Architect's & Engineer's Specifications

Q-Sys: Core 1000, Core 3000, Core 4000, I/O Frame


Q-Sys Core 1000

The Q-Sys Core 1000 is the centralized Q-Sys system processor and control engine. It shall be a single-chassis processor with no internal or external audio busses to other processors. The system shall operate on a native gigabit Ethernet, employs DiffServ quality of service, IEEE 1588 time reference, UDP/IP data transport, and floating point format audio data representation. The overall system latency from analog input to synchronized analog outputs shall be 2.5 ms or less. For routed networks, the end to end system latency shall be 3.2 ms or less.

The Q-Sys system shall have the capability of being completely redundant. The Core 1000 can have a backup Core that is synchronized with the primary Core for both audio and control settings, and accomplishes automatic failover in approximately ten seconds, manual failover in approximately three seconds. The Q-Sys I/O Frame(s) can have a backup that has the same input source as the primary. The outputs of the backup are disconnected by relays, until a failover occurs, at which time the primary outputs are disconnected. Each Core and I/O Frame shall have redundant network connections for seamless audio stream failover.

The Q-Sys Core 1000 shall have a minimum capability of 64 input, and 64 output network audio channels, an end node capacity of 128 channels, and 128 channels of 32-bit (internal processing) audio. I/O capacity shall be 4 analog input or output channels using one of four I/O circuit cards (DataPort Out, Line Out, High-performance Mic/Line In, and Standard Mic/Line In, or 4 digital input and 4 digital output channels, using an AES-3 I/O circuit card.

The Q-Sys designs shall be capable of incorporating integrated test and measurement components including: pink noise, responsalizer, real time analyzer, signal injector, signal probe, sine wave generator, and white noise.

The Core 1000 shall have the following front panel controls and indicators: LCD page forward momentary switch, Unit ID button momentary switch, Clear settings momentary switch, SD (secure digital) standard size media, Power On blue LED, Device Status tri-color LED, five audio signal tri-color LEDs, and a 240 x 64 monochrome LCD graphics display displaying the Core name, design name and status, type of I/O card in the I/O slot, LAN A and B settings, and the firmware version.

On the rear panel, the Core 1000 shall have one RS232 DE-9 (male 9-pin D-shell) connector, Video Out: DE-15 (female 15-pin high-density D shell connector), Aux ports: AUX A: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, AUX B: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, GPIO A: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, GPIO B: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, Q-Sys Network: LAN A RJ45 1000 MBps only, LAN B: RJ45 1000 MBps only. The dimensions of the Core 1000 shall be: 5.25" x 19" x 15" (133.35 mm x 482.6 mm x 381 mm).

The Core 1000 shall store a single design which can be comprised of components, wiring, links, text, and graphics on a single or multiple schematic pages. Each component has a unique control panel with various controls such as gain, meter, time, and so on. Each control has either an input and output, or output-only control pin that can be used for control or monitoring purposes. Most controls can be represented by a value, text, or positional input/output.

Designs shall include any of the following DSP functions, test and measurement components, control components, and layout components:

