CXD-Q Amplifier and Status Components

There are seven models of the QSC CXD-Q Amplifiers:

Four-Channel		Eight-Channel
CXD4.2Q	4 Channel, 2000 W Network Amplifier	CXD8.4Q	8 Channel, 4000 W Network Amplifier with Mic/Line Inputs
CXD4.3Q	4 Channel, 4000 W Network Amplifier	CXD8.8Q	8 Channel, 8000 W Network Amplifier with Mic/Line Inputs
CXD4.5Q	4 Channel, 8000 W Network Amplifier	CXD8.4Qn	8 Channel, 4000 W Network Amplifier
		CXD8.8Qn	8 Channel, 4000 W Network Amplifier

There are three main difference between the models:

The number of channels. The CXD-Q4 amplifiers have four channels, the CXD-Q8 amplifiers have eight channels. The eight-channel amplifiers are composed of two four-channel amplifier blocks.
Power Output
The CXD8.4Qn and CXD8.8Qn have no analog inputs. The inputs are assigned through Q-SYS Designer.

In Q-SYS Designer, each model has its own components, however, the instructions for using the components in Q-SYS Designer are the same. The name CXD-Q, refers to all models.

The CXD-Q Amplifier component, in the Q-SYS Designer Inventory list, represents the physical piece of equipment. The Inventory component cannot be placed in the Schematic page. When you add a CXD-Q Amplifier to the Inventory, there are four components, associated with the amplifier, that can be placed in the Schematic page.:

Status
CXD-Q Amp Output
CXD-Q Mic/Line Input (The eight channel "n" models do not have this component.)
GPIO

This topic covers the CXD-Q Amplifier (Inventory) and Status components. Aside from the fact that the amplifier component cannot be placed in the design, the primary difference between the amplifier component and the Status component in the Schematic is that when you select the Inventory component it does not have the "Verbose" Property or any Control Pins.

Refer to the CXD-Q Amp Output, CXD-Q Amp Input, and the GPIO topics for specific information on these components.

Controls

The controls for the Amplifier Status component, listed below, are divided into sections to match the Control Panel sections.

Amplifier Status < Name>

Control

Function

Default / Range

When the ID/Identify button, in Status component, the Configurator's Network Configuration,or on the physical hardware is pressed, the ID buttons in all three places blink to easily identify hardware with the software.

The indicators will flash for 5 minutes unless you stop them by pressing any one of the buttons.

Off / On

Status LED

This LED changes color to indicate the current status of the amplifier. See Status for the meanings of the various colors.

N / A

Status

Displays the current status of the amplifier both in text and color. The following is a list of possible status colors, and some example conditions.

NOTE: These conditions are examples, and may not be applicable to all components with a Status field.

OK – Green – (0) – Audio is good, hardware is good.

Compromised – Orange – (1) – Audio is good but a redundancy mechanism is active (one LAN down but the other is still up) or a non-fatal hardware problem exists (fans too slow, temperature higher than expected, etc.)

Fault – Red – (2) – Audio is not passing, or hardware is malfunctioning or mis-configured (amplifier power off, audio streams broken, wrong type of I/O Card installed, loudspeaker short circuit, etc.)

Missing – Red – (3) – A piece of hardware, defined in the design, has not been discovered. Audio is not passing through that piece of hardware.

Initializing – Blue – (5) – In the process of firmware, configuration update, and design start. Audio is obviously bad.

Not Present – Gray – A virtual component in the design, that is designated as Dynamically Paired, and Not Required ,has no hardware assigned to it.

N / A

Clock Offset

This text field displays the clock difference between the associated amplifier and the Master Clock. The unit of measure is indicated in the text readout.

N / A

Grandmaster

The Q-SYS Core running the design containing the amplifier.

N / A

Parent Port

Text box indicating the network name of the Parent port, usually the same as the Clock Grandmaster with the LAN appended.

N / A

Temperature

Indicates the current power supply unit (PSU) temperature in Centigrade.

