PA Router Component

The PA Router is the hub of the Q-SYS Paging System. It performs the following tasks:

Routes pages.
Delays, queues and sorts delayed pages based on priority and zone availability.
Plays and routes prerecorded messages.
Queues and sorts message playback based on priority and zone availability.
Mixes pages and messages with background music (BGM), including ducking.
Routes BGM.
Controls the Gain and Mute for Pages, Messages, and BGM.

The PA Router accepts audio files for preambles, messages and BGM meeting the following requirements:

File format: wav, mp3
Sample size: 8, 16, 24, 32-bit fixed-point and 32-bit floating-point
Sample rate: 8 kHz to 96 kHz
Tracks: 1 (any additional tracks are ignored)
Maximum file size: 2^31 bytes (approximately 2.15 GB)

The files must be loaded onto the Core using the Administrator > Audio Files tab. The files for preambles and messages are selected in the Administrator > Commands tab. The files for BGM are selected in the Q-SYS Designer Schematic.

Core-to-Core Paging

Refer to the Core-to-Core Paging topic for details.

Inputs

Station Audio - One input for each Page Station as defined in the PA Router property Station Count. The audio source can be the microphone or the Aux input on the physical Page Station, any audio source in Q-SYS Designer (Audio Player, Mic/Line Input card, and so on)

Station Control - One input for each Page Station as defined in the PA Router property Station Count. Connect the Station Control from the Page Station (virtual or proxy) to this input on the PA Router.

BGM Input - Connect the background music source here. The number of inputs is set in the PA Router Properties BGM Input Count.

Outputs

Zone Audio - One output for each Page Zone defined in the PA Router Properties Zone Count.

IMPORTANT: You must have at least one Page Station and only one PA Router in your design to set up a Paging System. If you have more than one PA Router in your design it will not compile.

IMPORTANT: If you have a Core 1000, the Core must have at least 2 GB of RAM installed to compile a design containing a PA Router.Controls

Output

Control	Function	Default/Range
Zone 1 - n	A vertical listing of all the Zones based on the Zone Count in the Properties. Can be up to 256 Zones	Default = 8 Range = 1 to 256
Mute	Mutes all signals to the Zone. One Mute button for each Zone.	unmuted/muted
Gain (dB)	Sets the gain for all signals to the Zone. You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.	Default = 0 Range = -100 - 20
Squelch	Allows you to silence pages and messages at and below the Priority level selected. You can create a Control Command and Schedule it to change the Squelch Priority to prevent pages and messages from being played in certain zones at certain times.	One of the Priorities set in the PA Global Settings in the Administrator.
Buffer	Displays the amount of PA Router audio RAM in use.	N/A

Status

Control	Function	Default/Range
Squelch	LED indicating that the associated PA Zone is being squelched.	Off/On
Active	LED indicating that the PA Zone associated with the LED is Active (illuminated) or not.	Off/On
Source	A number indicating the PA Router Input Pin to which the source of the page is connected.	Default = 0 Range = 0 - n
Priority	Text field giving the Priority of the current event.	One of the Priorities set in the PA Global Settings in the Administrator.
Cancel All	Cancels all executing and queued commands.	N/A
Cancel Queued	Cancels all queued commands.	N/A

Page

Control	Function	Default/Range
Mute	Mutes the Page output for the associated PA Zone.	unmuted / muted
Gain (dB)	Sets the gain for the Page signals to the Zone. You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.	Default = -12 Range = -100 - 20

Control

Function

Default/Range

Mute

Mutes the Page output for the associated PA Zone.

unmuted / muted

Gain

(dB)

Sets the gain for the Page signals to the Zone.

You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.

Default = -12

Range = -100 - 20

Message

Control	Function	Default/Range
Mute	Mutes the Message input. One Mute button for each PA Zone.	unmuted / muted
Gain	Controls the Gain of the Message. One Gain control for each PA Zone. This Gain is in addition to the Gain set in the Output section of the associated Zone. You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.	Default = 0 Range = -100 - 20
Message	Text field displaying the name of the Message file currently playing.	N/A

Control

Function

Default/Range

Mute

Mutes the Message input. One Mute button for each PA Zone.

unmuted / muted

Gain

Controls the Gain of the Message. One Gain control for each PA Zone. This Gain is in addition to the Gain set in the Output section of the associated Zone.