All-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and first and second order filtering.
Audio File Player – supporting 1 to 16 output tracks.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC) – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Band-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Band-Stop Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Blinking LED – supplies adjustable frequency control output
Channel Group – supporting 1 to 512 replicated channels of signal processing, 1 to 512 audio and/or control inputs and outputs per channel providing that the product of (channels times the highest input or output count) does not exceed 512.
Compressor – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Container – layout component supplying 0 to 100 inputs/outputs, that can be connected to any type of connector – DataPort, digital audio, analog audio, and control.
Control Function – supporting 1 to 512 control inputs, and 1 control output. The Control Function component has the following functions: Logic AND, NAND, NOR, NOT, NOT XOR, OR, XOR; Position Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Invert, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Product, Sum; Value Absolute Value, Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Negate, Product, Quotient, Square, Square Root, Sum.
Control Script – zero to 512 control inputs and outputs, with editor for writing control scripts using the Lua Language.
Crossover supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with 6 bands per channel output, using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), or Chebyshev slopes, and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Custom Controls – supporting up to 10 control groups, with 1 to 512 controls in each group. The types of controls supported are: Frequency knob (custom range 0.1 and 20,000), Generic float knob (custom range -1,000,000,000 to 1,000,000,000), Generic integer knob (custom range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647), LED, Level fader, Level knob (custom range -100 to 100), Meter, Momentary button, Mute button, Pan knob, Percent knob, Position knob, Text display, Text edit, Time knob (custom range 0 to 999), Toggle button, and Trigger button.
Delay – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 1 to 32 taps per channel, with zero to 100ms of delay individually adjustable per channel.
Dual-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels with 6 and 12db per octave filter slopes.
Envelope Generator – control component that creates a series of 4 timed control level outputs, causing the control to which it is connected to go from point A to B, C then D at the prescribed times.
Expander – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gain – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and gain capability of -100 to 20 dB.
Gain Sharing Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels, (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs) side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Gate – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gated Ambient Compensator – program and ambient input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise. Gated Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs), side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Graphic Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with five band selections between six 2-octave bands and sixty-one 1/6th octave bands.
High-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
High-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Level Ramp – supporting one channel in, and one channel out, with the capability of ramping an input signal from one adjustable level to another adjustable level in a set time, and back in a different set time.
Loudspeaker Custom Voicing – with gain, delay, crossover (using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson {-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization} slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps), 1 to 6 bands, 9 voicing filters using parametric, low-shelf, high-shelf, and all-pass filters with first and second-order filtering.
Loudspeaker Monitor – provides gain, mute, and monitor output for the selected loudspeaker.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) – control component capable of modulating a control frequency output using a square, sine, triangle, rising sawtooth, falling sawtooth, pulse train, or pulse width modulation. Capable of free running, or one-shot/sync.
Low-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Low-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Meter – supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with adjustable RMS response time, max hold time, and peak decay time, and the ability to hold the max reading infinitely.
Matrix Mixer – supporting 1 to 512 mono channels, or 256 stereo channels, or a combination of both not to exceed 512 total channels, both input and output, controllable input and output control banks, zero to 8 VGA control groups, 2-D Matrix Panner for mono, pan per input or crosspoint, or none for stereo.
Notch Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Page Router – supporting 1 to 512 page stations and 1 to 512 paging zones with individual control for each station.
Page Station – supporting 1 to 10 assignable page buttons, and 20 page station priority levels.
Page Zone Select – supporting 1 to 512 zones, selectable individually or all at once.
Parametric Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and 1 to 32 bands, each band having individual bandwidth and frequency control.
Peak Limiter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Pink Noise Generator – single output of pink noise with RMS level control and mute button.
Priority Ducker – supporting 1 to 512 input and output channels, one priority channel, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Responsalyzer – supporting one measurement input, one reference input, and choices of Mag, Mag/Phase, Impulse, and RTA displays.
Room Combiner – supporting 1 to 256 rooms in mono or stereo input/output, and the capability of linking the output gains.
Router – supporting 1 to 512 inputs and outputs per channel, with 2 to 256 channels.
RTA – single input with bandwidth choices of 1, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, and 1/24th octaves.
Signal Injector – single input, with injector tool, mute and gain controls.
Signal Presence – supporting 1 to 256 inputs.
Signal Probe – single output, with probe tool, mute and gain controls.
Sine Generator – supporting 1 to 256 outputs, frequency from 10 to 20 kHz, and output gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
Subtractive Ambient Compensator – program, ambient, and speaker input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise.
System Mute – mutes all outputs.
White Noise Generator – single output with gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
WAN Stream Receiver – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities.
WAN Stream Transmitter – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities and bit rates from 32kbits/sec to 320kbits/sec in 16kbit increments.

The Core 1000 shall support User Control Interfaces containing controls, indicators and graphics, deployed via a 1-gigabit Ethernet network, on either Q-Sys Touch Screen Controllers, Q-Sys Web Control, or in web browsers. A User Control Interface shall be capable of having multiple user-selectable pages with different controls on each.

Q-Sys designs shall employ Signal Links with one transmitter and multiple receivers capable of 1 to 100 channels. The Signal Links shall be able to carry digital audio, control signals, and proxies of physical wiring. Signal Links can connect components on multiple Schematic Pages.

Q-Sys designs shall be able to create both global (all control settings in a design) and user-defined Snapshots (selected control settings) with up to 24 Snapshots in each Snapshot Bank. Snapshots shall have the option of configurable-time auto saves.

User-defined Snapshots shall have three modes: Write Protect, Normal, and Scene and shall have the option of Auto Load.

Q-Sys shall have the capability of exposing user-selected controls to an external system for control and monitoring. The connection shall be either a TCP/IP connection on port 1702 using the Q-Sys External Control protocol, or connect using the Q-Sys Communications Library.

