Amplifier Components

Amplifiers are added to the Inventory list based on the physical amplifiers in your system. Each amplifier in the Inventory list has a Component associated with it that is placed in the Schematic for configuration and wiring. It is critical that the wiring in the Q-SYS design match the physical wiring. The Control Panels available with the amplifiers are primarily for telemetry, with the exception of the On/Standby button, the Mute buttons, and the Monitor Listen and Gain controls.

All of the Q-SYS amplifier Status/Control components, representing physical DataPort amplifiers available for Q-SYS, are covered in this topic. There are a few differences which are noted below. Refer to the individual amplifier documentation for specifics on the physical amplifiers.

IMPORTANT: DataPorts on multi-port amplifiers must be wired to DataPorts on the same I/O Frame or Core. You cannot wire some of the amplifier's DataPorts to a Core and others, on the same amplifier, to an I/O Frame. You cannot wire some of the amplifier's DataPorts to one I/O Frame and others, on the same amplifier, to another I/O Frame.

Links to Amplifier Documentation (Internet access required)
CX Amplifiers	PowerLight® Series and PowerLight 2 Series (Discontinued, Compatible with Q-SYS) Contact QSC Technical Services
DCA Amplifiers	PowerLight 3 Series

Controls

Amplifier Status

Control	Function	Default / Range
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
On/Standby	Button controls the amplifier from Standby to Power On.	Standby Power On
Meter Select	Selects either RMS or Peak for the five meters in all channels.	RMS/Peak

Control

Function

Default / Range

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

On/Standby

Button controls the amplifier from Standby to Power On.

Standby

Power On

Meter Select

Selects either RMS or Peak for the five meters in all channels.

RMS/Peak

Channel n Status

Control	Function	Default / Range
Mute	Mute button mutes the associated channel of the amplifier. Linked to the Mute button on the associated band of a loudspeaker.	Off / On
Atten. Pot. (dB)	Setting of the Attenuation Potentiometer on the front panel of the amplifier.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
Temperature	Temperature reading of the channel in - Centigrade.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
Bridge	The amplifier must be connected and the On state for the Bridge and Parallel LEDs to work properly. Yellow LED indicating that channel is in the Bridge Mode. When this LED and the Parallel LED are off, the amplifier is in Stereo Mode. When they're both on, the amplifier is in Bridge-Parallel mode.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
DAC Limit	LED indicating that signal to the D to A Converter is larger than can be reproduced and a limiter has been engaged to prevent clipping. This is an indication that the gain structure is not correct.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
Protect	LED indicating that the channel is in Protect Mode. Usually due to attempting to drive too low an impedance for too long.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
Clip	Yellow LED indicating that the channel is clipping.	Refer to amplifier documentation.
Parallel ¹	The amplifier must be connected and the On state for the Parallel and Bridge LEDs to work properly. Yellow LED indicating that channel is in the Parallel Mode. When this LED and the Bridge LED are off, the amplifier is in Stereo Mode. When they're both on, the amplifier is in Bridge-Parallel mode.
1. When an amplifier is in Bridge Mode, the Parallel LED on the amplifier is lit along with the Bridge Mode LED. This LED is reflecting what is seen on the amplifier. See the note in the Properties table for Mode n-n.

Channel n Meter

Control	Function	Default / Range
Input (dBFS)	Measures the analog input to the amplifier channel (output of the DataPort card after the signal has been converted to analog). This reading can be RMS or Peak depending on the Meter Select setting for the associated channel. The meter in the DataPort component displays the Peak Digital output before the D to A Converter.	N / A
Voltage (V)	Measures the voltage of the amplifier / loudspeaker circuit. This reading can be RMS or Peak depending on the Meter Select setting for the associated channel.	N / A
Current (A)	Measures the current of the amplifier / loudspeaker circuit. This reading can be RMS or Peak depending on the Meter Select setting for the associated channel.	N / A
Power (W)	Measures the power of the amplifier / loudspeaker circuit. This reading can be RMS or Peak depending on the Meter Select setting for the associated channel.	N / A
Headroom (dB)	Measures the amount of headroom left before reaching the amplifier's maximum capabilities.	N / A

Channel n Monitor

Control	Function	Default / Range
Listen	Enables and disables the loudspeaker monitor. This is a radio type button and is linked to all other Listen buttons in your design. When this is engaged, all other Listen buttons disengage. You can only listen to one amplifier channel at a time. In the loudspeaker components, you have the option to listen to one, all, or any combination of bands. You must have the Loudspeaker Monitor component in the Schematic and properly connected to make use of the monitoring capability. NOTE: The Monitor buttons are not linked in Emulate mode. Your design must be in Run mode for the functionality described above to operate. Related Topics	Off / On
Gain (dB)	Controls the gain of the monitor. This control has effect only when the Listen button is engaged.	-100 to 20

Control

Function

Default / Range

Listen

Enables and disables the loudspeaker monitor.

This is a radio type button and is linked to all other Listen buttons in your design. When this is engaged, all other Listen buttons disengage.

You can only listen to one amplifier channel at a time. In the loudspeaker components, you have the option to listen to one, all, or any combination of bands.

You must have the Loudspeaker Monitor component in the Schematic and properly connected to make use of the monitoring capability.

NOTE: The Monitor buttons are not linked in Emulate mode. Your design must be in Run mode for the functionality described above to operate.

Properties

Property	Function	Choices
Name	User-defined name given to the amplifier.	User-defined
Location	User-defined name that groups the amplifier with other components in the same physical location, or in the same organizational scheme.	User-defined
Model	The Model of the amplifier - The Model is selected when you add an amplifier to Inventory, when you place the amplifier component in the Schematic, it retains the Model information. In the Properties you can change the Model if you need to.	All amplifiers available from QSC for Q-SYS, Choose from the drop-down list.
Mode n-n¹	Choose if channels n and n are to be in the Stereo mode or the Bridged mode. This setting is to reflect the physical amplifier's setting.	Stereo Bridged
1. The DataPort amplifiers support Bridged, Parallel and Stereo modes. Q-SYS supports amplifier modes Bridged and Stereo only. Parallel mode supplies the same signal to two channels by connecting both channel inputs to a single source. In Q-SYS, Parallel mode is accomplished by sending the same signal to two channels on the DataPort card. One DataPort cable carries two channels, so effectively there is no difference if you connect the channel inputs at the amplifier or in Q-SYS.

Control Pins

The available Control Pins depend on settings in Properties.

Amplifier

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Peak/RMS Select	0 1	Peak RMS	0 1	Input / Output
Power On	0 1	Standby On	0 1	Input / Output
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

Pin Name

Value

String

Position

Pins Available

Peak/RMS Select

Peak

RMS

Input / Output

Power On

Standby

Input / Output

Status

OK (green)

Compromised (orange)

Fault (red)

Unknown (red)

Updating (blue)

0.250

0.500

0.750

1.00

Output

Channel

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Attenuation Pot.	0 to 25 and Infinity	0 to 25, Infinity	0 26	Output
Bridge	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Clip	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Current	0 to 70	0 A to 70 A	0.000 1.000	Output
DAC Output Limit	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Headroom	0 to 70	0 dB to 70 dB	0.000 1.000	Output
Input Meter	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 1.000	Output
Monitor Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 1.000	Input / Output
Monitor Listen	0 1	disable enable	0 1	Input / Output
Mute	0 1	unmute mute	0 1	Input / Output
Parallel	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Power	0 to 10000	0 W to 10,000 W	0.000 1.000	Output
Protect	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Temperature	n	n °C	0.000 1.000	Output
Voltage	0 to 150	V to 150 V	0.000 1.000	Output