{"id":2597,"date":"2020-10-08T13:30:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T20:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qsc.com\/systems\/2020\/10\/08\/getting-started-with-q-sys\/"},"modified":"2022-07-13T06:31:23","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T13:31:23","slug":"getting-started-with-q-sys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qsc.com\/systems\/in\/2020\/10\/08\/getting-started-with-q-sys\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started with Q-SYS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In this blog I\u2019d like to share some of the things that were, at first, confusing to me about Q-SYS. It is specifically for those who are just starting their journey with this incredible, yet intricate and ever-expanding program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimer: If you are a Q-SYS Super User you might want to skip this blog. It really is intended for beginners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do work for QSC, but since I wasn\u2019t involved with the creation or design of Q-SYS Designer Software, this isn\u2019t bragging when I say what an incredible job the developers did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is amazingly well thought-out. The UI is intuitive; access to what you need most often is within easy reach, and the drag and drop functionality and virtual wiring makes using the program straightforward and even fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Training Manager, I have graded hundreds of Q-SYS Level One for Cinema exams, yet, the program is so deep, I still consider myself a Q-SYS beginner. I remember the very first thing that confused me about the program. Q-SYS is comprised of \u201ccomponents\u201d that you wire together to route audio through various phases of processing based on your needs. Most represent virtual connections, but a few of these components actually represent physical connectors on physical hardware devices (peripherals).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are examples of “components” that might be used in a design<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These components are all explained very well in our Q-SYS Level 1 for Cinema course found here<\/a>. But notice that the \u201cDigital In DCIO\u201d component (top left,) for example, says it\u2019s an input but only has output pins. Likewise, the \u201cLine Out-Core\u201d only has input pins. This left a newbie like me wondering; \u201cIs there anything that represents the audio signal that is going IN to the \u201cIN\u201d components and OUT of the \u201cOUT\u201d components? See, I\u2019m a Pro Tools guy; totally different concept. And I use Propellerhead\u2019s Reason program frequently too. Both are for audio recording. So here\u2019s what I was used to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turns out, with Q-SYS you must assume physical wires are connected to these devices and understand that you won\u2019t see them represented inside the software design. But what if there is no wire plugged into that physical connector? How will you know? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure A on left, Figure B on right<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

All this to say, I was confused when Fig. A didn\u2019t look like Fig. B when an actual physical connection was made on a device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revised graphic above (Fig. B) would represent two RJ45 connectors that enter into the DCIO rear panel, each delivering 8 channels of audio via AES3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n