A Q-Sys design shall have the option of invoking security for individual users and user groups. Each user shall have a Name and PIN for accessing various aspects of a design. The permissions include Load & Connect (yes/no). A user can be a member of one or more groups. The Core 1000 shall have the capability of invoking security on the Core itself, restricting the capability of changing the password or network settings, updating the firmware, deploying a design, and clearing the log.

The Core 1000 shall have a “home page” accessible with Adobe Flash and a web browser. The home page, or Web Control Interface (WCI) shall contain Core status information including: type of device, hostname, firmware version, currently running design, design status, design up time, device redundancy, fault status, and if the device is password protected. The network interfaces (LAN A and LAN B) status shall include IP Address, Net Mask, Broadcast Address, MAC Address, Packets In and Out per second, Bytes in and out per second, receive and transmit errors, receive and transmit drops. The I/O card type installed in the device shall be displayed. Any User Control Interface designs shall be listed with a link to the interface. The device log and raw status shall be available for viewing. The WCI shall have the following security for access to the device: username, password and repeat password, and capability of changing the password. The WCI shall have the capability of setting the following network parameters for LAN A, B, Aux A, and Aux B: enabled/disabled, for both automatic and static selections: IP Address (destination), Mask, Default Gateway (Gateway), for the DNS server: primary and secondary. You shall be able to save the settings, clear the edits, and view the raw settings. The WCI shall be able to manage media files including selecting the source drive, uploading and deleting files, and shall display the name, size and date of the files. The WCI shall provide the capability of setting the device date and time, or synchronizing to an NTP server identified with an IP address. The WCI shall be able to schedule events. The events shall have a name, an associated snapshot, start time and date, if the event is periodic it shall have an end time and date, and an interval period. The event shall be able to have a recurrence of none, daily, weekly, and monthly. The WCI shall supply links to downloads including Adobe AIR download page, and the Q-Sys Web Control application.

The system processor and control engine shall be the QSC Q-Sys Core 1000.


Q-Sys Core 3000

The Q-Sys Core 3000 is the centralized Q-Sys system processor and control engine. It shall be a single-chassis processor with no internal or external audio busses to other processors. The system shall operate on a native gigabit Ethernet, employs DiffServ quality of service, IEEE 1588 time reference, UDP/IP data transport, and floating point format audio data representation. The overall system latency from analog input to synchronized analog outputs shall be 2.5 ms or less. For routed networks, the end to end system latency shall be 3.2 ms or less.

The Q-Sys system shall have the capability of being completely redundant. The Core 3000 can have a backup Core that is synchronized with the primary Core for both audio and control settings, and accomplishes automatic failover in approximately ten seconds, manual failover in approximately three seconds. The Q-Sys I/O Frame(s) can have a backup that has the same input source as the primary. The outputs of the backup are disconnected by relays, until a failover occurs, at which time the primary outputs are disconnected. Each Core and I/O Frame shall have redundant network connections for seamless audio stream failover.

The Q-Sys Core 3000 shall have a minimum capability of 128 input, and 128 output network audio channels, an end node capacity of 256 channels, and 256 channels of 32-bit (internal processing) audio. I/O capacity shall be 4 analog input or output channels using one of four I/O circuit cards (DataPort Out, Line Out, High-performance Mic/Line In, and Standard Mic/Line In, or 4 digital input and 4 digital output channels, using an AES-3 I/O circuit card.

The Q-Sys designs shall be capable of incorporating integrated test and measurement components including: pink noise, responsalizer, real time analyzer, signal injector, signal probe, sine wave generator, and white noise.

The Core 3000 shall have the following front panel controls and indicators: LCD page forward momentary switch, Unit ID button momentary switch, Clear settings momentary switch, SD (secure digital) standard size media, Power On blue LED, Device Status tri-color LED, five audio signal tri-color LEDs, and a 240 x 64 monochrome LCD graphics display displaying the Core name, design name and status, type of I/O card in the I/O slot, LAN A and B settings, and the firmware version.

On the rear panel, the Core 3000 shall have one RS232 DE-9 (male 9-pin D-shell) connector, Video Out: DE-15 (female 15-pin high-density D shell connector), Aux ports: AUX A: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, AUX B: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, GPIO A: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, GPIO B: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, Q-Sys Network: LAN A RJ45 1000 MBps only, LAN B: RJ45 1000 MBps only. The dimensions of the Core 3000 shall be: 5.25" x 19" x 15" (133.35 mm x 482.6 mm x 381 mm).

