QSC Audio Products demonstrated a proof of concept of an end-to-end solution for the playback of immersive sound program material at last weeks ShowEast 2013 in Hollywood, Florida. The demonstration highlighted the capability of the QSC Q-Sys audio signal processing and routing platform to render MDA (multi-dimensional audio) files in real-time.
MDA is an open platform, object-based audio format developed by DTS that allows every element of a soundtrack to be mapped in 3D space, storing all of the spatial and behavioral information as metadata. For the demos, test program content files were created using a ProTools MDA plug-in at The Dub Stage, a prominent Hollywood, California post-production facility. The audio files were combined into a DCP (digital cinema package), which will be played back through a Doremi server, then synched and rendered through the QSC Q-Sys Core processor. The demonstration featured a 7.1 audio bed combined with audio objects which were rendered in real-time through the Q-Sys processor, and heard through QSC loudspeakers.
Q-Sys is a complete platform for digital audio signal processing, control and management. The primary elements of a Q-Sys system are the Core, Q-Sys Designer software, the Q-LAN network, and peripherals. The Q-Sys Core is the brain of the system, performing all audio routing, processing, and control functions. Q-Sys Designer software provides the interface for system design, configuration, and control. Q-LAN is the IP-friendly network that connects the system into an integrated whole. A variety of hardware peripherals (such as I/O Frames, I/O cards, and touch screen controllers) provide fully customizable and completely scalable functionality.
In addition to serving as the rendering engine, the Q-Sys Core also provides all necessary audio signal processing (such as equalization) and signal routing to the appropriate power amplifiers and loudspeakers.
“Q-Sys is an extremely powerful processing platform that can be the central processor for any type of immersive audio format,” says Barry Ferrell, senior vice president & chief strategy officer for QSC. “Because of its scalable nature and the variety of hardware options, a Q-Sys system can handle as many channels or ‘objects’ as is required by the format. The result is a single processing platform that can support multiple audio formats with separate storable pre-sets for signal processing functions like equalization, level and routing.”
QSC Audio http://qsc.com