N / A

Details

You must set Verbose in the unit's Properties to "Yes" in order to see this field.

Text indicating the Details of any errors occurring with the amplifier. The information in this field is updated regularly and is cumulative. An item is displayed only when the value is not zero. If there are values associated with these, call Support.

fpga_fifo_error	sequence_error
recv_fifo_error	xmit_task_early
xmit_fifo_error	xmit_task_late
recv_dma_error	xmit_task_error
xmit_dma_error	xmit_overrun
sync_error	clock_sync_loss

N / A

Reset Details

Click this button to reset the information in the Details field to zero.

Momentary Off / On

Audio Streams

To see both input and output Audio Streams information, you must have audio passing both directions.

Control

Function

Default / Range

Input OK

LED indicating the status of the Input Audio Stream for LAN A or LAN B.

N / A

Input Details

Text indicating the details of the status of the amplifier Input Audio Stream for LAN A and LAN B. The information in this field is updated regularly and is displayed as running totals. An item is displayed only when the value is not zero. ¹

accept_count	size_mismatch
drop_count	not_audio
missing_count	to_early
duplicate_count	early
not_in_use	on_time
port_mismatch	too_late
check_mismatch	very_late

N / A

Output OK

LED indicating the status of the Output Audio Stream for LAN A or LAN B.

N / A

Output Details

Text indicating the details of the status of the amplifier Output Audio Stream for LAN A and LAN B. The information in this field is updated regularly and is displayed as running totals. An item is displayed only when the value is not zero. ¹

accept_count	size_mismatch
drop_count	not_audio
missing_count	to_early
duplicate_count	early
not_in_use	on_time
port_mismatch	too_late
check_mismatch	very_late

N / A

1. Notes:

In Input and Output Audio Streams, accept_count = (early + on_time). This is OK, everything else should be zero.

The units are 16 samples, so accept_count should go up by 3000 per second.

too_early, too_late, very_late indicate clock sync problems. If Clock Offset is larger than a single digit, check the QoS configuration on the switches for the clock traffic (the highest priority DSCP). If too_late or very_late are not zero but the Clock Offset is zero or very small, check the QoS configuration on the switches for the audio traffic (the second highest priority DSCP).

missing_count could mean network problems such as bad cables, check the CRC error counters on the switches.

Properties

CXD-Q Amplifier and Status Component

The following properties are set when the CXD-Q Amplifier in the Inventory list, or the CXD-Q Amplifier Status component is selected.