The Core 3000 shall store a single design which can be comprised of components, wiring, links, text, and graphics on a single or multiple schematic pages. Each component has a unique control panel with various controls such as gain, meter, time, and so on. Each control has either an input and output, or output-only control pin that can be used for control or monitoring purposes. Most controls can be represented by a value, text, or positional input/output.

Designs shall include any of the following DSP functions, test and measurement components, control components, and layout components:

All-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and first and second order filtering.
Audio File Player – supporting 1 to 16 output tracks.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC) – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Band-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Band-Stop Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Blinking LED – supplies adjustable frequency control output
Channel Group – supporting 1 to 512 replicated channels of signal processing, 1 to 512 audio and/or control inputs and outputs per channel providing that the product of (channels times the highest input or output count) does not exceed 512.
Compressor – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Container – layout component supplying 0 to 100 inputs/outputs, that can be connected to any type of connector – DataPort, digital audio, analog audio, and control.
Control Function – supporting 1 to 512 control inputs, and 1 control output. The Control Function component has the following functions: Logic AND, NAND, NOR, NOT, NOT XOR, OR, XOR; Position Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Invert, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Product, Sum; Value Absolute Value, Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Negate, Product, Quotient, Square, Square Root, Sum.
Control Script – zero to 512 control inputs and outputs, with editor for writing control scripts using the Lua Language.
Crossover supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with 6 bands per channel output, using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), or Chebyshev slopes, and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Custom Controls – supporting up to 10 control groups, with 1 to 512 controls in each group. The types of controls supported are: Frequency knob (custom range 0.1 and 20,000), Generic float knob (custom range -1,000,000,000 to 1,000,000,000), Generic integer knob (custom range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647), LED, Level fader, Level knob (custom range -100 to 100), Meter, Momentary button, Mute button, Pan knob, Percent knob, Position knob, Text display, Text edit, Time knob (custom range 0 to 999), Toggle button, and Trigger button.
Delay – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 1 to 32 taps per channel, with zero to 100ms of delay individually adjustable per channel.
Dual-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels with 6 and 12db per octave filter slopes.
Envelope Generator – control component that creates a series of 4 timed control level outputs, causing the control to which it is connected to go from point A to B, C then D at the prescribed times.
Expander – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gain – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and gain capability of -100 to 20 dB.
Gain Sharing Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels, (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs) side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Gate – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gated Ambient Compensator – program and ambient input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise. Gated Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs), side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Graphic Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with five band selections between six 2-octave bands and sixty-one 1/6th octave bands.
High-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
High-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Level Ramp – supporting one channel in, and one channel out, with the capability of ramping an input signal from one adjustable level to another adjustable level in a set time, and back in a different set time.
Loudspeaker Custom Voicing – with gain, delay, crossover (using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson {-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization} slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps), 1 to 6 bands, 9 voicing filters using parametric, low-shelf, high-shelf, and all-pass filters with first and second-order filtering.
Loudspeaker Monitor – provides gain, mute, and monitor output for the selected loudspeaker.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) – control component capable of modulating a control frequency output using a square, sine, triangle, rising sawtooth, falling sawtooth, pulse train, or pulse width modulation. Capable of free running, or one-shot/sync.
Low-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Low-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Meter – supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with adjustable RMS response time, max hold time, and peak decay time, and the ability to hold the max reading infinitely.
Matrix Mixer – supporting 1 to 512 mono channels, or 256 stereo channels, or a combination of both not to exceed 512 total channels, both input and output, controllable input and output control banks, zero to 8 VGA control groups, 2-D Matrix Panner for mono, pan per input or crosspoint, or none for stereo.
Notch Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Page Router – supporting 1 to 512 page stations and 1 to 512 paging zones with individual control for each station.
Page Station – supporting 1 to 10 assignable page buttons, and 20 page station priority levels.
Page Zone Select – supporting 1 to 512 zones, selectable individually or all at once.
Parametric Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and 1 to 32 bands, each band having individual bandwidth and frequency control.
Peak Limiter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Pink Noise Generator – single output of pink noise with RMS level control and mute button.
Priority Ducker – supporting 1 to 512 input and output channels, one priority channel, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Responsalyzer – supporting one measurement input, one reference input, and choices of Mag, Mag/Phase, Impulse, and RTA displays.
Room Combiner – supporting 1 to 256 rooms in mono or stereo input/output, and the capability of linking the output gains.
Router – supporting 1 to 512 inputs and outputs per channel, with 2 to 256 channels.
RTA – single input with bandwidth choices of 1, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, and 1/24th octaves.
Signal Injector – single input, with injector tool, mute and gain controls.
Signal Presence – supporting 1 to 256 inputs.
Signal Probe – single output, with probe tool, mute and gain controls.
Sine Generator – supporting 1 to 256 outputs, frequency from 10 to 20 kHz, and output gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
Subtractive Ambient Compensator – program, ambient, and speaker input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise.
System Mute – mutes all outputs.
White Noise Generator – single output with gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
WAN Stream Receiver – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities.
WAN Stream Transmitter – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities and bit rates from 32kbits/sec to 320kbits/sec in 16kbit increments.