You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.

Default = 0

Range = -100 - 20

Message

Text field displaying the name of the Message file currently playing.

N/A

Background Music

Control	Function	Default/Range
Mute (Zone)	Mutes only the BGM signal to the PA Zone. One Mute button for each Zone.	unmuted / muted
Gain (dB)	Adjusts only the BGM Gain for a single PA Zone. One Gain control for each PA Zone. This Gain is in addition to the Gain set in the Output section of the associated Zone. You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.	Default = 0 Range = -100 to 20
Select	Displays the number of the BGM Input button you have selected for the associated Zone. In addition, you can select the Select field, and type the number corresponding to the BGM Input you wish to select.	blank (0) to 32
BGM input buttons 0 - n	Radio button for each BGM Input defined in the BGM Input Count in the Properties. The buttons are numbered 1 - n, and the number of the one you select displays in the Select field. A set of buttons (1 - n) is available for each Zone. When you select a button, the audio source connected to that BGM Input is routed to the associated Zone.	Default = 0 Range = 0 to 32
BGM Input Gain (dB)	Adjusts the BGM Input Gain for all PA Zones associated with that BGM Input. One Gain control for each BGM Input.	Default = 0 Range = -100 to 20
BGM Ducker Attack (Seconds)	The Attack is the time it takes the BGM to fall to 63%¹ of the Depth level when the a Page or Message is played. Use this control to provide a smooth transition from the BGM audio to the Page or Message audio.	Default = 1.00 Range = 0 to 5
BGM Ducker Depth (dB)	The Depth sets the amount of gain applied to the BGM Input channels when the BGM Ducker is activated. The Page or Message is mixed with the BGM, so the Depth setting controls how much of the BGM is heard in the output. Setting the Depth to 60 dB of attenuation essentially mutes all BGM channels used by the Page or Message.	Default = 40 Range = 0 to 60
BGM Ducker Release (Seconds)	The Release Time is the time it takes the BGM channel outputs to return to 63%¹ of their normal level when the BGM Ducker is deactivated - the Page or Message ends. Use this control to provide a smooth transition from the Page or Message audio back to the BGM channel audio.	Default = 5 Range = 0 to 10
1. Time Constant The time constant is the time it takes to cover 63% of the control change. For Attack, the start gain is 1.0 (unity) and the end gain is 0. After 10 seconds, the value is at 1-0.63 = 0.37, which corresponds to -8.7 dB. For Release, the start gain is 0 and the end gain is 1.0 (unity). After 10 seconds, the value is at 0.63 which corresponds to -4 dB. Depth is ignored in this calculation, it simply limits the filtered gain to a minimum.

Control

Function

Default/Range

Mute (Zone)

Mutes only the BGM signal to the PA Zone. One Mute button for each Zone.

unmuted / muted

Gain

(dB)

Adjusts only the BGM Gain for a single PA Zone. One Gain control for each PA Zone. This Gain is in addition to the Gain set in the Output section of the associated Zone.

You can enter the value using your keyboard, or change it by selecting the field and dragging the mouse.

Default = 0

Range = -100 to 20

Select

Displays the number of the BGM Input button you have selected for the associated Zone. In addition, you can select the Select field, and type the number corresponding to the BGM Input you wish to select.

blank (0) to 32

BGM input buttons 0 - n

Radio button for each BGM Input defined in the BGM Input Count in the Properties. The buttons are numbered 1 - n, and the number of the one you select displays in the Select field. A set of buttons (1 - n) is available for each Zone.

When you select a button, the audio source connected to that BGM Input is routed to the associated Zone.

Default = 0

Range = 0 to 32

BGM Input Gain

(dB)

Adjusts the BGM Input Gain for all PA Zones associated with that BGM Input. One Gain control for each BGM Input.

Default = 0

Range = -100 to 20

BGM Ducker Attack

(Seconds)

The Attack is the time it takes the BGM to fall to 63%¹ of the Depth level when the a Page or Message is played.

Use this control to provide a smooth transition from the BGM audio to the Page or Message audio.