Property	Function	Choices
Name	Identifies the amplifier component in Q-SYS Designer, enabling the connection between the design and the physical amplifier. This name should be the same as the amplifier Device Name (hostnameHostnames may contain ASCII letters 'a' through 'z' (case-insensitive), the digits '0' through '9', the hyphen, and the underscore. Hostname labels cannot begin or end with a hyphen. No other symbols, punctuation characters, or blank spaces are permitted.) in the Configurator. Click in the Name property and type the Name. The name must follow standard naming conventions. The Administrator restricts the name according to the following: ASCII characters a - z (case insensitive) Digits 0 - 9 Hyphen (cannot be at the beginning or end of the name) Underscore (acceptable with a Q-SYS implementation) No other characters, symbols, punctuation, or blank spaces.	User input
Location	User defined Location for the amplifier.	User input
Is Network Redundant	Indicates if the amplifier is connected to redundant networks.	Yes / No
Is Required	When Is Required is set to Yes, an error displays if the hardware does not exist on the network. This is the default behavior. When Is Required is set to No, the device is identified as not present, its status state is Not Present which is not considered an error. The color displayed for “Not Present” equipment is gray. If a device is dynamically assignable but has not been assigned, it is considered Not Present” even if it is required.	Yes / No
Dynamically Paired	Indicates that this virtual component can be paired with the same type of hardware without changing the network id of the hardware, or the name of this component. Refer to Dynamic Pairing for more information.	Yes / No
Model	Select the hardware model from the drop-down list.	CXD4.2Q CXD4.3Q CXD4.5Q CXD8.4Q CXD8.8Q CXD8.4Qn CXD8.8Qn
Channel Configuration	Select the configuration needed for your venue. NOTE: The CXD-Q eight-channel models have two sets of four channels for configuration. 4 Channel, A B C D 3 Channel, A+B Bridged 2 Channel, A+B Bridged C+D Bridged 3 Channel, AB Parallel 2 Channel, AB Parallel C+D Bridged 2 Channel, A B Parallel C D Parallel 1 Channel, A B Parallel Bridged with CD Parallel 2 Channel, A B C Parallel 1 Channel, A B C D Parallel Space between letters (A B C D) = single channels, "+" between letters (A+B) = bridged, no space between letters (ABCD) = parallel. When you make your selection, then run the design, the configuration is made available to the amplifier. Follow the instructions on the amplifier display.	A B C D A+B C D A+B C+D AB C D AB C+D AB CD AB+C D ABC D ABCD
Standalone Mode	Off – Turns Standalone Mode off. One-to-one – Each audio input is routed to its corresponding output Ch1 – Output A, Ch2 – Output B, Ch3 – Output C, Ch4 – Output D. One-to-all – Input Channel 1 is routed to all outputs. NOTE: See the Standalone section below for details.	Off One-to-one One-to-all
Standalone Timeout	The time the amplifier waits before initiating Standalone Mode after audio to the amplifier is lost.	2 to 60 Seconds
Verbose	Available only when the Status component is selected in the Schematic. Displays the Networking and Audio Stream details for LAN A and LAN B. You must have Is Network Redundant set to Yes to see LAN B details.	Yes / No

Control Pins

The available Control Pins for the CXD-Q Status Component depend on settings in Properties.

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Clock Grandmaster Name	Text field - Name of the Clock Grandmaster
Clock Offset From Master	0.000 to n	0 ms to n ms	0 to 1.000	Output
Clock Parent Port Name	Text field - Name of the Parent Port			Output
CXD-Q Amplifier Status	0 1 2 3 4	OK (green) Compromised (orange) Fault (red) Unknown (red) Updating (blue)	0 0.250 0.500 0.750 1.00	Output
Details	Text field - Details of the current amp status.			Output
Identify	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
LAN A (or B) Input Stream Details	Text Field
LAN (or B) Input Stream OK	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
LAN (or B) Output Stream Details	Text Field
LAN (or B) Output Stream OK	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Reset Details	trigger			Input / Output

Standalone Mode

Standalone Mode provides the capability to connect the inputs of an amplifier to the outputs when connection to the Core is lost. In addition you can boot the amplifier without a connection to the Core.

Two ways to engage the Standalone Mode. For either way you must enable the Standalone Mode in the Q-SYS Designer Properties for the amplifier.

Amplifier Loses Network Connection to the Core:
1. When connection to the Core is lost, audio is interrupted, and the amplifier counts down the number of seconds (15-60) specified in the amplifier's Properties in the Q-SYS design.
2. After the timeout period, the inputs of the amplifier are sent directly to the outputs either one-to-one (each input goes to its corresponding output), or one-to-all (one input goes to all the outputs). While in Standalone mode, the front panel display of the amplifier displays OK in the Status field.
3. When the connection to the Core is restored, the original audio streams are restored. There will be a short drop in audio while the amplifier is re-initialized.
Boot the Amplifier Without a Connection to the Core
1. The amplifier waits 10 seconds to determine if the connection to the Core can be made.
2. The amplifier then launches the last design run if it had the Standalone Mode enabled. During this time, the amplifier front-panel Status field displays OK, and the Design field displays "Stand-alone".
3. When the amplifier re-connects to the Core, the Core pushes the design to the amplifier and the original audio is restored. There is a short loss of audio while the amplifier is initialized.

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