The Core 3000 shall support User Control Interfaces containing controls, indicators and graphics, deployed via a 1-gigabit Ethernet network, on either Q-Sys Touch Screen Controllers, Q-Sys Web Control, or in web browsers. A User Control Interface shall be capable of having multiple user-selectable pages with different controls on each.

Q-Sys designs shall employ Signal Links with one transmitter and multiple receivers capable of 1 to 100 channels. The Signal Links shall be able to carry digital audio, control signals, and proxies of physical wiring. Signal Links can connect components on multiple Schematic Pages.

Q-Sys designs shall be able to create both global (all control settings in a design) and user-defined Snapshots (selected control settings) with up to 24 Snapshots in each Snapshot Bank. Snapshots shall have the option of configurable-time auto saves. User-defined Snapshots shall have three modes: Write Protect, Normal, and Scene and shall have the option of Auto Load.

Q-Sys shall have the capability of exposing user-selected controls to an external system for control and monitoring. The connection shall be either a TCP/IP connection on port 1702 using the Q-Sys External Control protocol, or connect using the Q-Sys Communications Library.

A Q-Sys design shall have the option of invoking security for individual users and user groups. Each user shall have a Name and PIN for accessing various aspects of a design. The permissions include Load & Connect (yes/no). A user can be a member of one or more groups. The Core 3000 shall have the capability of invoking security on the Core itself, restricting the capability of changing the password or network settings, updating the firmware, deploying a design, and clearing the log.

The Core 3000 shall have a “home page” accessible with Adobe Flash and a web browser. The home page, or Web Control Interface (WCI) shall contain Core status information including: type of device, hostname, firmware version, currently running design, design status, design up time, device redundancy, fault status, and if the device is password protected. The network interfaces (LAN A and LAN B) status shall include IP Address, Net Mask, Broadcast Address, MAC Address, Packets In and Out per second, Bytes in and out per second, receive and transmit errors, receive and transmit drops. The I/O card type installed in the device shall be displayed. Any User Control Interface designs shall be listed with a link to the interface. The device log and raw status shall be available for viewing. The WCI shall have the following security for access to the device: username, password and repeat password, and capability of changing the password. The WCI shall have the capability of setting the following network parameters for LAN A, B, Aux A, and Aux B: enabled/disabled, for both automatic and static selections: IP Address (destination), Mask, Default Gateway (Gateway), for the DNS server: primary and secondary. You shall be able to save the settings, clear the edits, and view the raw settings. The WCI shall be able to manage media files including selecting the source drive, uploading and deleting files, and shall display the name, size and date of the files. The WCI shall provide the capability of setting the device date and time, or synchronizing to an NTP server identified with an IP address. The WCI shall be able to schedule events. The events shall have a name, an associated snapshot, start time and date, if the event is periodic it shall have an end time and date, and an interval period. The event shall be able to have a recurrence of none, daily, weekly, and monthly. The WCI shall supply links to downloads including Adobe AIR download page, and the Q-Sys Web Control application.

The system processor and control engine shall be the QSC Q-Sys Core 3000.


Q-Sys Core 4000

The Q-Sys Core 4000 is the centralized Q-Sys system processor and control engine. It shall be a single-chassis processor with no internal or external audio busses to other processors. The system shall operate on a native gigabit Ethernet, employs DiffServ quality of service, IEEE 1588 time reference, UDP/IP data transport, and floating point format audio data representation. The overall system latency from analog input to synchronized analog outputs shall be 2.5 ms or less. For routed networks, the end to end system latency shall be 3.2 ms or less.

