's a link to a good Q factor versus vs bandwidth converter: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bandwidth.htm
Downloads and Links
Amplifiers and Loudspeakers
10m 7s