Default = 1.00

Range = 0 to 5

BGM Ducker Depth

(dB)

The Depth sets the amount of gain applied to the BGM Input channels when the BGM Ducker is activated. The Page or Message is mixed with the BGM, so the Depth setting controls how much of the BGM is heard in the output. Setting the Depth to 60 dB of attenuation essentially mutes all BGM channels used by the Page or Message.

Default = 40

Range = 0 to 60

BGM Ducker Release

(Seconds)

The Release Time is the time it takes the BGM channel outputs to return to 63%¹ of their normal level when the BGM Ducker is deactivated - the Page or Message ends.

Use this control to provide a smooth transition from the Page or Message audio back to the BGM channel audio.

Default = 5

Range = 0 to 10

1. Time Constant

The time constant is the time it takes to cover 63% of the control change. For Attack, the start gain is 1.0 (unity) and the end gain is 0. After 10 seconds, the value is at 1-0.63 = 0.37, which corresponds to -8.7 dB. For Release, the start gain is 0 and the end gain is 1.0 (unity). After 10 seconds, the value is at 0.63 which corresponds to -4 dB. Depth is ignored in this calculation, it simply limits the filtered gain to a minimum.

Properties

Property	Function	Choices
Station Count	Sets the number of Page Stations you have in your Q-SYS Design. The Page Stations can be the Virtual Page Station or the hardware proxy. The number of stations you define is available for configuration in the Administrator.	1 through 128
Zone Count	Sets the number of PA Zones for your paging system. The number of Zones you define, is available in the PA Router Control Panel where you can select the BGM for each Zone. The number of Zones is also available for configuration in the Administrator.	1 through 256
BGM Input Count	Sets the number of BGM inputs you want for your paging system. You can assign any one of the BGM inputs to one or more PA Zones.	0 through 64

Property

Function

Choices

Station Count

Sets the number of Page Stations you have in your Q-SYS Design. The Page Stations can be the Virtual Page Station or the hardware proxy. The number of stations you define is available for configuration in the Administrator.

1 through 128

Zone Count

Sets the number of PA Zones for your paging system.

The number of Zones you define, is available in the PA Router Control Panel where you can select the BGM for each Zone.

The number of Zones is also available for configuration in the Administrator.

1 through 256

BGM Input Count

Sets the number of BGM inputs you want for your paging system. You can assign any one of the BGM inputs to one or more PA Zones.

0 through 64

Control Pins

The available Control Pins depend on settings in Properties.

Zone

For each Remote Destination PA Zone, the following control pins are provided.

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Active	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
BGM n Select	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
BGM Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
BGM Mute	0 1	unmuted muted	0 1	Input / Output
BGM Select	1 through n	1 through n	0 to 1	Input / Output
Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Message	Text name of the message file currently playing			Output
Message Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Message Mute	0 1	unmuted muted	0 1	Input / Output
Mute	0 1	unmuted muted	0 1	Input / Output
Page Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Page Mute	0 1	unmuted muted	0 1	Input / Output
Priority	0 n	Text names of the Priorities defined.	0.000 to 1.00	Output
Source	0 n	0 n	0.000 to 1.00	Output
Squelch (Squelch Priority)	0 ¹ n	Text names of the Priorities defined.	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Squelch Active (LED)	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
1. No Squelch is 0 (zero) and 1 - n are the priority levels with 1 (one) being the highest priority.

BGM Ducker

When there is at least one BGM Channel defined, the following controls are provided.

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Attack Time	0.0 to 5	0 ms to 5 s	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Depth	0 to 60	0 dB to 60 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Release Time	0.0 to 10	0.0 ms to 10 s	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output

BGM Input

For each BGM Input the following controls are provided.

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Mute	0 1	unmuted muted	0 1	Input / Output

Pin Name

Value

String

Position

Pins Available

Gain

-100 to 20

-100 dB to 20 dB

0.000 to 1.00

Input / Output

Mute

unmuted

muted

Input / Output

General

Pin Name	Value	Pins Available
Buffer Used	Text Field	Output
Cancel all Commands	Trigger	Input/Output
Cancel Queued Commands	Trigger	Input/Output

PA Router Component

Core-to-Core Paging

Inputs

Outputs

Output

Status

Page

Message

Background Music

1. Time Constant

Properties

Control Pins

Zone

1. No Squelch is 0 (zero) and 1 - n are the priority levels with 1 (one) being the highest priority.

BGM Ducker

BGM Input

General