The Q-Sys system shall have the capability of being completely redundant. The Core 4000 can have a backup Core that is synchronized with the primary Core for both audio and control settings, and accomplishes automatic failover in approximately ten seconds, manual failover in approximately three seconds. The Q-Sys I/O Frame(s) can have a backup that has the same input source as the primary. The outputs of the backup are disconnected by relays, until a failover occurs, at which time the primary outputs are disconnected. Each Core and I/O Frame shall have redundant network connections for seamless audio stream failover.

The Q-Sys Core 4000 shall have a minimum capability of 128 (512 when sending 8 or more channels per network audio stream.) input, and 128 (512 when sending 8 or more channels per network audio stream.) output network audio channels, an end node capacity of 512 channels, and 512 channels of 32-bit (internal processing) audio. I/O capacity shall be 4 analog input or output channels using one of four I/O circuit cards (DataPort Out, Line Out, High-performance Mic/Line In, and Standard Mic/Line In, or 4 digital input and 4 digital output channels, using an AES-3 I/O circuit card.

The Q-Sys designs shall be capable of incorporating integrated test and measurement components including: pink noise, responsalizer, real time analyzer, signal injector, signal probe, sine wave generator, and white noise.

The Core 4000 shall have the following front panel controls and indicators: LCD page forward momentary switch, Unit ID button momentary switch, Clear settings momentary switch, SD (secure digital) standard size media, Power On blue LED, Device Status tri-color LED, five audio signal tri-color LEDs, and a 240 x 64 monochrome LCD graphics display displaying the Core name, design name and status, type of I/O card in the I/O slot, LAN A and B settings, and the firmware version.

On the rear panel, the Core 4000 shall have one RS232 DE-9 (male 9-pin D-shell) connector, Video Out: DE-15 (female 15-pin high-density D shell connector), Aux ports: AUX A: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, AUX B: USB host x2, RJ45 10/100/1000 MBps, GPIO A: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, GPIO B: DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell) connector, Q-Sys Network: LAN A RJ45 1000 MBps only, LAN B: RJ45 1000 MBps only. The dimensions of the Core 4000 shall be: 5.25" x 19" x 15" (133.35 mm x 482.6 mm x 381 mm).

The Core 4000 shall store a single design which can be comprised of components, wiring, links, text, and graphics on a single or multiple schematic pages. Each component has a unique control panel with various controls such as gain, meter, time, and so on. Each control has either an input and output, or output-only control pin that can be used for control or monitoring purposes. Most controls can be represented by a value, text, or positional input/output.

Designs shall include any of the following DSP functions, test and measurement components, control components, and layout components:

All-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and first and second order filtering.
Audio File Player – supporting 1 to 16 output tracks.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC) – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Band-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Band-Stop Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Blinking LED – supplies adjustable frequency control output
Channel Group – supporting 1 to 512 replicated channels of signal processing, 1 to 512 audio and/or control inputs and outputs per channel providing that the product of (channels times the highest input or output count) does not exceed 512.
Compressor – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Container – layout component supplying 0 to 100 inputs/outputs, that can be connected to any type of connector – DataPort, digital audio, analog audio, and control.
Control Function – supporting 1 to 512 control inputs, and 1 control output. The Control Function component has the following functions: Logic AND, NAND, NOR, NOT, NOT XOR, OR, XOR; Position Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Invert, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Product, Sum; Value Absolute Value, Average, Difference, Equal, Greater, Less, Maximum, Minimum, Negate, Product, Quotient, Square, Square Root, Sum.
Control Script – zero to 512 control inputs and outputs, with editor for writing control scripts using the Lua Language.
Crossover supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with 6 bands per channel output, using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), or Chebyshev slopes, and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Custom Controls – supporting up to 10 control groups, with 1 to 512 controls in each group. The types of controls supported are: Frequency knob (custom range 0.1 and 20,000), Generic float knob (custom range -1,000,000,000 to 1,000,000,000), Generic integer knob (custom range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647), LED, Level fader, Level knob (custom range -100 to 100), Meter, Momentary button, Mute button, Pan knob, Percent knob, Position knob, Text display, Text edit, Time knob (custom range 0 to 999), Toggle button, and Trigger button.
Delay – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 1 to 32 taps per channel, with zero to 100ms of delay individually adjustable per channel.
Dual-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels with 6 and 12db per octave filter slopes.
Envelope Generator – control component that creates a series of 4 timed control level outputs, causing the control to which it is connected to go from point A to B, C then D at the prescribed times.
Expander – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gain – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and gain capability of -100 to 20 dB.
Gain Sharing Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels, (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs) side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Gate – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Gated Ambient Compensator – program and ambient input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise. Gated Automatic Mixer – supporting 2 to 512 input and output channels (choice of mix only output, channel only output, or mix and channel outputs), side-chain control, and fixed or adjustable detector times.
Graphic Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with five band selections between six 2-octave bands and sixty-one 1/6th octave bands.
High-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
High-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Level Ramp – supporting one channel in, and one channel out, with the capability of ramping an input signal from one adjustable level to another adjustable level in a set time, and back in a different set time.
Loudspeaker Custom Voicing – with gain, delay, crossover (using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson {-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization} slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps), 1 to 6 bands, 9 voicing filters using parametric, low-shelf, high-shelf, and all-pass filters with first and second-order filtering.
Loudspeaker Monitor – provides gain, mute, and monitor output for the selected loudspeaker.
Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) – control component capable of modulating a control frequency output using a square, sine, triangle, rising sawtooth, falling sawtooth, pulse train, or pulse width modulation. Capable of free running, or one-shot/sync.
Low-Pass Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels using Linkwitz-Riley, Butterworth, Bessel-Thompson (-3 dB Flat Group Delay, -3 dB Mirror Magnitude, Natural Mirror Magnitude, or Natural Phase Match normalization), Chebyshev or Variable Q slopes and 6dB/octave to 48dB/octave slope choices in 6dB steps.
Low-Shelf Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, with 6 and 12dB/octave slopes.
Meter – supporting 1 to 256 inputs, with adjustable RMS response time, max hold time, and peak decay time, and the ability to hold the max reading infinitely.
Matrix Mixer – supporting 1 to 512 mono channels, or 256 stereo channels, or a combination of both not to exceed 512 total channels, both input and output, controllable input and output control banks, zero to 8 VGA control groups, 2-D Matrix Panner for mono, pan per input or crosspoint, or none for stereo.
Notch Filter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels.
Page Router – supporting 1 to 512 page stations and 1 to 512 paging zones with individual control for each station.
Page Station – supporting 1 to 10 assignable page buttons, and 20 page station priority levels.
Page Zone Select – supporting 1 to 512 zones, selectable individually or all at once.
Parametric Equalizer – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, and 1 to 32 bands, each band having individual bandwidth and frequency control.
Peak Limiter – supporting 1 to 256 input and output channels, side-chain control, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Pink Noise Generator – single output of pink noise with RMS level control and mute button.
Priority Ducker – supporting 1 to 512 input and output channels, one priority channel, and fixed and adjustable detector times.
Responsalyzer – supporting one measurement input, one reference input, and choices of Mag, Mag/Phase, Impulse, and RTA displays.
Room Combiner – supporting 1 to 256 rooms in mono or stereo input/output, and the capability of linking the output gains.
Router – supporting 1 to 512 inputs and outputs per channel, with 2 to 256 channels.
RTA – single input with bandwidth choices of 1, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, and 1/24th octaves.
Signal Injector – single input, with injector tool, mute and gain controls.
Signal Presence – supporting 1 to 256 inputs.
Signal Probe – single output, with probe tool, mute and gain controls.
Sine Generator – supporting 1 to 256 outputs, frequency from 10 to 20 kHz, and output gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
Subtractive Ambient Compensator – program, ambient, and speaker input with single output. Controls program volume with respect to ambient noise.
System Mute – mutes all outputs.
White Noise Generator – single output with gain control from -100 to 20 dB.
WAN Stream Receiver – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities.
WAN Stream Transmitter – supporting 1 to 16 channels with multi-cast capabilities and bit rates from 32kbits/sec to 320kbits/sec in 16kbit increments.

The Core 4000 shall support User Control Interfaces containing controls, indicators and graphics, deployed via a 1-gigabit Ethernet network, on either Q-Sys Touch Screen Controllers, Q-Sys Web Control, or in web browsers. A User Control Interface shall be capable of having multiple user-selectable pages with different controls on each.

Q-Sys designs shall employ Signal Links with one transmitter and multiple receivers capable of 1 to 100 channels. The Signal Links shall be able to carry digital audio, control signals, and proxies of physical wiring. Signal Links can connect components on multiple Schematic Pages.

Q-Sys designs shall be able to create both global (all control settings in a design) and user-defined Snapshots (selected control settings) with up to 24 Snapshots in each Snapshot Bank. Snapshots shall have the option of configurable-time auto saves. User-defined Snapshots shall have three modes: Write Protect, Normal, and Scene and shall have the option of Auto Load. Q-Sys shall have the capability of exposing user-selected controls to an external system for control and monitoring. The connection shall be either a TCP/IP connection on port 1702 using the Q-Sys External Control protocol, or connect using the Q-Sys Communications Library.

A Q-Sys design shall have the option of invoking security for individual users and user groups. Each user shall have a Name and PIN for accessing various aspects of a design. The permissions include Load & Connect (yes/no). A user can be a member of one or more groups. The Core 4000 shall have the capability of invoking security on the Core itself, restricting the capability of changing the password or network settings, updating the firmware, deploying a design, and clearing the log.

The Core 4000 shall have a “home page” accessible with Adobe Flash and a web browser. The home page, or Web Control Interface (WCI) shall contain Core status information including: type of device, hostname, firmware version, currently running design, design status, design up time, device redundancy, fault status, and if the device is password protected. The network interfaces (LAN A and LAN B) status shall include IP Address, Net Mask, Broadcast Address, MAC Address, Packets In and Out per second, Bytes in and out per second, receive and transmit errors, receive and transmit drops. The I/O card type installed in the device shall be displayed. Any User Control Interface designs shall be listed with a link to the interface. The device log and raw status shall be available for viewing. The WCI shall have the following security for access to the device: username, password and repeat password, and capability of changing the password. The WCI shall have the capability of setting the following network parameters for LAN A, B, Aux A, and Aux B: enabled/disabled, for both automatic and static selections: IP Address (destination), Mask, Default Gateway (Gateway), for the DNS server: primary and secondary. You shall be able to save the settings, clear the edits, and view the raw settings. The WCI shall be able to manage media files including selecting the source drive, uploading and deleting files, and shall display the name, size and date of the files. The WCI shall provide the capability of setting the device date and time, or synchronizing to an NTP server identified with an IP address. The WCI shall be able to schedule events. The events shall have a name, an associated snapshot, start time and date, if the event is periodic it shall have an end time and date, and an interval period. The event shall be able to have a recurrence of none, daily, weekly, and monthly. The WCI shall supply links to downloads including Adobe AIR download page, and the Q-Sys Web Control application.

The system processor and control engine shall be the QSC Q-Sys Core 4000.

Q-Sys I/O Frame

The Q-Sys I/O Frame is the QSC Q-Sys system audio input and output device. The system shall operate on a native gigabit Ethernet network, employing DiffServ quality of service, IEEE 1588 audio clock synchronization, UDP/IP data transport, and floating-point format audio data representation. The overall system latency from analog input to synchronized analog output(s) shall be 2.5 ms or less. For routed networks, the end to end system latency shall be 3.2 ms or less.

The I/O Frame shall have the capability of being redundant. The Q-Sys I/O Frame can have a backup that has the same input source as the primary. The outputs of the backup are disconnected by relays, until a failover occurs, at which time the primary outputs are disconnected. Each I/O Frame shall have redundant "hot" network connections for seamless audio stream failover.

The I/O capacity shall be up to 16 analog input and/or output channels using any combination of the following: Mic/Line Input card (High Performance or Standard), Line Output card, DataPort Output card. The I/O capacity shall be up to 32 digital channels using the AES-3 Input/Output card.

The I/O Frame shall have the following front panel controls and indicators: LCD page forward momentary switch, Unit ID momentary switch, Clear settings momentary switch, Power on - blue LED, Device status - tri-color LED, audio signal - five tri-color LEDs per I/O card slot, 240 x 64 monochrome LCD graphics display.

The I/O Frame shall have the following rear panel connectors: RS232 - DE-9 (male 9-pin D shell connector), GPIO - DA-15 (female 15-pin D shell connector), Q-Sys Network LAN A and LAN B - RJ45 1000 MBps only, line voltage connection for 100 VAC - 240 VAC, 47 - 63 Hz.

The I/O Frame dimensions shall be: (HWD) 1.75" x 19" x 15" (44.45 mm x 482.6 mm x 381 mm)

The system input and output device shall be the QSC Q-Sys I/O Frame.